Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Complete numbness.

'...'

Dull pain to the head.

'Mrrrruh… God… dammit…'

Sharp pain to the head.

'Gah! What hell!?'

An eye and arm that refused to move.

'Seriously... this shit again? What happened?'

The other eye opens, a brick alleyway is revealed.

'This… doesn't look familiar… at all.'

A hand gripping the wall behind him, a harsh surge of pain at the attempt to even move.

'Come on… I can at least stand…'

The man brings himself to his feet, he glances to his right and sees bright light. His sense of sound and smell slowly return, bringing echoes of conversation and the smell of seawater.

'There's the opening…'

Foregoing the wall's support… forcing himself to stand on his own two feet… a step forward… a second… the will to never give up barely driving him on…

'Almost there… This'd be a lot tougher if I still had my… sword…'

An alien scene. Crowds of people where styles of clothing he'd never seen before, old fashioned wagons made of wood, wares that he'd never seen before in his life…

"Wh-where… Where the hell am I?!"

Episode 001: Arrival in Fiore

"Well… this is just my effing day," the man thought aloud, his good eye taking in the scenery around him with a narrowed glare. "Definitely not feelin' any Seither in the air, otherwise I wouldn't be stuck with a damn double handicap." The man hadn't gone far from the alleyway he'd awoken in and he certainly wasn't oblivious to the several gazes directed his way, many of them looks of fear or concern. Glancing down, he saw that his favorite crimson red coat and black hakama still had all of the marks from the last brutal rounds of fighting he'd been in. To make matters all the more familiar, the right section of his jacket had fallen, leaving his right gauntleted arm exposed in full.

"Shit… I gotta get this thing repaired," he thought as he glanced the buildings. "Maybe I can find a tailor shop or something to…"

He paused as his working green eye landed on a small oddly shaped town. The though language and symbols were foreign to him, he could easily tell what the sign said: Magic Shop.

'Magic… as in real magic? Not the Ars Magus that Nine created? Honest to god magic?' he thought to himself thinking back. The man's hand went to his wallet, just remembering a key detail. '...I'm broke… not that Platinum Dollars would do me any good here… probably…' Sighing to himself he headed to the door. 'Free to look at least…'

He slowly opened the door, giving him the first sense of this world's idea of the arcane… He wasn't immediately impressed; at first glance it looked entirely like any other store with bottles lined up on the shelves. There were crystals and fortune teller's ball further back, but their quality made them seem like cheap knock offs or knick-knacks instead of what he'd been expecting.

'Not what I had in mind…'he thought to himself before noticing the young lady at the counter talking the clown-like shopkeeper. The lady herself was dressed in a blue and white top and a deep blue miniskirt. Her hair was a bright blond which might've reminded him of someone he'd used to know… if not for her brown eyes and the enormous difference in cleavage.

"What!?" she said with surprise to the old man, slamming her hands down on the desk. "You mean to tell me there's only one magic shop in this whole town?"

"'Fraid so," the old man told her. "The people around here are more fishin' folk than they are magic folk. I reckon most people in town don't even know how to use magic. I built this shop to sell to the wizards that happen to be passing through."

'Must not be a high end shop then,' the man thought to himself. 'That'd explain the cheap quality, and if this is a port town that means that I'm definitely not in the mage town Isayana… So where am I then?'

"Aw man, I can't believe I came all this way for nothing," the blond haired woman said with disappointment.

"Now, now, don't say that little lady," the old shopkeeper said digging behind his desk. "I have all the greatest goods, let me show you. This Colors magic is popular, all the young girls really seem to like it. It lets you change the colors of your clothes, anytime you want."

The item in question was a small, pink tablet. The shopkeeper did some fiddling with the dial on the front an arcane circle formed before him.

"Purple!" he said excitedly with a wave of his hand. Just like that, his clothes turned purple.

'That doesn't look like Ars Magus or whatever the hell that Witch was using,' the man thought to himself as the shopkeeper changed his clothes to green.

"I already have one of those,” the blond woman waved off. "What I really want are some powerful gate keys."

'Gate Keys?' the man internally repeated. He then noticed the woman's complexion change to one of excitement as she looked at a small silver key.

"Oh wow! It's the little doggy!" she said excitedly.

"Hey, what the hell's a gate key anyways?"

The old man and young lady both gave a startled jump as they turned to face the man that had spoken; neither seemed to have been aware of his presence before now.

"Um… H-How long have you been standing there?" the woman asked nervously.

"Not long," he told her passively. "So what's a gate key do anyways?"

"Y-you've never heard of a Celestial Wizard?" she asked him. The man shook his head. "Well… they're a type of magic user that summons Celestial Spirits to assist them with their powers."

"You must be new to Fiore; even in a port town like this people would know that much about magic; it's the basics of the basics," the old shopkeeper told him before noticing the state of his clothing. "Now that I look at you it seems that you've had a rough trip, where are you from?"

"...Somewhere far away that neither of you’d have heard of," they dismissed, not tearing his gaze away from the key. "Hey, is it possible for you to show me one of these… spirits?"

"Uh… I don't think that's a good idea, summoning one of those creatures here could destroy my shop," the old shopkeeper said worriedly.

"Why don't I just summon the Little Doggy then?" the young woman said, apparently confident in her abilities. "I've been looking to pick up one of those keys for a while now anyways. Let me do it just so I can make sure the key works."

'Almost seems like she wants to show off,' the stranger said to himself before glancing to the shopkeeper. "That a problem for you, old timer?"

"I...If she's going to buy it anyways I guess I don't mind," he relented. The girl gave a giggle before grabbing the silver key from the box and making some room for her summoning. "But, you should know that spirit is rather weak."

"I know, but I've always wanted to keep one of them as a pet," she said before swiping the key. "Open! Gate of the Little Doggy!" A bell's toll was heard as a massive circle of magic formed before her. Wisps of light circled the area before connecting and forming-

"A miniature snowman… with legs? The hell?" the man muttered as he stared down at the thing with his green eye as it looked back at him. He wasn't sure if the thing was constantly shivering because it was scared of him or if it was usually like that. "I thought this thing was supposed to be a dog."

"That's just what it's called," the girl said as she grabbed the creature and brought it in for a hug. "Awwww! It's so cute!"

"Now now, don't get ahead of yourself," the shopkeeper told her. "You can play with it and form a contract all you want after you've paid for the key."

"Oh, right then," she conceded as she put the key on the desk. "You can go ahead and head back little guy." The creature gave a small nod before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Where do they go when you're done with 'em anyways?" the enigma asked plainly.

"Back to the Celestial Realm," the woman told him, as if that explained everything. "So how much for the key?"

"Twenty-Thousand Jewels," the owner said, happy he'd be able to do business.

"...I'm sorry, how much was that?" the woman asked, her complexion seeming to darken.

"Twenty-Thousand Jewels," the old man repeated.

The silence was deafening, leaving the red coated stranger to raise an eyebrow (he could really on raise the one anyways). The girl smiled before getting up on the shopkeeper’s desk and seductively putting her hand behind her head, leaving her full cleavage on display.

"Aw come on, how much is it really worth? Surely you can cut me a deal," the young blonde said innocently before winking.

The man in red facepalmed at the display. 'How low can one person go?' he thought to himself.

-Later-

"Ugh! I can't believe he only knocked off a thousand jewel! That old geezer must be blind!" the blonde said as she angrily stomped away from the shop.

"Heh, count yourself lucky he didn't just throw you out of his store," the red coated stranger nettled with a snarky smirk. "If I were in the old man's shoes I'd have tacked on a couple thousand for screwing with me."

"Oh!? Yeah! Real nice!" she shouted angrily. "And while we're at it, why are following me around?!"

"Following you? I'm wandering around town aimlessly, you're the one that's following me," the man said… before glancing over his shoulder to the blonde behind him. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the guy in front."

"Oh... right," she admitted with a hint of embarrassment, leaving the red coat to chuckle before he looked over the side of the bridge they were on.

"Eh? Looks like some sort of a crowd's forming down there… and it looks like all of them are screaming fangirls for some reason."

"Screaming… fangirls?" the blonde woman asked as she looked over the side to get a look for herself.

'Is it really him?!" one girl squealed with excitement as she ran by the two to join the crowd.

"THE famous Salamander?!" her friend said, equally excited.

"Salamander?" the blond traveling with the mystery man repeated before her eyes turned bright with sparkles. "As in the wizard who uses fire magic you can't even buy in stores!? Wow! ...He's in this dead end town?"

'Fire magic that can't even be found in stores? Sound pretty impressive at least,' the red coated man thought to himself before shrugging. "Might as well she what all the fuss is about, wanna check it out?"

"You bet! C'mon!" the blonde said as she ran off at full tilt leaving the man to follow.

-Down Below-

'You've got to be kidding me… A guy like him? Really?'

The reason why the redcoat was a so agitated was because this so-called Salamander reminded him of someone he used to know, but put a rather large emphasis on their bad sides. He had dark spiky hair and a constant smirk on his face as he did a few simple (stupid) poses that seemed to make any girls around him go completely wild. To add to the insult, he even wore a cloak that was all too similar to his… friend's.

"I don't know why, but for some reason I can tell just by looking this guy’s a total bust," he muttered to himself before looking to his apparent companion. "Come on there's no need to-" He was caught off guard by how red in the face she was getting just looking at the heartthrob. 'Is she really falling for this guy's act? There are even frickin' hearts in her eyes!'

"Oh, you ladies are all so sweet," Salamander said with a charming voice, suddenly turning to the blonde. Her blush deepened and the hearts in her eyes actually grew.

'Hearts in her… The magic here… It's a damn love spell!' the red coat thought as the blonde made her way towards the sleazy looking gentleman. His arm immediately shot out and grabbed her by the shoulder to halt her advancement.

"Wake the hell up!"
"Igneel! It's me!"

A pink haired young man had managed to shove through the crowd of giggling fangirls, causing everyone to grow silent. The red coated man paused gave him a wayward glance before turning his attention to the blonde. The hearts in her eyes seemed to shatter, leading for her red faced complexion to immediately die down.

"You okay?" he asked gruffly.

"I… I think so," she said nervously before noticing his hand on her shoulder. "You can take your hand away now. I-I’m fine."

"…Just making sure," he noted before scowling harshly at the perpetrator with his good.

"Who the heck are you?" the pink haired traveler asked the apparent idol with great disappointment.

"Who am I!?" exclaimed Salamander, the man's body going rigid with surprise. He tried to downplay his shock by posing with another confident grin. "I'm Salamander, surely you've heard of me before."

"If they'd heard of some jackass using love magic for attention, I think that repulsive mug of yours would be on a bounty poster," the red coated man accused. Salamander returned the glare in full.

"Damn, what a waste of time," the pink haired traveler groaned before turning to walk away.

"You're so rude!"
"How dare you say those wretched things about our Salamander!"
"Apologize to him before we rip you to shreds!"
"I'll tear out your throat out if you say that again!"

These were the threats shouted by the several fangirls that tackled the two, beating them down in every painful way a guy could imagine… apparently they weren’t broken out of the spell so easily.

"Seriously, what is it with these girls?" the pink haired traveler moaned from beneath a pile of clawing girls.

"Love magic and being a general pain in the ass," the white haired man muttered from beneath his own pile of furious lovestruck groupies.

"Now now, that's enough my lovelies, let them go," Salamander said with a style that basically said that he owned these girls. He then grabbed out two boards and a maker and wrote down Salamander, like he needed to try and make it cool while the piles of girls moved off the two at his request. "Here's an autograph for each of you; why don't you let all of your friends know that you've met me and brag to them about it?"

"How's about I tell them what a massive prick you are? That sounds better to me," the red coat bit with continued ire.

"I don't want that thing. Throw it away or something," the pink haired youth said. Unsurprisingly, both were instantly thrown into a garbage pile by the idol's angry fanclub.

"I believe I must go my ladies; I have business to attend to," Salamander said with his usual charm.

"You're leaving already!?" the girl's questioned with remorse all at once, making the love spell seem even further apparent.

"Yes, but as a show of my affection I'll let you see my infamous Red Carpet spell!" A collection of strange pink energy formed beneath the man and sent him into the air where he hovered. The fan girls were going absolutely wild. "I'll be having a soiree on my yacht tonight! And you're all invited!" The man then soar off into the sky, soon disappearing from view.

"Who the heck was that guy?" the pink haired teen muttered as the fangirls continued to gossip amongst themselves about tonight's party.

"Some sonuvabitch that needs a punch to the dick, that's who," the silver haired one groaned with his usual vulgarities as he painfully stood. 'Damn girls, if they'd have torn me any harder those wounds would've reopened…' He then noticed the blonde girl from earlier smiling at them both. "What the hell are you so happy about?"

"Want to grab something to eat?" she offered.

"Aye!" came the sudden call of a blue cat from besides the pink haired man. Silver haired looked completely flabbergasted as he looked at the creature… before remembering he'd been raised by a talking cat that was simply larger.

"So… interested in lunch?" the blonde asked again. The silver haired man's stomach gave a low groan, so he conceded and gave a submitting nod.

-And then-

'Jeeze this guy can really put food away,' the silver haired man thought to himself. The four had gotten a small booth in a nearby restaurant and the pink haired youth was scarfing food down by the plate with his cat. The silver haired man shook his head as he contently continued enjoying his food… as best he could with his non-dominant hand.

"My name's Lucy, it's nice to meet you," the blonde said as she tried to keep a straight face. "Natsu and Happy was it?"

"Aye!" Happy the Cat said as he and Natsu continued to stuff their faces.

"Jeeze, show a little tact would ya? You got people staring at us," the silver haired enigma groaned as he finally managed to get a few noodles of his tempura udon to his mouth.

"That reminds me, I never got your name," Lucy said as she looked to the man sitting beside her.

"...Ragna," he finally said before taking a long drink from his glass. When finished, he smirked at Lucy. "There goes your charm money."

"Shut it you, or do you want me to pay for your food with the money you obviously don't have!?" she retorted angrily. Being smarter than he looked, Ragna shrugged and resumed eating. "Speaking of charm, that's the kind of magic that guy just now was using. Hypnotism magic like that's supposed to be illegal, how'd he manage to find it?"

"Black Market maybe, it's the first thing that comes to mind," Ragna told her as he thought back to the creep. "His fire magic looked weak as ass though…"

"They probably wouldn't let him into a guild with magic like that," Natsu said as he began throwing tomato after tomato into his mouth.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"A guild?" Ragna asked, looking towards Lucy for her knowledge.

"Oh, guilds are places where wizards come together to share information, find work, stuff like that. You're not considered a full-fledged wizard until you join one," she told them before her eyes seemed to sparkle. "But the guild that I really want to join is supposed to be really tough to get into! I always read about them in Sorcerer's weekly and they're supposed to be the greatest in Fiore!"

Ragna cringed a little as Lucy continued to fangirl. He glanced towards Natsu and Happy, the two merely looking at each other with deep concern. "At any rate, why the hell are you two here. I heard you say something about an… Igneel back in the crowd."

"Yeah, we came to this town because we heard a rumor that a Salamander would be coming here, but it just turned out to be some other mage," Natsu said with disappointment. "He didn't even look like a dragon, doubt he could breathe fire like one."

"Yeah, probably not," Happy agreed as he continued biting into his fish.

"I don't get it, your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?" Lucy asked as Ragna sipped the broth of udon.

"He doesn't look like a dragon, he is one," Natsu told her, Lucy's gaze went completely blank.

"Dragons aren't too common I'm guessing," Ragna voiced aloud. Everyone continued to stay silent. "I'll take that as a yes. Seems kind of strange for one to be showing up in the middle of town then."

"Well…" Natsu began before he realized his mistake. "Point taken."

"Hey, at least you're willing to look as hard as you can to find the guy," Ragna said as Lucy got out of the booth. "Heading out?"

"Yeah, I'll leave money if you guys need to keep eating or anything," Lucy said as she began walking away and spoke to one of the girls working there. "Thanks so much and sorry about the mess."

"Um… miss?" the woman began looking behind Lucy. The blonde herself quickly turned her head with concern, her jaw hitting the floor at what she saw.

"THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD!" Natsu and Happy shouted while prostrate at her feet. If anything the stares that had been sent Lucy's way earlier were growing larger and larger in number each passing second.

"EVERYONE'S STARING! Look, you helped me out earlier so let's just call it even," Lucy said trying to calm the situation down.

"Well we owe you something…" Natsu said before his eyes lit up. "That's it!" He grabbed out the board with the poser Salamander's signature on it "This is for you!"

"NO WAY!" Lucy shouted, not wanting to get anywhere near the thing.

"Your loss" Ragna began as he stood from the booth himself, taking his own signature out and giving her a smirk. “I know what this thing’s worth right now."

"Wait, you want that?" Lucy asked with complete bewilderment.

"Maybe he actually like the guy’s style deep down?” Natsu guess, but didn’t sound convinced.

"Not at all," he told them both bluntly as his smirk turned evil. He headed out of the restaurant with the signature under his arm while Natsu and Happy glanced to each other, shrugged. and headed back to their table to resume their meal.

"Okay, what's he doing now?" Lucy thought before she decided to see what was up. Exiting the establishment herself, she saw that Ragna hadn't gone far and was now surrounded by several screaming girls… that weren’t attacking him exactly. “Huh?”

"Yeah! That's right! A signature from the one and only Salamander! You all spent your sweet time clawing my face earlier before he gave it to me, so you know that this is the real deal!" Lucy's face blanched as he saw all of the girls going gaga, all of them grabbing for the board with ferocity. "Now… do I hear 100!?"

"YOU'RE AUCTIONING IT OFF!?" the blonde screamed at him.

-And then what happened-

"Heh, easy payday," Ragna said with a satisfied smirk as he looked at the wad of cash in his hand. "Looks like they were willing to pay a lot for that thing."

"You cheated a girl out of three thousand jewels while she was under a love spell, that's just low," Lucy muttered in annoyance as she walked ahead of him.

"She had it coming; I still have her nail marks on the back of my neck," he muttered while also realized what this meant for his healing rate. "You're just jealous that I managed to get some quick cash…"

"...Maybe a little," Lucy admitted. "Now I know this time I'm the one in front of you, so mind telling me why you're deciding to follow?"

"...It's cause of a bad feeling I've got," Ragna told her. "After what nearly happened with that Salamander creep I get the feeling that you're a magnet for trouble and with my damned conscious I can't really let you go on your own… there are probably a lot of perverts like him that would want to take a beautiful girl like you by force."

"B-Beautiful…" Lucy repeated, her face starting to grow red at the compliment. "You think I'm beautiful?" 'Maybe I underestimated Ragna. It looks like he can really be a charmer when-'

"Also I'm lost in this town without someone to guide me," he continued with titanic bluntness.

'There's no way,' Lucy thought, her earlier consideration for Ragna dead as disco. What she didn't notice because she was so distracted by her thoughts was that she actually managed to trip over her own feet, sending her bag and keychains flying. An omen of pure dread filled her eyes as she snatched her keychain out of the air, letting her bag fall to the ground and scatter its contents.

"Jeeze head in the clouds, much?" Ragna muttered as he knelt behind the pile to help with her things. "Got a lot of stuff in that bag of… eh?"

"What is it?" Lucy asked before her face paled. 'Oh man, did he manage to see that set of lingerie that I bought!? I knew I should have packed it tighter away!'

"Why the hell do you have a damn pin-up book in your bag!?" he demanded holding the magazine up so Lucy could see the picture of the bikini clad silver haired woman on the cover. "I mean to each their own, but you're into this!?"

"Th-that's not a pin-up magazine you moron!" she shouted, taking the magazine from his grasp. "It's Sorcerer's Weekly! That's the best known magazine in Fiore!"

"I can see why it draws a large audience," he muttered.

"I-It's more than just photo shoots!" she insisted, as if the way she titled them made the situation completely different. "It covers stories about all the major events of the guilds! I always read it for the stories of-"

"Lucy…" Ragna interrupted with a despondent complexion. "You had the centerfold pictures bookmarked…"

Knowing the blonde couldn't deny that accusation, she merely crossed her arms in a very irate manner. "And what's the problem with that? Mirajane is a lovely wizard and a member of the Fairy Tail guild, why shouldn't I want to aspire to be like her?"

'She wants to be photographed in revealing bikinis? Okay then…' Ragna was having more trouble than usual figuring Lucy out, and given even his regular denseness around girls that was saying something. "So Fairy Tail… they the guild you were going on about back in the restaurant?"

"Well yeah, I mean who else could I have been talking about?" she asked him before remembering a key detail about him. "Oh yeah, you're not from around here. Well Fairy Tail's… a complicated group."

"I've heard it been called worse," said a sudden but familiar voice from behind them. Lucy immediately jumped behind Ragna in her shock as his scowl returned in full. "My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Liar, you've been stalking us and hoping for a chance to get the jump on us," Ragna bit back with annoyance, getting between the man and Lucy.

"Get the jump on you?" Salamander repeated with a gentlemanly chuckle. "You misunderstand my intentions, they're far from as devious as you try to put them."

"Says the guy using girls to fall for him using charm spells!" Lucy shouted at him, relieved with Ragna’s earlier to follow her. "That magic's one of the lowest trick you can pull, and all to gain popularity!"

"I wanted to get as many people to the party aboard my yacht as possible, I even took the time and effort to come find the most beautiful young lady to give her a private invitation." This time, Lucy didn’t come close to blushing.

"You joking, you have got to be joking," Ragna said as his lip slowly curled into a snarl. "What the hell makes you think that-!?"

"Have you ever heard about the famous Salamander of Fairy Tail my dear?" the caped man asked, stopping Ragna's statement cold. "If you're looking to join I could try to put in a good word for you."

'Damn it! He's-!' Ragna couldn't finish his thought as his new acquaintance made her way in front of him. "Lucy?"

"So I come to this party… And you can get me into the guild?" she demanded with a cold gaze.

"It's all but certain," Salamander told her boldly. "After all… Mirajane does need someone to work with…"

"Okay, I'm in," she told him instantly, leaving Salamander's smile to grow ever wider.

"Excellent, then I suppose-"

"Hold it," Ragna interrupted, his glare still present as it usually was. "If she's going to that party I'm going with her, end of story."

"Ragna!" Lucy shouted with ire as she tried to whisper so that only he could hear her. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity; I can't have you come and ruin it for me!"

"Now, now, that won't be a problem," Salamander told her with another of his smiles. "If your bodyguard wishes to travel with you, then by all means let him come."

"Bodyguard?" Lucy repeated as Ragna stepped in front of her protectively once more. ‘Well… if it walks like a duck..’

"So long as we're clear on that."

"As the water we'll be sailing over," Salamander told him before examining the red coated man’s outfit. "We should probably find you something better to wear than those rags… On second thought, perhaps they’ll suit you just fine." Before either of them could protest, the wizard used his Red Carpet spell and left the two in a hurry.

'Rags eh?' he thought as his lip curled once more, this time forming a haunting smirk. 'You're about to get what's coming to you, asshole. Count on it.'

"Don't," came Lucy's voice. "I know you can't stand the guy, I can't either, but I can't have you showing up at the party just to cause trouble."

"Don't worry, I won't say a word unless you tell me to," he promised her. "After all it's a great chance, right?" The blonde was surprised with his readiness to comply, but nodding eagerly before dragging by his good arm so that she could shop for a dress for tonight. 'If I tell Lucy she can't go she'll just try and leave me behind. I might need to look out for her this way, but at least I'll get to the bottom of whatever that S.O.B.'s got planned…'

-And then-

"Whew! That was probably the best meal we've had in quite a while, right Happy?" Natsu asked with a smirk as he leaned against a guard rail overlooking the town.

"Aye!" the little blue cat agreed as he sat on the guard railing looking out into the starlit sea. "Hey, isn't that ship out there the one that Salamander is having his party on?"

"Glad we're not there," Natsu said with a groan. "Being on a boat with that poser would just make me twice as noxious…"

"Aye," Happy agreed, remembering Natsu's extreme motion sickness.

"Is that the ship that Salamander is on?" one girl asked her two friends a short distance away.

"It has to be, look at the size of that thing!" one of her friends said.

"Hold on, who's Salamander?" the other friend questioned.

"You haven't heard of him? He's an awesome wizard with fire magic that can't be found anywhere else!"

"He's so good I've heard that he's even a top member of the Fairy Tail guild!"

As the girls continued to gossip amongst themselves Natsu's expression darkened considerably. "Fairy Tail…" he muttered through his clenched teeth, gritting them so hard that a drop of blood feel from his lips. "Damn boat…"

-On the boat-

For as much as Ragna hated the Salamander guy (whoever he was), he could at least admit that the party was decent. The ship was plenty large to host himself and all of the guests that were on board, many of which were beautiful young women… in fact it looked it looked like he was the only guy here besides the host… not that he had ANY intentions of sharing.

'At least it's easy to keep a distance from everyone,' he thought to himself as followed Lucy while she got a good look of the dining area. "So… how'd you know where to find a dress like that on such short notice anyways?"

"Shopping for a dress like this comes easy to someone like me," Lucy told him with a confident smirk. "You think it's a good match for me, right?"

"...Doesn't really matter what I think, does it? You just need to make sure Salamander likes it, not me," Ragna told her off. Seeing the glare she was giving him, he let out a sigh and tried that again. "You look really nice."

"Good that you think so," Lucy told him with a bubbly smile that Ragna smirked at despite himself. "Here he comes, try not to do anything that would upset him."

"I already told you I won't try anything…" 'Yet.'

"Ah, Lucy was it?" Salamander said as he approached the two. Ragna couldn't help but notice all of the girls trying to retain their conversation, even while glaring daggers at the two of them. "Would you mind accompanying me? I have this lovely bottle of wine that I've always wanted to share with a beautiful lady."

"I'd love to," Lucy told him with a fake smile on her face. The red coated man was about to follow them, but with the elbow he received in the stomach from Lucy, he knew he'd need to stay back for now.

'Hope she'll be alright,' Ragna thought before he looked at the buffet being offered. It was a decent spread and though he'd eaten earlier he was starving for some food.

"So that girl you were with… is she like your main squeeze?" one girl asked him, leaving Ragna to nearly choke on the very air he breathed. "Well is she?"

"NOTHING like that!" he shouted earning giggles from all around him as the girls drank their wine. 'Great, looks like I'm going to be on display for a while… This sucks.'

"Why then? You seem to be looking out for her like a lovestruck puppy," another said, her tone carrying a hint of mockery along with a suggestion of intoxication.

'Damn, now I'm actually starting to miss the rabbit,' Ragna thought to himself. "None of your business, I have my own reasons."

"Yeah, perverted reasons if you're looking out for a hussy like her," the woman said as she took a long sip from her wine glass, draining the beverage. "It's only because of her boobs that people would pay any attention to her. Why couldn't Salamander have noticed myyyyyyyyyyyy-!?"

Her drunken rant was cut short as she dropped her glass and fell to the floor of the ship. She didn't appear to be moving. Before any of the other girls could grow panicked or scream out in fear they all started falling to the floor leaving Ragna the only one still standing.

"You can come out now; I'm already well aware you were watching us," he said as his green eye scowled at the door’s leading to inside the ship. A collection of dirty chuckles was heard as a gang of brutes exited from the doors and started to surround Ragna and the fallen girls. "You had to drug the food to take out these chicks?"

"It helps keep their faces from being ruined, but the boss told us to mess yours up as much as we could before we throw you over the side," one told him as he cracked his knuckles and the rest of the men laughed. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Too bad, I was always the problem child back home; had a lot of trouble listening to others," Ragna told them with a cocky smirk.

"You damn idiot! This isn't close to all of us!" one man shouted. "This entire boat filled with almost a hundred of us! You can't even fight with the condition you're in!"

"Only a hundred? That sounds pretty dull," he muttered, turning his back to them as he looked at the food spread that he hadn't gotten to. "Damn, probably can't eat this if it’s got magic on it…"

One of the brutes had apparently listened long enough and charged Ragna from behind, ready to piledrive the cripple's head into the table. But before he could be caught in the grab, Ragna's good arm shot out and grabbed one of the food trays and swung it violently behind him, causing all of the food to go flying off before it was smashed into the thug's head. The tray was left with a deep imprint of the victim’s face as he fell back unconscious. Most of the other guards looked to their fallen ally before glaring back to the crippled man that stood before them.

"What was that about not being able to fight?" Ragna asked cockily as he dropped the tray to the ground with a dull clatter. 'Wonder how bad I can cut loose with just one arm?'

-Inside the Cabin-

'It's just about that time,' Salamander thought with confidence as he poured drinks for himself and his guest. "Do you mind if I make a small toast my dear?"

"That's fine with me," Lucy told him, trying to stay pleasant.

"Good, then here's to your beauty and future place in the great guild of Fairy Tail," he said before snapping his fingers. Droplets of liquid from the drinks he'd just poured floated into the air and slowly made their way towards a startled Lucy. "I want you to just relax, focus only the heavenly taste of each droplet."

"I…" Lucy started before scowling and slapping the droplets away. "I can't believe you! I came to this party because you said you could get me into Fairy Tail; I'm not about to get drugged by your sleep magic!"

"So you've figured out that little ploy out… my dear," Salamander said before snapping his finger. A curtain was pulled back, reveal all manner of thugs, each of whom carried an unconscious woman over their arm. "Though I'm afraid you realize too late, sleep magic or not."

"Wh-what is this!?" Lucy demanded, as the men let out a dark chuckle.

"Just a roundup of all the beautiful ladies of the party scattered around the ship," he told her, an evil smirk growing. "And don't bother screaming out for that guard of yours. My men are already in the process of beating him into a bloody past for those harsh statements at me from earlier." Lucy’s glare at him was full on nothing but hatred. "My advice? Lose the attitude; it's a decent journey to Boscow and who knows what we could have time for?"

"B-Boscow!? But that's nowhere near Fairy Tail!" Lucy shouted leaving Salamander to give a sickening round of laughter.

"Maybe what they say about dumb blondes is true after all, you still don't get it!" he mocked. "You're just like these girls here, about to become one of our slaves for a very long time."

"Why you-!?" Lucy shouted as she reached into her dress to grab her gate keys. Salamander proved the faster of the two and knocked them away with tendrils of his fire magic. 'Oh no!"

"The gate keys of a Celestial Wizard," he said with a smirk. "You're the only one that could use these keys… meaning that as of now they're worthless." With a malicious heart, he tossed the keys out of the boat and into the endless ocean.

"You…" Lucy began through a pained betrayal as tears fell down her face. "You're the worst wizard alive! You're taking advantage of others with magic and killing someone who was only trying to look out for me!"

As soon as she'd said that a massive crash was heard from the roof as a familiar pink haired youth fell through. She gasped as she recognized the figure as Natsu. The mysterious traveler had a look of unspeakable rage on his face… right before falling to the ground with motion sickness.

"That was... something," Salamander said unwittingly. "Is he supposed to be your little hero?"

"Aye!" came an unexpected voice from above. Lucy hadn't been expecting to see Happy here as well, nor was she expecting to see him with wings.

"A flying cat!?" Salamander shouted incredulously, right before Happy grabbed Lucy with his tail and took off for the skies.

"Whoa!? Happy!" Lucy screamed as she was flown into the air.

"Those little… PROMINENCE WIND!" Salamander shouted as he created a magic circle before him that shot out several flaming projectiles, only to have them intercepted by a figure that leapt out of nowhere and destroyed them in an instant. "What the-!? YOU!?"

"Sorry I'm late to the party, I had a whole ship full of assholes to deal with," Ragna said as he landed on the ground before glancing to the fallen form of the traveler from his earlier encounter. "Natsu? When did you-?"

"Not long ago…" he muttered while he was sick on the ground from motion sickness. "Ugh… stupid boat…"

"Right…" he began with slight worry before turning to face the thugs before him. "Just sit back for a moment if you can't move; I'll take things from here."

“I’d appreciate that,” he groaned weakly.

"How…" Salamander began, a deadly scowl creeping on his face. "How are you still alive!?"

"C'mon, if those thugs were all it would take to off me even without my arm, I'd have died long before now," Ranga told him with a demeaning smirk. "What's wrong? Is the great and powerful Salamander about ready to piss himself in front of his own men?"

"Like there's a chance in hell of that!" he shouted before waving hands, not to use fire magic but to signal to his flunkies. "GET HIM!"

The smirk stayed on Ragna's face as the first man of the batch made their way towards him. With a simple uppercut using his left arm, the silver haired fighter sent the thug into the ceiling. The second man that charged him was met with a harsh roundhouse kick to the stomach and sent flying into the wall. A third thug attempted a bull rush, but he merely raised his left leg into the air bringing it down and causing the man to face plant into the floor. The fourth man in the charge only received a powerful punch to the diaphragm before falling to his knees.

"Any more flunkies that you want to throw at me or are ya actually going to grow a pair?" Ragna demanded smugly at Salamander. With no thugs foolish enough to still approach him, the wizard was starting to lose his nerve and Ragna had him right where he wanted him. "Well in that case-"

All at once the ship started to rumble, most of the standing thugs were knocked off their feet as the tremors grew.

"What the hell's going on!?" one of them shouted.

"There's some huge wave hitting us! We're going to crash into the town!"

"Just great…” Ragna muttered before grabbing Natsu under his good arm and struggling to stay standing. "Brace yourself!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick,” he could only moan from his motion sickness.

"Throw up on me and I swear to god I'll drown you!"

When the wave had finally died down, the boat was beached on the port town. Ragna had made his way up to the top of the ship in the chaos and was catching his breath after what had just happened.

"Damn, well at least that's over with," he grumbled.

"Not just yet," Natsu said angrily as he rose to his feet, seeming to recover now that they'd stopped. "I've got a score to settle with that Salamander…" The red coated man then saw Happy and Lucy approaching from the beach.

"Ragna! Natsu!" the blonde celestial mage called out to them. "You're both okay!"

"...Do what you have to," he said ominously before jumping ship and landing next to Lucy. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," she told him before letting out a sigh of relief. "I was more worried about you. Salamander said that he'd sent his goons out to kill you!"

"He did, but I'm not about to lose to trash like them," Ragna told her before glancing to the top of the ship. "Natsu said he wants to finish off this whole mess, let's see what he's got in store."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Aye! 'Cause Natsu's a wizard too!" Happy said merrily, chomping on a fish that had been beached during the huge wave.

"HE IS!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Figures," Ragna muttered. "Something about that kid just didn't seem normal to me."

"So you're saying that you're a member of Fairy Tail?" Natsu addressed Salamander from up above on the ship.

"Why do you care? Get him!" Salamander shouted, ordering his lackeys forward once more. Natsu threw his coat in their faces, blinding them both before striking the them both away.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel! I'm a wizard of Fairy Tail and I've never seen you before in my life!" he shouted, showing off the red insignia on his shoulder in full.

"You've got be kidding me!" Lucy shouted. "Natsu is in Fairy Tail?"

"Now we're talking," Ragna said with strange excitement. "Let's have look at what real magic's like."

"That mark's the real deal!" one of the thugs shouted with worry. "He's a real wizard Bora!"

"You idiot! Don't tell them who I am!" the fake Salamander shouted in annoyance.

"Bora the Prominence?" Happy voiced aloud. "I heard that he used to be in the Titan Nose guild a while ago, but they kicked him out because of his behavior."

"I don't care who you are or what you're trying to pull!" Natsu shouted. "You use Fairy Tail's name in vain and I'm gonna put you in a world of hurt!"

"I've had enough of this!" Bora shouted as he parted his hands and a magic circle appeared before him. "Prominence Typhoon!' A burst of purple flames were sent out causing an explosion where Natsu had been standing.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out in fear. She grabbed her keychains and tried to decide what spirit she could summon to defeat Bora.

"Don't worry," Happy told her, a creepy smile seeming to form on his face. "Fire magic can't hurt Natsu."

"What?" Lucy asked before seeing Natsu was still fine… in fact- "HE'S EATING THE FIRE!?"

"Okay… I wasn't expecting that one," Ragna admitted as he watched the girls from the party run out the ship screaming. "Looks like the love spells been broken, 'bout damned time."

“Are you going to return the money you got from that girl then?”

“Hell no.”

"Ew! Is this really the best fire you can cast? It's disgusting!" Natsu shouted. Bora and the rest of his men were understandably in awe as they watched. "But now… I've got a fire in my belly that's raging to get out!" He slammed his fists together and created another magic circle. "FIRE DRAGON: ROAR!"

The burst of fire from Natsu’s mouth completely obliterated the ship and left all of his men in a heap within the rubble. Many of them moaned in pain as their boss floated in the air over Natsu using his Purple Carpet spell.

"I think it goes without saying," Ragna began as Natsu's form slowly emerged from the smoke. "But I'd say we've found the real Salamander." He then noticed Lucy was still staring in awe as his pink haired acquaintance continued to beat down Bora and destroy the town. "So Happy, how's Natsu do it?"

"It's an ancient spell, giving him the lungs, scales, and claws of dragon! It's called Dragon Slayer magic! Igneel was the one that taught it to him!"

"A dragon taught someone Dragon Slayer magic? That's a new one on me…" he admitted before seeing that Natsu had Bora on the ropes. "And here comes the finishing blow."

"I'm gonna cook you like a smoked fish!" Natsu threatened as he leapt into the air.

"You're gonna do what to me!?" Bora exclaimed with fright as his opponent soared forward.

"FIRE DRAGON: IRON FIST!" Natsu shouted as his fist was covered in fire. He smashed it into Bora and sent him flying through the town, causing him crash into buildings until he smacked into a bell at the center of town and went still.

"Don't be silly Natsu! Everyone knows you smoke food with smoke, not fire!" Happy said, referring to Natsu's earlier threat.

"I think that's sort of beside the point now…" Ragna began with a glum expression.

"He… He overdid it! The city's a wreck!" Lucy exclaimed. Indeed the town was a destroyed mess, many of the buildings had become deformed due to the damage Natsu and Bora had inflicted in their fight.

"Damn it… I know that this is gonna get blamed on me," Ragna groaned before he heard marching. "Is that-?"

"The army!?" Lucy finished before both were grabbed by Natsu as he fled from the scene. "Hey! Hold it!"

"Just keep running until we get back to the guild, alright!?" he shouted, causing Lucy's eyes to grow wide, Natsu turned his head and grinned at her. "You said you wanted to get into Fairy Tail didn't you? This time it’s for real... So LET'S GO!"

The blonde face was lit by a smile the easily went from ear to ear. "ALRIGHT!"

"Now wait a damned minute!" Ragna shouted before looking behind him and seeing the army chasing after them. It was either stay with them and hope they’d be lenient in their judgement and he could answer any questions he needed to about this new, alien land or follow the guy that had just toasted a city… In the end it wasn’t much of a choice.

"OH HELL!" he shouted following closely behind the two.

Author's Note

S: Hey everyone, it's Storm VII-

H: And Happy! Aye!

S: Yeah, I'm bringing the cat into this too… So he’s my AO3 reposting of this story. Usually in these segments I’d have happy and I do a small skit to address some minor things as well as some updates.

H: You’d even have me respond to a few of the reviews, how would you do that now?

S: Well, they just have to ask for you directly now I guess. If they do that I’ll let you do your work.

H: Right, but I can’t answer any questions for the story or for Fairy Tail proper that haven’t been covered yet… Storm actually has me on an NDA.

S: I still don’t know how I managed that…

H: But every review I answer, I get a whole barrel of fish!

S: NOT HERE TOO!

H: See you next chapter everyone! Ciao!

S: THAT’S MY LINE!

Chapter Text

Episode 002: Arrival at the Guild

Looking at the fabled Fairy Tail guild for the first time Ragna had expected to be struck with an immediate wave of awe or something, but he instead ended up feeling a slight twinge of disappointment. That wasn't to say that the place looked like a total dump, it just… it didn't look too different from the other buildings in town. The shape might've been a little weird and there were a banners hung outside, but honestly he felt that he would have completely missed this place if he didn't know what it really was.

'Maybe there's something majestic about it, something that you need two eyes or a history of this place to see,' he thought to himself as he turned towards Lucy, who's eyes were sparkling bright as she saw their destination. '...Or I might need to be a total Fairy Tail groupie…'

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Lucy said excitedly. "The whole town looked amazing, but the guild really puts it together." Again, Ragna had to question his view on the guild's design. "I… I can finally join," Lucy continued, nearly in tears.

"Hey c'mon, it's not that big of a deal," Natsu told her with a very laissez faire demeanor.

"Well it's obviously a big deal for her; so let's not ruin the moment," he told Natsu before sighing to himself. "Unfortunately though, it looks like this is where we part ways guys."

"Eh? You're leaving?" Lucy said, seeming to be disappointed that she had to say goodbye to Ragna even though she'd just met him yesterday (hey, when someone looks out for you to saves you from a love spell and slavers you tend to befriend them rather quick). "Don't you want to join the guild?"

"Can't," he told her bluntly. "I might be a tough son of a bitch even when I'm like this, but I don't know any magic. 'Sides, I'm more of a drifter anyways; staying in one place just ain't my style."

"If you like being a drifter so much, why'd you follow us?" Happy questioned.

"It was either I follow you or I was stuck to deal with the army and hope I could explain the mess you caused," he reminded before turning to the disheartened blonde. "Hey, keep your chin up. You'll do fine here, I know it."

"Thanks," Lucy said trying to keep her bright smile up. "I'll do my best."

"You want to at least come inside?" Natsu questioned. "Come on, you came all the way here with us. You might as well see what the place looks like."

'I guess there's no real reason for me to refuse,' Ragna thought before shrugging. "Whatever."

Smiling, Natsu opened the doors to the guild and the group slowly piled inside. There were several people there with some bizarre features about them. People were talking, drinking, and laughing with one another; a great sense of camaraderie filled the room.

"We're back!" Natsu called out. Everyone around the guild gave him a friendly wave except for one buck toothed wizard who simply laughed.

"I heard you went all out and destroyed Hargeon Natsu," he mocked slight, right before getting pummeled by Natsu and sent flying into a nearby wall. Angrily he picked himself out of the rubble. "What was that for!?"

"That salamander info you gave us was completely bogus!" Natsu shouted getting ready for a fight. "Igneel wasn't there at all! It was just some poser!"

"Well I just passed along the info!" the victim shouted as the two then started to exchange blows, sending several wizards flying. The guild of Fairy Tail already had a bar fight on its hands.

'This… is not what I expected,' Ragna thought as he gave a familiar anime style sweat drop. Turning to Lucy, he clearly saw that she was still smiling without a concern in the world. 'She must still be starstruck, it's the only way.'

"So Natsu finally came back did he!?" an angry challenger shouted. Ragna saw a dark haired teen stand from the table to engage in his own fight… wearing nothing but boxers.

"Eek!" Lucy screamed with a deep blush on her face as the challenger headed towards Natsu.

"Hey fire breath! Fight me!"

"Not before you put some clothes on Grey!" Natsu shouted as he sent another three people into a wall.

"Is-is it usually like this?" Lucy thought aloud.

"Aye!" came Happy's himself-go-lucky response.

"Seems like a damn pain in the ass," Ragna groaned. "...I need a drink."

"You and me both," said an alluring woman with brown hair and light skin sitting at a table a short distance from them. "The men here have absolutely no class." Which was ironic because she immediately started chugging her booze out of a massive barrel.

"On second thought, day drinking has its own problems," Ragna decided with a cast over expression.

"You're right, I wouldn't copy what Cana's doing if I were you," came yet another new voice as large silver haired man with a scar under his right eye said. "It take a real man to know when not to drink. Just like it takes a real man to know this bickering is pointless."

"...You don't say," Ragna awkwardly answered as the large newcomer headed over towards Natsu and Grey.

"Hey Natsu! Grey! If you want a fight then come take on a real man!"

"BUTT OUT, ELFMAN!" the two shouted in unison as they blasted him away unison strike from their fists.

"Well that didn't last very long," Ragna sighed as Lucy gawked at the scene before them while the brawl continued. "Is there no one normal around here?"

"In the Fairy Tail guild? I honestly, doubt it. Everyone besides me can't help but get into a fight the first chance they get." The tone that the voice had spoken in was one that Ragna unfortunately knew quite well. Cringing as he turned his head, his emerald green eye landed on a light haired young man with a girl on each arm, both of them clearly swooning over him. "Hi there, I'm Loke. Haven't see either of you around before."

'Another ladies man, AMATERASU WHY!?' Ragna shouted internally right before Loki was stuck in the head by debris from the fighting.

"On second thought, I'll gladly step in… only if it's to protect the maidens fair," Loki said with a charming smile that Ragna was sick of seeing everywhere he went.

"Oh, he's so brave," one girl sighed.

"And such a gentleman," the other giggled.

"Yare yare daze," Ragna groaned as Lucy wrote something in one of her magazines. "Are you sure you want to join this guild? No offense, but I don't think your sanity would last an hour here."

"Excuse me, can I help either of you?" a lady asked from behind them. The Reaper turned to see a ravishing girl with long white hair elegantly carrying a tray of drinks in her hand. Something about her seemed oddly familiar.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Lucy squealed right beside Ragna, causing him to grimace as she did so right into his ear. "It's THE Mirajane!"

"Miraja-?" he repeated before realizing. "Oh right, the one wearing the bikinis in that pinup book you have."

"Pinup book?" Mira repeated with innocent confusion.

"BE QUIET!" Lucy shouted as she kicked Ragna into a nearby pillar causing the Reaper yelled as he smacked into it face first. "I'm so sorry! Don't pay any attention to him, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Alright then," the model said, appearing to be mostly unfazed… at least she was before Elfman's ragdoll body slammed into her.

"Mirajane!" Lucy screamed as her idol appeared to go unconscious. "Don't die! You can't die! I just met youuuuuuuu!" In the background the battle was starting to get more chaotic as the fist fights were starting to become even more fierce, Cana started drinking even stronger alcohol, Loke started showing off for the girls, and Natsu for some reason stole Grey's underwear.

"Alright, that's it…" Ragna growled before tensing his body. He then roared his simple demand and slammed his fist down into the floor with enough force to make the entire guild rumble. "SHUT UP!"

All at once the fighting seemed to cease; the guild member's turned their gazes to the half paralyzed, silver haired, red coated man whom they'd never seen before in their lives that had just broken several floorboards when he quite literally shook their home. Feeling uncomfortable with the attention and looking for a way out, Ragna grabbed Lucy by the arm and brought her forward.

"Hey! What're you-!?"

"Who's in charge here!? This one's looking to join your guild! ...And Natsu, give the guy his trunks back, alright?" He carried a harsh glare, almost as if he was daring the guild to resume their fistfight. Not accepting the daring glare everyone's attention turned to Lucy while Natsu (begrudgingly) complied.

"Uh… Hi e-everyone, I-I'm Lucy," the blonde said nervously . Ragna rolled his good eye and poked her in the middle of the forehead. "Hey!"

"Loosen up a bit, eh? I don't think they're going to bite you," he said with a sigh. "Well? Is the guy in charge here or not?"

"HE IS." That monstrous voice was shortly followed as a massive foot slammed to the ground. Ragna and Lucy were immediately dwarfed by the shadowy giant that towered over the rest of the guild.

"Oh, I didn't think you were still here master," Mira (apparently quick to recover) said, causing Lucy to scream.

"SO…. YOU'RE LOOKING TO JOIN FAIRY TAIL ARE YOU!?" the giant demanded as it leaned towards the blonde.

"Y-yes sir…" a cowering Lucy admitted as she shivered with fright. "I-I'll prove to you that I'm worthy of Fairy Tail!"

"Oi, if you're going to try and put on a brave face…." an annoyed Ragna began before glancing behind him. "You can at least stop using me as a shield."

The giant then gave a massive roar as power flowed out of it. Lucy screamed while Ragna tried to brace himself should it attack… only to watch as the giant shrank to a rather miniature man, cartoonishly miniature at that.

"Some kind of size spell?" Ragna thought aloud. "Are you really the guild leader?"

"Of course he is!" Mira said with a beaming smile. "Allow me introduce the third guild leader of Fairy Tail, Makarov."

'Damn, I'm not getting a reading on this guy's power,' Ragna thought as the tiny old man leapt to the second floor. 'Is it because I lost control of my arm, or is it because this magic doesn't work like Ars Magus?'

"You clots are going to be the death of me," Makarov grumbled as he grabbed out a large pile of paper from the second floor. "Look at all of these complaints! Grey, you've been charged with stripping in public. Elfman, you verbally assaulted your client for saying that real men don't need muscles. Cana drank the shipment of beer she was supposed to escort. Loke had to go and flirt with his client's wife again. And Natsu… YOU'VE DESTROYED AN ENTIRE TOWN! And these are just the tip of the iceberg!"

'Is this really what the Fairy Tail guilds known for?' the Reaper thought as he saw the guild members with guilty looks upon their faces. 'Jeeze, what a place. They must have to shovel out fees like-'

"But to hell with 'em!" Makarov shouted as he lit the complaints on fire.

"SAY WHAT!?" Ragna shouted as the guild master tossed away the burning complaints (which were devoured by Natsu). "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?"

"If we allow a few complaints to get in the way of our magic, who are we to call ourselves true wizards?! Magic doesn't exist because of some pesky set of rules, it exists by the creativity, passion, and spirit of its user! If we don't give it our all we can't achieve that which we strive for, our very dreams would be forever out of reach! Believe in yourself and your guildmates to strive forward! That's all you need… AS A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD!"

"FAIRY TAIL!" the guild shouted as a whole, many members raising an arm and pointing a single finger skyward. Lucy's eyes sparkled as she realized that this was the guild spirit that she had heard of. The connection between each member, the chaos caused on the mission; it was all she had dreamed it would be.

...Ragna was merely at a loss for words.

And then

"Annnnnd that should do it," Mirajane happily told Lucy as she brought the stamp off of her hand revealing a Fairy Tail marker on the back of the blonde's hand.

Lucy then gave a squeal of excitement as she ran off to show Natsu, leaving Ragna by the front desk.

"Is it really that easy to get in?" he asked Mira at the front.

"It's not supposed to that hard, we're not a completely exclusive guild," she replied. "Besides, she came in with a recommendation from Natsu and that's worth a lot."

"Any particular reason you're asking?" Makarov questioned.

"Well… when the three of us met, there was this Bora creep who kept telling everyone that he was the famous Salamander of Fairy Tail. He even promised Lucy that he could get her into the guild if she went to his stupid party." Ragna grit his teeth at the memory. "Bastard turned out to be a damned slaver with a ship full of hired thugs."

"Is that right?" Makarov's voice had a heavy touch of suspicion in it. "I take it you helped in the ensuing fight?"

"I took out the goons no problem sure, but Bora was all Natsu's doing… which is why the town was blown to hell," he admitted with a sigh. "Probably shouldn't have let him do the fight on his own like he'd wanted."

"Master Makarov, has my dad come back yet?" a young voice questioned the head of the guild. Seeing that this was guild business, Ragna got out of the way and headed to find Lucy.

"So… this is goodbye then?" she asked as Natsu looked over the board. Ragna paid attention to what she was saying, but he couldn't help but overhear the kid that was begging to the guild master, something about his dad who hadn't come back.

"Yeah, I guess…" he said before smirking. "Take care of yourself alright? Life in this guild isn't gonna be any breeze, but I have a feeling you can take whatever comes your way."

"Well, if you think I can do it then I really have no reason to fail do I?" she asked right before she heard Makarov yelp in pain. Turning her head to the front desk she saw the guild master with a broken nose as the boy from earlier ran for the exit crying. "What just happened?"

"That boy…" Makarov groaned. "When will he learn that all he's endangering is his father's pride?"

"Pride?" Ragna repeated before hearing Natsu's slam his fist into the request board, cause nearby wizards to scold his behavior. "So… his dad's MIA?"

"Yeah, for a while now," Mira explained sadly from behind the front desk as the Fire Dragon Slayer grabbed his supplies and left the guild.

"And Natsu's going off to find him," Makarov said with a sigh. "Of course he would, those two have more in common than they let on."

"What does that mean?" Lucy asked.

"It means that they've both lost someone," Mirajane explained. "Romeo's missing his father and Natsu doesn't want him to lose him like he lost Igneel."

"The dragon?" Ragna said with slight doubt. "...Were they close?"

"Yes, Igneel found Natsu when he was just a baby; he raised him, fed him, taught him… and then he vanished. Natsu tries not to show it, but everyday he gets just a little more hopeful that he'll be able to find him…"

"Damn," Ragna said simply before turning to Lucy. "Go follow 'im, he could use a good friend now."

"...Yeah," she agreed with a sad smile before running off after the pink haired mage. "Thanks for everything Ragna! I swear we'll see each other again!"

"Count on it!" Ragna called after her as she left the guild. He gave one last long sigh. "Guess it's time for me to finally leave then."

"You're not here to join the guild then?" Makarov questioned.

"I can't; you had a rousing speech an' all, but I don't know any magic. I'd probably be better off doing freelance work or living out in the woods. A nice quiet life like that sounds nice."

"Hmm…" Makarov hummed to himself as he looked at the contents of his tankard. "Are you letting that stand in your way or are you simply trying to leave?"

"Come again?" the Reaper questioned, not sure what the old man was suggesting. The master didn't answer him immediately, first taking a long drink of his beer.

"...Even if you don't know magic, that doesn't mean you can't join this guild," he finally said.

"Wha-!? Master are you serious?" Elfman demanded. "No offense, but that seems like a pretty large exception to make for one person that we don't know anything about!"

"Perhaps, but he certainly seems able if he managed to assist Natsu," the elderly man began. "Besides, when was the last time someone besides me or her was able to stop a brawl at the guild?"

'Her?' Ragna thought as he saw everyone's expression turn uncomfortably pale. 'Looks like this place has its own resident demoness…'

"So my offer… Take one of the jobs on the board, I think there might be an easy local one or two on there. Prove that you can accomplish that much and you can join. We can help you get started with some basic lessons afterwards."

"I get it," Grey began as he got a grasp on Makarov's thinking. "And if he doesn't learn magic for whatever reason, he's probably strong enough to still head with other guild members as back up on their jobs."

"Grey, your clothes," Cana called him out again, causing Grey to gag as he realized he'd unintentionally stripped to his boxers again.

'He wants me here for some reason, and stopping fights in the guild ain't the full story,' Ragna thought to himself as he caught where Makarov's eyes were really pointed, his paralyzed right arm. 'He knows something about my arm… or he knows that something's up with it at least. If I walk away here am I just admitting something or…?'

"Not to mention," the old man began once more. "It might be possible to find some way to heal your condition, given time." It was a tempting offer, one that made it all the more challenging for Ragna to get a proper understanding on the guild leader's true character.

"...Fine, I'll give it a shot," Ragna eventually relented as he headed back to the notice board. "I could use the money anyways."

"As good of a reason as any," Makarov agreed. "But I imagine that if you put your effort into your work you'll start to look forward to the jobs themselves more so than the rewards they offer. Cana, if you could make him a quick set of the basics. Two of five types of spells, just so he'll have something to get him through safely."

"Yeah, sure," the heavy drinker answered without conviction, yet she still pulled out a few blank cards and began writing on them. While she worked on that Ragna looked over the notice board for a job that he could take.

'Let's see… there's a job to find a sacred sword that's offering a decent clump of cash, but I'll probably need a ton of magic for it. There's another one that's asking me to wipe out a group of thugs, but I don't know the city that's its being held. There's no telling what's out there right now, so I oughta stick close.'

"Do you want some help?" he heard Mira offer from besides him. "I often set up the notice board, so I can help get you they type of mission that you're looking for."

"Yeah, that'd save me a headache," Ragna admitted with a nod. "I'm trying to find something that's local, doesn't take too much magic to do, and shouldn't take more than a day to take care of… points if there's some fighting to be done."

"Those types of jobs don't pay out that much money, but it should be alright if you're just doing it to prove yourself to Makarov," she told him with a pleasant smile as she looked over the board. "Oh, this one should be perfect. It's a gathering mission."

"Gathering? You mean I need to head into the wild and get find some basic odds and ends? Sounds easy enough, but why would they need a wizard for something like this?"

"Some items can be easier to find if you're a wizard, other times the patches that they use for gathering have monsters around them. This request looks like it's more of the latter, so you'll get into a fight or two like you wanted."

"Looks like we've got a winner then," Ragna agreed.

"Excellent, I'll write up a note from the guild for the client so they can understand why you don't have the official Fairy Tail sigil on you," the young lady told him as she headed back to the front desk. While she got the paperwork settled, Cana headed over to Ragna with a few magic cards in her hand.

"Here," she said handing the majority of them to Ragna. "They're not strong, but they'll help get you started. Just act like you're channeling magic into the card and they'll take care of the rest of the incantation. Just channel and throw."

"Alright…" Ragna said as he looked over the cards. "I… I think I've got an idea how this works."

"Might as well play it safe," Cana told him. "Hey Grey, you mind?"

"Nah, it's not a problem," Grey said before putting his hands together and creating a blue magic circle. "Ice Make: Wall!" A thick wall of ice appeared between him and Ragna, causing the temperature to go down several degrees in the guild, Leaving the barrier in place, Grey got out from behind it.

"Alright, try out one of the Fireball cards that I got for you," Cana told him. "Remember, just channel and throw. It's as basic as you can get."

'I'd rather have a sword to swing,' Ragna thought to himself. 'Well, beggar's can't be choosers.' Pouring his power into one of the two cards with a flame on it (similar to how he used the BlazBlue), Ragna flung the card towards the ice wall and created a massive explosion of flames. When the fire faded, the ice wall was completely gone and the floor beneath was badly charred. "Did I do it right?"

"You… your fireball was a bit… stronger than I was expecting," Cana told him with some surprise on her face. "And you've never used magic before?"

"...Beginner's luck," Ragna lied as he tried not be unnerved as Makarov continued to analyze him and his arm.

And then what happened

"Looks like this is the place," Ragna noted as he stood in front of the shop that would be desiring his services.

Like the Fairy Tail guild, the building didn't stand out much from any other building in the rest of the town. A simple two story brick and wood home that looked like it'd had its first floor remodeled to act as sort of a shop. The wooden sign outside showed two sword-crossed sewing needles placed on top of a piece of fabric while the needles were connected by a string tied around each of the loops. In the shop's right window there was a set of silk wear and dresses while the window left of the door showed off leather jackets and the like. Dramatically different styles, but he assumed it was to cover a broader range of customers.

'Yeah, this is the clothes shop alright. At least it was easy finding the place,' he thought before turning the guild note over revealing the instruction on the back. 'Would've taken me forever if Mirajane hadn't told me how to get here, plus she helped me find this job in the first place, and there’s the fact that she’s the most levelheaded person I’ve met here… Maybe Lucy could use her as a role model after all…'

Pushing those thoughts out of his head for the moment, Ragna opened the door to the shop inside he saw a young woman sitting behind the desk looking bored out of her mind since she didn't even look up at the sounds of a door ringing at the front. Her hair was a strange shade of violet and it was shaved down on the left side while long and spiky on the right. She was dressed in biker leather and was tapping a fingerless-gloved knuckle on the desk in a rhythmic order like she’d already grown impatient with him just walking through the front door.

"Welcome to the Punk and Chic fashion salon," she said with boredom as if she were reading it from a card. "Our special sales for today are the Buy a punk get a chic at half off and a free store tee with every outfit. If you try to leave without buying anything I get to wreak your face at least once."

'No wonder they don't have any customers. With that kinda attitude it’s a wonder they’re not already out of business,' Ragna thought as his good eye narrowed into a glare. "Yeah, well I'm here about the request."

"...Someone actually answered that job that pays peanuts? You must've been born yesterd-" she couldn't answer as she finally looked up to face the new arrival. Ragna began to grow rather uncomfortable as she stared with wide gaping eyes at him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

"I told you; I'm here for the job request," he explained yet again as she got out from behind the desk and marched towards him. "Hey, the hell's your deal?"

"My DEAL is that I've never seen someone be so uncaring towards a coat in their life!" she shouted as she more or less stole the jacket off of Ragna in one fluid motion. "The very craftsmanship on this is amazing! The material must've taken forever to create, the metal plates have been perfectly smithed, the belts the exact length… And you tear it up in a fight on the schoolyard!"

"...Schoolyard fight?" Ragna repeated as he though back to the titanic battle of how he got those marks on his jacket. 'I doubt Susanoo Terumi would like to be called a schoolyard brat, but what the hell do I care about him?'

"Are you scaring away another customer?" a new voice said as a different girl came down from the shop's second floor. This girl had blonde hair nearly as bright as Lucy's, but had it done into curls. She was wearing an old fashioned silk ballroom dress. "I turn my back for one moment and you have to ruin any chance we get of making a sale!"

"At least I don't cut the price of everything in half just because someone asks me if they can get a special deal, softy!"

"That's called bartering! You're just too thick to know it!"

"Softy!"

"Thick!"

"Softy!"

"Extra Thicc!"

"ENOUGH!" Ragna shouted with rage, breaking up a fight for the second time that day. "I'm not a paying customer, I'm here because of the damn guild request!"

"Hold on, you're from Fairy Tail?" the unnamed blond girl questioned. "Why have I never seen you in town until now?" Ragna handed her the letter which she quickly read over. "Oh, that explains it. Anyways, sorry about Beth's aggressive side, she's usually like that."

"Tch, I ain't apologizing," said the girl now known as Beth.

"I'd be shocked if you did. My name's Annalisa and I work with the leather in the shop."

"Wait, you work with the leather?" Ragna asked the girl in the silk dress with confusion. "That's…" 'Don't question it Ragna, we don't need to know how strong migraine medicine is on only our second day here.' "Never mind, so where am I going and what am I looking for?"

"Just to the forest outside of town, I've got a map that'll lead you to the mushroom patch I need you to find. They've got red caps with pink dots over them. Hard to miss."

"Yeah, with colors like that," Ragna reluctantly agreed. "So what's guarding them?"

"Monsters called Fungoides, they look like giant mushrooms and will try to suffocate you with a spray of their pollen to the face," Beth explained to him. "You… don't use fire magic do you?"

"I can," Ragna told her, remembering the card he'd used from earlier.

"Well whatever happens, don't use it. The pollen on these mushrooms is highly flammable and it'll ruin the entire patch. We only need about ten mushrooms to get us by, so try to get 'em and run out of there as fast as you can."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ragna muttered. "Now give me my jacket back and I'll be on my way."

"Why, so you can finish tearing it to shreds?" Beth demanded, getting right in Ragna's face with a glare. "I'm not going to let a beautiful creation like this to be ruined beyond imagine!"

"And what about that hakama?" Annalisa as noted as she looked at Ragna's black bloodstained clothes. "That could also use a good washing… Tell you what, as a onetime deal we'll repair both for you while you're on the job."

"Seriously!?" Beth shouted, annoying the Reaper even further with all of the screaming he was hearing. "Why the hell are we doing this for free!?"

"Free? Whoever said anything about that?" the leatherworker rhetorically asked with a cruel smile on her face, unnerving Ragna to no end.

And then

"Dammit, how the hell did I let them talk me into this?" Ragna grumbled as he made his way through the forest just outside of town. "Giving up my clothes for 'em to fix is bad enough, but wearing this through town is pushing it!"

While the outfit that Ragna was wearing wasn't clownish or unflattering in any sense of either adjective, the mere fact that he'd been coerced into wearing them was more than enough to piss him off. He wore a white tee shirt with a black sketch of the shop's insignia on it, the short sleeves continued to allow his artificial arms to be shown off in full. His black pants had been traded for light tan cargo shorts with several pocket where he kept both his wallet and the cards that Cana had given him to get him through the mission. The oddest change, by far had been his shoes. Since the material had been damaged in the fight the girls had still insisted on taking them from him for repairs they'd left him wearing a pair of geta; those wooden sandals you sometimes see samurai wearing.

"There's a reason that I never wear anything other than my coat; I'd look ridiculous in just about anything else. They better keep their word that they're just going to repair the coat, I'll charge them a fortune if they try to change or add anything on it," he promised as he looked at the map he'd been given. "According to this thing I don't have far to go… Heh, if I was doing this with Celica I'd be out here all week and I doubt I'd get anywhere near the patch."

As Ragna continued to travel the path he started to hear shuffling sounds coming from around the trees. Knowing full well that it could be a group of the Fungoid creatures, Ragna reached inside his pocket for the cards.

'Their pollen is supposed to be flammable, so that second fire card’s out unless I want to burn this place to the ground,' Ragna thought before taking a card out with a snowflake design on it. 'This should be fine to use, just gotta make sure I don't use it too early.' More shuffling from a bush near him. Ragna watched it carefully as the vegetation slowly began to wither and die before revealing three Fungoides.

Their mushroom cap tops came up only to Ragna's waist and the body below was pale and bulbous. They had tiny arms, but long root-like fingers. The creatures tilted their heads and eyed Ragna with a sort of childish innocence.

'These things are going to suffocate me? They don't look like they'd hurt a fly,' Ragna thought to himself before glance to the bush that they drained nutrition from. 'Then again just because something's innocent doesn't mean it's not deadly.'

He didn't throw the card just yet, nor did he channel his energy to activate its effect. He instead decided to continue on his way and pay the creatures little mind. It turned out that was the correct decision, because the group then decided to head off in a different direction to search for more food. Knowing how certain creatures acted having experience in hunting, he figured that as long as he didn't attack any of them they wouldn't respond in kind… at least he hoped that was the case.

Meanwhile Back at the Fairy Tail Guild

"Man, this isn't getting me anywhere…" a young blue haired mage sighed as she looked through the several tomes situated on the table around her. She was busily flipping through page after page of the book in her hands while her eyes beneath her glasses darted left and right as she read its contents at high speed. "No matches here either…"

"I take it progress is slow then?" Makarov asked as the tiny guild leader walked up beside her. "Sorry again for asking you to do this, Levy. It looks like I held you back for nothing."

"No I don't mind, I'm just sorry that I haven't found anything in these texts that could be Ragna's arm… you're sure it can be a magic item?"

"I honestly don't know," he admitted as he took a seat at the end of the table. "I only know that I didn't sense a thing from his arm. Not a piece of his life force, not an ounce of magic energy… yet it almost seemed organic, artificially so."

"...Did you really mean what you said to him, about healing his arm?" the blue haired girl asked him concern as she began scanning a different book.

"That's up to him, depending on his attitude he might have to live with an arm like that for the rest of his life… which begs the question, if it's so useless why has he kept it for so long?"

"Maybe he doesn't have a choice?" Levy suggested. "There could be some sort of curse on it?"

"If there was I'd have noticed," Makarov reminded with a sigh. "He's a mystery that one…"

"Master, if he's such a mystery then why'd you let him into the guild?" Mirajane asked as she approached the two. "You'd never let a threat to any of us into our guild, I know you well enough for that."

"It's to make sure I can keep a closer eye on him," the elderly man admitted. "He's an odd one alright and very irritable to boot, yet he arrived here with Natsu. That young boy seems to have taken an early liking to him and I've never known Natsu to be a poor judge of character. And that girl they arrived with, Lucy, she seems to have respect for him despite supposedly meeting the two of them yesterday… There's just too much we don't know."

"So you're going to be judging him from afar until you can come to a decision?" Levy guessed. "I guess that works, but what about having the guild help him learn magic? Did you mean that too?"

"Indeed," Makarov told her. "I'll start him off with the basic elemental spells and then I'll try to see if there's something more advanced that these old bones can't show him…"

"Eh? You're going to be teaching him yourself?" Mira asked with shock. "But that's almost unheard of from you!"

"Indeed, but then again we've never encountered a situation like this before either; learning spells will be a result of my teachings for sure, but with my select methods of teaching I can try to have it be a trial of his character down the road."

Meanwhile

"ACHOO!" Ragna sneezed violently. "Damn, either the pollen's starting to get to me or someone's saying nasty things about me behind my back." He tried to shake the feeling off as he took another look at the map. "According to this thing I should be getting pretty damn close… ah, here we go."

Passing through the tree line, Ragna finally came across the mushrooms he'd come to the forest to find. The was a giant gathering of patches full of several dozens of mushrooms, but from what he could tell there were only a few that matched what he was after for the job.

"Let's see…Red caps and pink dots," he thought aloud as he opened the small sack he'd brought with him. "Here's one." Reaching his arm out he picked the mushroom and tossed it into the bag. "Damn, I barely touched it and my hand’s completely covered in pollen… Hmm?" From within the pile a tiny little Fungoid popped out and stared at him with curious eyes. "...What're you looking at?"

The creature didn't respond immediately and the two just stared at each other in a long moment of silence. Then the creature slowly started to expand causing Ragna to take a step back in concern before it blew a thick cloud of pollen at him. Leaping back he managed to escape the cloud, but the creature leapt through the cover with its long root like claws extended out. Going for the more head on approached, Ragna simply threw a strong punch and blasted the creature off into the forest.

"Annoying little shit…" the Reaper muttered to himself as he turned back to the rest of the patch, only to see dozens more of the tiny creatures. "Dammit, let's make this quick."

Randomly taking one of the cards out of his pocket, Ragna found that he'd pulled out a card with an insignia of an ocean wave on it. Channeling his magic into the weapon like he'd done earlier, Ragna threw the card and unleashed a torrent of water upon the mushroom men that swept several away. A few of the creatures jumped from the trees above him, but Ragna then threw a card with an insignia of a storm cloud on it, striking them with bolts of lightning and incapacitating them. Another mushroom extended it root fingers, but Ragna caught them in his usable hand before roaring as he swung the creature like a ball and chain to send its allies flying.

A large ring of the enemy mushrooms surrounded him and all exhaled their suffocating pollen hoping to cage him in. Ragna then took a card with a tornado drawn on it and held his breath as he channeled magic into it. Throwing the card to the ground, a massive whirlwind emerged and dispelled the pollen with its force and sent the Fungoides stumbling back. The Reaper (safe in the vortex’s eye) then rushed forward and delivered a powerful drop kick to one of the creatures and blasted it into a tree and caused a large branch to come loose. Grabbing said branch out of midair, Ragna smirked as he realized that it was just the right size for a makeshift sword.

"Better than nothing I guess," he said cockily before swinging it and sending several fungoides flying like baseballs. "Heh, now you're in for it…"

With Ragna's new weapon and his dark look glaring down at them, the Fungoids’ earlier innocent expressions turned to ones of sheer fright.

Not Long Later- Punk and Chic  fashion salon-

"Wonder how that idiot's is doing?" Beth sighed as she sat with her feet up on the front desk while she looked over Sorcerer's Weekly. "He's probably lost to all hell in the middle of the woods and completely covered in pollen." The bell at the front rang once more, indicating they had another visitor. "Welcome to the Punk and Chic fashion salon. Our special sales for today are the Buy a punk get a chic at half off and a free store tee with every outfit. If you try to leave without buying anything I get to wreak your-Ugh!"

Beth gave a surprised grunt as she was smacked in the face by a leather sack. Gritting her teeth in annoyance she looked to the front entrance and saw Ragna entering the shop with a confident look on his face. He was lightly dusted in pollen, but it could have been far worse as his clothes weren't even slightly torn... though his ridiculous footwear was still killing him.

"You're back sooner than I thought you'd be," Annalisa said as she came down from the second floor.

"Yeah, well I don't like to be separated from my clothes for long…" Ragna told them.

"Yet you don't care if they're torn to shreds," Beth muttered as she looked into the bag Ragna had brought back. "Yep, that's all ten of them. Let me get your cash." Opening the register, the silk worker brought out the paltry amount of Jewels for payment which Ragna pocketed. "These things might not look like much, but if you know how to work the fibers and their pollen you can really make your dresses go the extra mile."

"...You didn't put that stuff on my coat did you?" Ragna asked worriedly. "Mushrooms aren't my style."

"What? You're not a fun-g-" Much as Annalise wanted to finish her horrible pun, the harsh glare Ragna sent her way told her it wasn't worth it. "Your coat's in the changing room, just leave the clothes you have on in there."

Changing clothes with one arm wasn't easy for the Reaper, especially with the unique working of his coat, but he'd put it on enough times that he could do it blindfolded. After taking a few minutes, he headed out and showed himself to the girls. Luckily, it seemed that they kept their word and there wasn't any obvious visible changes to his usual attire. The right half of his clothing was still left down since his limp arm wasn't able to keep it up.

"Oh, that's right I almost forgot that we'd worked a little extra magic on this," Annalisa said, only to see Ragna glaring at her once more. "Don't be such a worry-wort, I just added a little spell to the mix. Just channel you magic and say Bind."

"Um… alright? Bind," Ragna said before his coat glowed only slight. The fabric seemed to waver for a bit before adjusting itself. His arm was then positioned that his sleeve was holding his elbow while his hand stuck out of his jacket's opening. It didn't look his coat would be undone as the magic held it firmly in place.

Author's Note: For reference, look at Auron from Final Fantasy X.

"Not bad…" Ragna had to commend. "This beats the hell out of leaving my arm limp and swinging around. Anyways, the old man said that I had to get a signed note from you saying that I did the job, just this time since I'm not actually part of the guild yet."

"I'll get one ready for you, just give me a second," Annalisa told him as him as she went behind the desk and began writing. "By the way, if your coat ever gets damaged again, come back here and let us take a look at it. I promise that I won't let Beth go feral like she did this time."

"Feral, huh?" Beth said with a groan. "But yeah, I wouldn't mind doing some more work on that thing if you think of it. Also, we've got some pretty good stuff in stock that I'm sure would look great on you, so stop by every now and again even if it’s just to see what we've got.".

"...Maybe I'll take you up on that after I've made some more cash," Ragna promised. "Right now my biggest worry is figuring out a place to crash, food for my stomach; the basics…"

"Well then I'd suggest you start taking some higher paying jobs, because it won't be possible to pay rent with this kind of money," Beth told him bluntly.

"Yeah, better get back. See ya ladies," Ragna then grabbed the note, left the shop, and headed back to Fairy Tail with proof that he'd been successful on the job.

"So… think we'll be able to make copies of that jacket?" Beth asked with a smirk on her face.

"We might, but I don't know how happy he'd be if it sells well, he seems to favor both his jacket and its exclusivity to himself."

"Why do you think I want us to make it? This'll mess with him a bit," Beth said with a cocky laugh.

-And then-

"Well we might not have gotten paid for it, but what did you think of your first job Lucy?" Natsu asked with a chuckle.

"I'm glad that I went," she told him with a bright smile. "It was nice to see that Romeo and his father managed to reunite. We did a good thing."

"Heh, now let's go back to the guild and grab something to eat to celebrate!"

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

'They're quick to go back to the table for food,' Lucy thought to herself, wondering what Ragna would have to say about their behavior. She was then disappointed as she remembered that the two had said their goodbyes before she'd left for her mission.

"Don't act so sad, we'll see him again," Natsu told her, like he'd known what she was thinking. "C'mon, Ragna told you to keep you chin up. Some food will put you in a better mood; Mirajane makes some of the best in town."

"...Alright, I could use a good warm meal after fighting that pervy ape in those mountains," she agreed.

"If anything I'd say your cow was the perverted one," Happy said as he thought back.

"Don't remind me," Lucy groaned as they made it to the front of the Fairy Tail guild. Giving a cute shriek of excitement as she was reminded she'd been made an official member, she eagerly threw open the doors. "We're back!"

"Welcome back both of you," Mira said with a bright smile as she continued to serve tables. "Looks like you managed to find Macao without a problem if your smiling faces are anything to go off of."

"Lucy got kidnapped by a Vulcan," Happy told her.

"It was really creepy," the blonde moaned. "But I'm glad that's over…"

"Well, I have some more good news for you," Mira told the three of them with an even brighter smile. The three were confused before Mira directed their attention to Makarov and a familiar red coated individual. Once they saw him, the three's complexion almost rivaled Mira's own smile.

"So… like this?" Ragna asked as he looked over the books that Makarov had given him he raised his hand and channeled a slight bit of his energy into it, creating a small red magic sigil and a small flame on his fingertips.

"Not a bad start, but you're a little off in your channeling," Makarov told him as he sat across from the Reaper. "Try altering your magic just slightly, I can guarantee you'll notice a significant difference."

"Alright," Ragna agreed before trying to channel once more. This time the fire magic extended all the way down to his palm and the fires blazed much harder. "You weren't kidding…" He then glanced his good eye upwards and saw his three friends from earlier still looking rather surprised. "Hey guys, how'd your job go?"

"It went well," Lucy told him as she began to grow hopeful. "Does… Does this mean you're here to stay?"

"Well…" Ragna began before smirking and channeling his magic. The right half of his face then began to glow a strong cobalt blue, surprising the three even more. Covering that side of his face including his paralyzed right eye was the glowing sigil of the Fairy Tail guild. Getting a mark that showed itself when he put his magic into it had cost him a bit of cash, but it was worth it to him considering his clothes normally covered up so much of his body and he didn’t feel like removing them.

"You joined!" Lucy said excitedly. "I thought you said you weren't going to join because you didn't know any magic."

"Well, turns out that magic isn't as hard to learn as I thought… That or Makarov's a damn good teacher," he admitted before chuckling. "I think I've had enough drifting around for one lifetime; might as well try to see if I can make this crazy place my home."

"Sounds like a great idea!" Natsu said cockily. "Trust me, the four of us are going to be going on some awesome missions down the road!"

"Aye!" Happy chimed in.

'This has been a weird day,' Lucy thought to herself as she smiled. 'But I've never been happier. All of the people here are so warm hearted and kind they even took Ragna in with open arms when he didn't know any magic of his own. They’re not as mysterious or exclusive as everyone thinks they are, but they're so strong and heartfelt that I know that I'm going to love it here!'

"All right!" Natsu shouted with vigor. "Looks like it's time for us to celebrate!"

"Ragna's paying for everyone's food!" the blue cat announced leaving everyone in the guild to cheer.

"What the hell are you saying!? I barely got any cash on me!" Ragna shouted with rage.

"Come on, don't be so stingy," Natsu said with a laugh. "You'll just go into debt for a few days, no biggie!"

"I can't go into debt! I don't even have anywhere to stay!" Ragna exclaimed.

"Then just do a dine and dash! Aye!" Happy told him with a cheery smile as he immediately started chowing down on a fish that Ragna had no way of paying for.

"I WORK HERE!" Ragna shouted at the top of his lungs while everyone laughed and dined amongst their teams merrily at his own expense. 'So much has changed… and yet I'm in the same damned place I was before,' he thought to himself with a sigh before heading over to the notice board. If he was going to survive paying for all the guild's food, he'd need to do at least a few more jobs by the end of the day.

Author's Note: I don't own either series.

Happy: Aw... no reviews yet.

Storm: Can't say I'm too surprised, even on some of my bigger stories progress has been slow over on AO3. I'm starting to wonder if I just should've transferred everything all at once and gone back for edits later?

Happy: Too late now; you've set a precident.

Storm: Clearly... well if it keeps me from going into debt with all your fish antics I might actually be for it.

Happy: Are you or is this just reverse psychology?

Storm: I shall neither confirm nor deny. Until next update everyone!

Storm & Happy: Ciao!

Chapter Text

Episode 003: Arrival at the First Request

"So... this is Lucy's new place," Ragna said thoughtfully aloud as he stared at the building before him. "For the price she's paying for this, looks like she managed to make quite the steal."

It seemed rather large to him (even as someone who’d never owned a home before), having three whole floors to live in and being just off of the small canal that ran through Fiore. There didn't appear to be any signs of the wood chipping or the paint fading, so it appeared to kept in good condition. As he approached the front door he saw that all of the windows were wiped clean and without stains, further cementing the place's appeal. Using his good arm to knock on the door, he stood patiently and waited for the owner to open the door.

"It's open!" came Natsu's voice from inside. Shrugging to himself, the Reaper entered the premises. The inside of her house looked nice too, well maintained and no dust to be seen. Heading upstairs he saw Natsu and Happy waiting in... Lucy's bedroom.

"Uh, guys? Where's Lucy?" he questioned glancing at the pile of the chip crumbs and other snacks the two had created upon themselves. Such a nice place and they were already ruining it.

"Taking a bath," Happy told him.

"She’s doing that now? When she's expecting company?" Ragna questioned starting to get a sinking feeling.

"Lucy's expecting company?" Natsu asked.

"You told me to meet you here!" Ragna shouted.

"Aye, and?" the tiny blue cat questioned.

"And-!" Ragna was about to respond before shaking his head and leaving down the stairs, heading out the front door, and waiting just outside. "It's not my problem," he muttered grumpily as he took a small book out of the inside of his coat and waited. He hadn't gotten too far into it when he heard the expected result.

"Get out of my room!" came Lucy's shout from upstairs as the entire house seemed to shake.

"Hmm, an impressive kick I'm guessing," Ragna said without looking up from his book.

"Come on, we were just trying to help you break the new place in," Natsu tried telling her.

"Yeah, well I'll try breaking your neck for doing this if you don't get out of here!" Lucy shouted from inside the house as the chaos continued.

"This place seems pretty lively," said one Gray Fullbuster as he walked in front of the house (fully clothed at least).

"With Natsu involved, I'm not exactly surprised," Ragna explained without looking up from the book in his hand. "Natsu invite you here without Lucy knowing about it?"

"Nah, just heading to the guild before I saw you standing here," Grey told him before more screaming and further shaking was heard from within the house. "...Shouldn't you go break that up?"

"And get her steamed at me? I'll hold off until I'm done with this chapter at least so I don't have to feel the full force," Ragna told him as he turned the page.

"Remind me never to take you along as backup," Grey told him only somewhat sarcastically as he walked off. "Later then."

"Hmph."

Eventually Ragna did head back inside Lucy's estate and managed to pry Natsu and Happy away for Lucy's rage long enough for her to get changed into some actual clothing. The four were now seated at a table, each with a piping hot mug of tea before them.

"Look, I'm not ready for guests right now, so drink your tea and go," Lucy told them rather moodily, especially to Natsu and Happy who sat across from her.

"That's no fun," Natsu told her before taking a long sip out of his tea.

"Your fault for being inconsiderate," Ragna told the two before waving his left hand and causing a magic circle to appear. "I at least brought something with me."

"Wait, that's-!" Natsu began with shock.

"Aye," Happy said with a dark expression.

Out from the magic circle appeared a small bottle of wine, which landed soundly in Ragna's hand. The Reaper smirked at the object before presenting it to Lucy. "This is for you; it's not much, but I thought I'd at least get you a house warming gift."

"Aw, you didn't have to get me anything," Lucy said with a smile as she took the bottle. "But what was that magic you used? It didn't seem like any form I've ever seen before."

"It's called Requip magic," Ragna told her. "I haven't gotten too far into learning this style, but supposedly it allows you to store inanimate objects like weapons and armor and equip them later as needed when you use them. It's pretty useful, but..." The two then looked to Natsu and Happy seated before them, their heads slumped over with dark clouds over them as their eyes expressed a mix between dread and sorrow.

"What's with them?" Lucy asked.

"No clue, but that's the common response whenever I use it in the guild," Ragna told her with little idea himself. Shaking his head, he decided for Natsu and Happy's sake, he'd try and change the subject. "So how's your magic going?"

"Same old same old really," Lucy admitted. "Since I'm a celestial wizard the main way that I get fight is by using my Celestial Spirits. I don't have too many keys, but I have managed to get a few of the rare golden ones that are keys to the Zodiac."

"You mean like that pervy cow from a few days ago?" Happy asked.

"Pervy cow?" Ragna repeated with left eyebrow raised.

"Taros the Golden bull," Lucy told him with a sigh. "He's one of my most powerful, but yeah he's kind of a perv. Besides him though I also have Aquarius the Mermaid, and Cancer the Crab."

"CRAB!" Natsu and Lucy shouted with droll emerging from their mouths and sparkles from their eyes.

"If they're her spirits, I don't think she's going to let you eat them," Ragna told them with a sigh, at least relieved that their cast over expression had fallen completely. "So that one that you picked up when we first me, that snowman thing? It's not a golden one is it?"

"No, it's not. That one's just a cute little guy that I want to keep around as a pet," Lucy told him before she realized. "Oh, I never got a contract linked with the little guy. You guys wants to see how a celestial wizard forms a contract?" No one seemed to object so Lucy grabbed out the key Ragna had seen her buy when they'd first met. "OPEN GATE OF THE LITTLE DOGGY!" A bell tolled as Lucy's magical energy began to gather until it formed the small, strange snowman creature that Ragna had seen Lucy form a while ago.

"All right, so you summoned the thing again," Ragna muttered as he crossed his arms. "Now what?"

"Now we form a contract," Lucy told him as she took out a notepad. The next few minutes consisted of Lucy asking the creature a series of questions regarding its schedule which resulted in either a nod or a shake of the little guy’s head. Natsu and Happy occasionally griped about how boring it was, but Ragna just knew it was best if he just sat and drank his tea. "Sorry for waiting, but as a Celestial Wizard it's imperative that you make a firm contract and that you always follow up on your promises. Okay, now all I need to do is come up for a name for the little guy."

"Didn't know you could name them," Ragna muttered as he was silent for a pregnant moment as he thought it over. "What about Jack? Like the Jack Frost, the spirit of winter?"

"Kinda cheesy, isn't it?" Natsu whispered to Happy.

"That sounds like something an old man would give it," Happy whispered back.

"I'm not old, damn it!" Ragna shouted at the two, able to hear their conversation and very ticked off.

"Sorry Ragna, but I already came up with a name," Lucy said as he held her arms out for the creature to approach her. "Come here Plue!""

"Plue!?" Natsu and Happy shouted at once.

"Uh huh, isn't it like the cutest name ever?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"Whatever floats your boat I guess," Ragna said with a sigh.

"You're just upset that you didn't get to name it," Happy berated him.

"That’s not the... well... kinda," Ragna had to admit before he rose from the table. "Anyways, if that's all we're here for I'm gonna take off and try to see if I can grab a couple of jobs."

"Jobs, huh?" Natsu said as he scratched his chin while Plue the snowman put on a strange sort of dance. "You've got that right Plue, I was thinking the same thing."

"You can understand him!?" Lucy shouted with surprise.

"Alright, I've made my decision!" the Fire Dragon Slayer shouted without bothering to answer Lucy's question. "All of us are going to form a team!"

"Eh? A team?" Lucy asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's probably just a formal term for regular team-ups in the guild," Ragna guessed.

"Yeah, so how about it; do you two want to join our team?" Natsu asked happily.

"You've got it! I promise I'll be a huge help!" Lucy accepted with energy. The two then performed a strange form of a high five mix, making Ragna curious if they'd done it before.

"Well, that works for now I guess," Ragna admitted. "No promises long term though."

"Fine by me, now let's get started on our first job," Natsu told them as he took out a piece of paper the job board and handed it to Lucy.

"Wow! Two-hundred thousand just to steal a book from someone?" Lucy said with excitement as she looked over the letter. "Let's see, the target is Duke Everlue who... IS A DIRTY OLD MAN LOOKING FOR A BLONDE MAID!?"

'Don't tell me they planned this,' Ragna thought darkly as he looked to Natsu and Happy who appeared to be quiet pleased with themselves.

"We happen to know a blonde girl, don't we?" Natsu said, stating the obvious. "And you said that Celestial Wizards honor their promises, didn't you?"

"Aye, she did say that," Happy said mischievously. "Looks like we're-"

PPZZZAAAP!

"GAH!" the Dragon Slayer and talking cat screamed in pain as both of the two were struck with a torrent of electricity, causing their skeletons to show briefly before they hit the floor. Nervously looking up as the lightning still lingered on them, they found themselves staring at Ragna with a few sparks of lightning emitting off his left hand and he was PISSED.

"Hey… now I've got a great idea," the Grim Reaper said darkly as he towered over both of them. "How about you both tell me what the hell you were thinking so I can carve what idiots you were on your tombstones?!"

"C-C'mon, we can explain," Natsu told him fearfully. "We'll make sure that nothing happens to Lucy; that's why we're going with her and why we're bringing you along, to make sure she's safe."

"And you couldn't have just told me that without tricking her to join?" Ragna said, still obviously peeved. He then glanced to Lucy who was reading the job description to get the final call from her.

"I mean... it is two-hundred thousand," she admitted. "That's a pretty large amount of jewels, even after we split the money. I don't see why we shouldn't take this job."

"But still..." he was about to begin before sighing. "Alright fine, let's get going and get this over with."

And Then -The Open Road-

"Uuuuuhhhh... This is the last time I get on a carriage," Natsu moaned.

"You say that every time," Happy told him.

"Well this time I mean it," the Dragon Slayer responded.

"You always say that too," Happy told him again.

"Poor guy," Ragna muttered while he had his book open which he was continuing to read.

"Are you alright master? Can I get you something to make your trip smoother?" Lucy asked, trying to keep her voice as pleasant and cutesy as she could. "Maybe a pillow to rest on or a drink to calm you nerves?"

"Yare yare... Save it for the pervert that you have to convince; It's unnerving watching you do it here," Ragna told her as he tried to keep his head in his book.

"I'm just trying to get in character," Lucy told him. "Am I doing a bad job?"

"Honestly I can't say one way or the other, but... I dunno, it just feels weird seeing you do it," the Reaper admitted.

"Probably because you're way too protective of her," Natsu moaned from where he was seated.

"Aye, it's almost like he thinks he's her father or something," Happy added.

"Shut it..." Ragna growled. "First off, I'm way too young to have a daughter Lucy's age."

"You don't look like it," the cat told him.

"Damn brat," he muttered. "Second..." Ragna was about to continue, out of the corner of his eye he saw Lucy. The blonde now seemed to carry a deep sadness in her eyes, though it was obvious she was trying hard not to show. Ragna figured it might be better if he just left the subject of fathers there. "Changing subject, what's with Natsu? I saw him get seasick back when we first met, does this always happen to him?"

"Aye, Natsu's never been any good on moving vehicles," Happy told Ragna.

"For whatever reason though, he doesn't have a problem when Happy carries him though," Lucy added before she thought of an important question. "By the way Natsu, why did you want to form a team with me in it?"

"What do you mean why?" asked the motion sick Natsu asked. "It's 'cause you seem like a nice person." Ragna was a little surprised, but chuckled while he continued reading. "I just wish I could figure out why you're so dang weird."

"Coming from a fire-eating, dragon raised, house intruding, motion sick wizard with a talking blue cat for a companion, you have absolutely no room to talk about someone else being weird," the Reaper said harshly.

"Aw Master, you're so nice coming to my defense!" Lucy said in her best girlish maid voice.

"...I told you, save it for that Everlue guy," Ragna grumbled to her, bringing his book closer to his face so no one would be able to see his bright red blush.

And Then What Happened -Restaurant in Shirotsume-

"Man, this meat's delicious!" Natsu shouted as he tore into his lunch with gusto.

"Mmm, I prefer the fish! Aye!" Happy shouted in response.

"Jeeze, and here I thought you had motionsickness," Ragna muttered as he stirred his curry, mixing it with his brown rice. "Looks like your stomach recovered almost instantly at least."

"If anything motion sickness only makes me hungrier!" Natsu laughed as he continued to chow down. "Still miffed that Lucy didn't join us."

"Don't talk with your mouth full Natsu; we're in public," Ragna scolded, earning a whimsical and snarky 'okay dad' from under the fire eater's breath. "She probably just had some stuff that she needed to take care of. She'll be along soon enough, so save some of the food for her."

"Aye, I'll be sure to keep the fatty parts," Happy told him. "Judging from her, that's the sort of thing she likes to eat."

"...Is your only point here to piss Lucy and I off?" Ragna decided to ask. Happy only merrily continued to bite into his fish. "No response huh? That about settles it."

"That about settles what?" came Lucy's voice. Ragna turned to address their only female member, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth. "Teehee, like what you see?" Lucy was dressed in a simple maid attire complete with a frilly white bonnet and apron. "Are you enjoying yourselves masters? Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked cutely.

"She... she's actually wearing a maid's outfit," Natsu said with surprise.

"Did she really think she'd have to do it to complete the job," Happy whispered to him.

"Or did she really just want to dress up as a maid?" Natsu whispered back.

"I can hear both of you, you know?" Lucy told them, slightly miffed. "Well, at least I can get Ragna's opinion," she said as she turned only to see Ragna reading the book he had earlier. "Um, Ragna? What are you...?"

"I need to read my book," he told her trying once more to use it to cover the blush on his face.

"But you're eating-"

"I NEED TO READ MY BOOK!" he repeated as a shout, praying that the book he was using as a shield was large enough.

Later -Contact's Residence-

"So he's the guy issuing out the job?" Ragna thought as he looked at the man sitting in front of the group. The man appearing to have hired them had grayed hair and a thin bush mustache. He was well dressed and smiling pleasantly enough, as was his wife who was standing behind him. 'At least he doesn't appear to be the kind of ass that would stiff us the bill.'

"Thanks for agreeing to take this job for me, and for coming this far to meet me in person," their employer told him. "My name is Kaby Melon, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Melon?" Happy exclaimed with drool emerging out the side of his mouth.

"Oh man, your name sounds tasty!" Natsu examined.

"Seriously guys? I'm sorry about these two, they both seem to have a mind for food, magic, and little else," Ragna told the employer.

"That's quite alright, I've been told that several times before," Kaby waved off pleasantly. Ragna raised an eyebrow (well, the only one he could currently) at the man's calm demeanor. Most people with this sort of cash would normally take that insult far more personally.

"We're just here to confirm the specifics of the job really," Lucy told him pleasantly. "According to the job we're supposed to steal a book, specified by you the client, from Duke Everlue's manor and return it to you for 200,000 Jewels. Am I right?"

"Almost, there were two recent changes Kaby informed them. "I've actually increased the reward to Two Million."

"What!?" Natsu, Happy, and Lucy shouted at once. "Two Million!?"

'Still not as high as my bounty,' Ragna thought to himself before thinking. 'Wait, what's the conversion rate then? ...I guess if it can't buy a country, mine will still be larger one.'

"Oh man, even after we split it, think of what we'll be able to get!" Natsu thought aloud. "Imagine the kind of food we could eat~!"

"Fish~!" Happy shouted happily.

"You two could dream a little bigger than food you know," Lucy decided to tell them. "But if that's only the first change, what's the second one?"

"The second change is... I want the book destroyed, not returned," Kaby instructed.

"Destroyed?" Ragna questioned. "What brought about that change?"

"...I'm afraid that is something rather personal," Kaby told them. "Regardless, this should be good news for your group, rumor has it that Fairy Tail has a somewhat... flashy reputation."

"You're not wrong..," the Reaper muttered. "Well, I guess that's not any of our business anyways. What's the name of the book we're supposed to find?" Ragna could see the client was hesitating for some reason, something about not wanting to tell them even the name. "Look, we need a name or we can't get the job done."

"...Daybreak..." Kaby finally chocked out. "Promise me that you'll complete this job, no matter what."

"No sweat," Natsu told him. "If all we have to do is burn the thing to ashes then there's no way we could screw this up."

"Natsu! I'm not going to jail just for you arsooooooooooooooon!" Lucy screamed as she was dragged off by Natsu and Happy.

"LET'S GO GET RICH!" the dragon slayer shouted at the top of his lungs.

"AYE!"

"PUT ME DOWN YOU IDIOT!"

"I better follow 'em," Ragna said with a sigh as he rose from the couch. "We'll be back soon enough with the ashes."

"I look forward to it," Kaby said to him, trying to keep a pleasant smile upon his face. As the Reaper exited and closed the door behind him, he stayed near the wall for the briefest of moments to listen in. "Daybreak... Its filth and evil must be burned away..."

'That's a lot of aggression to have over some book,' Ragna thought to himself as he continued heading off after the others.

And then -The Everlue Manor-

"So... this is the place," Ragna said as he observed the outside of the manor. "Any clue exactly why this guy has so much money?"

"Not really, but I'd say that he's had at least a few shady dealings," Happy told. "The truth is not many people have even managed to get close to Duke Everlue in the first place. Half of the town probably doesn't know what he even looks like."

"Given the job, I'd guess he probably gets rid of whoever he doesn't like," Ragna said as he watched Lucy approach the front gate in her maid uniform. "Damn, I don't like this." Using his left arm he reached for his sword... only to remember there was nothing there.

"You're doing that again," Natsu told him. "You're acting like you've got a weapon on you."

"Yeah, I lost my sword not too long back. I've been managing without it, but..." Ragna said as he briefly thought back to the battle that had brought him to this strange new world; the titanic blows he'd had to endure, the countless near shaves with his demise, and the goodbyes he'd had to say and how he'd convinced himself that it was on his terms. "...Old habits die hard I guess."

"Are you sure you're not an old man?" Happy asked, bringing the Reaper back to the present with a harsh scowl on his face. "Lucy's at the front gate."

Down below at the gate, Lucy took a good long look at the place before taking a deep breath. "Hello!? I'm here for the maid position! I heard that you were looking for blonde girl!" No response. "Funny, I was sure this was the right place. Is there something you're supposed to ring or-?"

All at once a giant shadow covered her leaving her to jump back and scream at the last instant as a huge... something, crashed into the ground before her. Once the smoke cleared, Lucy saw a giant woman with pink hair in a maid outfit. Woman was sort of a generous term though, this thing looked like giant ape had only evolved halfway to a human.

"You're here for the maid job?" the... creature asked in a demanding and barbaric voice.

"Y-Yes!" Lucy told her. "I swear that I'll do a good job! I have a lot of experience and-!"

"Boyoyo. A lot of experience you say? Do tell," came a creepy voice. The ground itself seemed to open as Duke Everlue leaped out. When Lucy had seen the job illustration of the man, she'd hoped that it had been drawn as a caricature by a spiteful artist... turns out there would have been no need for a caricature. The Duke was a strangely shaped man whose mustache seemed to actually be abnormally long nose hairs. He wore a black tuxedo which was normal enough, though it clashed with the clump of brown hair atop his head.

'C-creepy,' Lucy thought to herself as Everlue looked her over with strange yet observant eyes. 'All I need to do is keep a smile on my face. I just can't let this guy's pervy nature get to-'

"No good! Get out of here ugly!" Everlue said as he blew her off.

"EXCUSE ME!?" Lucy shouted.

"...That's not supposed to happen," Ragna commented as he watched from his look out.

"You're ugly, unappealing, garbage," Everlue informed, each insult hitting Lucy like an awful punch to the stomach. "You should look more like my maids."

"Your maids-" Lucy began as the Duke's maids suddenly appeared at to his side from out of the ground. The woman were even more cartoonist than Everlue, their heads and bodies had such strange shapes and proportions that they looked like they were the result of an abstract artist. Their noses and mouths were bent strange directions and it looked like a few of them had whiskers on their faces.

"Yeah, get out of here ugly girl," one of the maids insulted.

"The master deserves only the best, not an awful girl like you," another told her.

"Master's the greatest," a third said.

"Now get out of here, you make us sick to our stomachs," the fourth and final one said.

"Boyoyo!" Everlue laughed perversely, apparently reaching nirvana while he was surrounded by his maids.

And then

"Th-that jerk," Lucy cried in the woods against a tree, her pride apparently having been broken to bits.

"Your useless, you know that?" Natsu chided as he came in with Happy.

"Don't mock me!" Lucy yelled at him as she continued to cry. "I can't believe someone called me ugly... And after all that time I spent watching my weight and staying in shape some perv actually goes and calls me ugly..."

"...Uh, shouldn't you just take this as a good thing?" Ragna asked aloud, causing Lucy's crying to lighten for a moment.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" she demanded as tears continued to fall.

"Well..." Ragna began with a sigh. "You saw the kind of maids that creep had right? How they were... pretty hard on the eyes, putting it lightly."

"Y-yeah, I was the closest to them," she told him, tears still in her eyes.

"Lucy... If he thinks that you're ugly it means he sees you as the opposite of whatever the hell they were," Ragna patiently explained.

"Then that means I'm-!" Lucy began as her eyes cleared of tears and began to sparkle. "STILL BEAUTIFUL!" Her smile at Ragna was positively glowing. "Thank you Ragna, I hadn't thought about it that way. You're the best!"

'You would have realized that yourself if you'd taken two seconds to consider it,' Ragna thought exasperatedly as he let out a sigh. "Everlue's bizarre tastes aside, we still have to get that book. So, now for our plan B."

"Alright," Natsu said as his fists glowed with fire. "Time to toast the place!"

"Aye!" Happy shouted, strangely now dressed in Rambo-esque gear.

"Calm down, we're not going to go inside guns blazing," the Reaper explained. "This will be a stealth mission from here on out. We go in, we find the book and destroy it, we leave. No detours of any kind. Got it?"

"...So no hiding his slippers somewhere or switch his shampoo out for hair gel?" Lucy asked. Ragna wasn't sure whether to be relieved or incredibly disappointed that Lucy's ideas of revenge were so tame. "But if this is a stealth job, then we'll have to sneak around like ninjas, won't we?"

"Ninja!" Natsu and Happy shouted at once, immediately giving Ragna yet another sinking feeling.

Later

"Alright, we're in. Nin-Nin!" Natsu said, his voice slightly muffled by his scarf that he was using as a ninja mask. The group had infiltrated the manor by Natsu melting a hole in one of the glass windows.

"We must find the book with great stealth. Nin-Nin!" Happy agreed, that cat also having covered his face in a cloth for a makeshift mask.

"Knock it off, the both of you," Ragna growled at them. "You two are the worst..." He paused at his statement as he thought back to a rather colorful figure from his past.

'GRIM REAPER! IN THE NAME OF LOVE AND JUSTICE I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, SHALL BE THE ONE TO BRING YOUR REIGN OF TYRANNY TO AN END!'

"...Scratch that, the lot of you are the second worst ninjas I've ever seen," Ragna informed them.

"Only second worst? Really?" Lucy asked him with surprise. "You've actually met a worse ninja than them?"

"Trust me, I've seen some shit," the Reaper explained before once more addressing Happy and Natsu. "And if you make another old man comment, I swear to god I'll... Wait..."

"Intruders!" came a sudden shout as the large gorilla of a maid suddenly blasted herself out of the ground. Lucy screamed with fright while the maid barreled towards them to crush them. As Natsu was covered in shadow, the dragon slayer obliviously raised his head to- "GAH!" the maid screamed as she was blasted into a wall, crashing through and creating a massive cloud of dust.

"Annoying," Ragna muttered as the hand he'd used to punch his opponent through the wall actually had some smoke on it. Hearing a small crackle he noticed that the other maids had burst out from out of the ground.

"They beat Virgo!"

"Get them!" they shouted with their weapons ready.

"NINJA POWER!" Natsu shouted as he blasted them all away with a fist glowing with fire.

"So much for a stealthy approach," Ragna muttered.

"I told ya we should've just burned this place down from the beginning," Natsu reminded.

"That's still arson," Lucy told him. "But I have to admit the more we see of this crazy Duke, the more we see that he's got some pretty creepy earth powers."

"Look, let's just grab find the library before something else happens," Ragna told them as he began checking the doors. "Found it."

"Well, we found the room easily enough, now we just need to find Daybreak," Lucy told them.

"So we need to search, and that's gonna take a while," Natsu groaned.

"Aye," Happy glumly agreed.

"Look, the sooner we get started, the sooner we're done," Ragna told them gruffly before and odd feeling covered his body. "Hold on a minute... Is it this one?" Pulling the book out he managed to find... "Holy crap, Daybreak..."

"How'd you get it on the first try?" Natsu asked looking surprised.

"I don't know, I just got this weird feeling and I managed to grab it..." the Reaper told him as he held the book. "Wait, could I have sensed some sort of magic inside this thing?"

"A magic book, some of those can be really rare!" Lucy told him as she took a look at the book herself. "No way! This was written by Kemu Zaleon!? I've read all of his books and I've never heard of this one!"

"Well, we can still burn it can't we?" Natsu asked with a smile as his hand glowed with fire.

"Wait just a moment, was the Kemu guy a Wizard?" Lucy nodded as Ragna's question. "And if what I sensed was really magic... there's something bigger at play here. I don't think we should destroy this just yet."

"Boyoyo! You won't be burning that book at all now," echoed Everlue's laughter. Once more the strange man sprouted out of the ground with a haughty smile. "I knew you'd be back; Wizards have been trying to rob me for some time now, I could never find out what they were looking for... But it's that damned book of all things, really?"

'There's still a secret here, and whatever it is we can't let Everlue get to it,' Ragna thought. "Lucy..."

"She just ran off with the book," Happy informed him.

"WHAT!?" Ragna shouted as he turned, seeing that Lucy had indeed run off through the door behind them. "What the hell's she doing?"

"You said that there was a secret, so she wanted to read it," the cat told him.

"WE'RE STILL IN THE MANSION!" Ragna shouted in return.

"Not the best coordinated group are you?" Everlue noted condescendingly as he began to sink into the ground. "I'll be going after the girl then! The three of you will be left to my hired help!"

"Hired help?" Natsu growled as a secret passage opened to reveal two bizarrely dressed men, one of which was carrying a large frying pan. "...How long did he make you wait there for your reveal?"

"About ten minutes," the unarmed one told him. "Now you wizards face the Vanish Brothers of the South Wolf Mercenary Guild."

"Natsu, Happy, go after Lucy; I'll take them," the Reaper promised as he stepped forward to meet the Vanish Brothers.

"What? And miss out on a chance for a good fight? You're crazy!" Natsu told him. "I'm going to go all out!"

"Then do it on Everlue; that guy's hiding something and I don't like where this is going," the Reaper told him. "In fact he's probably stronger than these losers here."

"He might have a point; Lucy could be in trouble if he can tunnel with his magic," Happy agreed seriously. Natsu finally gave Ragna a nod and started running off. The Reaper kept between Natsu and the mercenaries until his allies were a good distance away before he remembered something.

"Hey, Fire Breath!" Ragna called. Curious with what he was trying to do, Natsu turned his head only to see Ragna create a dense fireball in his hand and tossed it his way. "For the road!"

"A fire wizard," the Vanish brother holding the frying pan commented as a Natsu opened his mouth wide and consumed the entire fire ball. "And a... fire eater?"

"Thanks for the snack! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu shouted as he kept running after Lucy, now with a noticeable increase to his speed.

"Now then..." Ragna said before turning his attention back to the Vanish Brothers. "Sorry for keeping you both waiting..."

"Heh, this will be an easy fight," the other Vanish brother taunted. "A Fire Wizard of all things... you're our specialty to handle."

"Is that right?" Ragna asked as he kept a very passive stance trying to see what the two were trying to do.

"We have special techniques for handling Fire based magic," the one with the frying pan told him. "And we know a wizard's true weakness: their weak bodies..."

"Never heard that before," Ragna muttered as he thought back to the constant brawls in the Fairy Tail guild.

"It's the truth; wizards spend far too much time on their magic without bothering to develop their physical abilities," the unarmed brother told him. "And that goes double if the wizard in question happens to be a crippled old ma-"

"QUIT CALLING ME OLD DAMN IT!" Ragna shouted as he rushed forward and blasted the first of the brother's through the walls with an enraged haymaker and caused the entire mansion to tremble at the might.

"He did that with just his fist!?" the brother wielding the frying pan shouted before he readied his massive weapon and launched his body into the air. "No matter! I'll crush you all the same!" He brought down the frying pan on top of his target with enough power to again cause the entire manor to quake, but his target had not been under the attack. "Where did he-!?"

Out of seemingly nowhere, Ragna appeared in front of him and delivered a jaw shattering kick to his face. Dropping the massive frying pan, the second mercenary was sent flying the opposite direction as his brother and once more crashed through the walls.

"Fire Wizards are your specialty, eh? You must really suck at your jobs then," Ragna muttered. "I don't have much time to waste. I should catch up with the others before they... Hmm?" The sound of footsteps came in quite clearly to the Reaper. Turning his head, he saw that a new figure had come to enter the library. "Frickin' great, another one..."

"Apparently I chose an interesting day to arrive," the figure said as it stood in the doorway before the Grim Reaper. It's armor was a combination of thick ladder padding with metal plates over its weaker points as well as metal pauldrons. Its face was shrouded by a metal mask carved into the shape of a face with a strangely designed beard and the mark XIII on the forehead. The rest of its head was covered by a brown hood that appeared to be attached to the mask and armor. On the figures back was a massive two-handed war blade which also carried a XIII mark on it.

"Who the hell are you?" Ragna demanded as he turned to face the new one.

"I am the Thirteenth Blade of Gilgamesh; Gilgamesh XIII for short," the figure told him, its male voice both matured and refined. "Have you ever heard of our order?"

"I haven't, but I'm not exactly from around here," the Reaper admitted at he kept himself in a ready stance.

"Even if you are from across the seas I would have thought you'd have heard rumors of us at the very least. The Order of Gilgamesh is a collection of some of the greatest mercenaries. Its goal is to show the world that humanity does not have the rely on the ways of the Arcane to move forward, training our bodies to the absolute peak is more than enough to accomplish anything a wizard could... which brings us to why I am here."

(Cue RWBY Red Like Roses II)

The figure then took the massive blade out from behind his back, removing the weapon from its leather carrying straps. "Duke Everlue has told us of Wizards threatening his property and attempting a break in; he's paid in advance to stop them. I can clearly see you're one such wizard."

"If I tell you no, will you walk away?" Ragna asked, receiving only silence as a response. "It was worth a shot, I guess..."

"Enough talk; your death stands before you!" Gilgamesh told him as he rushed forward with his massive blade at speeds faster than Ragna had been expecting. He barely had time to flip the Vanish brother's massive frying pan up from the ground using his foot, catch it with his left hand and defend himself with the new weapon.

"You're trying to bring death to a Grim Reaper? Don't make me laugh!" the red coated rebel shouted as he managed to force the swords man back before swinging with his frying pan, causing the two weapons to clash against one another.

"I've never heard of a Grim Reaper using a frying pan in place of his scythe," XIII said as he leaped back and unleashed a vicious slash that shot a massive blade of non-magical wind at Ragna. Turning the frying pan around and using it as a shield, Ragna managed to block the attack without resistance. Once it had finished, he swung the weapon around and rested it on his shoulder... grimacing slightly at the unusual feeling.

"Point taken..." he muttered in partial agreement to Gilgamesh's comment.

Planting its massive blade into the ground as slashing forward, Gilgamesh sent a total storm of debris at Ragna. Instead of countering with its own weapon, Ragna instead rushed forward and carried the over-sized frying pan with him through the wreckage, swinging it at XIII when he was within range. The mercenary leaped up into the air to avoid the attack, using his great sense of speed to run up along the walls before leaping to the other side of the room.

Vaulting himself into the air, the Reaper and the Mercenary swung at each other with their massive weapons clashing with each other and generating wicked sparks. Using one of the attacks to vault himself higher into the air, Ragna somersaulted forward and blasted Gilgamesh through the libraries door. XIII grunted as he fell to the ground floor and crashed into the wall on the other side of the room.

'Damn, if I hadn't blocked that attack he could have killed me with that one shot,' Gilgamesh thought as he rose. 'That power behind his attacks... Is he really a wiz-' The massive fireball heading towards him from the Library snapped him back to reality as the orb exploded sending countless small wisps of fire raining down upon him. Readying his blade, Gilgamesh managed to swing his blade dozen of times in the mere blink of an eye... but Ragna had managed to gut under his guard. 'HOW!?'

Gilgamesh swung again out of desperation, but Ragna backed up and dodged the thick blade with ease. Swinging again, this time the mercenary's blade raked harmlessly off against the thick iron. Before XIII could go in for another swing, Ragna brought the pan's handle back and thrust it, hitting his opponent’s diaphragm. XIII gagged as he stumbled forward, right before Ragna swung the pan upwards and knocked Gilgamesh off of his feet. The mercenary then saw the massive bludgeoning weapon raised above the Reaper's head.

'Damn it...'

Every window in the Everlue manor shattered to pieces when Ragna brought the massive pan down, the very force causing a great tremor that was felt by the surrounding town.

(End Theme)

Ragna looked down at the battered form of the mysterious Gilgamesh and sighed. Shifting his gaze back at the massive frying pan in his left hand, he nodded to himself before letting his Requip magic store the weapon for later use. He turned and began walking away to chase after Lucy, but paused as the masked figure behind him started to rise.

"You'd be doing us both a favor if you played dead," Ragna said darkly, keeping his back to his opponent.

"You... you didn't kill me... even though I wouldn't have done the same for you... Why?" XIII demanded.

"I've killed plenty already, and I didn't think leaving you alive would come back to haunt me," the Reaper told him with confidence. "Don't get in my way; I've still got work to do."

"Wait," Gilgamesh demanded as he threw his sword. Ragna grunted as he managed to catch the thing without turning. "As of right now both my blade and my title belong to you."

"...I'll take the sword, but don't bother giving me your damn title. Aren't you supposed to hate wizards anyways?"

"Indeed, but I think the others will quickly see that you're not just any wizard... plus it's either this or I fall upon the blade here and now," XIII told him. "Truth is... I'm the first one to give their blade and title away."

"Fine, fine, I'll take this so you don't have to commit seppuku or whatever," Ragna reluctantly agreed. "Still, get outta here. Something tells me that the rest of my team's just about to get warmed up."

"Very well... I'll take the sage advice of a seasoned veteran," XIII said as he slowly stumbled away.

"The sword feels pretty good at least," the Reaper muttered as he began catching up with the others. Heading into the same door that he'd seen Natsu and Lucy disappear into, he came to the sudden realization. "Wait... did I just get called old AGAIN!?"

Author's Note

Storm: Still no reviews, but now that I'm on Haitus I can dedicate all of my time to editing my chapters and bringing them over to AO3.

Happy: Is a whole month going to be enough.

Storm: Three weeks, I'm on vacation for one of them and won't be writing then. See everyone later! Ciao!

Chapter Text

Episode 004: Arrival of the Father

Natsu and Happy continued their run through the many passages of the Everlue manor's sub-level, trying to chase after Lucy and the notorious Duke Everlue who had followed her in pursuit of the book written by the famous author Kemu Zaleon. Their chase was leading the two further and further down into the mansion's depths.

"Damn it! I knew I should have stayed up there and fought!" Natsu shouted angrily as Happy flew beside him. "Ragna's probably having a great fight up there and we're stuck chasing after Lucy and some old man!"

"Ragna did tell us that Everlue might be the real threat here," Happy reminded. "With the Digger magic that we've seen, he might just have a point."

"Errrr... I should be kicking butt right now!" the Fire Dragon Slayer shouted out in annoyance. It was then that the two felt the ground quake beneath them. Happy was unaffected as the cat was flying, but Natsu had to pause in his running and tried to regain his shaken balance. When the shaking ended he glanced up at the ceiling. "See? Ragna's probably having the time of his life."

"I could try flying up ahead to look for Lucy," Happy suggested. "You can try to catch up to us as we go."

"Yeah, you do that. Don't stop until you find Everlue, I want to be able to clobber him good!"

"Aye!" Happy shouted as he flew on up ahead and left Natsu running behind him.

"I wonder what Ragna's going through up there?" Natsu thought before another massive rumble was heard throughout the manor, the force of which was actually enough to send Natsu off of his feet. "Knowing him, somebody probably just called him an old man again."

-Further Underground-

"This... this is horrible," Lucy said looking through the book. "So this is why I haven't seen a new book by Kemu Zaleon and why...?" As she flipped through the hundreds of pages of the book, she had a set of magical glasses upon her face. The glasses allowed her to read through books at a breakneck pace, allowing her to find the truth of this book more easily. "Looks like I've just about decoded it..."

"GOOD! THEN YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE FOUND!" Before Lucy had time to react, two hands reached out from the wall behind her and pinned her arms behind her back. "Boyoyo. So then what's the secret of the book? Tell me!"

"Rgh!" Lucy growled as she felt the arms pinned behind her. "You-! You monster! What did you to Kemu Zaleon!"

"Him? Oh I just happened to acquire him though my usual means," Everlue told her threateningly. "Deception, blackmailing, and bribery. How else do you think I managed to come into my enormous fortune? I knew you were ugly, but naive to boot? You really are a cursed woman."

"I'M NOT UGLY!" Lucy shouted, screaming as the Duke applied more pressure to her arms. "You kept him in his own personal prison for so long!"

"And what did he have to show for it? A cheaply made book that didn't reflect my magnificence in the slightest! Now, tell me the secret or else I'll-!"

Using every bit of her resolve Lucy slammed her head back, smashing it into the Duke's large nose. He lurched back slightly, but only continued to increase his pressure to Lucy's arms, causing her to grimace further.

"Stupid blonde! You have no idea what you're dealing with!" the Duke said, seething with rage. "It doesn't matter anyways; you don't need your arms to tell me of the secrets of Daybre-!"

"HAPPY TACKLE!" came the sudden battle cry as the blue cat barreled into the perverse Duke's head, causing him to grunt and let go of Lucy as Happy flipped back landing in the murky sewer waters.

"Happy! Er... thanks for saving me, but shouldn't you get out of there?"

"But it feels good! Aye!"

“…That’s disgusting.”

"Tch, another annoyance," Everlue muttered before he saw Lucy reaching for her keys. "You're-!"

"OPEN! GATE OF THE GIANT CRAB!" Lucy shouted as a large magic circle appeared before her. "CANCER!"

The spirit summoned was a strange one to say the least, red crab legs sprouted out of its back and a bizarre red and black hair style to add to it. It appeared human overall and was dressed as such. Its weapon of choice appeared to be two pairs of scissors and was rocking a dark pair of shades.

"CRAB!" Happy gurgled from the sewer.

"Hey, baby," the crab person said in a rather suave sounding voice. "You need another haircut? Got a couple of… specials in mind."

"Not today, I'm hoping to take down this pervert," Lucy said as she pointed to Everlue, the Duke beginning to laugh.

"So, that's how it is then?" he said through his chuckles.

"LUCY!" came a call from behind the blonde summoner. Natsu then ran onto the scene.

"It's over Everlue, we've got you outnumbered!"

"Maybe, but I have only last card to play!" Everlue said as he grabbed out his own spirit key, surprising everyone. "OPEN! GATE OF THE MAIDEN!" Another magic circle formed, this time revealing the giant gorilla of a maid that had first greeted Lucy up above.

"Virgo's a celestial spirit!?" Lucy exclaimed at the maid that stood before her.

"Boyoyo, of course she is, how else could you explain an angelic lady such as her?" Everlue complimented as he stroked his nose-hair mustache. "I'm giving you this last chance to return that book to me, otherwise you'll be completely overwhelmed once the Vanish Brothers are done with your crippled friend."

"Sorry, who's done with what now?" came the familiar voice of Ragna the Bloodedge. The Grim Reaper calmly walked to the scene of the conflict.

"Y-You beat the Vanish Brothers!?" Everlue demanded with shock.

“…How’d he catch up with me so fast?” Natsu had to question. “By all accounts is doesn’t make sense.”

“Actually, I just followed Everlue through one of holes and took the shortcut,” he explained.

“…Totally should’ve done that,” Natsu realized in hindsight.

"Curses, I knew I should have requested that third mercenary sooner,” Everlue growled. “You'd have been no match for him if he'd been here to protect me."

"You're talking about Thirteen, right?" Ragna questioned rather nonchalantly.

"H-How did you know that!?" Everlue demanded before realizing. "No... You couldn't have beaten him..."

"I did, and he went down easy," Ragna told the Duke with a chuckle. He then saw that the Duke was looking over him almost like he was analyzing the Reaper. The old man's gaze was enough to make Ragna's skin crawl.

"Hmmm... Perhaps then I should have hired you in the first place," Everlue said, looking over Ragna. "You do seem to have a good amount of ability if you've managed to defeat three mercenaries with ease, and your appearance would tell me that you have a long life of experience..." Ragna was about to tell the old pervert off (partially to refuse the job, partially to insist he wasn't old), but Everlue wasn't done. "And I never thought I'd say this to a man, but looking over you now you do seem to have the kind of face I would hire to guard my person."

"Wait..." Lucy began. "Everlue hated my cute charm but had all of those freaky maids at his side. Meaning if he wants to hire Ragna..." Her mind coming to the obvious conclusion, her head made a creaking sound as she slowly and worriedly turned her head to her friends. Natsu and Happy were covering their mouths with their hands trying not to laugh at the comment, Cancer didn't seem to care and was waiting for her to give the order, and Ragna... Lucy couldn't see the top of his face with the darkness cast by both his hair and his complexion. "R-Ragna?"

"Lucy..." the Reaper slowly began. His voice was so cold and void of emotion that everyone around him froze at just the sound of it. "I want you to take that crab of yours, and make this idiot bald... with tweezers."

"...Boyoyo?" the Duke asked, now very much terrified.

"That's harsh, baby..." Cancer said, the crab himself appearing to be nervous.

"Y-You got it!" Lucy said nervously as she pointed at Everlue. "All right Cancer! You heard the man! Take Everlue down!"

"Understood, baby," the Crab said rushing forward.

"You won't touch the master!" Virgo shouted as she leaped up into the air and attempted to crush its enemy Celestial Spirit under its massive weight.

"Natsu!" Ragna shouted out, throwing another fireball into the air.

"I'm on it!" Natsu shouted as he jumped into the air, devouring the fireball before intercepting Virgo. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

The resulting attack sent Argo flying through the air with a pained shout before she crashed into the walls and went still.

"My loveliest maid!" Everlue cried, right before noticing the shadow looming over him.

"Hold still, baby," Cancer instructed, right before going to town on Everlue. The Duke gave a high pitched scream as the Crab Spirit gave a forced 'haircut' to the very strange man. Soon Everlue was passed out on the ground, his head completely void of hair and the strange nose hair mustache completely gone.

"Serves you right for what you've done," Lucy said as she glared angrily at their antagonist.

'Sounds like she managed to decode whatever message was in that book,' Ragna thought before turning to Cancer, the crab looking over Ragna and appearing to be deep in thought. "What the hell are you looking at?"

"Mmmmm, your hair looks like it needs some work," Cancer told Ragna as he looked at the man's silver hair and snipped his scissors in the air. "A few adjustments and I can turn it into an art piece, ba-"

"Touch a single strand of hair and I'll give Happy that steamed crab dinner he's always wanted," Ragna threatened causing Cancer to sweat with fear.

"Don't be so harsh on him, you could use the haircut anyways," Lucy instructed. "Go ahead and head back Cancer, you've done enough."

"Until next time, baby," the Crab said before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now that we got the book, it's time we headed back," Ragna muttered before the ground began to shake. "Come on, now what?"

From beside the four, a large portion of the sewer water burst from the ground. Lucy screamed as the murky water nearly hit them before a giant figure rose from the depths. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." The figure was of an apish design, its wet and messy fur a disgusting shade of greenish gray. This was reflected in the putrid smell which nearly caused everyone around it to gag as it towered over them at 12 feet tall, even while hunched over.

"A Vulcan!?" Happy shouted out.

"What's one of those damn dirty apes doing in the sewers?" Natsu groaned as he tried to cover his nose.

"Was that freak Everlue keeping one as a pet!?" Lucy shouted through her gagging before she noticed that the monster was looking directly at her. "Oh no..."

"Wuman...?" the creature said with something of a slur. The thing then rose to its full height and began beating its chest with great ferocity. "WUUUUUUMAN!"

"NOT AGAIN!" the blonde cried out before the giant of a monster launched itself her, a perverse shine in its eyes as it reached for Lucy's attractive form.

"Requip."

"Ooo?"

The monster's last monkey grunt was followed by a deafening CLANG as the monster was hit by a massive frying pan. Lucy saw the monster's surprised and pained face the for the split second the weapon made contact, right before it was sent spiraling into the sewer wall; a massive cloud of dust forming as it barreled through the thick stone wall and causing the sewer to rumble. The monster projectile created a hole that rivaled Everlue's digger magic in how deep it was. Ragna then gave a sigh as he slung the massive frying pan over his shoulder.

"I think you've had to deal with more than enough perverts lately," the Grim Reaper told the Celestial Wizard, which was followed by no argument from her. Ragna then turned to see Natsu and Happy... oddly shaken...

"He really is starting to be like... that..." Natsu said, sweating and shaking with fear.

"Aye, and I thought Fairy Tail could barely handle one of them..." Happy said, the cat also visibly shaken.

"Seriously, what is it with them and the magic I use?" Ragna said with a groan as he unequipped his weapon, right as the entirety of the sewers began to shake again. Dust and stone began to rain down from up about as the holes Everlue had created with his magic began to cave in.

"This place is collapsing!" Lucy shouted.

"Aye!" came Happy's oddly joyous response.

"I thought you said you didn't want to destroy this place," Natsu accused the Reaper with a miffed expression on his face. "We could've just done this from the start..."

"DON'T YOU DARE PIN THIS ON ME!" Ragna shouted as the building collapsed around them.

-TimeSkip- Employer's Residence

Their second visit to the mansion of the man that had hired this team had a very different feel to it. The team hadn't arrived at the man's estate that long ago, but in the ten minutes that they had sat down across from him, Kaby Melon had said nothing. He sat slightly hunched over, his hands crossed in front of his face as unconsciously tapped his foot, glaring at the team. His wife stood behind him and said nothing, but it was clear that she was worried for her husband.

"...I know we were supposed to destroy the book, but a lot's happened in the few hours it's been since you've seen us," Ragna said, trying to defend his group.

"...So you've read it then?" Kaby demanded.

"Only Lucy did," Ragna told him honestly. "She gave us the short version of what happened; Kemu Zaleon was forced to write a trashy novel about Duke Everlue in which he took the role of a hero. Zaleon spent years in captivity trying to refuse before Everlue started to threaten his family if he didn't write the book. Eventually, he had no choice but to write the damn thing... and that's how we got Daybreak, a trashy book about a self-absorbed pervert." Ragna then gave a sigh. "And judging by how strongly you've felt about this book being destroyed, I have to guess you're Zaleon's son."

"I... think I get it," Natsu said, starting to put the pieces together.

"You don't," Kaby told them angrily as he glared at the tome Lucy still held. "When my father finally returned from writing that book do you know what he did?" No one answered. "He... he cut off his own hand in disgrace."

'Try losing a whole arm... twice,' Ragna thought to himself passively while Natsu and Lucy appeared to be visibly startled.

"He died to his injuries... he couldn't stand the shame of writing that... filth,' Kaby spat understandably close to tears. His wife took a seat behind him, trying to do what she could to comfort her troubled husband.

"...That's where you're wrong," Lucy said finally speaking up, causing everyone to pause.

'Seriously, why didn't she just lead with that instead of going through all of this drama?' Ragna thought to himself, again staying silent.

"What are you saying?" Kaby demanded.

"When we first found the book, Ragna said that he was getting a strange sensation from it; there was magic in this book; a powerful spell cast by your father," Lucy continued. "After reading this book I was finally able to put the story together... the real story."

Raising the book into the air, Ragna and the others watched as magic letters encircled the book in countless rings, amazed as the book began to rewrite itself. Slowly the light faded and the book fell into Lucy's hands, which she caught before handing the book to her employer who took one look at the title only for his eyes to grow wide with surprise.

"Dear... Kaby...?"

"His last book, and his greatest," Lucy told him. "Daybreak was nothing more than a cover of the real treasure. He cast the spell to cover what he'd really worked on; a letter to you in the form of a novel. You were never out of his thoughts all of those years... this is the thing to prove it."

'So wait... he cut his arms off because he did his greatest work ever and didn't think he could ever top it?' Ragna thought to himself. 'That's... a little severe...'

"Well, looks like we can't get paid for this job!" Natsu said suddenly as he rose, looking oddly happy while Lucy instead looked shocked at the news. "I mean, we were supposed to destroy the book and we weren't able to."

"What!?" Lucy exclaimed with shock. "Natsu-!"

"That's much more of a technicality than a failure to complete the request," Kaby insisted as he rose. "If anything you've gone above and beyond your job requirements. Please I insist; if not as payment, then accept the reward as a gift of my gratitude at the very least."

"Keep the money, you're going to need it anyways," Ragna muttered surprising Kaby, his wife, and Lucy. "I can tell that this place ain't yours, you're not nearly as rich as you're trying to look."

"Wha?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I knew what was up the moment we met," Natsu boasted proudly. "Their rural smell told me they didn't belong in a mansion as big as this one. They had to be renting the place."

"Wha?!" Lucy shouted again, he jaw dropping further and further.

"Oh, so that's how you were able to tell," Ragna commended, somewhat impressed by Natsu's ability. "I could just tell by the way he acted; way too nice to be some rich asshole looking to hire us."

"Glad to see we were on the same page," Natsu said, giving the Reaper a thumbs up.

"You mean... from the start..." Lucy began before shouting once more. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?"

"You couldn't catch on to that yourself?" Natsu asked innocently, seeming confused by the idea that Lucy couldn't see through the ploy. Without another word, the blonde stomped off angrily, exiting the room. "Seriously, what is it with her? She's so weird."

"Aye," Happy agreed as the cat and dragon slayer finally left the building. Shaking his head at the display, Ragna rose to his feet and began to walk away himself, stopping only to glace over his shoulder.

(Cue Cowboy BeBop Call me, Call me)

"Father..." Kaby said as he continued to stare at the book’s cover before holding it closely to his chest as his wife sat beside him. "I've finally put that awful nightmare behind me... Now I have the last real piece of your legacy as a writer... Your last letter..."

"...You know, it doesn't have to end with this book," Ragna told him with an emotionless tone, his head facing away from the man and his wife so they couldn't see his expression. "Your father wrote that letter to you while he was held in Everlue's manor, but what about your side of the story? You had to live through years without a father, only for him to return and chop off his own arms off in front of you. After that you had to live thinking that he'd had been forced to write one of the worst books of all time with only your wife for support. Trying to put it in the past for good, you ended up hiring a group of wizards and finally discovered that you're father's last work as a writer was to you; his son." The Grim Reaper gave a shrug. "I dunno about you, but I'd read it."

Without saying another word, the Grim Reaper left Kaby and his wife. An important decision now in their hands...

Later -Borders of Magnolia-

"I can't believe we did all of that work and we didn't even get paid," Lucy moaned as she slowly followed behind the boys.

"Aw c'mon, we couldn't take all of that money from them could we?" Natsu told her. "You shouldn't be so greedy Lucy."

"Aye," Happy the cat agreed.

"I still have to pay rent!" the blonde shouted before moaning again. "Seriously, we could've at least gotten some of the reward..."

"If you ever think that way after a job like this, just think about what you were able to do," Ragna told her, becoming oddly serious. "If we'd just decided to burn the book instead of decoding it ,where would that have left the client? He'd recover somewhat sure, but he'd have go on thinking that his father had just given up on life after what he wrote (which he still kind of did, but let's ignore that). Now he's made peace with himself and what his father's done." Ragna turned to Lucy. "Even if you don't get paid for it, don't turn your nose up at a happy ending; you might not always get one."

"...I guess you've got a point," Lucy agreed with a smile. "We should be proud of what we did."

"That's the idea," Ragna told her with smile.

"Giving Lucy some fatherly wisdom?" Natsu asked with a slightly mocking tone.

"Shut it with this dad thing already; it's annoying," the Reaper groaned, noticing Lucy was slightly shaken by the comment. Deciding he'd play with his teammate, Natsu then began to drag his feet on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. "Pick up your feet, Nat- …Dammit."

"See? Hating being called it doesn't stop you from acting like you're the team dad," Happy told him, the cat also laughing somewhat mischievously.

"...He's sort of got a point," Lucy finally told Ragna, the red coated man looking at her with disbelief in his green eye. She was going along with this? "Besides, if it's either being mockingly called 'dad' or 'old man' by us, which would you rather have to deal with?"

"For the love of-" Ragna muttered in angry submission. Eventually though he gave a smirk, albeit an exasperated one. "Fine, but try not to overdo it alright? There's only so much shit I'm willing to handle before I ground you."

"Hah! Go ahead and try!" Natsu shouted as a challenge. "So, should we celebrate a job well done with a huge meal at the guild?"

"It's an idea, but we're kind of low on cash at the moment," Ragna reminded, deciding he'd take some responsibility in the spending. "Maybe if we can get one quick job in before night falls, we can think about it."

"Aye! Let's get a job done as fast as we can!" Happy shouted with glee.

"Alright! I'm fired up now! Let's go pick out a good one!" Natsu shouted before he began running off and Happy flew behind him.

"Hold it! I'm not letting you two pick out another job after what I just went through!" Lucy shouted as she quickly ran off to follow them.

"...Maybe they've got a point; compared to them I am the most mature one here," Ragna thought aloud with a chuckle. He was about to follow them, but then realized that he wasn't alone out here. "You might as well show yourself; I know you're out there."

Coming out of the tree line and coming into Ragna's visible view was Thirteen, the so-called Blade of Gilgamesh that he'd met last time... or former now that Ragna had beaten him and received the title in doing so. The mercenary was still wearing the armor that Ragna had seen when the two had dueled each other, except now the XIII atop his mask had been intentionally scratched out.

"What do you want?" Ragna demanded, having thought their business had been concluded.

"Only to offer you a warning," the enigmatic warrior told him. "A few have heard the news that a silver haired man with a limp arm, a bad eye, and a red coat has beaten me and its slowly beginning to spread. It won't take long before most cities will know of it."

"And your point?" the Reaper questioned, rolling his eye. "Did I hurt your reputation worse than you'd thought? It doesn’t sound flattering."

"...Just be ready, eventually word will reach the other Blades of Gilgamesh; sooner or later Twelve will find you... I'd prepare for that meeting if I were you." Without saying another word, the mercenary headed off in the opposite direction of Magnolia.

"That's not ominous at all," Ragna muttered sarcastically before smirking and following the others back into the town, watching the chaos unfold as Lucy tried in vain to catch up to a laughing Natsu and Happy. "Whatever; I've already got enough to worry about with these kids."

Chapter Text

Episode 005: Arrival of the Armored Wizard

"I have your food and drinks right here!" Mirajane said with a smile as she placed the dishes piled high0 with food atop team Natsu's table.

"Thanks for the grub! Looks like it's chow time!" Natsu said before tearing into a chicken leg.

"Aye!" Happy agreed before chowing down on his fish (what else?).

"So Lucy, how has working at the guild been for you?" Mira asked kindly.

"All of the excessive craziness aside I've actually been having the time of my life," Lucy said gleefully. "I mean, maybe I lost that last two million that we were supposed to get, but I'm still sitting pretty."

"No kidding," Natsu muttered as swallow a large bite of roasted pork. "These last few days we've done nothing but take local small time jobs, just so Lucy could have enough to pay her rent..."

"Rent money's important!" Lucy exclaimed angrily.

"My, I'm surprised that you managed to coax Natsu into helping you though," Mira said with a strange tone of pride. "Normally he doesn't listen to anyone, so you must have a bit of control of him."

"As if... our dad wasn't going to let us rest until he made sure her share of the money was large enough for her to get by," Natsu told her before drinking. "Lucy's one thing, but I'm not about to argue when dad glares at us like that."

"Aye," Happy agreed somberly.

"I'm sorry, your... dad?" Mira asked, knowing it very well couldn't be Igneel.

"He means Ragna," the cat explained.

"Ragna?" Mira thought aloud before glancing to the other side of the room.

She'd been surprised when Ragna had come up to her earlier that morning and asked if he could earn a few jewels by working in the kitchen that day. She'd been slightly skeptical about his abilities to cook, but he'd been rather adamant so she decided he could help for at least a bit. Currently, the Reaper was dressed in a black apron and using the giant frying pan he'd obtained from the Vanish Brother's to cook an order of Bell Peppers and Beef. Having one arm meant he'd occasionally have to move faster than the eye could see to cook the food, but Ragna found it an easy method to retrain his coordination. He'd also helped with the baking earlier, leaving Mira surprised that he seemed to have a rather decent collection of recipes committed just to memory.

"Order up," the Reaper called as he moved the food to one of the plates before Jet (a member of the Guild) took the plate. "Anyone else need food?"

"Just a couple of beers over here," Wakaba said as he continued to smoke his pipe.

"Ain't it a little early to start drinking?" Ragna thought with a groan before he used Requip magic on the frying pan to store it, causing everyone in the guild to cringe. "Stop it, that's getting real annoying anytime I want to use that magic."

"We have enough reason to be scared..." Macao said, only leading for Ragna to roll his eye yet again as he set the beers between him and Wakaba.

"Tch, whatever..." he muttered before heading back to the desk where he took out a bento box and removed his apron. "Mira, I'm on break." With the nod and smile he'd gotten from the fellow silver hair, Ragna headed over to Team Natsu's table. "Enjoying the food?"

"I'm still surprised you cooked this, you never told us you were a master chef," Lucy told him with a large hint of surprise.

"You never asked," Ragna retorted before breaking his chopsticks and beginning to eat his own meal.

"Of course Natsu will just chow down on anything at all and not care at all about the taste, like a glutton," Gray muttered.

"You got a bone to pick with me, ice head?" Natsu demanded.

"As long as you're not already choking on one, flame gullet," Gray retorted.

"Looks like they're back at it again," Lucy thought aloud with a sigh.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"They've always been like this, in fact the only person who's ever been able to stop them is Erza," Mira told them. ...All at once the guild was silent.

"Who?" Ragna questioned, glancing around the cringing guild members.

"Wait, you mean Titania Erza?' Lucy asked with a sense of amazement.

"Who?" the Reaper said once more.

"You've never heard of her?" Lucy questioned. "Sorcerer's Weekly writes about her all of the time, she's one of the strongest and most popular Fairly Tail wizards on record."

"She's... terrifying..." Natsu said shakily.

"For once... I agree with him..." Gray said in turn. "Even Makarov gets worried when she heads out on a job..."

"So to clear the air, is her magic anything like mine?" Ragna asked Mira.

"In a way, but she has a few extra abilities to add to it," Mira explained. "She's currently an S ranked wizard in the guild; a wizard that's allowed to go to the second floor and take important S rank quests."

"Sounds like a tough woman," Ragna muttered.

“You really don’t know the half of it,” Gray managed to get out through his terror.

"By the way, where is the old man? I haven't seen him around all day," Natsu asked.

"He probably left for the Guild Leader's summit earlier today," Ragna explained. "Some sort of meeting with other guild leaders around the area."

"How did you know?" Mira asked, confused that the Reaper had discovered this on his own yet had no idea who Erza was.

"...Spoke to the old coot yesterday," Ragna said as he started chewing a piece of sushi and thought back.

Flashback -A Few Days Ago-

"You wanted to see me?" the Reaper questioned as he headed into Makarov's study.

"Yes, I'd heard you'd left on a rather expensive job yesterday, so I was curious to see how it went," the guild teacher asked him as he appeared to be packing a bag via magic.

"Not too different from when I met Natsu and Lucy, some crazy shit went down, there was a pervert that had beef with Lucy, and Natsu went all out and destroyed the place despite telling him not to." Makarov's grimace was easily noticeable at that last one.

"I see... and the reward money?"

"Long story short we turned it down; family matter," Ragna explained to him. "Wasn't a total loss though; I managed to get a couple of weapons from some mercenaries and from some masked freak called Gilga-something."

"Gilga... Are you talking about Gilgamesh?" Makarov demanded, seeming upset. "As in one of the Blades of Gilgamesh?"

"The thirteenth yeah, that's what he called himself," Ragna explained as he summoned his sword to show to Makarov. "Gave me his sword and title after I beat him, why?"

"...You've just been forced into a world of trouble," Makarov told him with a sigh. "What do you know of them so far?"

"Only that they're a group of warriors that work as mercenaries and seem to hate Mages with a passion. I don't see anything wrong so far... now that I think of it though, that Thirteen guy did say something about 'Twelve' coming for me, whatever that means."

"It means that the twelfth member of their order will come to kill you... followed by the eleventh if you survive... then the tenth... and so on and so forth," Makarov said, appearing disappointed on the transpiring events. "Having you, a wizard, become a part of their order is a blow against them as a whole and they'll begin to work to remove you from it... Only two other wizards have ever been forced into this fight and both of them died early in."

"...Will they attack the guild to get to me?" Ragna asked, suspecting that Makarov may have known the other two wizards.

"...I wouldn't assume so, they still claim to have honor and I doubt you'd run from their demands to a battle... Regardless, they'll come for you eventually and you'll have to be ready; your life is on the line."

"Meaning I'll need to keep practicing my magic in the meantime," the Reaper concluded with a sigh.

"Speaking of which, have you managed to-?"

"No, and I doubt it's ever going to work," Ragna said in response, though he oddly didn't seem upset... almost relieved really. "Doesn't really matter, I've got other moves to rely on... once I give them a little work anyways."

"Keep your practicing constant then, you'll need to with what you're about to face," Makarov instructed.

"The way you're talking about them, it almost sounds like you've once had a run-in with these guys," Ragna accused.

"...That's a story for another time," Makarov promised. "For now I'm busy with preparing for my trip."

"You're leaving? For what?"

"A Summit meeting between the leaders of this area's Mage Guilds... though its mostly an excuse for old friends to see each other and challenge one another to a couple rounds of drinking," Makarov said with something of a whimsical smile.

"Tch, that must be nice," Ragna growled. "Meanwhile I'm stuck with three crazy kids to take care of..."

"Three crazy children?" Makarov questioned, apparently not getting it.

"My team, apparently I had a choice between being called old man or dad and I had to settle on one," the Reaper said, leaving Makarov surprised as Ragna headed out the door. "Later, old timer."

-Back to the Present-

'Anywhere I go there's always some asshole after my head and this isn't the first time they've been hiding behind a mask,' Ragna thought wistfully to himself. 'I guess I'm just going to have to get back up to full as fast as I can so I can kick their asses.'

"So, you're Lucy right?" the Reaper heard a familiar voice say. He cringed as he recognized its owner was none other than Loki, Fairy Tail's resident womanizer. Noticing how he was leaning over the table close to the celestial wizard, it was clear that he was about to try and put the moves on her... Ragna decided he'd wait to see if he was needed before doing anything reckless. "I'm Loki, haven't had the chance to properly introduce myself. How are ya?"

"Fine for the near week that I've already been here, too busy flirting with other girls?" Lucy demanded leaving Ragna to chuckle before he took another bite of his sushi. Maybe he wasn't needed here after all. "What do you want?"

"Just to extend a friendly offer, nothing more," he told her, coolly adjusting his glasses. "I've noticed that all you've been doing is team up with Natsu and Happy. Maybe you'd like a variation on the order?"

'Then what am I? Chopped liver?'

"Then what's Ragna? Chopped liver?" Lucy retorted with an annoyed scowl.

'Atta girl.'

"Not in the slightest. So how about it, a little variance?" Loki continued, not addressing Ragna for long at all.

"I dunno, let me check," Ragna interjected before calling to the nearby table. "Hey Gray! Think you can work with us if Natsu's on the team?"

"In hell!"

"There you go, we're good," Ragna said smugly before taking his last bite from his Bento box. Extending his arm, he re-summoned his frying pan and slung it over his shoulder before standing. "Anyone got an order?"

"Just an order for a budding romance," Loki said as he held Lucy's hand. "One that can-"

WHACK!

"Sorry, you say something?" Ragna said with fake obliviousness as Loki smacked face first into the table after he'd hit the back of his head with his frying pan in a comical 'accident turn'.

"Unlike some men here, I don't like to fight dir...ty?" Loki said as he noticed something shiny on Lucy's waist. "Are-are those celestial keys?"

"You wanted to flirt with her without knowing she was a Celestial Wizard?" Ragna questioned. "Wouldn't a playboy like you have done resear-?"

"YOU'RE A CELESTIAL WIZARD!?" Loki screamed (not unlike whenever someone says ghost around Ragna). "I'M SORRY LUCY BUT OUR LOVE IS NOT MEANT TO BE!" He then ran out of the guild with tears in his eyes in an extremely dramatic (hammy) portrayal.

"...Well that was fun," Ragna said with a smirk as he headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey Ragna, three stick of Dango!" Elfman called out. "Extra manly!"

"On it," Ragna acknowledged as he immediately went back to work with Mira (though he had little idea how to make the Dango manly, whatever that meant). "So what's the story with Loki and Celestial Wizards?"

"Not completely sure, but I think he had a bad relationship when he dated another one," Mira said as she thought back with a smile. "I think the only time he was nearly that shaken was when his advances were rewarded by a punch in the face from-"

"ERZA!" Loki shouted as he ran back into the guild covered in sweat. All at once, everyone save for Ragna and Mira went completely still. "ERZA'S IN TOWN AT THIS VERY MOMENT! SHE'S COMING BACK TO THE GUILD!"

"She... she's what?" Gray said as he cringed. For once, no one bothered addressing the fact that he had once more stripped down to his boxers. "This... this isn't..."

'Damn, these people are completely terrified of her,' Ragna thought to himself as he continued preparing Elfman's dango sticks as he thought back. 'Wonder if she's anything like the masked freak back home... Let's hope not.'

The sounds of a heavy metal boot hitting the floor then echoed across the guild, leaving everyone's frozen form to twitch for a moment. Steeping into the guild came a red haired woman, carrying some sort of giant horn over her shoulder. The woman was wearing a silvery metal suit armor on her top and a blue long skirt around her legs. Her eyes gave off the impression of a 'no-nonsense' type of glare. Roughly setting her horn down on the floor, the sheer weight of the thing was enough to cause the guild to shake from the weight.

'Funny; she looks more like that chick that was clinging to my brother than that masked freak,' Ragna thought to himself. 'Though that scowl of hers is definitely closer to butt-floss's... Somehow I don't think we'll be getting along that well.'

"Welcome back Erza," Mirajane said with her regular smile. "How did the job go?"

"Manageable," Erza told her simply.

"So um, what's with that huge horn?" a nervous Elfman asked, turning completely terrified when Erza put him under her gaze. "Eeep!"

"It's a trophy from the monster that I defeated," the newcomer explained. "The town I had saved was generous enough to decorate it for me, so I brought it back to the guild." Her eyes narrowed into a sharp glare. "Is there a problem?"

"N-N-NO! NO PROBLEM!" Elfman shouted frantically waving his hands in front of himself. Erza seemed to purse her lips as she didn't avert her gaze from the much larger man. Elfman continued to sweat bullets and-

"Lay off him will ya? You already had him terrified when you walked in here," Ragna said, leading for everyone in the guild to stand agape at him as Erza now had her gaze focused upon his person.

"Looks like we're going to be orphans," Natsu said darkly.

"Aye, dad's going to die," Happy agreed sadly.

"And you're just letting it happen!?" Lucy shouted at them.

Erza didn't respond immediately to the chaos surrounding her, only keeping her gaze directed at the at the Reaper before her as he both received the expression and continued to fry Elfman's Dango sticks.

"Oi, I know that I'm not the easiest person to look at with this eye and arm, but there's no reason to be rude and stare," he told her off passively.

Erza then seemed to chuckle and gave a small smile. "I suppose you have a point, though I don't believe you were a member of the guild when I left."

"I became one pretty recently," Ragna told her as he took the prepared snack over to a paralyzed Elfman who was just staring at the man who had dared to talk back to Erza, as was the rest of the guild. "Name's Ragna, I joined with Lucy over there," he said gesturing over to Lucy with his head before thrusting the plate of Dango into Elfman's hands.

Now having the red head's eye on her, Lucy was beginning to see why the rest of the guild was terrified of her and acted so strangely when Ragna used the supposedly same magic as her. Even just being looked at by this woman was another level of horror. Erza then gave Lucy a pleasant smile, one that Ragna recognized as a warm greeting between close friends.

"It's nice to meet you then, I hope our guild has been treating you well," the red head told her.

"I...I've been doing fine," Lucy said nervously, right before Erza's expression turned serious once more. "Eep!" Luckily, it seemed like this far angrier look was directed towards the rest of the guild.

"As for the rest of you, I'd have some very choice words to say about your recent performances and the stories that have been made of them." Everyone in the guild looked guilty, almost seeming to hang their heads in shame. "But I'm afraid that will have to wait until later. Where are Gray and Natsu?"

"We're over here, aye!" Natsu said oddly cheerfully. Turning his gaze over to the two, Ragna saw that the two were in an awkward side hug trying to appear like they were close friends.

"Yeah, just two best buddies for life!" Gray said just as happily, while clearly terrified for dear life.

"Yare yare daze..." Ragna muttered as he face palmed at the display. 'She's got the whole damn guild on a leash, that or she's trying to be the guild mo- Okay, not thinking about THAT one any further.'

"I'm happy to see that the two of you are getting along," Erza told them with a pleased smile before once more turning serious. "I'm going to need the both of you to come with me; there's a job that's far too important to do alone. I'd rather go to the Guild master, but I know that he's already left for the summit."

"Holy..." Cana began. "She's asking them for help?"

'She wants me to work with this Ice Stripper?' Natsu thought to himself as he glared at Gray.

'Natsu and I on the same team? Can that even work?' Gray thought as he glared back.

"I never could have seen this coming," Mira said in worried awe beside Lucy. "Natsu, Gray, and Erza all on the same team? This could be the strongest team in Fairy Tail..."

'Meaning they'll likely blow up a city or two in the process,' Ragna thought to himself.

"Now, we have a train to catch in an hour, so be ready," Erza told the other two before looking at the confections on the table. "Of course, I suppose I can take a short break." Quickly laying down a sum of jewels on the table, Erza cut and served herself a slice of strawberry cake before sitting down at one of the open tables while everyone gave her a wide berth. Erza then took a single bite of said slice of cake before pausing.

"I-Is something wrong?" Mirajane asked before the red head stood back up dramatically. "Erza?"

"What have you done to change the recipe Mira!? This tastes amazing!" she shouted, surprising everyone as she strayed from her normally deadly serious attitude. "The softer and smoother texture of the cake, the rich taste and even spread of the cream, and the slices of perfectly cut strawberries expertly positioned! This has to be your best one yet!"

"Um..." Mira began, trying to remain passive though it was clear she was caught off guard. "I... didn't make that one; Ragna did."

"...Does this mean I get a big tip?" the Reaper asked with snark as Erza stared at him in awe. "No seriously, I'm close to broke and could use the cash."

"But we spent all day yesterday doing jobs with Natsu and Happy!" Lucy shouted at him. "What about your share!?"

"I gave it you; you said you needed the money for rent," Ragna told her.

"Ragna!" Lucy scolded him.

"...Change of plans," Erza decided. "You and Lucy will be coming with us as well."

"We will?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"They will?" Natsu and Gray also questioned, but in unison.

"Says who?" Ragna demanded.

"Says Erza!" Happy interjected cheerfully.

"Lucy just stated that you two have already worked with Natsu before, so I think we could benefit from your help," Erza told her before turning to Ragna's slice of cake. "And I doubt I should discredit the clearly shown abilities of the elderly."

"ELDERLY!?" the Reaper shouted with raged as Erza continued to enjoy her perfect piece of cake. "Enjoy it while you can then... the next one I'm charging you triple."

The scene then transitions to an old fashioned feudal styled house with a familiar hyper and hooded cat sitting in the center of the room with a huge bowl of rice.

"Meow! And then what happened-!"

"Get out of here Tao!" Ragna's voice shouted from off screen. "You're not even in this story!"

"Aw, Tao's never written in..." the cat sighed sadly as she disappeared. Happy takes over with Plue, both sitting and sipping cup of Tea.

(This is a reference to the transition scenes from the anime for those of you that exclusively read the manga)

And then -Magnolia Station-

"I can't believe that Erza is making us work together," Gray grumbled at Natsu, the two once more exchanging icy and heated glares.

"I probably hate the idea even more than you do," Natsu said with fire showing in his eyes.

"I doubt that, Gas Head."

"Ice stripper!"

"Morning Breath!"

"Snow Brat!"

WHACK! WHACK!

"GAH!" both boys shouted in pain as they were sent to ground from the heavy blows to the head. Rising up they, both saw Ragna overlooking them with a clear scowl on his face and smoke emitting from his good hand.

"Everyone's looking at us because you two idiots won't stop fighting for two minutes unless Erza's around," the Reaper told them with clear aggression in his tone. "Now suck it up and work with each other; you can go back to your bitching once this job is done."

"Fine..." Gray muttered as he headed over to the nearest bench and sat down.

"I still wanna deck him," Natsu growled as he took a seat on a completely different bench.

"What a pain in the ass..." the Reaper said as he used his good arm to get a couple of cricks out of his neck. Glancing to the confections area of the station, he was reminded of something he needed to do. "Be back in a second."

"We're already off to such a great start," Lucy sighed. "Then again, what was I expecting?"

"If you didn't want to come along then why are you here?" Happy questioned.

"Erza asked for Ragna and me specifically, and she doesn't look like the type of person you could say no to."

"Not in good health, aye," the cat agreed.

"Seems that everyone's here," came the armored wizard's voice. Lucy turned to the apparent lead of this assignment, only to be awestruck by the sheer amount of luggage that Erza was carrying in the wagon behind her. "I just had to grab a few things for the journey."

"A few things!?" Lucy shouted.

"That's our Erza, always coming prepared!" Gray shouted with his deathly afraid cheerfulness. "Isn't that right, best buddy?"

"Aye, you've got that right. We sure think alike," Natsu said in response with a fake and equally scared smile upon his face.

"Oif, I've heard of people doing a complete 180, but with you two it's only infinitely disturbing," Ragna said as he returned with a steaming cup.

"What have you got there?" Lucy asked him.

"Oolong tea," he explained before setting the cup on the bench, taking a small pouch out of his jacket, and adding a few shakes of some type of herb to the drink. He then shoved it into Natsu's hands. "Drink up."

"What was that you added to it?" Natsu questioned as he sniffed the beverage and gagged. "That stuff smells awful!"

"It's medicine," Ragna told him. "Like I said, drink up."

"But I'm not sick!" the Fire Dragon Slayer denied in response.

"You're about to be nauseous for an entire train ride, if this medicine does the job right you should at least feel a little better than you normally would," the Reaper told him as he glared down the younger wizard. Natsu didn't like it, but he eventually took a drink from the cup, holding his nose as he drained it completely.

"Gah, it tastes so bad..." he groaned when he finished.

"Most medicine does; the effective stuff at least," Ragna told him.

"When did you even have time to grab this?" Lucy asked.

"Yesterday after we were done going on jobs," Ragna told her. "Checked the medicine shops in town and they pointed me to this stuff. Let's just hope it works; it wasn't cheap."

"So let me get the facts straight; you take us all on jobs so I can pay my rent, you don't take any of your share, and on top of that you spend what little money you did have to get medicine for Natsu's motion sickness?" Lucy demanded, though more surprised than angry.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ragna asked nonchalantly.

"...Stuff like this is why we call you dad," Natsu reminded.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Shut it you two, or you would you rather have to suffer through the train ride after all?" the Reaper told the two off.

"So the three of you call him dad?" Erza cut in, leaving Lucy and Natsu to freeze as they thought they'd done something wrong in her eyes.

"It was that or keep being called an old man," Ragna explained with great exasperation. "I just decided to take the lesser of two evils." Noticing Erza's silence as she pondered over his words, Ragna started to grow uncomfortable. "...There a problem with that?"

"Actually, no," she finally spoke, smiling at him. "I'm just surprised that they've started calling you that after such a short time. They must trust and respect you a good deal if they've given you that nickname... father."

'Did-Did Erza just-?' Natsu thought in shock.

'She... she actually sounded kind of cute when she said it,' Gray thought in disbelief.

'That's our Erza!' Happy thought.

'Wow, even when Erza uses nicknames she's so formal and professional about it,' were Lucy's inner opinions.

'...Dammit, now I feel REALLY old,' Ragna lamented in his own mind before checking the clock. "We better get a move on then, our train's going to leave pretty soon."

"Let's hope that riding the train’s the hard part," Natsu groaned as he braced himself before stepping onto the vehicle.

"Only for you kid, only for you," the Reaper sighed as the rest climbed on.

Chapter Text

Episode 006: Arrival of The Lullaby Reaper

"Ugh… This is the worst…" Natsu grumbled to himself as he leaned against the train window with a large groan. Since Ragna and Lucy had become members of the team for this job, the team had to upgrade their car room they were staying in while they traveled. This meant that they were in a room suitable for eight people instead of four and could allow the sick fire user his space.

"Looks like the medicine isn't working on him, at least not to the degree that you'd hoped," Erza observed. "It was a good effort though."

"Tch, effort doesn't mean results and it doesn't get me back the Jewels I spent," Ragna grumbled to himself. "Soon as we get back, I'm hitting the highest paying job I can find."

"You can try, but many of those would involve hunting monsters," the armored wizard informed him.

"All the more reason; I'd be able to get rid of some of this frustration beating some scum senseless," the one-armed Reaper explained.

"Someone's confident in themself," Erza noted with a smirk. "Though that does remind me, I've yet to hear of your and Lucy's preferred magic styles."

"I'm a Celestial Wizard, so most of my fighting is actually done with the spirits I summon," Lucy informed, petting Plue's head as the spirit sat on her lap. "I can be good with a whip in a pinch, but really my spirits are my best bet."

"Really? I heard that you'd managed to take out a mercenary gorilla with only your pinky finger," Erza questioned leaving Lucy to shudder with fright at just the idea.

"...The hell's been saying that?" Ragna questioned crassly, figuring someone really got the details mixed-up from Lucy's encounters with Vulcans.

"And as for you?" she questioned to Ragna, curious to where the enigma.

"Magic ain't my strongest suit, more of a fighter and less of a mage," he informed. "I got the basics down of a few spells, but most of the magic I use is just Equipping a weapon and going to town from there."

"Ah, a fellow Equip user then," Erza noted with a somewhat interested glance. "Have you found many weapons to use then?"

"Afraid not, for now I just got a sword and that oversized frying pan to use… the latter of which I mainly use for cooking," he admitted, scratching the back of his head with his only functioning hand.

"Still, it sounds like an interesting style and I look forward to seeing it in action," Erza noted before turning serious. "To business then… I have reason to believe that the dark guild of Eisenwald is about to attempt something with a magical item called Lullaby."

'A dark guild?' Ragna questioned internally as he leaned back on his seat. "Doubt they're planning on using whatever this thing is for any charity work."

"Indeed, I overheard them talking while stopping at a pub during one of my jobs. Their conversation was an odd one, only saying that they were searching for Lullaby and couldn't reach it immediately because of a magic seal that had been put in place… If only I had been more suspicious of them or knew the guild they belonged to, I could have stopped them there." Erza looked disappointed and angry at herself, Ragna figured she wasn't always the confident and composed woman like she tried to show the rest of the guild; she too had her occasional weak moment.

"And you want our help to stop them?" Gray questioned. "How strong is their guild supposed to be?"

"I'm not sure; like all dark guilds they keep all of their operations a secret so it's next to impossible to get a clear judgement of their strength. The operations of most guilds seem to have a talent for eliminating their weaker members, but given the importance of this job we could possibly be facing the guild in its entirety. As I said yesterday, I would've gone to the master for help, but sadly he'd already left for the summit in Clover town."

"Hold on! Just the five of us are going to face an entire guild!?" Lucy asked with fright. Sure, she hadn't exactly been on easy jobs since joining Fairy Tail, but the idea of facing an entire guild seemed too much for the little experience she had.

"Six of us…" Natsu groaned from the side. "Ragna's still fighting with us…"

"Aye, you shouldn't ignore your father Lucy, how heartless," Happy chided.

"YOU'RE THE ONE I WAS IGNORING!" she blasted back at the cat.

"Damn, not so loud…" Ragna muttered to himself, though he felt like he should have been used to all of the screaming by now. "So… anything we do know about Eisenwald?"

"That we'll at least be facing one of their strongest members; he's one of the few members that there's public information on even if it's mostly speculation and rumors," Erza told him, though her complexion told him it wasn't a good thing. "He prides himself on ruthlessly killing every person that even gets near near his targets and he only accepts assassination missions to begin with. He's killed mountains of wizards, onlookers, and officials and he seems to have a deep fascination or love for murder… It's lead to him earning the name Erigor the Reaper."

"So… he works on jobs where he has to kill people and looks forward to it? That's terrible," Lucy noted worriedly. "If we run into someone like that-"

"Dibs," Ragna casually shot in.

"DID YOU HEAR NOTHING SHE SAID!?" Lucy screamed again, causing Ragna to grimace as it was right in his ear for the second time.

"Heard, don't care, not impressed: dibs," he repeated, trying to let his ear recover from her shouting.

"Your large hold of confidence and lack of anxiety is an impressive if dangerous mix," Erza noted before as she looked at Natsu. "It seems he's still suffering from his Nausea, should I put him out of his misery?"

"...Isn't that a bit much?" Gray noted, off put by Erza's offer.

"Relax, I was only about to hit him in the gut and knock him unconscious," Erza explained.

"Not much better," Ragna said with a sigh as he looked out the window. "How much longer until we reach Onibas Station?"

"A few hours at the very least, so I'd suggest getting some rest so that we're prepared for the journey ahead," Erza told the group. Giving her a mild shrug, Ragna used a small equip spell and summoned a book to his hands which he began to read. "I see, so that's you magic in action."

"It's more or less my suitcase at this point, but it's still useful enough," he told her. "...Speaking of which, if you tried using your magic like this you wouldn't have had to pay such a damn big luggage fare."

"Ragna…" Erza said to him, her expression turning to a glare harsh as the fires of hell.

'This guy just doesn't learn,' Gray thought to himself, terrified with what she might do to Ragna right in front of them.

"...That's an interesting idea, I hadn't considered doing that before," she told him with a smile, leaving the other wizards in the car shocked at her change of tone.

"Trust me, it'll save you some serious cash in the long run," he told her without looking up from his book.

For the next hour or so the train ride proceeded as normal, giving Ragna the peace and quiet he needed to read his book covering theories and practices of the arcane. While he couldn't try to combine it with his current spellcraft at present given their confining space, it was still a useful way to kill time since he'd never been much for reading books given his restless lifestyle. When he'd finished the first of many books he was about to go for his next one, but that was before he felt a weight hit his shoulder. Glancing over he saw that Lucy had fallen asleep and was resting her head on his shoulder, though given her angle or rest it was clear that she'd fallen onto him by accident. Doing nothing more than giving a small smirk, Ragna summoned the next book and opened it to continue reading. Erza herself seemed to take note of this, but didn't say anything as she began polishing one of her many blades.

Later -Onibas Station-

"Phew… what a long train ride," Gray grumbled to himself as their train slowly pulled into the station, stretching as much as he could given his limited room. "Ugh, I'm feeling sore all over."

"You'll just have to cope I'm afraid," Erza told him seriously. "Time is of the essence here, so we'll all have to move fast if we're to find any leads. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, I figured it would be something like that," Ragna muttered as he gently tried to shake Lucy awake. "Hey… we're here…"

"Uh?" she said as she groggily emerged from her sleep. She then realized that she was resting on Ragna's shoulder and blushed slightly. "Um, I…"

"Have a good nap?" the Reaper joked at her expression, not seeming to mind her sleeping arrangements.

"...Thanks," she said, still feeling plenty embarrassed.

"You were drooling all over Ragna's coat," Happy cut in.

"Don't lie you damn cat," Ragna vented as Lucy's blush on seemed to worsen at the claim. He gave a groan as he rose to his feet once the train had finally come to a stop. "Come on, let's get- GUH?"

"Ragna?" Lucy asked as the Reaper harshly winced in pain before doubling over. "Wh-What's wrong!? Are you okay?"

"Does he only suffer from motion sickness once he stops moving?" Happy asked, not exactly the craziest theory to come up with.

It felt like every part of the Reaper's body (his limp arm and eye excluded) was being torn apart for a brief moment, almost like the days before he'd mastered his powerful but costly Blood Kain Distortion. Focusing as hard as he could, he managed to get the painful surge under control after a few minutes but he was breathing heavily by the end of his efforts.

"You alright?" Gray Fullbuster asked, showing some concern for his fellow guild member.

"I… I'll be fine…" Ragna said as he looked his his limp right arm within his coat. 'This thing should be dead to the world without any Seither right now… so what the hell is setting me off?' "I… I probably just need some air. Grab N-"

"Right then, let's get you outside," Lucy said as she pushed Ragna outside, her face clearly showing worry her older teammate as did her actions as she was ready to catch him if he ever fell over.

"You don't need to push me, and grab-"

"I told you we need to hurry on this assignment," Erza reminded him seriously. "We can talk once I've grabbed my things and we're outside."

"I understand that, but-"

"Listen to Erza! She's in charge of this job! Aye!" Happy shouted to interrupt him as Ragna was finally pushed off of the train and onto the station.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LISTEN TO ME!" Ragna shouted, finally stopping the rest of his team cold. Several pairs of eyes from around the station were staring at the one-eyed scowling Reaper, but he didn't care. "Tell me… who grabbed Natsu?"

"He should be right beside...us?" Erza asked as she glanced to her side, not seeing the Fire Wizard. A sudden whistle coming from the train, right before it started to take off from the station.

"We left him on the train… again," Happy noted, though the small cat's expression didn't seem to be that worried.

"Of course Natsu wouldn't be able to leave the train himself! He suffers from severe motion sickness!" Erza exclaimed at the passing of events.

"Which is what I was trying to TELL you!" Ragna shouted, his annoyance starting to boil over into sheer anger.

"I can't believe I was so foolish to leave him behind! I must pay for my oversight!" Erza said, shaking her fist with self loathing. "One of you must strike me for this error!"

"No! That's okay!" Lucy protested, knowing that not only was Erza reacting but it was likely that she'd kill them all if she got hit. "It was a common mistake, we know you-!"

WHACK!

"Ragna!" she and Gray scolded the red coated Reaper, fearful for their own lives.

"What? She was literally asking for it," he told them nonchalantly. "Plus, none of you listened to me." That caused the two to calm down and they guiltily averted their gazes while Erza was still somewhat surprised that someone had actually followed through on her demand. "Now we gotta grab Natsu… Guess I could run after the train if I-"

"Don't be ridiculous, we'll use the emergency switch to stop the train and take a Magic Mobile," Erza instructed, rubbing the sore spot that Ragna had struck her.

"Magic Mobile? The hell is a-?"

Later

'Seriously, what the hell is up with this place?' Ragna thought annoyedly as he latched onto the roof of car driving down the rocky ground at high speeds. He wasn't sure if it was because of Erza's driving, but he was pretty sure car rides weren't supposed to be this bumpy. Making his situation worse was his lack of room to get a proper hold since he was joined by Gray on the roof of their transportation. 'Pretty sure I could try to outrun this if I really wanted to, but at least I can see the train up a-'

Any optimism Ragna might've had was then ruined by the following turn of events; the same painful surge he'd been feeling earlier flared throughout his body and killed his reaction speed, an explosion from inside one of the train cars that blew its roof off, Natsu being sent flying from said train car until he crashed straight into the car and slammed into Gray, Erza coming to a sudden break as the two fell to the ground behind her, the force from the stop launching Ragna from his place on the roof and painfully onto the hard ground as the train continued to speed off.

"Alright, that sucked…" he groaned as he slowly made his way to his feet as he watched the train pass the group by, the painful flare starting to ebb away. 'Something's wrong here, Natsu got blasted off of that train for a reason and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because he was about to hurl…' Shaking himself off, he made his way over to the others. Natsu and Gray were still on the ground in pain from the sudden head on impact (literally) with each other. "You both alright?"

"I'll live," the Ice user groaned. Taking a hand offered to him by the Reaper, he forced himself to his feet albeit with some slight shaking.

"Urgh… you guys had to leave me on the train," Natsu groaned as he too weakly tried to rise.

"Their fault, I remembered you," Ragna said with a small glare at the others, making it clear that he wasn't ready to drop this. "What was with that explosion though; something or someone made you get off that train."

"Right… that's-" Natsu eye's then shot open as he was instantly to his feet. "We need follow after that train! That guy that attacked me said he was from Eisenwald!"

"What? And you let him get away?" Erza asked, her eyes narrowing into a harsh glare and causing Natsu to grow terrified.

"If he was on a train, I don't think Natsu stood much of a chance," Ragna muttered, remembering when the two of them had been stuck on a boat and he'd had to cover for both of them. "At least now we know where they're going…"

"That's the one thing that we gained," Erza agreed seriously before heading back to the magic car.

"Not another ride," Natsu groaned as he got into the car, that was when the fire user seemed to remember something important. "I think I might've gotten a look at whatever Lullaby was… It looked like some sort of instrument, maybe a flute of some kind with a three eyed skull."

"A three eyed skull?" Lucy asked as she appeared to be thinking that information over while taking a seat beside Natsu as Ragna and Gray were forced to take their places up top once more. "Did each of the eyes have a gem inside of them?"

"Yeah, I thin-" Natsu was about to say before the car surged forward and his nausea hit him like a truck. Knowing this information was important, he tried to keep his wits about him in this state. "Some sort of… ruby... I think…"

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Happy asked, the cat remaining oddly serious as the chaos began to developed around them.

"I think I might have read about Lullaby somewhere before," the blond said as she tried her hardest to think back. "If I'm remembering correctly it was a form of… Death Magic."

"And with a name like Lullaby, that almost makes sense," Erza continued as she continued to focus on the road. "Given its flute shape, it seems that they'd have to play the item as an instrument in order to use it."

"Which could mean anyone close enough to hear the damn thing would get hit with the curse and die," Ragna finished as he tried to hold on.

"A dark guild with an item like that could have any number of uses for something like that," Gray continued as he held on beside Ragna. "The question is what they're planning on using it for right now."

"If we move quick enough we won't have to wait and find out," Ragna them all as he held on as best he could with his single good arm.

"Right! Hold on tight!" Erza commanded as she increased the vehicle's already outrageous speed. Ragna had to fight not to swear for her to slow down as he hoped that she'd at least give him a warning before the next time she stopped the car.

Later -The Checkpoint-

"This isn't good," Erza noted as the group's car was parked on a cliffside, overlooking the train station checkpoint. "Seems that the Eisenwald member that Natsu ran into has joined up with the rest of his group… and there's already a fatality." There was a single body covered in a white blanket as the other soldiers tried to question the clearly shaken people.

"Just one though, meaning they haven't used that lullaby thing yet…" Ragna noted as he sat on the top of the Magic Car with Gray, taking a well earned break after holding on for dear life. "Anyone know where the train tracks lead?"

"I do and it's not good," Lucy told them as she sat behind a nausea afflicted Natsu. "This set of tracks will lead them to Oshibana station, and they could take a train who knows where from there."

"Meaning we could lose them if we don't hurry," Erza said as she put the device to control the vehicle back on.

"Hey, should we switch for now?" Gray tried to suggest. "If we keep going at this pace, the effort's going to take up whatever remaining magic powers you have left."

"I'll be fine, for right now catching up to Eisenwald is more important," Erza told him.

"Actually, there's one thing about this that doesn't make sense," Ragna told them as Erza was about to start moving. "Why the hell are they so open about this? I mean they had a group waiting here and judging by that body down below, it looks like they made plans to make a show about it… wouldn't it be better if they moved quiet, used Lullaby, and took the credit for it later? Maybe even use these cars like we're doing?"

"Maybe they're trying to make a big show out of it?" Happy suggested from the back. "If they get everyone's attention before using that flute for something really devastating, it'll just gain that much more attention and make the guild look all the more threatening."

"Meaning unless we can stop them here and now, Eisenwald could turn into a kingdom wide threat if not worse," Erza said before they started spreading off again, giving Grey and Ragna all of a split second to get their hold on the roof.

Later -Oshibaba Station-

"This ain't good…" Ragna mutter as everyone piled out of the car out in front of the train station, while having a still recovering Natsu slung over his shoulder. "Looks like they're already here…"

A large crowd had already gathered in front of the train station which looked like it was blocked off by several soldiers. A few members of the crowd was a little rowdy as they shouted complaints while one of the soldiers in the front tried to keep control.

"Everyone calm down! We have a bit of a situation inside!" a station worker with a sound enhancing magic object (which looked a lot like a microphone) tried to tell the crowd. "We've already dispatched a force to deal with the threat so we should hear back from them soon! With any luck we'll have the station running by tomorrow at the earliest!"

"At the earliest!? I can't wait that long! I've got reservations back in Omnibus!" one voice from the crowd shouted.

"And I can't miss my meeting in Clover Town! My job is on the line here!" a woman shouted.

"And I've already had to stay in this town for almost a week because of a scheduling error! If I have to stay here another night I'm going to go crazy!"

"Please! We've heard your complaints are we're trying to get the situation handled to the best of our ability!" the man in the front promised. "We just ask that you be patient and we'll ensure that you are all compensated for this effort!"

"Are you the man in charge?"

"Huh? Ah!" the worker screamed as he realized that Erza had walked up beside him. "Who are you!?" Erza then... headbutted the man into the ground. The poor worker didn't look like he'd recover from that beating anytime soon any time soon.

"Are you in charge?" she demanded the next work, who was even more startled by the developments.

"Wh-who me?" he asked, only to be blasted away from a kick by Erza. Thus the questioning continued and Erza continued blasting away the workers as everyone watched on in awe.

'I can appreciate someone being strong headed… but this is a bit much,' Ragna thought to himself. "Erza quit wasting your time with them! We've got to get moving if we're going to catch them!"

"Are you sure? I still need my information-"

"LISTEN TO HIM!" screamed the cowering workers that remained conscious. Sighing as he continued to hold Natsu over his shoulder, Ragna started making for the train station with the other Fairy Tail wizards following closely behind him.

'This isn't looking good,' Ragna thought as his team ran through the station. They passed by several soldiers laying on the ground either defeated… or dead. 'Some of those fatal wounds definitely look like they were made by a scythe,' Ragna thought as he knew what to look out for before seeing that Lucy was growing concerned as she saw the bodies. "...Just stay close to Erza, I get the feeling that she knows what she's doing."

"R-Right," Lucy said before the noticing Ragna was starting to wince. "H-Hey, are you alright? You're starting to act up again…"

"Rggh… I'll be fine, it'll take more than whatever the hell this is to kill me," he promised before looking to Natsu who was resting on his shoulder. "Hey, we're about there. Thinking about waking up anytime soon?"

"Just… about…" the fire user groaned, not filling Ragna with any confidence.

The group then managed to make their way into a large central room… with the Eisenwald guild waiting for them. It was a large group of about fifty men, though most of them looked more like mercenaries since they carried weapons. Ragna noticed a few standout from the group that didn't look like your average run of the mill thugs.

"Well, well, well… Looks like we have got company," the group heard a voice call out, though they hadn't seen anyone from the massive enemy force speak out. "And from a team of Fairy Tail wizards no less! This is getting interesting!"

Suddenly, appearing in front of the group through some form of teleportation was a man that the Team knew had to be Erigor the Reaper. He was bare chested at the moment, wore long loose fitting black pant robes and a black torn cape around his neck. He had dark tattoos along his chest and long white hair that wasn't unlike Ragna's. His weapon of choice was a large and curved scythe with a skull on the opposing side of the blade.

'...Mine.'

"I'm a little surprised you all have followed me so far, I was half expecting you to run off with you tails between your legs and wait for the army to save your sorry hides," the Reaper of Eisenwald taunted. "And you're still here, even after you passed by their bodies on your way here."

"Yeah, we saw 'em all right," Ragna said as he set Natsu on the floor, letting the fire user recover as he looked Erigor dead in the eye. "I'm not impressed."

"We know you have the Lullaby flute," Erza said with a deep scowl. "What are you trying to accomplish with it?"

"You really want to know?" Erigor asked with a vile smirk on his face. "This town is a rather well known training hub, you know? There are plenty of important traders and high class businessmen here… so many of which are within hearing distance of the magic broadcasting system."

"You're going to play that thing over the airwaves!?" Gray realized. "Don't you realize how many innocent people that would kill!? They don't have anything to do with this!"

"LIKE I CARE!" Erigor shouted before letting out a maniacal laugh. "Those people feared us and were only too happy when our own guild was denounced! Now I'll show them… I'LL SHOW THEM ALL THAT GUILD AUTHORIZATION DOESN'T MEAN JACK! YOUR GUILD MIGHT BE RECOGNIZED, BUT I'LL TEAR IT TO THE GROUND MYSELF!"

"Not if... we stop you..." Natsu said as he slowly made his way to his feet, growling as he glared at one of the enemy wizard in a white coat with black hair that was glaring back at him. "Anyone that says that they're going to destroyer my guild…" He summoned fire into his right and slammed it into his open palm. "Is getting burned…"

"You're free to try, but I'm not expecting much from any of you…" Erigor told them. "All of you… ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" All around them, the Fairy Tail group listened as Erigor the Reaper and his cronies laughed insanely at them, ready to put their plan into action after they massacred them.

"Riveting… Bravo…" Ragna told the enemy boredly, abruptly halting their laughter as everyone stared at him. "If my other arm was working, I'd be slow clapping."

"What does one hand clapping sound like?"

"Later Happy, later," Ragna told the cat. "Anyways, just killing an entire city when you've got a tool that powerful just seems… wasteful. I mean if you guys wanted to wipe out an entire city, why wait until you had Lullaby? The army doesn't seem to be much of a match for you."

"...I'm confused. Are you complimenting them or insulting them?" Lucy asked with a deadpan expression.

"Both maybe?" Natsu considered.

"Guys, guys... let dad do his job, okay?" Ragna sighed, giving a rare instance of using his team given title. "No, I've dealt with sickos like you before and your kind wouldn't go after a civilian crowd with something that dangerous; you'd have to go after something big while you've still got the element of surprise… Clover Town, maybe?" Even if Erigor's face remained stoic, the expressions of many of the thugs couldn't be missed as many of the members looked like they'd been caught red handed. "I knew it."

"The Guild Master's meeting?" Erza questioned before glaring at Erigor. "That's been your plan this whole time!?" Erigor slowly allowed his teeth to grit as his plans started to be unraveled by the enemy.

"How'd you figure it out?" Gray asked the Reaper.

"It wasn't hard, I thought it was kind of weird that all of this was all happening when Makarov and the other leaders were gone. If this thing's really that powerful, their first move would have to be to take out anyone that could get in their way… and with all of the Guild masters in one place they'd have the perfect chance."

"...Even so, we're clearly several steps ahead of you," Erigor told him darkly as he readied his wind magic, slowly floating into the air. "Men, keep them busy… I want those old farts dead by the end of the-"

CLANG!

"You've already got me to worry about," Ragna told him smugly, having quickly summoned his giant Gilgamesh XIII Blade and rushed forward at Erigor. The opposing Reaper had barely managed to block the attack with his own weapon as he was sent flying back into the wall. Looking down, he scowled at the man who'd gotten in his way twice now and was starting to annoy him. "You and me; right here, right now."

'He's a cocky one and he's getting on my nerves. He thinks he can fight me with that arm and eye of his like that?' Erigor thought before an idea struck him and he gave a dark smile. "With all of these people here to get in our way? I'd rather fight you somewhere I can really swing this thing around."

"Ragna, we need to-" Erza tried to say, but it was already to late as Erigor used his wind magic to fly off at high speeds.

"HOLD IT!" Ragna shouted as he rushed after him. Erza was about to follow in pursuit, but that's when the rest of Eisenwald threateningly readied their weapons.

"Erigor only invited that old cripple to play, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait your turn, red," one of the thugs said with a dirty smile. "You fairy flies aren't getting off that easily!"

"There are so many of them," Lucy realized nervously. "And we don't have Ragna with us."

"And we don't need him; I can take these guys out all on my own," Natsu said as he started to glow with fire.

"Not if I do it first, flame breath," Grey told his teammate with their usual rivalry on full display. That comment alone was enough for the two of them to literally butt heads as they growled at each other in anger.

"That's enough from both of you!" Erza commanded furiously, giving both of them pause. "Lucy and I will handle them here! I need both of you to go after Erigor and Ragna! Head to Clover town; even if you don't find them on the way there you can at least warn the guild leaders!" Natsu and Gray's silence made it clear their neither of them liked what she was proposing. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

"A-AYE!" the both shouted, mimicking Happy as they ran off.

"You're not getting out of here that easily!" shouted the white jacketed member of the guild that Natsu had been glaring at as he melded into the floor shadows with his magic to chase after them.

"Handle them here men," another of Eisenwald members, one dressed like an Egyptian pharaoh told his thugs as he shadow magic like a set of whips to grapple after them. "I, Rayule, will leave to support Kageyama."

"Yeah yeah, go have fun," one of the thugs said as the remaining members eyed Erza and Lucy with dirty expressions. "We'll have fun with the ladies here and-"

SMASH!

Before the man could finish, he and about a dozen men around him were sent flying. Acting so fast that they hadn't a moment to react, Erza had summoned a large wing hilted sword, closed in on the enemy, and made a mighty swing. The thugs shouted in pain as the flew through the air before falling unconsciously to the ground. The rest of the men watched on in awe as Erza glared at them with haunting eyes.

"...Are we having fun yet?"

Chapter Text

Episode 007: Arrival of the Grim Reaper

'Tch, this cripple's annoying ability to keep up with me is better than I would have thought,' Erigor thought as he flew over the streets of Oshibana.

His original plan had been to lose Ragna quickly before erecting a wind barrier around the station, effectively trapping the rest of the wizards inside and unable to call for help. The red coated man was not one to go along with this plan and quickly proved that he was able to keep up with him, leaping atop tall buildings and over large crowds with relative ease and never straying too far behind. As not to alarm anyone, Ragna had unsummoned his Gilgamesh blade while he pursued the enemy Reaper and was constantly scowling up at the opponent with his single good eye.

'Using Lullaby isn't an option here,' the Wind magic user thought to himself as he glanced to the flute in his hand. 'The Fairy flies from earlier made it clear that they hadn't warned anyone of this thing's power and the guy chasing me is clearly the only one who saw through my plan. Taking over the station may have been a ballsy play, but they called in the army… ergo they didn't want the masters involved to create their level of destruction. If I play this now though and kill off a large group of innocents, a high-level official could send a message that could get through and ruin that essential element of surprise to my plan.'

'How much longer is he going to do this? He's really starting to piss me off.' Ragna thought as he continued to run across the rooftops and leap from building to building. It was just as he thought that he saw Erigor blasting off at high speeds towards the town's edge, one of which had a set of train tracks. 'Looks like he's finally heading off for Clover Town… Dammit, now I really gotta run.'

Ragna might not have been Tao, but due to his training with Jubei he knew that he could make it in a cross country run, especially if he added his agile flips and kicking from his moveset. Heading for the gate, he rushed onto the train tracks in hot pursuit of Erigor.

'For now I'll lead him out into the wastelands and then shred him to pieces there, maybe set up a nice display for his children to see when they finally manage to catch up,' the Reaper of Eisenwald thought to himself, remembering that Ragna had used the term 'dad' on himself. 'After all… he's not worth using Lullaby's power on, or the power of Zeref.'

Oshibana Station -Foyer-

"...What's the matter lady?" one of Eisenwald's less terrified thugs demanded as they continued to surround Erza Scarlet, weapons at the ready. The only thing that was keeping them from surging forward was Erza's previous display of force… but the stigma that had built was starting to grow thin as she hadn't moved in the short time since then. "C'mon…' he continued, starting to work his courage up as he gave a dirty smirk. "You scared?"

SMASH!

In the blink of an eye Erza's sword had been changed for a large two-handed War Hammer. Bringing the weapon around in a devastating arc, she managed to blast away quite another large group of Eisenwald members. Changing her weapon yet again, her next swing was with a long spear as she swatted more and more Eisenwald thugs to the side.

'I have to careful how I fight here,' Erza thought to herself as she fought to keep up appearances, shifting to twin daggers as she spun herself into the forces. 'I've already exerted my energy in just getting here and I'll need more after I'm finished here to catch up with Erigor… but if I don't extend enough of my power I'm going to be stuck here for too long dealing with this rabble to stop Ragna from getting himself killed…'

"OPEN! GATE OF THE CRAB CONSTELLATION!" came Lucy's shout from behind her. Erza had been so focused on the enemy before her that she had nearly forgotten that she wasn't alone in the fight. With the toll of the bell and the magic circle opening like a door, the celestial sprang into view. "CANCER!"

"Ohhhh… hey baby," the humanoid with crab features said, snipping its scissors as its black sunglasses gave a cool shine... Lucy did her best to ignore Happy drooling at the sight of a crab. "You got a... special request for me this time, baby?"

"What is that stupid looking thing?" one of the thugs further from Erza asked, feeling cocky enough to hurl insults since wasn't in the immediate line of fire.

"AN EASY TARGET!" shouted another thug as he led his group forward, eager to finally turn the tide on a less intimidating target. "We'll turn it into an All-You-Can-Eat Seafood buffet!"

"Just go to town on them Cancer; stylist's choice!" Lucy ordered.

"Got it…baby," the crab said. Moving faster than the naked eye could see, the Celestial Spirit dashed through to group of thugs and swung its scissors with god-like precision.

"Oh NO!" screamed one thug, gripping his now hair-free scalp.

"OH NO!" screamed another, gaping at his magic weapon while had been cut to pieces and left him only carrying the hilt.

“OH NO!” screamed a blushing third, gripping his shredded clothes close as could to cover himself.

"Oh yeahhh," Cancer said, twirling his scissors around before looking at the others.

"What… what the hell is with these freaky girls!?" one of the still standing thugs demanded, only to get blasted off to the side as Erza smashed into yet another group, this time with an oversized scimitar. "I didn't sign up for this crap!"

"This is what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail!" Lucy shouted as she brought her whip out, getting in on the combat herself. Swinging her personal weapon, she managed to send one or two of the thugs flying herself… though it was hard not to cringe as their expressions made it seem like they were enjoying it.

"If you both keep this up, we'll be out of here in no time!" Happy declared as Erza decimated yet another group of fighters.

'Hopefully sooner rather than later,' the redhead thought to herself. 'There's no telling what Erigor has planned for Ragna… or if Grey and Natsu aren't already at each other's throats.'

Meanwhile

"Gosh darn it Erza! Why the hell does she have to make us work together every time!?"

"If she actually asked us it would have been one thing, but all she ever does is twist our arms!"

"And to top it off now we gotta worry about gramps and the other guild masters over this whole mess!"

"Oh, so you're worried for once? That's new."

"Shut it, fridge boy!"

"The hell did you call me, Gasoline Head!?"

It was quite clear that the two weren't quite in the cooperative spirit. Since the two had gotten their order from Erza to follow after Ragna and Erigor, they had barely managed to make down the first few hallways into the station's entrance lobby. Neither of them had come to blows just yet… but it was pretty clear that it wouldn't take much more provocation from either side.

"I hope Ragna's at least managing to slow him down," Gray said getting oddly serious. "If Erigor gets to the conference hall before us or he gets away, then we've already lost everything."

"...Don't worry about him, Ragna's going to pull through for us," Natsu replied showing full confidence rather than the full on cockiness that Gray was used to.

"You sound pretty sure about that," Gray said, reasonably skeptical since he hadn't gotten a proper look at Ragna's skills, only having heard stories from Natsu. "Can he really-Urk! BEHIND YOU!"

Natsu would have been too slow in turning, so Gray was forced to leap to defend his back. Activating his magic, he managed to create a wall of ice behind the fire wizard just in time to block a barrage to dark magic tendrils.

"You fool! You should have watched your own back!" came a familiar shout from behind Gray. Another burst of dark magic tendrils had emerged from the Dark Mage Kageyama, only to be blasted away by Natsu's magic. "What?"

"Tch, looks like I gotta save your back," the Fire Wizard muttered.

"IDIOT! I WAS THE ONE WHO SAVED YOUR HIDE FIRST!" Gray shouted.

"DON'T YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT YOU DAMN STRIPPER!"

"BETTER THAN BEING A PYROMANIAC LIKE YOU ARE!"

"...Should we even bother with them?" Rayule asked as Kageyama finished emerging from the shadows beside him. "Looking at the two of these guys right now, I think they're more likely to knock each other out."

"Don't be stupid, we both know that Erigor would kill us both if he knew we just left them be," Kageyama muttered before glaring at Natsu, breaking him out of his spat with Gray. "Besides, I owe the pink one hell for the trouble he caused me."

"Oh, so it's you from the train…" Natsu growled as he stared the opposing wizard down. "Doggy, right?"

"It's Kage! KA-GE!"

"Whatever, I'm not interested in your name anyways," Natsu told him. "All I want from you is a rematch right here and now!" He gave a violent smirk. "I'll even take on that friend of yours too!"

'This idiot. He's trying to take us both on after the beating I gave him back on the train? Is the entire guild full of idiots like them?'

"Hey! Don't go trying to hog all of the credit for yourself!" Gray growled.

"Aw, you'll just be in the way!" Natsu taunted. "Besides, this way you'll be able to chase after Erigor and Ragna like Erza wanted, won't you?"

"Like hell! That's just giving you what you want!" Gray shouted with anger.

"Besides, it's not like you'd manage aways," Rayule told them both with a smirk. "Once I get you weaklings separated, taking you both out would be that much simpler."

"Fine, fine, if that's how you wanna play it!" Natsu said as he got excited. "That just means we'll have to knock you both out right here!"

"DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELVES!" Kage shouted as he used his shadow magic to create a flurry of dark fists once more. This time Natsu and Gray tried to leap out of the attack range in order to avoid the assault.

"Buzzing around is all you flies are good at!" Rayule shouted, using his own shadows like a series of whips and attacking Gray, who was forced to defend against the blows with his arms. "You idiots just have to leave yourselves wide open don't you!? I can't imagine how your guild has been around for this long!"

"Fire Dragon..." Natsu shouted, gathering his power and forming twin wings made of flame.

"You're open again!" Kageyama shouted as he created snakes made of darkness.

"Ice Make…" Gray began from behind Natsu.

'He's recovered this quickly!?' Kage thought as he saw Gray readying his spell. 'And why the hell did he strip in the middle of a fight!?'

"KNUCKLE!"

"WING ATTACK!"

Though the attacks may have been of differing elements, the raw destructive power behind both moves was outrageous and more than made up for the lack of cooperation between the two wizards. While Natsu's flames easily cut through Rayule's shadows and struck him directly, Kageyama received his just deserts from a torrent of ice made fists. Both wizards faces were covered in shock and pain as they fell unconscious to the floor.

"...I think I just took out the guy who had a beef with you," Gray observed, betraying his normal rivalry with Natsu with a smirk. "Sorry about that."

"Eh, no big deal," Natsu said with a laugh, as he gather more Fire Magic. "After all-"

FLOSH!

"WRRRRRYYYYY!?"

In the rubble of the wall Natsu had just destroyed laid one of Eizenwald's wizards, an overweight one with fat lips. He too had been knocked unconscious by a single blow.

"No fair! I was about to take that guy out myself!" Gray shouted at Natsu.

"Aw, what's the matter? Upset that I've already knocked out one more guy than you?"

"Only you'd care about something that petty you hot headed idiot!"

"The hell did you call me!?"

...Such is the fate of forcefully mixing Ice and Fire.

Back with the Girls

"...It seems we're finally done with this lot," Erza said, keeping her composure as she unsummoned her most recently summoned weapon (a greatsword). Countless thugs lay grounded in defeat around her; either unconscious, just unable to move, or even having passed out through the display of power from both girls along. Considering that she had Lucy and her spirit by her side this fight, Erza hadn't needed to do anything brash and had resorted to only her basic weapons combat.

"Heh, we're a pretty amazing team aren't we?" Lucy said, her self-confidence briming after all of the effort.

"I don't get why you're so proud of yourself Lucy," Happy cut in. "Erza and Crabby did most of the work."

"It's Cancer and he's my spirit! I'm a Celestial Wizard; this is how I fight!" the blonde shouted at the cat before turning to her spirit. "Good work here, Cancer!"

"No problem… baby," Cancer told her, his glasses once against giving a slick shine.

"Does this spirit of yours have to end every sentence of his with baby?" Erza asked with her serious demeanor, leaving Lucy and Cancer to go painfully still. "It seems like an insult to you and a catchphrase like that would wear itself thin rather quickly."

"Th-that's harsh, ba…" Cancer started to say, only stopping himself at just the last moment.

'That's going to leave a mark on his psyche,' Lucy groaned in her mind. "All right Cancer, you can head back for now."

"Yes… ma'am," the spirit said, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

'WHOA! He actually changed his catchphrase!?' she thought to herself with shock.

"We need to hurry," Erza instructed, snapping Lucy back to the present instantly. "Natsu and Grey probably have a decent head start on us and there's no telling how far Ragna and Erigor have gotten."

"Right," Lucy said as the group ran off, following only slightly behind Erza as Happy ran right beside her. It was having the two side by side that caused her to notice the face Happy was making as they were running, gripping his temples like he had a headache. "What's wrong?"

"I keep trying to remember what it was I've forgotten to tell you, but every time I come close to remembering it keeps slipping away," Happy told her. "What was it… I know it had to be important…"

"I'm sure we can worry about it later," Lucy told the cat. "Right now we need to worry about catching up to Natsu and-"

"WHY ARE YOU BOTH STILL HERE!?" came Erza's screaming from up ahead, followed by a deadly crash with Natsu and Grey screaming in pain.

"...That was… quick," Lucy said, both she and Happy showing blank faced surprise as Natsu and Grey had been blasted into the wall. Erza wasn't done with her rage and marched up to both of them, grabbing Grey by his collar and Natsu by the front of his scarf.

"I told you both to follow after Ragna and Erigore!" she demanded them, shaking both harshly. "And barring that, you were supposed to head to Clover Town and warn the guild leaders! Why are you both still in this station!?"

"W-we just finished our fight…" Natsu said through the shaking, praying to god that Erza would calm down and wouldn't kill him.

"It took you both this long!?" Erza shouted at them. Both boys said nothing as they were frozen with terror. Eventually she decided it wasn't worth it and dropped them both. "Honestly, this is why I want the both of you to try and get along with each other; you end up wasting vital time like this."

"Well you didn't exactly take that long fighting off those thugs yourself," Gray countered under his breath, as he finally made his way to his feet. "Now what?"

"Now we head to the magic mobile and follow after Erigor; we need to move fast if we're going to have any hope of saving Ragna."

"Save…?" Natsu began, before giving a wicked smirk. "Heh…"

'What's with that look?' Erza questioned not getting what the Fire User was so cocky about.

"I wouldn't worry so much about Ragna; I think we should hurry just so there's something left for us," the pink hair told the group confidently before looking to Happy who only nodded once with a rare serious expression on his face. "I'll fly up ahead with Happy and see if I can't catch up with them, it beats having to go again on the Magic Mobile at least."

'He's actually thinking ahead? That's new.' "Right then, we'll see you there," she agreed. With that, Happy used his magic to sprout wings and grabbed Natsu to soar off through the air at amazing speeds. "...Godspeed."

Meanwhile -Clover Canyon Railway Line-

Ragna stood alone on the train tracks, not speaking a word as he used his functioning arm to get a wicked crick out of his neck. He didn't have to hurry on ahead and waste his energy, he knew Erigor was close by. For whatever reason, the pain-filled feeling he'd first encountered at Oshibana seemed to have some reaction to the Lullaby flute; the closer he was to it, the worse he felt. It would have been an annoyance under most circumstances… but for now he almost grateful for the built in radar.

"...Are we doing this or what? You're not exactly being subtle," Ragna spoke calmly, his green eye looking at the plateau he knew Erigor was hiding behind. Hearing a small chuckle, he watched the scythe user float out from behind the rock formation until he was nearly touching the train tracks in front of Ragna, his wind magic keeping him levitating a few short inches off the ground. "Funny, not in the mood for music?"

"You're kidding; like I would waste the christening of this new age of darkness on a lowlife wizard that can't appreciate the dark arts. I have more respect for the forbidden magics of Zeref than that."

'Zeref?' Ragna thought to himself, unfamiliar the name. "So I'm not worthy of your bullshit, is that it?"

"No, you're just not my big target… you're only here so I'll be able to leave a decoration for your Fairy children," the Dark Guild Reaper said cockily, using Ragna's team role against him.

"Looks like I'm up against your scythe then," Ragna decided the two stared down each other; an emerald green eye against two black ones. "It already feels like another life…"

"What are you going on about now?" his opponent demanded, ready to carve his opponent a new one for forcing him to change his plans so much already.

"...My name is Ragna the Bloodedge." His expression alone seemed to darken the area surrounding the two as the sun slowly began to descend in the distance. "Before I joined the Fairy Tail guild... I was known as the Grim Reaper."

(Cue No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Philistine Extended (Some swearing in the song, so wear headphones if in public))

"...Don't make me laugh, old man," Erigor taunted as he disappeared from view. Quickly snapping to combat ready, Ragna barely managed to summon his sword in time and swing behind him in order block the deadly sickle from decapitating his head. Erigor used to winds to increase his speed for a second slash as Ragna again deflected the blade with his sword. Using his assassin training, he moved to Ragna's blind spot… but Ragna had been stuck like this long enough not to fall for that trick a second time. Sending out a powerful kick, he managed to catch Erigor directly in the chest and narrowed avoided getting cut by another slash to his head.

Charging his magic into his fingers, he pointed directly at Erigor and caused a large red magic circle to spring into existence before him. This was about as basic of a fire spell as one could get in this world, not nearly at the same level that Natsu used his magic… but of course Ragna just had to put his own twist on it.

"Infernal Pulse!" Ragna shouted as he blasted a large fireball, one which screamed through the air straight towards Erigor. The opposing scythe user wasn't nearly impressed and cleanly cut the attack into two, the halves exploding into Clover Canyon behind him.

'He's a Fire Wizard, and only a basic one at that,' Erigor thought before smirking confidently. 'Oh, he's just making this too easy for me!'

Surging with his powerful wind magic, he launched himself into a deadly combination attack. Ragna deflected the first attack before narrowly side stepping the overhead slash. He then guarded with his sword, allowing the scythes edge to strike its edge and create sparks as he deflected the next slash with an upward swing. The two then exchanged slashes and generated sparks before Erigor vanished from view again. Appearing above Ragna, he made a slash at the opposing Reaper's head, cleaving the vicious blade through the neck.

"Too easy… All talk…" Erigor said, sounding quite pleased with himself… only to notice no blood seeping from the fatal wound. "Wha-!?" The after image faded away.

CLANG!

Erigor himself barely had time to block Ragna's follow up strike to his own head as he was forced to plant his feet on the ground. Ragna the swung his blade around in an upward arc and Erigor used his wind magic to blast back into order to avoid the blade. Chasing after him, Ragna slashed horizontally and forced Erigor to guard before they traded blows in a follow-up slash. Using a quick burst of winds to boost his movement, Erigor attempted to slash downwards but the pure strength behind Ragna countering blow sent him off his balance and straight into the air. Leaping up after him, Ragna gave another slash and sent Erigor sprawling back after barely managing to block it.

Seeing that Ragna was still in the air after he’d already recovered, Erigor readied his scythe and took his chance dashing wildly through the sky. Dashing around, he tried to charge from behind him, only to have Ragna's sword block it easily. Warping to the front, Erigor tried another slash which was just as easily deflected. Erigor kept going for Ragna's exposed point, only to have each and every strike easily blocked. When he went for Ragna's head a second time though, the red-coated Reaper stabbed his sword into the air and interrupted the attack as Erigor just barely managed to avoid the blade piercing his skull. Swinging the weapon wildly, Ragna managed to make connect with Erigor's blade and blasted him away.

'Alright… so he's not just some old coot…' Erigor thought to himself with ire as Ragna finally landed to the ground. Scowling down at someone he'd always considered a 'Lesser Wizard', he tried to plan his next move… only to notice something getting in his right eye. "Ugh… what the…?" Wiping it with his left hand, he examined it to find… blood. His blood. He'd been cut in that last exchange just above his eye. "WHY YOU-! ...STORM MAIL!"

A spiraling tornado formed around Erigor, creating a thick set of armor for the user. As he surged forward, Ragna noticed a clear increase of speed as he was forced to act quickly, countering Erigor's first slash with his own, blocking the follow up, and retaliating with a slash of his own. Erigor once more used his wind to disappear from sight as Ragna attempted to cleave through him, reappearing in the air above the Reaper.

"Infernal Pulse!" Ragna shouted again, quickly launching another fireball at his opponent. Erigor didn't even need to use his scythe to cut this one apart, instead the fireball was torn by the wind as soon as it got close to him. Erigor then barreled towards Ragna with his scythe ready, leaving himself open for the attack. Ragna took advantage and stabbed his sword forward, only to have it deflected to the side as soon as it made contact with the whirlwind. Ragna then forced himself to leap back as Erigor's scythe came close to cleaving his head off.

"Now I have you…" came Erigor's voice from within his armor. "There's no way you could possibly break through this, even with that absurd sword of yours!" Ragna contemplated bringing out his frying pan to shut Erigor up, but decided against it. "Your Fire Magic is pathetic and even if it wasn't it wouldn't matter!"

"Tch, just shut the hell up will ya?" Ragna complained as he rushed forward yet again, bringing his sword down upon Erigor. Much like he'd claimed, the blade was deflected by the winds alone and left Erigor ready to slash in counter. Ragna stepped back to avoid the massive swing before from Erigor. Sword and Scythe closed once more before Erigor used his winds to flank Ragna, leaving him to counter with a backwards swing. Letting out an insane cackle, Erigor began expending more of his magical energy as he teleported with all of his rapid strikes, keeping Ragna on his toes and forcing him to fight defensively.

"DIE… DIE… DIE YOU PATHETIC FLY!" Erigor screamed as he teleported high into the air charging his magic for a final dive, only to see Ragna forming yet another magic circle before him. "USELESS! YOUR MAGIC CAN'T EVEN SCRATCH ME!"

"Reaper's…" Ragna began as the magic sigil finished forming and Erigor's soared flew thought the air right towards him.

'A new spell?' Erigor thought to himself before he saw the magic cackling… but not with red fire. 'What!?'

"STORM!"

A wicked bolt of yellow lightning sprang from the magic circle, blasting Erigor with an electric current. The enemy Reaper had been too fazed to move out of the way of this attack and this one cut through his wind barrier like it was nothing. Erigor roared with pain as he was shocked down to his core, his own Storm Mail fading away as he lost focus. Once the spell was finished, he floated in the air breathing heavily as he furiously glared down at the Reaper.

Ragna stood ready, casually holding his blade backhanded behind him as he waited for the fight to continue. While he wasn't smiling and Erigor had the elevation advantage, it was clear Ragna was staring him down… looking down on him.

"My magic might be basic as all hell..." he told his opponent, his tone dull yet merciless." "But I'd say I still got your number."

"I… have had… ENOUGH!" Erigor shouted, his rage causing his power to explode. "YOU MAY BE STRONG BUT I WON'T BE SUFFER YOU AND YOUR DAMN PRIDE ANY LONGER!" Erigor's dark circle appeared before him once more. "STORM BRINGER!"

Realizing what was happening at just that last instant, Ragna managed to leap back just as a massive tornado formed where he'd been standing. The heavy gusts of wind converged formed a vacuum that tried sucking the Reaper into the forming tornado, though Ragna stood strong as he managed to keep his footing.

'Tch… missed him…' Erigor thought as he saw Ragna standing on the other side of the whirlwind. 'Try getting out of this one you crippled pest, you never stood a damned chance against a real Reaper. I've wasted enough time on you as it is.' He finished his thoughts just as he saw Ragna raising his sword high into the air, tensing his muscles as he prepared a single powerful slash on the magic vortex before him. It should have been a stupid and overblown sight… but Erigor felt himself sweat. 'He… He can't be serious…'

"I'M SICK OF YOUR FRIGGIN' WIND!"

'He's been working in an authorized guild this entire time.. He's had easy jobs to choose from… He looks like he's well past his prime… His magic is as basic as you can get... Most of his right side doesn't work for god's sake…' Erigor thought to himself with terror… watching as a tornado itself was torn in half by the sheer force of a single sword slash. 'SO HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?'

(End Theme)

The magically created winds quickly began to disperse around the sunsetting area, Erigor's eye twitching as he continued to stare at the opposing Reaper who brought his massive sword up and rested it against his shoulder. Ragna glared up at Erigor, ready to make his next move whenever he decided to stop the deer-in-headlights expression.

"That… DOES IT!" Erigor screamed, finally taking out the Lullaby flute. "TO HELL WITH THE DARK ARTS! TO HELL WITH ZEREF! TO HELL WITH EISENWALD! I JUST WANT YOU DEAD

"For an Assassin Reaper you're doing a shit job from where I'm standing," Ragna said as he stood rather relaxed and nonchalant. "One slash left to finish you off for good…"

"And one final note to end your life!" Erigor shouted as he brought the flute to his lips, taking in a deep breath. Ragna tensed his muscles, ready lunge at the last second and cleave both the disgraced Reaper and his magic flute in half. If he missed now, Erigor would just teleport away and be able to perform the Lullaby's deadly song on him. He had to make this final hit count, for it was all-

"FIRE DRAGON..."

"What the-?"

"IRON FIST!"

Coming out of seemingly nowhere was Natsu, delivering an explosive flaming fist straight to Erigor's jaw. The opposing Reaper didn't even have the time to give a scream of pain as he was sent flying through the air, losing his grip on both his scythe and the Lullabye Flute. The former spiraled through the air before impaling itself in the ground right before Ragna. The deadly flute was sent tumbling off the canyon's edge as Erigor crashed into the railway (thankfully not destroying any of the tracks) where he lay unconscious, defeated by Natsu's surprise appearance.

'I should probably be upset that he just stole that win from me,' Ragna thought to himself. 'But…'

"TOLD YOU YOU'D GET BURNED IF YOU MESSED WITH FAIRY TAIL!" Natsu shouted, quite clearly still Fired Up, even if it didn't seem like Erigor was going to up for a rematch.

'...You know, I think I'll just let him take this one,' Ragna conceded, giving a rare soft smile at the sight of Natsu clearly enjoying himself. 'But where in the hell did he come from?' That was when Ragna felt something furry land atop his head. "Hmm?"

"Just in… time…" came Happy's exhausted sigh, the cat's wings showing for just a moment longer before vanishing completely. "I... used up all of my Magic Power... just getting Natsu here..."

"That explains it," Ragna muttered to himself he decided he'd leave Happy where he was for the moment, if only so that the feline could continue to rest. He was about to head over and join Natsu with Erigor… before eyeing the enemy's scythe.

Back with the other wizard, Natsu was checking over Erigor and making sure he was completely knocked out and not just faking it. Much like he'd expected Erigor was going to be down for the count for at least an hour if he wasn't forcefully awakened.

"Well that's him dealt with," Natsu muttered as he noticed Ragna making his way over. "This guy giving you trouble?"

"...Not much, but in terms of dramatic entrances you've got your timing down at least," he told his guildmate with a small chuckle, Natsu of course giving a proud smile. "Come on, I think the bastard dropped that damn flute in the Canyon; we destroy that thing and we'll be done with this whole…" Ragna couldn't finish the sentence, instead giving a harsh wince. "This whole…" His vision began to blur as his body felt like it was being torn apart once more. "The hell is-!?" His head felt like it was on the receiving end of one of Azrael's punches as he doubled over. falling to his knees on the railway as Happy fell from atop his head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Natsu demanded as the Reaper had his eye trapped shut as his body felt the pain deepening in every non-paralyzed part of his body. "Ragna! Come on, pull yourself together!"

'The hell… is this…?' Ragna thought to himself through his pain, slowly managing to open his eye as he saw he stared out… and found the source of the problem. "L… Lullabye."

Natsu saw it too, the demonic flute floating above Clover Canyon, a dark magical aura covering the weapon as purple lighting sparked and cackled around it tearing the canyon beneath it apart.

"MORTAL FOOLS…" a demonic voice spoke. "I GROW TIRED OF WATCHING YOU SQUIRM LIKE INSECTS… EVEN WITH ME IN THEIR POSSESSION, THOSE WITH HEARTS HARDENED BY THE DARKNESS HAVE FAILED TIME AND AGAIN…" A black magic circle of titanic power and size emerged from the flute leaving the titanic form of a giant horned creature made from demonic wood, it's feet hitting the bottom of the canyon and still towering over the three. "THE SOULS OF TWO WIZARDS HARDLY MAKES FOR A FEAST WORTH WAKING MYSELF FOR… BUT I SUPPOSE IT SHALL DO FOR NOW."

(Cue Sonic Forces Fist Bump Extended)

"...Finally, Looks like we're getting a challenge now!" Natsu said cockily, looking up at the giant monster and positively brimming with Fire Magic. Giving Ragna a quick glance, he saw that he was still wincing but managing to force himself upright. "You going to last out there?"

"Don't have much choice, do I?" Ragna muttered creating a giant fireball in hand and offering it to Natsu. "I got it's left…"

"So I'll take the right!" Natsu agreed with a cocky smile as he swiped the fire magic and downed it, Ragna's magic giving the young wizard a needed boost. "Aw yeah, I got a fire in my belly that's just BURNING TO GET OUT!"

"MORTAL FOOLSSSSS!" the demon screamed a bright light appearing in its mouth as it gathered energy. Flashbacks of his encounter with Takemikazuchi coming back to haunt him, Ragna launched himself as the head as he brought out the massive fryingpan he'd gotten from the Vanish brother's and smacked the demon upside the head, causing its massive burst to fly off into the sky. The monster tried to get a proper swing in at Ragna, only to have Natsu leap up into the air.

"FIRE DRAGON: WING ATTACK!" Natsu said, blasting the target with twin wings of flames blasting it on its right shoulder before landing back on the bridge.

The monster tried to crush the young wizard with its hand as he landed. Ragna intercepted the move, switching his weapons to his Gilgamesh blade and causing the monster to scream as he plunged the sword through its hand. It roared in pain as tried to pull its hand back, but Ragna kept it pinned down.

"Natsu!" he shouted as he kept the thing in place. The monster struggled in vain as it fought to get free, leaving itself wide open for an attack.

"You got it!" the fire wizard told him as he created a magic circle before taking in as deep a breath as he could manage. Blowing outwards, he blasted the demon with the hottest fire he could create and caused the creature to scream as Ragna held it in place. Once, the attack had ended though, the Reaper took his large weapon out of the demon's hand before cleaving it off, sending it over the side of the bridge.

"YOU WIZARD IMBECILES…" the monster growled as it looked down at the two. "I THOUGHT I WOULD ENTERTAIN YOU, SEE WHAT THE MAGICS OF THIS GENERATION ARE TRULY CAPABLE OF… YOU'VE HUMORED YOURSELVES THINKING YOU STOOD A CHANCE AGAINST MY SONG OF DEATH! NOW YOU'LL-!"

"ICE MAKE: LANCE!" came a shout from a short distance away. The giant turned to the source of the shouting as it was struck in the chest with a large Ice Projectile. From the parked Magic Mobile, Ragna saw Gray, Lucy, and Erza running towards them.

"Glad you could make it!" Ragna shouted at the three as he used his Requip magic once more switch his sword out for a new weapon… a scythe.

"I-Is that Erigor's scythe?" Gray asked with surprise.

"Questions later! First you gotta help us kill this damn thing!" Ragna shouted as he swung his scythe with great ferocity, carving the creature across his chest.

"So you steal weapons from the enemies you've beaten!?" Erza demanded as she summoned a giant axe. "That's rather brazen of you!"

"Bite me! I ain't about to give it back!" Ragna shouted as the two weapon users leaped at the demon, cleaving in deeply across the face.

"Steal from… I REMEMBER!" Happy shouted. "LUCY!"

"I can't help right now! None of my spirits have any time left!" she told him as she watching.

"I think I have a way! Look at this!" he told her, holding up a golden zodiac key.

"ICE MAKE: ARROWS!" Gray shouted sending a barrage of the named item straight for the monster. "Tch! Stronger than it looks-!"

"In that case we'll just have to hit that thing as hard as we can," Erza said as she began to focus her magic.

"Oh, looks like Erza's getting serious!" Natsu shouted as he launched him at the creature, delivering yet another flaming punch to the creature's face. As it again charged a massive blast of energy, Ragna slashed the thing against its eye and caused it to stumble slightly.

"ANY DAY NOW ERZA!" he shouted, noticing that she was getting coated in a strange collection of light. 'The hell?'

"FOOLS… WHATEVER YOU ARE PLANNING, I SHALL NOT GIVE YOU THE CHANCE…" the demon told the group as it looked like it was inhaling a large amount of air. "ONE NOTE IS ALL IT WILL TAKE TO END ALL OF YOU! FEEL MY WRATH AND-!" The creature couldn't finish as it almost seemed to lose its footing, one of its legs sinking deep into the ground as it lost all of the air it had gathered. "WHAT IS THIS!?"

"You've got your opening! GO AND FINISH HIM OFF!" Lucy commanded.

"Lucy… you really are a member of Fairy Tail after all," Erza said, giving the Celestial wizard plenty of praise. As Lucy turned to the redhead, she saw that Erza's outfit had changed for black armor that almost made her look like a Wyvern.

"Erza's using her Black Winged Armor!" Happy shouted. "Unlike Ragna, Erza can also change her clothing in order to get extra effects. This one amplifies every one of her strikes with devastating power!"

'So that's what she meant about Armor's back on the train,' the Reaper thought to himself before looking at the prone demon. "Everyone give it your hardest hit! TAKE IT DOWN NOW!"

"ICE MAKE: SLICER!" Gray shouted, unleashing a powerful disk projectile that cleaved a large gash in the creature's right side. "ERZA!"

"RAGNA! WITH ME!" she shouted as she rushed forward with her axe with Ragna following with his scythe. Leaping into the air, both of them roared as the cleanly cleaved the monster across its chest.

"And now for the finishing blow," Natsu said with a smirk. "The Flames of my right hand and the flames of my left! Put the two together-!" The Wizard created a massive sphere of fire magic above his head. "AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GET! FIRE DRAGON: BRILLIANT FLAME!"

Throwing the raw energy with all of his strength, the magic attack hit the demon square in the chest and exploded with a blinding light. The demon gave a shrill scream as it fell backwards, crushing several rock formation beneath its massive bulk before finally exploding.

(End Theme)

"I… it's over…" Lucy said with shock as she looked at the new chasm the team had created in Clover Canyon. Nothing remained of the demon that had long rested in the form of a cursed flute, the smoke parting and heading high into the sky. "We actually managed to do it…"

"Tch, that was piece of cake," Natsu said cockily, breaking Lucy out of her amazement she stared blank-eyed at the pink head. "I was hoping for a better fight than that."

"Much as I'd hate to agree with him on anything, he's got a point," Grey muttered as he sat on the train tracks. "That demon just had this coming from the beginning."

'Th-they weren't impressed by any of that, what kind of monsters are they really?' Lucy thought to herself before seeing Ragna standing by himself off to the side. His newly acquired scythe resting on his shoulder, he looked out into the horizon, watching the sun slowly set behind the chasm that the group had created. Heading over stood next to him, she looked to the setting sun like he was. "So you took Erigor's scythe?"

"...I felt like it could be put to better use," he told her with a somewhat cocky smirk. "Besides, I think the whole Grim Reaper aesthetic suits me pretty damn well, don't you?"

"Perhaps," Erza said as she made her way over, her armor returning to its regular state. "Are all of your weapons just spoils from enemies that you've beaten?"

"Pretty much, but it's pretty cheap just to do things this way," he decided with a chuckle.

"So if you ever tried to defeat me you'd take all of my blades afterwards?" Erza demanded, her scowl something fierce as she stared Ragna down.

"Considering we're on the same team I want to say no…" the Reaper answered before finally sending his newly acquired scythe back into his storage.

"Mistress, are you pleased with my work?" a new voice asked. It's owner was a cute pink haired maid and they seemed to be addressing that question to Lucy.

"Trust me, you were perfect out there Virgo," Lucy told her with a beaming smile. "Sorry, but would you mind waiting just a little longer for us to set up our contract?"

"Of course, I shall eagerly await your next summons," she said with a formal bow before returning to the Celestial Realm.

"That maid… was that the giant gorilla that we fought back at Everlue Manor?" Natsu questioned.

"Yeah, turned out that her contract with Everlue was broken when he got arrested," Lucy said before glaring at Happy. "Something this one completely forgot to tell me."

"I'm sorry, I've had a busy day and all of the excitement made it hard to remember," Happy told her with a pout.

"Heh, well it has been one of those days," the Grim Reaper couldn't help but agree. Turning his head, he noted that the previous owner of his newest weapon was still lying face down on the train tracks after the beating Natsu had given him. "Now then, where do we put that piece of work?"

"We'll hand him and the rest of his cohorts over to the army, no doubt they have already moved in to arrest those we've defeated back at the station," Erza assured them. "In any case-"

"Erza!" Gray called, only for the redhead to shoot him a deathly scowl as she was interrupted. "I… I think I see a train coming this way."

"After what Erigor did to the station?" Erza thought before looking at the vehicle. Unlike most of the other trains, this was covered in armor and seemed to have a few canons on top of it. The train cars were occupied with countless soldiers. "This one's from the army…"

"Aw crap guys! We gotta get going!" Natsu said with panic as he was about to take off running. "They're gonna pissed after we destroyed… after we destroyed…" Now instead of panicked, Natsu looked like he was thinking much harder than he usually did. "...What did we blow up again?"

"Is the station still standing?" Ragna asked Lucy, who only nodded to him. "Then you didn't."

"What's this feeling…?" Gray muttered allowed as he seemed to be gripping his stomach. "I don't like it…"

"Everything about this…" Erza began as she looked at her hands with a sense of terror. "Everything about this feels wrong…"

'This must be a new one for them,' Lucy thought to herself with a classic anime sweat drop as Ragna merely face palmed.

Soon the train slowed before it had come to a complete stop before the group. All around them members of the army piled out with weapons drawn, moving in quickly to arrest Erigor the Reaper. They also surrounded the Fairy Tail members as well and though they didn't have their weapons pointed, Ragna had a feeling it wouldn't take a lot to provoke them to do so. Of the soldiers, many were staring at the large chasm that had been created due to the fight with the Lullaby demon.

"...You're welcome by the way," Ragna muttered with an edge of snarkiness in his words as the soldiers carried the captured Erigor off. He got a few glares, but remained lax under such a sight.

"I'm surprised that you managed to keep your level of destruction to a minimum," a new voice noted as Ragna turned to the source. Its owner was a man with deep blue shaggy hair with a dark tattoo over his right eye. He was dressed in a white and black hakama set. Accompanying him was a woman in a white kimono with long dark hair that fell past her shoulders.

'Wh-what's he doing here!?' Erza thought to herself, hoping she managed to mask her worry as best she could. "Natsu… Gray… Go check on the Magic Mobile, make sure we didn't burn out the engine."

"But Erza…" Natsu began.

"NOW!" she said, giving them both her usual Erza scowl. Both boys gave a terrified sweat as the hurried off to check on their ride.

"Ever the force of nature I see," the blue haired man commented with a smug grin that Ragna didn't exactly care for.

"Only when I need to be," Erza said, keeping her expression as passive as she could. "Tell me, Siegrain… what brings two members of the magic council here?"

"Damage control, mostly," the woman behind the man now known as Siegrain said. "While the two of us might not have as much worry with the damage Fairy Tail causes, the rest of the council has some… reservations about your actions, especially after an entire port town was destroyed." She then smiled brightly, but even with one eye Ragna could tell it had fake written all over it. "Imagine our surprise that you've actually managed to get through without destroying a single building, this is certainly a first for your guild… though the damage you did cause-"

"Most of it was caused by Eisenwald; quit the coy crap already," Ragna interrupted, causing both members of the council to look at him with a sense of curiosity as the soldiers around him glared at his rude comments. Erza herself gave Ragna a soft scowl, knowing his words wouldn't be improving any part of this situation.

"...And you are?" Siegrain asked.

"...I go by Bloodedge," Ragna told him, not feeling any need to give either of them his actual name. "I'm a new member of Fairy Tail."

"Bloodedge of Fairy Tail then," Siegrain summarized plainly (roll credits; ding) . It was clear that Erza and Lucy were both confused by his new name, but both were smart enough to know that now wasn't the time to question it.

"So your guild is now offering positions to the elderly then?" the dark haired woman asked, causing a tick mark to visibly show on Ragna's forehead as his older appearance was once more used against him.

"...If we were, a hag like you would fit right in," he retorted heatedly, sparks clearly lighting between the two as Siegrain only seemed to give a small chuckle at the comment.

'Those are members of the Magic COUNCIL!' Lucy thought to herself as Ragna made it clear he wasn't taking any shit from these two.

"All right, I think that's enough for now Ultear," the blue haired council member noted. "We just came here to capture the Dark Guild that had caused us so much trouble… but what exactly were they hoping to accomplish?"

"None of your-"

"They wanted to use one of Zeref's Dark Magic tools in order to kill the Guild Masters," Erza informed, surprising Ragna as she willingly gave out the information. "We stopped him."

"...I see," Siegrain noted, as he looked out to the chasm the guild had created. "And the Magic tool?"

"…Blew it the hell up," Ragna told him nonchalantly. "After all, that's what you'd to expect from us."

"Fair point," Siegrain acknowledged before turning back to Erza. "If you'd like, your group is more than welcome to return to Oshibana with us. It would certainly be an easier trip than taking that vehicle of yours."

'Please say no, please say no, please say no,' both Ragna and Ultear pleaded internally, fearful of having to deal with each other an entire train ride.

"We'll have to pass on that offer," Erza refuted. "We actually need to be making our way to Clover Town to see the Guild Masters."

'Thank you Erza.'

"Another time then," Siegrain said as he turned away, though everyone knew he had a smug grin on his face. "I enjoy the excitement your guild can bring as much as the next person… but these quieter jobs of yours was a welcome experience."

As soon as the two had left, Erza let out a long breath she wasn't aware that she hadn't been holding in. Ragna took notice of this, wondering if the Council normally caused the redhead to have this much tension. Heading back over to their ride, they saw Natsu and Gray once more arguing about something before pretending they were best friends as soon as they noticed Erza.

"Are we set to leave?" the redhead demanded.

"Yeah, and it looks like we'll have to take this ride slow if we want to make it on this engine," Gray informed.

"Understood, I think I can afford to drive a little slower now that the chaos is behind us," she told them.

"In that case Gray, can you drive this thing?" the Reaper asked, leaving Erza to send him a strange look.

"Yeah… I suppose I can," the Ice Wizard told him, careful on how he worded himself so close to the Queen of Fairies.

"Mind driving us to Clover then? I think it's high time Erza got a break." Now the redhead was glaring at him, but Ragna still wasn't caving in. "Don't try and act so damn stubborn now; you've got dark circles under your eyes for crying out loud."

"I do?" Erza asked before turning to Lucy with a serious glare, causing the blonde to shiver under such a gaze. "Lucy?"

"I mean… kinda?" she said nervously, sweating like Plue would.

"...Fine then," she said letting out a sigh, as her strong side faded only slightly "I'll sit on the roof this trip then."

"Not another ride," Natsu groaned as he looked up at Happy.

"Sorry, I don't think I'd be able to fly us all the way to Clover town," Happy told him.

"Of course not," Natsu groaned.

'Note to self; try again on that medicine,' Ragna thought to himself as everyone climbed on the car… unaware that they were being watched.

"They actually managed to beat Erigor?" Kageyama fearfully observed with surprise as he was only partially emerged from one the rocks littered around Clover Canyon. He had barely managed to avoid the army capturing him, but it hadn't been easy… especially with how beaten Gray had left him. The rest of his guild hadn't been nearly as lucky and were awaiting prosecution. "I guess this marks the end of Eisenwald… so now what am I supposed to do?"

While Kageyama tried to process the events and what would come of them, the car carrying Fairy Tail's team rode gently down the tracks. Since they weren't going at such a hurried speed as last time, Ragna no longer had hold on for dear life with his one arm and managed to sit casually near Erza.

"So… what was the deal with that guy? Siegrain or something?" Ragna asked, figuring out how to ease into his questions. "You acted like you two knew each other."

"We've met… more often than not after I'd caused damage while working on important jobs," she explained. It was easier for her to talk with their backs facing one another since she wouldn't have to look at Ragna square in his eye.

"No offense, but it looked like he was the type of guy that could really get under your skin," he muttered. "And with you I get the feeling that's saying something." He was rewarded with silence. "...Whatever, you don't have to talk about it with me if you don't want to."

'It's not like I don't have my own crap that I'm hiding,' Ragna thought to himself as he looked up at the sky. '...Tch, at least that stupid flute is finally gone… along with that damn burning feeling...'

-Clover Town Conference Hall-

"My Maki, you're really starting to let yourself go," Bob, the guild leader of Blue Pegasus said. He had with an unusually… cutesy fashion sense and seemed just a touched worried as he watched the small guild leader finished his umpteenth drink that night. "Ever since you got that message from that charming little lady, you've done nothing but down your drinks one after the other, you really ought to pace yourself."

"Errrgghhh…" Makarov groaned.

"Eh, don't worry about him; think I know where he's coming from," another wizard with sunglasses, a spiked collar, and a jagged hat noted. This was Goldmine, the leader of the Quatro Cerberus guild. "With all of the damage his guild causes on a daily basis I get the feeling that this new team that got announced could probably wipe out an entire city… or five."

"Errggghhh…" the Fairy Tail guild leader groaned again, raising his glass to his lips only to find it empty. "Another one."

"Are you really sure that's wise Maki?" Bob asked. "If you keep drinking like this, tomorrow's hangover is going to split your head like it's a tiny little egg."

"Don't patronize me, I know how to hold my own drinking," Makarov muttered as one of the waiters brought his drink.

"Also sir, we have a group of wizards at the front asking for you," the waiter told him. "We politely asked them to leave, but…" The man gave a deep sigh. "They all seem rather… headstrong."

"I… see…" Makarov said, shakily bringing the drink up to his lips.

"Shall I let them in or would you like me to send them-?"

"MASTER!" came Erza's familiar scream from the front. Makarov couldn't do anything as Erza rushed in, smashing her Guild Master against her armor in an overbearing side hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Hey Gramps!" came Natsu's voice as he also charged into the room with Happy, knocking people into their food plates and causing chaos.

"Natsu, you idiot…" Gray muttered as he walked in fully clothed, followed by Ragna and Lucy.

"Well well well, what's this?" Goldmine asked as he turned to the newcomers with a cool and welcoming smile. "I didn't think you'd be bringing some of your wizards to the gathering."

"This wasn't my idea!" Makarov shouted as the other Guild Masters laughed at his expense. "What are all of you doing here in the first place? I heard from Mira that Erza, Natsu, and Gray were supposed to be out on a job!"

"Nothing about us?" Ragna asked as he glanced at Lucy, feeling just a little left out.

"Well I don't think we exactly fit into Fairy Tail's problem wizards… yet."

'Yet? Is she going to try and cause their level of damage?' he thought worriedly before reconsidering. 'What am I saying, she's got more sense than that.'

"Master, the truth is you were the targets of the Dark Guild we had gone after," Erza explained, ever keeping the air of authority. "Eisenwald had planned on killing all of you here with a magic tool of the Dark Wizard Zeref."

"Dark Tool? What are you talking about?" Makarov demanded.

"It's true," Natsu said… through his mouthful of food. Apparently he'd quickly given up on checking on Makarov and had instead gone after the Guild Masters’ spread. "Some kinda demon thing showed up out of nowhere and-" He then began to slurp a large and inexplicable ramen bowl.

"Oi, that's not our food," Ragna said with a growl at his teammate, only to notice Happy quickly grabbing some fatty tuna sushi. He facepalmed hard at the chaos around him. "Yare yare…"

"Oh my, at the very least it sounds like all of you went through quite an exciting journey," Bob noted. While his… unique appearance caused most of the team to cringe, Ragna was too deep in his facepalm to care. "It sounds like you young people had quite the fun time."

"I wouldn't exactly call it fun…" Lucy sighed, remembering all of the trouble the group had gone through.

"And…" Makarov began, shaking with fear at the answer he might receive. "...How bad was the damage?"

'That's what he's worried about,' the Reaper thought darkly to himself. "Well Oshibana station's still standing and most of the damage was done by the Dark Guild… so not much."

"You don't have to let me off gently! My heart can take it!" Makarov shouted. "I want you to tell me how much damage you all caused with those three in your team!"

"I understand your concern Master, but he's telling you the truth," Erza reaffirmed. "When we handed Erigor the Reaper directly over to the Army they didn't even try to arrest us."

"We totally could'a caused more damage," Natsu disappointedly muttered through his food.

"Aye," Happy agreed whilst chewing on sushi.

"That's what we're trying to avoid!" Lucy shouted at the two of them.

"Nothing happened… with all three of you on the same team," Makarov said mostly to himself. A look of awe upon his face.

"Master? Are you… crying?" Gray asked, staring in surprise at the small Guild Leader… whilst also not realizing he'd once again stripped down to his boxers.

"Alright, I think that about marks my limit on chaos for the day," Ragna muttered as he headed over to Natsu and proceeded to start dragging him away from the food table. "Come on you."

"But I'm not done eating yet!" Natsu shouted. "Come on! Feeding us is the least they can do after we saved them!"

"Gray, put your clothes on and grab Happy, will ya?" he asked the Ice Wizard who (after the minor freakout at his unintentional stripping) grabbed the blue cat from the sushi section. "After the day I had, I need a long bath and nice bed to sleep in."

"I second that notion," Lucy said as she raised her hand, far and away done with that day.

"A bath does sound lovely, and I do think we could all use a rest," Erza herself agreed. Turning to the Guild Masters, she gave a polite bow before following Ragna and the others.

"Huh, so those are the young 'uns of your group," Goldmine noted as business as usual returned to the conference hall (mostly more eating and drinking). "Gotta say, they seem like an exciting bunch… save of course for that downer old man in the red coat."

"Aw, I don't see it like that at all," Bob noted with a smile. "In fact, it's almost like he's acting like the group's little dad."

"That's what you got out of that?" the skeptic leader of Quatro Cerberus asked.

"Strange as it may sound, Bob does have a point," Makarov said, finally finding his voice as he wiped his face from the tears. "From what I can tell Natsu has given Ragna the nickname 'dad'… even it's mainly a spiteful gesture at this point."

"See?" Bob said, looking quite pleased with himself.

"That's proves nothing," Goldmine stubbornly denied.

"ALL RIGHT!" Makarov screamed, raising his glass high. "AGAINST ALL ODDS FAIRY TAIL WON'T HAVE ANY DAMAGE COMPLAINTS! I'M GOING TO DRINK LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW IN CELEBRATION!"

"You're still drinking... after all that booze you already downed because you were worried?"

"Oh Maki, you really should take it easy…"

Later that Night

Ragna said nothing as he rested on the cushioned windowsill, looking up at the large and bright moon with his single good eye. Despite Lucy's best efforts (and Erza's naturally intimidating presence), there was only a single two bed suite for the group to rest in and that meant getting creative for where everyone would be sleeping that night. By now everyone had already bathed and had fallen asleep save for him who couldn't quite shut his eye just yet.

Putting his hand out to the side, he used his Requip magic once more and summoned Erigor's scythe… no, now it was his scythe and that was the way it was going to stay until it broke or he found a sickle that suited him better. Try as he might to get rid of his past life, the Grim Reaper element seemed to be stuck with him… but it certainly beat a certain someone calling him a pedo again.

'This thing's a lot lighter than Aramasa was in this form,' Ragna thought to himself as he examined his new weapon. 'That and… I'm not exactly a fan of the skull on it…' Even he had limits on how closely associated to death he was. Putting the weapon back into storage, he glanced to the resting places of his fellow teammates.

The room had been given a small sofa where Natsu was resting along with a small easy chair and ottoman set for Grey to catch his Z's. On Natsu's side, the Fire User was softly snoring with a small trail of spit drooling out of his mouth. Happy was sitting on one of the armrests and leaning back against Natsu's head as he slept and muttering out a new species of fish every few minutes. While Gray slept, a thin vapor seemed to be emerging from his mouth, almost fitting for an Ice user. Ragna figured this might have caused the temperature around him to drop significantly, but sure enough Gray's clothes had been piled off to the side as he slept.

Being the two girls of the group (and at Ragna's own insistence) Lucy and Erza had been given the two beds to rest in. The blonde Celestial Wizard had summoned Plue and was snuggling with it beneath her sheets as she slept peacefully. There wasn't a lot to say about Erza… though Ragna did find it strange that she'd changed from her pajamas back into her regular armor in her sleep. Maybe she was dreaming about fighting or something? Ragna didn't know.

"These guys are a real handful," he muttered softly to himself as he struggled to get comfortable with the limited room he'd been given.

...Betraying his complaint with only the smallest of smiles.

Chapter Text

Episode 008: Image of Age

"Urhm… Morning already…?" the Grim Reaper muttered to himself as he slowly opened his single good eye and rose his back off of the grass hillside. It had been two days since he and the other wizards had managed to take down the Lullaby demon, defeat the Dark Guild of Eisenwald, and save the guild masters so Ragna had managed to sleep in his… usual location.

Since he didn't have a house or somewhere to stay (he was pretty low on Jewels at the moment), he'd actually taken to sleeping in the forest just outside of town. With the years he'd spent with traveling with his teacher Jubei, Ragna felt right at home camping out in the woods. He didn't even have that much to worry about from the monsters in the area. He'd been bothered by them his first night out here, but the few creatures that had worked up the courage to attack him had only made that mistake once; now they all knew better.

Giving a yawn and stretching the best that he could, the Reaper managed to get a couple of sore cricks out as he slowly rose to his feet. It was still plenty early as the sun had only started to rise off in the distance, but Ragna felt the need to get the day started if he was going to earn a decent amount of money by day's end.

'I should probably think about building up from what little money I have so I can avoid going broke soon. If I head out on my own today on one of those high paying monster hunting jobs Erza told me about, I should get some pretty decent cash and maybe even get a better lay of the land.''

It wasn't much longer before Ragna found himself in town, walking down the cobblestone streets as he made his way towards the Fairy Tail guild. There weren't too many people out given as early as it was, most of them were just shopkeepers getting things ready for the day. Several of them were too busy setting up shop to bother with him, though a few gave him a friendly good morning as he passed by. Back home where he was often labeled as a 'criminal' or 'terrorist' he'd have never gotten this kind of greeting (in fact no greeting would have been largely preferable), but here he had no such baggage weighing him down and returned the gesture with a stoic nod of his own. Heading down one street, he paused in his walk as he watched a small Magic Mobile pass him by.

'Least I won't be riding on the roof anytime soon,' he thought with a smirk as he remembered the hell his last venture had put through. Ready to cross, he'd only managed to put a single foot on the road.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a young voice shouted, right as Ragna had been about to cross the street. Turning his head, he saw three young boys running towards him from about a block away. They were all in some sort of strange uniform with tiny scarves tied around their necks.

"Something wrong, kid?" Ragna asked once they'd made it his way, figuring it would be kind of a dick move just to ignore children outright.

"We're the Junior Scout Trainees of the Fiore Army!" the lead one said as he held up a two-finger salute. "Serve and protect!"

"Serve and protect!" the others behind him shouted, giving the same salute that he had.

'So they're like boy scouts then, only they're trying to get into the army?' Ragna thought to himself, a little confused by the process of events. "Well that's… great and all, but any reason why you decided to stop me?"

"We decided that you'd needed assistance crossing the street!" the second boy announced. "And as part of our requirements to achieve our next rank, we need to escort those in need across Magnolia's busy streets!"

"...One car passed by ten seconds ago; this is as far from a busy street as you could get," Ragna said, keeping his patience as he turned them down. "Besides, I don't need any help. I could easily jump the damn- darn street if I really needed to."

"B-But we still need to help you… i-ff we don't help escort ten elderly people across the street then there's no way that we'll be able to clear our requirement," the third told him, crocodile tears streaming down his face.

"Elderly…" Ragna growled under breath, trying to keep himself from making that kid really cry. "...And what do they consider elderly?"

"Anyone over forty!" they shouted in unison.

'...Okay, NO.'

With his pride gravely wounded, the Reaper didn't give the children another passing glance as he started walking down the streets. Unfortunately for him, luck was not on his side as one of the kids then grabbed his arm to start guiding him while the other two stood on opposing sides, blowing their whistles at the non-existing traffic. As if to make his life a further hell, several of the shopkeepers from earlier were passing by as was the occasional young lady… Ragna knew they were watching him, he knew they were laughing, and he knew he was about to blow up at all of them.

"That was hell…" he muttered once the chaos had finally ended. As if to commemorate his suffering, he'd needed to sign a form saying that they'd guided him across the street, almost like he was agreeing that he was old… to protect himself somewhat, he'd instead signed Valkenhayn but the whole thing still rubbed him the wrong way. Now he wanted to get to the guild as quickly as he could… though he couldn't help but notice the pleasant smell that was coming from one of the cafes.

'...I think after what I've gone through, I can afford to treat myself a little,' Ragna figured. Even if he found his own cooking to be better and cheaper, that didn't mean he didn't occasionally feel the need to let someone cook for him. True he didn't have a lot of money to spend, but as long as his plan for completing a high paying job fell through, he could be a little generous on his breakfast plans.

After a good Eggs Benedict breakfast along with sides of hashbrowns and bacon and a steaming mug of coffee to wash it down, the Grim Reaper was feeling pretty satisfied. In fact, any thoughts of being called old were already starting to leave him as the food set in.

"Finished with your meal sir?" a passing waitress asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Yeah, that was pretty good," he told her as she took the plate away and brought out his bill. Ragna took one good look at the total at the bottom before his face fell… It wasn't that he didn't have enough money, quite the opposite actually; compared to the prices listed on the menu, it felt like they were undercharging him.

"Is something wrong sir?" she asked sweetly, a bright smile on her face.

'I could just take the win for once,' Ragna thought to himself darkly… though his history of (unintentional) dine and dashing made it hard to stomach this. Not wanting to cause a scene, he decided he'd be honest. "Pretty sure you undercharged me, bill's a lot lower than it was supposed to be."

"Oh sir, that's so kind of you to be honest like that," she said to him, smiling brightly… the waitress's smile certainly wasn't hard on his working eye, so Ragna could at least feel better that he was doing the right thing here. "But I think you forget to account for the early bird special."

"...Early bird special?" Ragna asked, a terrible feeling starting to hit his gut and he was pretty sure it wasn't the eggs he'd just eaten.

"Yes sir, since you've been eating with us so early and you're of a qualifying age, you get a nice discount on your food," she explained cheerfully. Dread showing itself on Ragna's face, he nervously glanced around the restaurant only to become aware of the several seniors that were dining here as well.

"And… what's the qualifying age?" he asked, knowing full well he was going to hate the answer.

"Just fifty or older," the waitress told him cheerfully as Ragna felt several knives being stabbed into his entire body from several angles and twisted for good measure. Without another word he paid what he owed, rose from his chair, and left without a passing glance. 'What's with that guy? First he thinks he's not paying enough, then he doesn't even thank me after I made sure he got his discount?'

"This… day… is… hell…" Ragna muttered as he continued making his way to the guild walking on the bridge that stood over the river that ran through town. "What is it with people thinking that I'm some old man? Even with my eye and arm like this I can't look that old!"

"Step right up! Step right up!" shouted a corner salesman as he tried to push the wares he had set out on a small wooden stand. A few people were standing around such confection, even if the tuxedo wearing top-hatted wearing salesman could be described as… dodgy at best. On his stand there were several skin cream containers, all with an odd top hat symbol on top of it. "I tell you ladies and gents, this is the stuff you'll be wanting right here and now. Got acne that won't go away no matter what you try? Got that one mole that keep popping up? Got that beauty mark you always wanted, but it's too close to your nose? Then try our top-of-the-line Top Hattin' Beauty Cream, up for sale for both men and women!"

'So now we've got a 'music man' in town? Yare yare…' the Reaper thought to himself with a sigh as he looked to the group of people, some of which actually seemed to be taking the stuff this guy was claiming quite seriously. '...Their loss.'

"With our own patented spells worked into the cream and rare ingredients gathered from every side of Fiore, this cream does SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU'D THINK IT WOULD!" the man continued, spouting more nonsense as he took one of the canisters and held it up high like it was a highly prized piece of art. "When you apply it to the skin, you start to give off a shine that your friends will find positively blinding, so it works as perfect makeup tool and its scent is just divine!"

Feeling done with the crap he found this salesman was giving, the Reaper gave an audible groan that was heard by everyone as he turned to walk away. It was people like this that would make life hard for any passing by salesperson; these were the skeptic minds that would always make those ready to purchase the product to give it a second look with a more collected mind, but if the seller managed to win that person over though...

"Hold on a second!" the salesperson called as he leaped over the crowd landing right in front of Ragna. The Reaper gave a low growl, making it clear that this man was making a mistake in stopping him, but this guy was a whole new level of dense (even compared to Bang Shishigami). "My good man! You don't know what you're missing out on! This little product could change your life!"

"And stopping me could end yours," Ragna threatened as he rudely shoved his way forward, pushing the guy off to the side.

"But you don't understand! This could make you look twenty- thirty- NO! FORTY YEARS YOUNGER! THIS COULD PUT YOU IN YOUR TWENTIES!"

...That made Ragna stop in his tracks. This was the third time that morning that he'd called old to some degree, and he'd barely been up for an hour. Turning around to face the salesperson, they didn't even seem to notice the deathly stigma around his person as his face was masked under the shade his hair cast, making him look all the more threatening.

"Here! I'll even give you a free sample of our product!" the man said as he began to screw the cap off of the top. "Not only will this help in every way I stated before, it'll even help to eliminate all signs of fatigue from a late night and even recolor any dark circles under your eyes. And don't get me started on how well this stuff works as an aging cream on wrink-"

BOOM!

With sheer rage powering his attack, Ragna struck the salesperson with the force of an artillery cannon. A large welt had already formed on the idiot's face as he flew through the air, screaming in his rapid rise and even quicker decent. Everyone in the crowd could easily see the massive splash as the salesman landed into the city's watery channel. The Grim and Annoyed Reaper continued to the Fairy Tail guild, a top hat slowly floating to the ground behind him.

Fairy Tail Guild

Once Ragna had finally made his way into the guild, he was surprised to see that Mira was the only one there beside him… or he would've been surprised if he wasn't still consumed by his overflowing rage. Even Mira's bright smile did nothing to help Ragna's attitude as he headed over to the bar and moodily took a seat.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this early," Mira said to him, trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face as she knew how contagious her own good mood could be. Ragna only gave a non-committed grunt in response. "Can I get you something?"

"...A drink; I need a large beer or something strong," he muttered leaving the fellow wizard to show surprise as she knew that Ragna had always shown he wasn't a heavy drinker in the slightest.

"If you say so, but you're usually the second person to call anyone out on drinking too early in the day, just behind Erza," Mira said as she began pouring the Reaper's drink. "I think I've seen that look on people's faces before; did you just have to go through a hard break up?"

"You're giving me too much credit," Ragna grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand, wincing harshly as he thought back on all of the rapid-fire hell he'd been through since just waking up. "Mira… can I… ask you something?"

"Is this a confession?" she asked, leaving Ragna to scowl at her before noticing that her bright smile still hadn't faded. "Or am I giving myself too much credit?" Her voice had a sweet giggle to it as she set a large glass mug in front of her brooding customer.

"...Funny," the Reaper said as he took a long sip of his beer, the corner of his mouth giving the slightest upward twitch. "Seriously though, I kinda need to hear it from you."

"I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help you, but I'm always ready to listen," Mira told him in a caring tone, almost as a mother would. Even if this (mixed with the drink) put Ragna slightly more at ease, he couldn't help but feel hesitant in voicing his concerns aloud.

"Do… Do I look... old to you?"

Mira… didn't answer, only continuing to smile brightly at Ragna like she hadn't hadn't heard him. But the Reaper knew; he could see how strained her smile was starting to become and the few beads of sweat that had started to form. His face falling, he slumped forward and planted his face on the top of the bar and let out a loud muffled groan.

"I'm sorry… that's probably not the response you wanted," Mira apologized, trying to continue to smile even though Ragna's face was still buried. "Can I ask where this question is coming from?"

"It's just… it's been coming up a lot more lately for some reason," Ragna admitted as he rose his head slightly, mostly just so he could take another long swig of his drink. Wincing slightly at the alcohol, he gave a long sigh. "First I thought that it was just going to be some teasing from Natsu and Happy, but as we've gone on it's been coming up more and more."

"But… haven't they stopped calling you old at least?" Mira asked happily. "That's a little progress for you at least, right?"

"Why do you think I started to let them call me dad?" he muttered, effectively killing Mira's point. "Honestly… Erza thought I was old, that bastard Erigor thought I was old-"

"I'm sorry, you're talking about Erigor the Reaper?" Mira interrupted with surprise, having heard the name once or twice.

"The same, though I think I showed I was the better Reaper after I beat his ass and took his scythe," Ragna said with a cocky smirk before his expression turned dour once more. "But then there was this morning… oh god this morning..." He groaned. "Normally I wouldn't care what anyone would say about me, but I'm getting tired of being dicked over time and again because of my looks. This might not be anything too new for me, but I'm getting close to losing it."

"That certainly sounds… challenging," Mira admitted before considering something. "Now that I think about it… how old are you?" Ragna gave her a strange expression. "I'm just thinking, you don't look much different than my brother Elfman, but everyone knows how old he is because he's been a part of this guild since we were kids. Maybe people won't think you're old if they knew your actual age."

"Huh, you actually have a good point," the Reaper had to admit, figuring this might give him the out he needed. "Alright then, I'm CARNAGE SCISSORS."

"...I'm sorry?" Mira asked, her smiling face gone and replaced with a ghostly stare at the Reaper's face.

"...I said I was BLOOD KAIN."

'...There's no way,' Mira thought to herself as she stared at Ragna in terror. 'Is he really still THAT young?'

"Your silence is speaking volume right now," the Reaper muttered, bringing Mira back to the present. She tried to offer an apology, but Ragna was already rising to his feet as he pulled out a few of his last remaining Jewels to pay off the drink he'd just gotten. Heading to the request board, he grabbed one of the two monster hunting quests available and started walking off in an even deeper slump, leaving a guilty Mira standing behind the front desk. "Honestly, these people…"

Later

"I told you NO!" Lucy shouted, her cries loud enough to be heard throughout the guild.

"Come on, it's a high paying job and we've taken these guys down before," Natsu explained as he held up their potential next job. "I don't know what your big deal is Loony."

"It's Lucy and I'm not going on another job with VULCANS!" she shouted loudly at the pink haired wizard in front of her. "I swear, if it's not pervy old men, it's dirty apes that want to kidnap me!"

"But you make such good bait!" Happy told her proudly.

"Don't say that like it's a compliment!" the blond shouted. "If Ragna was here, you know he'd be taking my side!"

"Only 'cause he spoils you," Natsu grumbled as put the job back on the board and took a looked for another.

"What are you doing?" Erza demanded as she walked up to the board, all three of them practically jumping at the unexpected sight of her scowl.

"Trying to find a new job…" Lucy said nervously. "But Natsu can't pick out a good one…"

"I see…" Erza contemplated before turning to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Natsu?"

"I… just think we can try tackling some of the harder jobs," he told the armored wizard, trying not to get her to blow up at him. "After all, those jobs do pay well…"

"Still, I think you should consider your partner's concerns before making a decision like this on your own," Erza told him, her demeanor making it clear this wasn't a suggestion; it was an order. Lucy gave a quick sigh of relief as she realized she was in the clear. "And Lucy?"

"Eep!"

"You should expect to tackle the harder jobs, even if they fall outside your comfort zone. As a wizard it's the easiest way to improve your magic and tactics while taking only easy jobs runs the risk of you growing comfortable and not reaching for your full potential. You're a member of Fairy Tail; you can always strive for better."

"It's not that I have a problem with hard work…" Lucy told her, trying not to seem like she was whining to Erza. "Perverts on the other hand…"

"Ah… in that case I'd simply take them down while they try and leer at you," Erza suggested before slamming a fist into her open palm so hard that it sent out a small shockwave. "A simple punch to their groin and they'll crumple before you without much of a fight."

"...I'll keep that in mind," Lucy said, cringing at the bluntness of Erza's advice. While the two wizards (and Happy) went back to picking their job, Erza made her way to the front desk where Mira was busy pouring drinks and making food for everyone.

"No help from Ragna today?" she asked as she brought enough Jewels out to buy a slice of her usual strawberry cake.

"He… left earlier on a job," Mira told her, an unusual sadness to her voice. Erza took note of this and (after serving herself a slice of cake of course) leaned in and expected an explanation. "You... thought he was old, didn't you?"

"I remember calling him that when we first met, also Natsu and Lucy have already given him the dad nickname," Erza told her. "Why? Is there a problem with that?"

"I just think that maybe we can be a little nicer to him about his age; he's actually not quite as old as we all think."

"He's not? How can you tell?"

"Because he brought it up earlier to me… as a sort of problem," Mira said before leaning in and whispering something that was too low for anyone else to hear.

"HOW YOUNG!?" came a rather rare outburst from Erza, attracting concerned gazes from everyone in the guild. Moving in closer to Mira, they continued their conversation in whispers. "And… do you believe him?"

"Seems like an oddly specific number, doesn't it?" she said, before sighing. "Honestly, it's no wonder that he's starting to get angry, not with everyone thinking he's so much older than he actually is…"

"...Now that I think about it, he had said something about going on a job to let all of his aggression off," Erza considered to herself as she thought back to her train trip. "And I'm fairly certain that was before his age was brought up."

Meanwhile

"Tch, I thought the job posting said that I was only supposed to handle two of these things," Ragna muttered to himself as he swung his scythe in a massive arc before him, dispelling a massive column of flame that had been shot his way. Twirling the weapon before him in a protective circle, he managed to deflect a barrage of sharp icicles. Quickly switching from a scythe to his massive blade, Ragna made a strong slash forward, cleaving through a wave of earth that had threatened to flatten him before digging his feet into the ground and managing to avoid being blasted into the air by a powerful torrent of wind before he switched back to his scythe and made a final rapid series of swing in the air to block the three lightning bolts that descended from a seemingly clear blue sky. "...And I'm pretty damn certain it never brought up magic."

There were five wolves circling Ragna with feral snarls as they looked for an opening to attack with their predatory instincts. Each of these wolves were around 10 feet long and had different builds depending on their elemental attribute. The wolf with the Fire element was the most well rounded between size and sleekness, flames escaping its maw with every breath and its fur glowing red with heat. The Ice wolf had obviously the sharpest fur of the bunch, though it was slightly smaller than the fire wolf its pale white coat was as sharp as razors and colder than any northern ice. The Lightning wolf was a touch on the larger side and it's puffed out fur gave off powerful spark of electricity, like lightning in a storm cloud. The Earth wolf was the heaviest of the bunch, with claws and fangs that looked like they were carved from rock and a hardened coat that looked like it had bit rock sprouting out of it. As a complete opposite was the Wind wolf; lean, light, and its fur constantly flowing like it was in a breeze even when it wasn't moving.

(Cue No More Heroes Steel Python)

"No use bitching about it," Ragna said as he flicked and wrist and turned his scythe into a deadly propeller blade in front of him, kicking up powerful winds around him in a show of force before he caught the weapon and readied himself. "Time to go to work."

Not intimidated, the earth wolf gave a strong growl as it stomped a heavy paw on the ground and created a strong tremor around the Reaper. Ragna had to fight hard to avoid a heavy stun from the attack as the Ice wolf went in for its attack. Taking a deep breath in, the canine expelled a single giant icicle as a projectile at its prey, leaving Ragna again on the defensive as he cleaved the attack in half with his sickle. Both attacks proved to be a distraction as the Wind wolf charged at him using its naturally high agility. Swinging his scythe in front of him, he managed to cause the wolf to change directions, but it was so agile that it could easily evade the attack and lunge from his side. Giving a sudden kick to the bottom of the wolf's jaw sent the beast into the air. Quickly bringing his scythe down, the Reaper tried to score some actual damage on his opponent, but wolf actually managed to dodge the attack as it took control of the winds in to avoid the attack in midair and retreat. Making matters worse, Ragna wasn't able to turn around in time to counter the lightning wolf's attack and got grazed in the back by a few powerful bolts of lightning.

Giving a grunt as he tanked the hit, Ragna knew that relying solely on his weapons wasn't going to get him anywhere here. These things were too well coordinated to just go charging in headfirst; he had to figure some way to maneuver them. Starting with a more basic approach, he waited for the wolves to make their move so that he could build on their own attacks. This time the Wind wolf led the attack and used its speed once more to try and disorient him. This time Ragna wasn't falling for it and only stood ready leaping back to avoid both the Wind wolf's lunge along with the Lightning wolf's as they both tried to catch him in a deadly pincer attack. From the back lines the Earth wolf attempted to impale Ragna with same sharp stalagmite attack, but a leap high into the air put him just out of range.

With its prey in the air, the Lightning wolf unleashed another series of lightning from its maw. Ragna's only response to counter was to throw his scythe as hard as he could, letting the weapon spiral in the air right towards the wolf and eating up the voltage. This forced the wolf to dodge as the pointed blade impaled itself in the ground it had been standing. Channeling his power into his now free hand, Ragna unleashed a swarm of firebolts and sent them towards the Ice wolf, hoping to play the difference of elements to his favor. The plan could have worked and brought the enemy out of the fight, had the Fire wolf not charged in and taken the attack in its place. Not only did this reveal a new strength in the pack's teamwork, but absorbing the attack also seemed to strengthen the Fire Wolf, as evident by the new glowing surge in its flame covered fur.

'Not good,' Ragna thought to himself as he landed on the ground, quickly bringing out his Gilgamesh Blade to serve as his new weapon.

Standing ready, he watched as the Fire Wolf began to growl as the flames around it grew even brighter, indicating that it was charging a powerful attack. Ragna knew enough that he needed to put a stop to that right the hell now, but down a scythe and with four other wolves surrounding him he wasn't exactly looking at a lot of options.

'Screw it.'

Throwing caution to the wind like he was usually forced to do, Ragna charged headfirst towards the creatures. When Ice wolf again sent out a rapid volley of icicles, Ragna was forced to respond by slashing his sword as fast as he could to cut through the fully of attacks. The Lightning wolf then charged at him with its body coated in electricity, but Ragna guarded against the ram before shoving the monster off to the side and continuing to rush forward. Trying to blow the Reaper away or at least halt his progress, the Wind wolf used its breath attack and blasted Ragna with a column of deadly winds. Too dedicated to his attack and too short on time to try anything fancy, Ragna charged headlong through the attack trying his best to brush of the strain the deadly wind was causing to his body. With a roar, he broke through the winds and leaped right above the Fire wolf ready to bring his blade down.

The earth wolf's sudden charge seemed to be the last line of defense as it leaped up at Ragna. The Reaper tried to knock the wolf out of the way, but as the monster’s teeth caught onto his sword, Ragna was forced to the ground mere feet from his target.

"Get off dammit!" he shouted as he tried to tear blade out of his maw (maybe even take the monster with it). Being made of stone, the Wolf wasn't moving and Ragna could only suspect that it was using magic to increase his weight and keep him held in place. It was clear the Earth wolf had no intention of moving, satisfied with its own endurance to be able to take the heavy fire attack. Meanwhile the Fire wolf had finally finished charging and inhaled to breath its final attack.

Working desperately fast, Ragna gave up his sword and allowed the Earth wolf to continue holding it in its maw. Bringing out the Frying Pan he'd earned from the Vanish Brothers, he braced the absurd weapon in front of him to give him whatever protection it could as the wolf finally expelled its massive flames in a single focused blast. The Reaper braced himself for a painful impact… only to not feel any change.

"What the-?" Peeking out from behind the Frying Pan, he saw that it had somehow caught the fire magic inside of it, an orb of titanic fire energy glowing at its center. He noted that even the wolves seemed to be shocked by this development as they made no sound while staring wide eyed at the orb in front of him. Smirking harshly to himself before letting out a load roar, he swung the mass of fire energy over his head before bringing it to the ground and created an explosion that sent almost all of the wolves flying.

The final wolf (the Fire one, of course) hadn't taken much damage from the fire attack, but the sheer force of the explosion blasted it back a good distance. A mix of the sheer force of fire magic that it had absorbed combined with the rage of its beaten pack, the wolf charged headfirst at the Reaper who swung his final weapon to meet the attack. The impact of the collision was enough to send the Frying Pan out of Ragna's hands, though it seemed that he'd at least dealt some damage to the Fire Wolf. Baring its fangs, the wolf leaped into the air while coated in fire to finish off its unarmed prey. Ragna went to meet the attack with a haymaker, so focused on the battle that he didn't even notice the lightning magic he was coating his left arm in. Smashing his fist and sending the wolf flying, the canine gave a high-pitched shriek as it sailed off into the distance.

(End theme)

Ragna gave a lengthy sigh of relief as he watched the remaining wolves run off, their tails quite literally between their legs as they gave high pitched yelps of defeat. He considered following after them… but realized that it wouldn't make much sense. The job had specifically told him to drive the monsters off and he'd clearly done that, plus there was even less of a reason to give chase since there were three more wolves than he'd thought he needed to fight off. His prized jacket looked like it had just gone through a bit of abuse and his wounds were going to take some time to heal completely. Everything pointed to him calling it quits here, reclaiming his weapons, and grabbing his reward… the one he deserved anyways.

Client's Estate

Had Ragna not been in such a huff that morning he might've paid more attention to who was offering the reward on the wolves he'd just beaten. If he had he might've gotten into the job with a bit more speculation, but now it was starting to bite him hard in the ass. When he'd first come in off the train, he'd found his employer lived at a large estate that was just as gaudy as Duke Everlue's manor. The lady that ran this place hadn't even come out to meet him, merely her servants had confirmed he was here for the job, knew where the wolves could be found, and sent him on his way, not even testing that he was a wizard. At first Ragna didn't have a problem with this impersonal arrangement, in fact he was happy that he wouldn't have to meet some noble and waste his time, but that was before he'd considered that she would rip him off.

Her entourage of butlers were none too happy at his insistence that he deserved to be properly compensated and were even further dismissive when he demanded to meet their boss in person. After much debate and arguing, they eventually agreed to ask their master, though Ragna was already put in a horrid mood with all of the bull he'd been forced through that day. As if he hadn't suffered enough, he was told that the Lady in charge had other "more important" matters to attend to, so he'd have to wait, though a stern look from his scowling eyes made it clear that he wanted to be out of here. A half hour of pointless reading and waiting later, Ragna was summoned by the lady for an audience… and his ire only continued to grow.

Even though he'd been specifically called in, she wasn't sitting like she was expecting him; much more like she was enjoying her teatime and he just happened to be there as well. Hers was the only seat at the tea table, making it quite clear that he wasn't going to be invited to joining her, not that he would have but the fact that they didn't even extend the most basic of courtesies was grating on his nerves.

'Dammit, now I'm actually starting to miss that upstart Rabbit, even including all of the times she kidnapped me,' Ragna thought to himself, giving a low sigh as he remembered his old ally. Looking at his employer as she took another long sip of her tea, he decided he'd had enough. "Oi, I'm not getting any younger over here."

"I'll say," she returned with a snap, leaving Ragna to realize he should have worded that better. The woman in him was slim and tall, roughly around his height if just a touch shorter. She had long and curly blonde hair that covered right eye. She was wearing a purple victorian style dress that had plenty of frills on it, yet her top corset looked uncomfortably tight on her thin body. "I suppose I might've needed your help to take care a… minor annoyance, but I certainly wished that whoever decided to take my posting would be easier on the eyes. A better attitude wouldn't hurt either."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't help the way I act, just like you can't help being a stuck-up bitch." Ragna saw the small twitch of annoyance in her eyes at his unsubtle sarcasm, along with the dirty looks he was getting from the butlers. Small as it was, he still took that as a win in his favor. "Your posting didn't have all of the details; last I checked I was supposed to fight off two dire wolves not five… and do Dire Wolves even have all of that different element crap?"

"Of course they don't; that would make them Elemental Wolves you dolt," she told him, waving him off. Ragna wasn't amused and only continued to glower at her. He didn't like that she was starting to smile again. "So I suppose what you're trying to tell me… is that you weren't able to complete the job."

"Oh, you've got to be shittin' on me," the Reaper groaned.

"The job I posted was for you to chase off the Dire Wolves; and now that you've forced yourself before me, you have the gall to demand an outrageous payment on a job that I never even requested. You're quite full of yourself, and I don't even have a proof that you've done any of those fantastic claims of yours. Someone like you would be able to take down five Elemental Wolves at once, such a deluded fool…"

"Lady, I was in a bad mood before I even got here. When I had to fight through those damn things I was pissed off. Now you're telling me that you won't pay after I did the damn job you should've posted!?" Ragna was shouting in rage now, not bothering to hold back his anger after the shitty day he was having.

"Cute that you think your opinion matters," she said with a haughty laugh. "You low ranking backwater guilds always get so uppity with costs since you can't even provide for yourselves, when you should be grateful that people bother trusting you with these jobs in the first place."

"...What was that about a low-ranking guild?" the Reaper demanded, his tone and voice on the subject making him sound eerily similar to Natsu.

"Of course you'd have to belong to a guild like that," the lady told him as her servants all gave poorly hidden laughs at Ragna's expense. "After all, what self-respecting guild would accept a crippled… old… man…?"

She had trouble finishing her sentence as Ragna began told radiate pure magical energy. Her servants began to move quickly to step in, but even they seemed to falter as they caught a glimpse of Ragna's power… and the Fairy Tale symbol shining over his dead eye.

"A guild that has a reputation of going overboard."

Meanwhile -Foire Trainline-

"Jeeze these cabins are so stuffy," Grey Fullbuster moaned to himself as he sat stretched out in the car room. With the windows down, the hallway door cracked open ever so slightly, and even a refrigeration spell to act as a makeshift fan, his natural aptitude with ice still left him uncomfortable. Reaching up to his collar, he made to undo just a few of his shirt buttons to air himself out.

"If that shirt comes off, you're walking back to the guild," the ever-present, no-nonsense attitude of Erza cut in, leading Gray to stiffen and halt his unusual habit (this time anyways). Putting his hands into his pockets, he tried to focus on the cool air he was currently getting. "It's nice to see you're taking the effort to cull that habit of yours, but I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't here you'd have already been in your boxers when you boarded the train."

"I…" Grey began trying to come up with a retort, though he knew Erza always had a knack for seeing through him. "Never mind. I might be a little late in asking this, but you mind telling me why you asked to team up out of the blue?"

"I just wanted to see how far you've come; it's been a while since I last got to see you in action and that fight against the Lullaby demon wasn't a good judge of our strength."

"Yeah, once all of us started to go all out on the thing, it was clear it wasn't going to last long," Gray said, thinking back to that fight and a similar one before it. 'I wish things could've been that easy the other time...' Shaking bitter memories out of his head, he put his focus back on the present. "So? How did I do?"

"Very well; your form has improved by leaps and bounds since I last saw you and your ingenuity is reaching new heights; stay on this path and you could be considered for the next S rank trials."

"You're serious?"Gray asked in surprise. Praise like this from Erza was rare at the best of times, but the scarlet haired wizard's tone made it clear that she was being genuine. Though as her complexion became serious once more, it was clear she had more to say.

"That being said, if you let yourself become lax now, you'll never be able to amount to your true potential. Now that I've given you the encouragement, I expect you to work twice, no thrice as hard as you were before."

"O...kay," Grey responded nervously, glancing out the window so that he didn't have to look directly at the older woman's menacing scowl. Passing fields were covered in the golden glow of the setting sun as it began to fall behind the mountain range. Night would fall soon enough, but Grey and Erza would be back in the guild long before then. Grey observations on the scenery were halted as he saw a small smirk on Erza's face, its presence and oddity since she'd been acting so serious before. "What's with the smile?"

"Hmmm... I honestly don't know," she admitted, pondering over her sudden shift. "If I had to guess, I feel like I should be a little annoyed at something." Instantly Grey gave a light sweat; being in the same room with even a slightly annoyed Erza Scarlet was a death sentence. "But instead… I somehow feel a little proud."

That Night -Magnolia-

'God dammit,' Ragna swore in his mind for the umpteenth time that day. 'With all the trouble I had to go through ‘cause of them I should've taken out more than half that stupid mansion… if I hadn't held back on that blast I could've totaled the whole thing in an instant.' The Reaper grimaced harshly, at least as harshly as he was able to with a single functioning eye. 'And then there's the fact that the train was late by two hours and riding it both ways just cleaned me out of any Jewels I had left…' Shaking his head, he continued to walk through the quiet city with the bright half-moon shining down from the star lit sky. 'This mess would be hilarious if I wasn't the wasn't the victim.'

Needless to say, Ragna hadn't had a day this bad in quite a while. Back in his own world it sometimes felt that there were entire days just dedicated to dicking him around and this felt almost as bad as some of those. Sure, he didn't have to run from a fight with Hakumen or endure some of Rachel's pointless games, but he almost would have preferred those to the treatment he'd been getting.

'No excuse to start acting so gloomy I guess,' he figured as he passed by the kids from earlier that morning, still hard at work even this late as the guided an actual elderly man across the street. 'I guess this isn't too different than that job hunt I had to go on with Bullet; there are just going to be days like this no matter where you end up goin'... All that matters is you don't quit and keep looking.'

The Reaper might've been able to manage a small smirk then and there if it hadn't been for the painful growl that emitted from his stomach. On top of everything else, now he was starving since he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. While this would be far from the first night he'd have to go to sleep late and hungry, after the day he had the Reaper felt like he was earned some food for all of his trouble. Aside from a club or bar in town there wouldn't be too many places open to serve food and neither of those options were all that appealing since he didn't have any cash to work with and didn't want a repeat of Dine-and-Dashing with Tao. That left the guild… but it felt wrong to be stealing food from the place that had given him a really good chance at turning his life around.

'It wouldn't really be stealing though, I've worked with the food enough that I'm practically working there as a cook… 'sides, soon as get some actual cash to work with I'll pay them back.' Knowing that self0promise would have to do for now if he was going to get some decent sleep, Ragna made his way towards the Fairy Tail guild. The door wasn't locked when he got there, meaning the place was still open… but there was only one person inside at the moment.

"You made it," Mirajane said with a smile as she sat behind the bar. There seemed to be a warm meat filled pie sitting right in front of her along with a small dining set to enjoy it with. "Welcome back! I had a feeling you'd be stopping by late so I got this ready for you."

"I…" Ragna had stumble with his words; he sure as hell hadn't expected a reception this warm. Especially with everything going in the wrong direction today. In the end, he really didn't have that much to say. "...Thanks."

"No need to thank me, I just hope you enjoy the pie. It's a bit of an experiment so you're the first person to try it," she told him excitedly.

"And you've been up keeping it warm for me this whole night? You didn't have to go and-"

Growl.

Ragna couldn't continue as his stomach continued to betray him. Mira only continued to smile at him, though Ragna suspected that part of her reason for smiling was that he was continuing to show how transparent he really was. Giving an almost irritated smirk to the bartender, he took a seat and started to cut into the dinner pie.

"So… how did your job go today? I’m pretty sure this was your ninth after all of those small jobs you did to help Lucy," Mira noted as she continued to scrub down plates and mugs that had been used during the day.

"...Wasn't this only my seventh? I didn't think that job with Erza counted."

"In my mind it does, and besides you also had to go on that job to get into the guild in the first place."

"You've been keeping count then," Ragna decided with a hint of snark before tasting his dinner. The gravy inside of the pie was thick, but also tasted like there had been a drop of cream added to it. The meat (some type of fowl) was cut into nice and hearty pieces, but it was perfectly tenderized and came apart with the lightest of bites. There was a good assortment of fully cooked vegetables inside, and the whole thing was held together by a doughy pie crust. This was a good meal; even better than that he'd had this morning. "Holy crap, you're saying that this is your first try?"

"Nope, I've experimented with something like this before, but I changed a few of the spices I used on the gravy and cooked the meat a little longer. I take it this is a hit?" Ragna had eagerly gone for a second bite of the pie, so with a full mouth the only response he could give was an eager nod. "I'm happy to hear you say that; once I make plans to adjust our kitchen's stock I'll have to add it to the menu so that we can boost our sales." The word sales didn't quite sit well with Ragna as he paused his chewing before hollowly swallowing the food. "What's wrong?"

"Listen, this is great and all but…" Ragna tried to say before setting his fork down and gripping his forehead with his good hand. "Let's just put it that my day went from bad to worse and I don't have the cash to pay you back right now."

"Why do think I had this ready for when you came?" Mira asked him rhetorically as she filled a tankard of beer and set it in front of Ragna, much to the Reaper's surprise. "I sort of had a feeling."

"...I'm starting to wonder why everyone's scared of Erza when you can read people like a book," Ragna told her, leaving Mira to giggle as he went for a swig of his beer.

"I guess I just have a way of understanding most people," she told him casually as she leaned in towards Ragna so he had no choice but to look at her. "So… how exactly did this job of yours go?"

"In a nutshell everything that could go wrong ended up going wrong; first the job I got hired for turns out to be a lot tougher than it was supposed to be, then when I tried to get reasonable compensation they threatened to not pay me at all, they insult call me an old man from this backwater guild..." Mira sadly nodded at that last one, realizing that Ragna being called old was starting to become a norm. "And then… I acted like a Fairy Tail wizard."

"You blew up their estate."

"Half the estate."

"Oh, so you can show self-control."

"You're mocking me."

"No, I'm honestly not."

"Yeah right," Ragna muttered back, shaking his head as he went for another bite of his pie. "Do me a favor and don't tell Erza about this one, yeah? I get the feeling I'd be in for a lecture and I'm not sure I want to be on the receiving end of one of those right now."

"If your client refused to pay, I think that's on them and not you," Mira told him, looking at Ragna sadly. "But thanks to that you're broke? How are you going to pay for rent?"

"You mean for the house I don't even have right now?" Ragna said with a chuckle before taking a long drink, appreciating that this was one of the few worries he wouldn't have today. The disapproving glance he was getting from Mira made it clear that she didn't share his attitude. "It ain't that big of a deal…"

"I think you should be more worried about Lucy than me or Erza; she's not going to be happy that you don't even have a place to spend the night," she told him with a soft sigh. "We have a few spare beds in the back that you can use until you find a place to call your own, but I'd stay out of the woods for now if you want to keep your team from worrying."

"Who's the one that keeps getting called dad here? Pretty sure I'm supposed to be worrying about them and not the other way around," Ragna shot back before taking another bite out of the pie.

"I'm just saying that maybe you need someone to keep an eye on- EEP!" Mira quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands, realizing that what she was saying was insensitive to someone that had already been thoroughly mocked that day. The Reaper himself didn't seem to care to care about her words and only took another long sip of his beer as he watched the barmaid try not to make her situation worse for herself. Finishing his drink, he shot her a snarky smirk.

"Don't worry about it, it's actually not that big of a deal to me," he explained, for now just glad that he wasn't going to be scolded any further with the subject change. "I mean it's not like the damn thing's gone for good… probably."

"It's not?" Mira asked as she leaned in to get a closer look at Ragna's closed eye. True it didn't look like it had any scarring over it, but the eyelid hadn't moved at all in all of the time she'd seen it… not that she was the type to stare. "What's really wrong with it then?"

"Long story short, it's just paralyzed. This is far from the first time it's happened to me so I've already learned to cope with the handicap," Ragna explained nonchalantly. "The only difference is those other times the damage was temporary, but I can't let it heal the usual way and expect it to start working again out of nowhere."

"Paralyzed… Does that mean your arm's the same way?" Mira asked. Ragna only gave her a modest shrug. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think I could see it? Your eye I mean."

"Seems kinda sudden. Why?"

"I'm just curious I guess; I kind of want to see what you'd look like with both of your eyes actually working," Mira said before waving a hand in front of him. "Unless it makes you uncomfortable, then I can drop it here and we can pretend it never came up in the first place."

"It's the way I used to look; nothing too uncomfortable about that," Ragna told her before reaching up for his eyelid with his good hand. "Gotta warn you it might look a little disturbing. If it hasn't seen the light of day in a while it's probably going to have a weird shape and color to it and there's no guarantee it'll be facing the right way."

Mira didn't seem to have her mind changed by his words, so Ragna decided he'd indulge her. Reaching up to his right eye, he carefully lifted up his eyelids and was only left to wonder what Mira was seeing right now. She wasn't shying away, so obviously it wasn't all bad. Truth was the only thing that was shocking to Mira in how good of a condition his eye had been left in throughout his paralysis. It didn't look at all dried up and his iris was still the right size and shape compared to its partner. She wondered about the red color compared to his other’s green, but all in all it looked like a perfect reflection to his other eye and was even looking straight ahead. Taking her focus away from just Ragna's eye, she looked to his face as a whole and… paused.

"...What's wrong? See something you like?" Ragna asked with a snarky quip as Mira stared at him. In his mind he admitted there was something of a flirty undertone with his quip, but Mira wasn't blushing. In fact, her face and eyes were so still the Reaper wasn't sure she'd even heard him in the first place. "Uh… Mira?"

"I… think I might've figured it out... your problem." Ragna gave her a weird look as he tried to ponder over her veiled words, finally coming to their meaning after a long moment of focused thought. His scowl made it clear that he didn't like what she was implying.

"So you're telling me… the whole reason that everyone treats me like crap… why everyone thinks I'm so much older than I actually am… and why I got mistaken for a 60 year old today… is just because my stupid right eye won't open?"

Mira didn't say anything to him, only continuing to give him that same awkward and apologetic smile that she'd tried to give him that morning when the subject of his age had been brought up earlier. With a loud groan, Ragna slumped and face planted into the bartop (only narrowly missing his pie).

"What the hell is it with this damn world?"

At his word's Mira could only give him a just as nervous laugh as a final blow was struck to the Reaper's ego for the day. Grabbing Ragna's tankard to top off his drink (something she knew he deserved), she made a strong mental note to talk to Makarov about fixing this the next morning.

Chapter Text

Episode 009: Image of Rehabilitation

"You want me to take him to Porlyusica?" Makarov questioned as he sat on the guild's front desk. It was still early in the morning before the guild had officially opened its doors, leaving only the Guild Master and Mira there to get things started for the day. "What's brought this on?"

"Because Ragna seemed pretty annoyed yesterday by several problems that the handicap put him through; he even mentioned that he'd been through something similar to this before," Mira informed. "If it's been healed before, then it shouldn't be a problem for someone of Porlyusica's ability to fix his arm and eye."

"That's a reasonable assumption, but what did he have to say about this?" the older man questioned.

"Well he-"

"AHHHH! ICE WATER! FREEZING! SO FRIGGEN' COLD! WHO EVEN SHOWERS LIKE THIS!?" Both Mira and Makarov looked towards the Guild's showers where they'd heard Ragna's screams coming from.

"Did he stay here last night?"

"I offered him one of the beds. He came back late last night after being insulted most of the day due to looking old, handling a difficult job that had been misleading and made harder with the fact that he couldn't use his right eye or arm, insulted again due to looking old while his employer refused to pay for his work, and coming back on a night train using the last of his money and leaving him completely broke."

"...This all happened yesterday?" the guild leader asked.

"Also we figured out that he only looks so old is because one of his eyes is constantly closed, so I think that's all the more reason he needs to be looked at," Mira finished. "I haven't told him about this yet, I thought it would be best to tell you about my idea first. But I'm a little surprised you haven't taken him there by now."

"It was always my plan to take him there, but I wanted him to wait a bit first. That right arm of his is still a mystery to us and there's no telling what might happen if we managed to reactivate its powers. I've only held off until now to judge his motivation and character… the former I still haven't the faintest idea of." Makarov seemed hesitant.

"Master, is the only reason you're holding off because you don't want to go in for your own check up?" Mira accused, causing Makarov to flinch. "In fact, I think you were supposed to see Porlyusica right before you left for the Guild Master's Meeting."

"I… I mean… I would have if… if it wasn't for all of the chaos the guild was causing! That's right! I needed to make sure I kept you whippersnappers in line so I didn't get written up by the Magic Counsel again!"

Mira wasn't buying that.

"Master, until you go in for both your checkup and have Ragna's eye and arm looked at, I'm not letting you have any drinks." It might've just been his growth magic, but Makarov's jaw slammed to the floor at that little threat. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I can get everyone else in town to stop serving you if-"

"Fine! Fine! You win! I'll take him today! Right after he showers even!" Makarov conceded. Even if he was the official Master, at times Mira could show she had more power here than she'd normally let on. "You kids…"

"Only want what's best for you, master," Mirajane told him with her usual bright smile… though the old man had difficulty not seeing the demoness behind it.

Later -Easter Forests-

"You going to tell me where we're going?" Ragna asked curtly as he followed behind the Guild Leader. "I get that Mira said I needed to follow after you, but I doubt that anything out here would be much of a threat to you."

"You don't think you're here just because I wanted some company on my walk?" Makarov asked as the two passed through a section of deep overgrowth.

"If you had, you wouldn't have called on me; probably would've asked someone with killer thighs and a massive chest instead." 'And those aren't exactly a rarity in our guild,' the Grim Reaper admitted. "Stop the games and throw me a bone here. I'm not a fan of being kept in the dark."

"Your tone tells me that you're still used to it," Makarov guessed, leading Ragna to give his good green eye a massive roll. "We're going to see someone by the name of Porlyusica; she's an old friend of mine and a gifted healer for the guild. With any luck she'll manage to find a way to restore your eye and arm to its former state."

"You serious?" Ragna asked as he glanced down at his paralyzed right arm that was still being held within the folds of his jacket. "This have something to do with yesterday?"

"It does; poor Mirajane was nearly in tears after seeing what you went through," Makarov teased him, hoping to see Ragna's reaction. The Reaper only gave an annoyed sigh as he shook his head. "...Or you can consider this your reward for helping to stop the Eisenwald guild's plot to murder the guild leaders."

"I wasn't thinking that I was getting a reward for that," he admitted. "Did everyone get something for that, or am I the only one that gets a reward?"

"Even if everyone that participated did have the choice of obtaining a reward, I think we'd both agree that they'd rather see you rehabilitated." Ragna didn't have it in him to deny what his Guild Master was saying. "Looks like we're here."

The two approached a small clearing leading up to a giant tree that had been carved into for living arrangement. Standing at the front of the steps was an older woman with pink hair and red robes. She'd been sweeping as the two approached, but quickly turned to them with a scowl.

"You're late," she said with ire to Makarov. "If I hadn't seen you again it wouldn't have been an issue… had you not made that inconvenient promise to return."

'...This is the chick that's supposed to heal me? She's looking at us like we're the scum of the earth,' Ragna thought to himself, though he remained silent for now. 'Weird, I'm getting a strange feeling just by being around her… but it's not like when I was fighting Lullaby, it's… different somehow.'

"And him," she said, looking directly at Ragna for a long while. "It seems you want me to heal him as well. You're always asking for more than you should."

"If you'd like, we can postpone my checkup and you can focus on healing Ragna here," Makarov offered, only for the older woman glare to be directed back at him. "Just a suggestion…"

"Don't think I can't see what you're trying to do!" she yelled at him. "You just don't want to hear that you need to limit your drinking! Every time you come here I keep having to tell you the exact same thing! And to think that humans even make that vile swill! They're practically ingesting poison! The idiots!"

'Damn, she's heated,' Ragna realized. "Hey old man, just get it over with will ya? You go getting her pissed off and she'll tear me to shreds when she's looking at me."

"I'm right here!" Porlyusica shouted with fire in her eye, an attitude that wasn't reflected well by her current age. Ragna didn't bother acknowledging this, only leaning against a nearby tree and summoning a book to his possession to kill time. "HEY!"

"On second thought, you both have a point," Makarov said, though in reality he did this because he knew that he should keep Ragna's time here short; if he didn't, Ragna and Porlyusica would soon be at each other's throats. Heading into the healer's tree home, Porlyusica only gave Ragna one final scowl before she followed her old friend. Closing the door behind them, she looked at the oldened wizard.

"You really want him healed when he possesses an arm coated in such a malicious darkness?" she questioned as she went over to her desk to gather supplies for Makarov's checkup. "Even if I can't sense any magic in it, reactivating such a thing would likely lead to travesty."

"Hence why it's taken me so long to bring him to you in the first place, but the kind words from his peers tells me that isn't his intention… crass as he can be at times," the elderly wizard said as he took his coat off. "Besides, he's made it clear that he's used that arm before. I can only imagine he's grown used to the power it carries with time."

"Perhaps because he's practiced using it before," Porlyusica reasonably guessed. "Has he even told you what it does?"

"He hasn't… but to be fair I've yet to ask him," Makarov sighed. "If this reveals itself to be a mistake, I'll of course take full responsibility and fix it myself. I can only hope the issue doesn't go that far and have faith in Ragna."

"A human having faith in another human… how utterly ridiculous," the healer chided. "By the way, you need to limit yourself on alcohol."

"But you haven't even looked at me yet!" the guild master protested.

"I know… but it's so obvious that I don't have to."

-And then!-

'Don't like the idea of stripping in front of those glaring eyes, but I guess I don't have much of a choice,' Ragna thought as he started removing his jacket. "Hey, my upper body is the only part that's affected. Is it okay if I stop there?"

"I insist that you do; I don't want to look at any more of you than I have to," Porlyusica told him. "In fact-"

"You'd rather not look at me at all," Ragna finished as he removed his coat and placed it on the nearby chair. "Your insults aren't very creative, you know?"

Whack!

Ragna growled as he rubbed the sore spot on his forehead that had just been slammed with a rather heavy book. His supposed healer had already turned away to start her prep work. If this had been the old Ragna (meaning the previous one, not the one being called old) he might've yelled at her with a collection of his own insults, but now he'd learned to hold his temper a bit better… and she seemed saner than some of the others via comparison.

"Just one request," he began as he threw the jacket off and started undoing his hakama top. "No needles if you can help it."

"Scared of a little medical equipment? For all of your tough talk you're not as brave as you appear."

"It's not that…" the Reaper told her darkly. "...Just got some bad memories associated with those things."

'Bad memories? Is that some indirect confession that he's subjected his own body to drug abuse?' Porlyusica thought before she turned and saw the fully shirtless Ragna. 'No, that can't be. If he truly did abuse drugs his body wouldn't be in such peak condition like it is now, his eye and arm exempt. And there's no sign of needle holes on his…' "Your left arm… that doesn't seem to be natural either."

"Huh, color me impressed. You're the first person in a while that's managed to see that," Ragna told her, though he honestly seemed pretty relaxed. "Yeah, lost this one too… though I guess circumstances were better."

"Tch, you can speak with whatever foolish pride you want; you've still lost a part of your body," the medic said. "Though if you've managed to replace one arm this way and keep it working, why not cut your losses and replace the other?"

"Decent question, but I'm afraid I just don't know the technique," he admitted while shaking his head. "Even then, the materials that had been created weren't exactly… moral. I could stomach using 'em because they were basically leftovers, but I'm not keen on finding more of the stuff."

"You humans and your stupid secrets, such bringers of ruin," Porlyusica insulted with a scowl. "Half of this world's conflicts could be avoided if you didn't feel the need to keep such knowledge to yourself, but the other half is just a result of your ignorant and selfish natures."

"...You seem to have a lot of insults to give humanity, Almost like you don't consider yourself human," Ragna noted with a roll of his good eye… right before he felt the stinging blow of a book being thrown at his forehead. "OW! HEY!"

"DON'T YOU DARE PUT ME IN THE SAME BOAT AS YOU! DO YOU THINK I'M AS IGNORANT OR SELF DESTRUCTIVE!? AND AFTER I'M BEING FORCED TO HEAL YOU!"

"OW! LEAVE IT BE YOU OLD BAT! YOU'RE JUST MAKING IT SO THAT THERE'S MORE YOU HAVE TO HEAL!"

"YOU'VE BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELF! WHO SAYS I'LL HEAL YOU AFTER AN INSULT LIKE THAT YOU BRUTE!?"

"DAMN HAG!"

"VULCAN HEADED BARBARIAN!"

"GODDAMN GRANNY!"

"FILTHY! HUMAN!"

"...In hindsight I should have seen this coming," Makarov muttered to himself as he looked over the centerfold section of Sorcerer's Weekly, ogling the bikini clad wizards to keep his mind off the current stress he was being dealt.

Though it certainly took a while for the two to end their heated… discussion, eventually Ragna was forced to sit down while Porlyusica looked at his exposed body. Considering what the Reaper was there for, he found it slightly odd that she wasn't paying attention to his paralyzed arm itself and instead seemed to be focusing on his body around it. She also made an occasional cut on Ragna's body with a medical knife and watched carefully as it healed before her while gathering small bits of blood samples to gather information. Though she didn't use a syringe like she'd promised, she did poke around on Ragna's skin for a bit and felt out his muscles and tendons. She of course looked over his paralyzed eye as well, but there didn't seem to be much interest towards it.

"So?" Ragna asked once his examination had ended, wasting no time in getting his clothes back on. "What's the word Doc?"

"Annoyingly, I haven't been able to figure out how that arm of yours works. The matter its made of doesn't seem to follow any of the basic rules of alchemy or material based magic, and I don't have the slightest idea how it's supposed to be activated or powered… though I can easily see it isn't anything good."

"Relax; the old method is impossible for me to use now… I'm fairly certain." He had to admit that last part since he didn't know too much regarding the inner workings of this world… and a certain demonic artifact had certainly seemed to set it off. "So is this a bust then?"

"Hardly, but it won't be easy," she told him as she headed over to her desk and started writing. "This explanation would go over your head, but suffice to say I think I have a method that will allow you to move it as a regular arm. With practice, you might even manage to channel magic through it."

"I'll be able to channel magic through it?" Ragna asked with amazement while his coat readjusted itself to properly hold the paralyzed arm. "Are you saying it'll be back up to full strength?"

"No, because I have no way of reactivating the magical force that sleeps within it. What you can learn to do is fight with that as if it were your other arm and channel your own magic through it just as easily as your other hand. That's the best I'm able to offer you." 'And willing. Even with Makarov's word, that darkness hiding in him is too unsettling… and I can't shake the feeling that something is very wrong.'

"What about my eye? Is that gonna get fixed too?"

"Completely restored, though it's going to remain that unnatural shade of red."

"That's fine, not fond of green anyway," Ragna thought, remembering what sort of trouble the color usually meant for him. "Talk to me, what are we looking at as the method for healing my arm?"

"You should be grateful; I don't think anyone else could have found this method, let alone know how to apply it to an unusual body like yours," Porlyusica told him before handing over the piece of paper she'd written on. "Gather these and I'll be able to prepare an Elixir for your arm."

"An elixir?" Ragna mused, having heard the term being used in his world… though most claims of their potency had been greatly exaggerated. "...How's it work?"

"I already told you; the explanation would just go over your head."

"Won't know until you tell me, and I think I deserve to know what you're trying to do to my body," the Reaper protested. "Make it as basic as you want, just give me something to go off of."

"...You have the worst way of asking someone for help you desperately need," the pink haired woman sighed, knowing Ragna's type of stubborn well enough by now. "The potion has two main effects. The first is basic enough and I'd only need a single of those ingredients; all it's going to do is reactivate the nervous system connected to your eye."

'From what Mira told me, it's the damn eye that's making everyone think I'm so old in the first place. Should I just go for that first?' "...And what about my arm? How's that going to work?"

"By creating a false nervous system inside… whatever that is," she insulted, pointing to the paralyzed BlazBlue. "The sheer density of that material makes it seem like it can't be reformed, but with this potion I'll be able to make the necessary adjustments that will allow you to control it even when it's not powered by its usual method. In fact, I'd wager that your connection would be nearly as close as it used to be."

'False nervous system? I don't like the sound of that,' Ragna thought with something of a scowl. 'With the arm inactive I'd be fine trying to move it around, but if it reactivates and my connection is that close with it there could be problems… But I've kept that power from running out of control before, I'll do it again if I have to.' Though a bit hesitant, Ragna grabbed the recipe and started looking over what he needed to find. "Any idea where I need to start looking?"

"That's on you to figure out, I've already done most of the work for you," Porlyusica told him before pointing towards the door. "You've been here long enough."

"I guess you're right; no reason why we'd both have to suffer here," the Reaper agreed with a cocky smirk that his healer didn't care for, but she didn't protest it either. "So how am I supposed to pay you back for this? Or do you not take payment from my kind?"

"I've no use for whatever you'd consider wealth, just take your time in finding those ingredients so I don't have to see you again for a good while," she insulted as her patient opened the door.

"Tch, well you're not exactly easy on the eyes yourself granny. In fact it's probably the only time I'm glad I've only gotta look at something with one eye."

Still keeping the smirk on his face, Ragna quickly shut the door to block the stack of books the medic had thrown his way. Heading away from the tree, a collection of swearing and insults towards humanity as a whole followed him.

'First time in a while I've witnessed someone trade verbal blows with Porlyusica,' Makarov thought to himself as he rose from where he'd been seated and began following the Reaper back to the guild. "Seems that you've got a lot of work ahead for you."

"You've got no idea," he responded gruffly as he continued looking over his list. '...I don't know what any of these are.'

-Later at the Fairy Tail Guild!-

"This is one very expensive shopping list," Levi, a blue haired member of the guild said as she looked over the list Ragna had brought back and compared it to several of the books she'd taken from Fairy Tail's library. "And some of these are going to be harder to find than others. Ignoring prices for the moment, only six of these are available in Magnolia's Markets meaning you'd have to do some travelling in order to find the other seven."

"Not what I want to hear when I'm completely broke," Ragna muttered as he prepared food, cooking up some fried rice, meat skewers, and other choice dishes. "That's just going to make this whole damn thing take longer."

"Well you can eat all of your meals and sleep at the guild until we get everything figured out," Mira offered as she waited tables and brought out the food that Ragna had prepared. "It's the least we can do for your help around the guild, so don't worry about that for a while."

"Thanks, that'll at least save me a little cash. The problem's going to be finding ways to get around; bein' broke right at the start is going to be a real pain in the ass no matter how you slice it. Maybe I should just spend today doing local jobs to gather up the cash so I can take the train."

"Might be a smart move," Levi told him. "I've only looked at the first few of the ingredients and it's already going to be leading off in different directions from the guild."

"Mean I won't be able to get all of them in one trip," Ragna groaned. "This is starting to turn into a pain in the ass."

"If it's such a big pain, why not borrow some money from us?" Natsu asked as he tore a bite off a comically large bone of meat. "Saves you a day with all of your money problems, right?"

"Aye!" the blue cat Happy agreed as he chowed down on a full tuna.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather not be in debt to anyone. Not even you guys," Ragna was a bit reluctant at that last part.

"You wouldn't be owing us anything at all, besides you needed the money for those few small jobs we did together like I said you would," Lucy told him with her hands on her hips as she tried to look authoritative to her current father figure.

"And if it's such a big deal, then why not just have everyone gather all of the materials at once?" Gray offered. "If you let us help you like that, we could be done with this in a few days tops."

"Gray, your clothes," Cana reminded him as she took a long swig of the tankard Mira had brought out for her. Gray's reaction was that of his classic surprise as he stared down as his boxers only body.

"I mean…" Ragna started. "You guys make good points, but-"

"This is just something that a man has to do on his own," Elfman interrupted. "Ragna could take the easy way out here and he'd be done with it, but a real man doesn't leave his responsibilities to others merely when it suits him. He puts his foot down and gets it done himself despite the long drag he knows he's in for. This is for his benefit, so he's going to do it himself."

"...Okay, maybe not in so many words but close enough," Ragna admitted as he gave his pan fried rice a few more tosses.

"I can understand that you don't want to commit the rest of the guild to finding the materials, but if they're able to help you then I think you should appreciate that," Erza commented from where she sat and enjoyed her slice of strawberry cake.

"Maybe you should go for a compromise?" Mira suggested. "If you find a good high paying job that will put you near one of the ingredients you need and there's someone who's not busy, then why not take someone with you so you can both get the reward money?"

"...I mean I guess that's alright," Ragna admitted as he began plating up what he'd made. "But I'm still going to need a job to get decent cash to start with."

"Let me just take a quick look at the board, maybe I'll find a job that will put you in a good place to start with," Levi said as she grabbed the notes she'd taken and did just that. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. "I've got something, it's the perfect job!"

"That was quick," the Reaper muttered, admittedly a little impressed.

"Yeah, the job was just posted today so I'm sure that your luck is changing for the better!" Levi told him excitedly… somehow her just saying that caused a pit to form in the Reaper's stomach. "This job's great for what you need; high paying, the item you're after is part of the reward, and the transportation costs are already covered!"

"Sounds too good to be true," Ragna said with a narrowed eye. "What's the job?"

"It's just a simple escort job, all you need to do is escort a young noble's daughter back to their home estate via wagon! Easy as can be!" the blue haired mage told him like there wasn't a problem with that at all.

"...Beggars can't be choosers?" Mirajane tried to tell her coworker, though Ragna's deep groan made it clear she hadn't helped.

"Any real man would be able to handle this like it was nothing," was Elfman's input, though it was unclear whether he was saying that because he expected that Ragna would be able to take this hurdle or that he was challenging him to do so.

"Just because I can doesn't mean it isn't a pain in the ass to do it," Ragna said as he turned his burner off and threw off his apron to the rack. "Fine then, let's get this damn thing over with."

"Hold on just a second," Levi said as she looked over the paper. "It says here that you'll have to take someone else with you. They're not taking anything other than two wizards from the guild. Sorry, but that's the way it is. I won't be able to help you either; I already have a job lined up with Jet and Droy."

"Not a problem, and thanks for your help getting me this far," Ragna told her as he weighed his options. 'If this is going to an escort job, I should probably ask someone on the saner side of Fairy Tail to tag along. That means that the obvious pick is…' "Lu-"

"By the way Lucy, are you ready for the training I had planned for today?" Erza asked with horrible timing, cutting Ragna off immediately. With a look at the two, he clearly realized that he was out of luck. Lucy looked like she was clearly not ready, but one look at Erza's focused eyes made it clear to Ragna that he wasn't getting between this no matter how much he wanted to.

'At least I won't have to put her through whatever crap I'm dealing with,' he considered, admittedly taking a little fatherly comfort in that thought. Glancing around for his Guildmates that hadn't already left on jobs, Ragna weighed his options. 'Elfman's whole manly shtick would probably upset any guards or butlers the client's got with her, best leave him be. Mira's certainly sane, but I don't have any idea what sort of magic she can use and she'd probably have to stay here and head the front desk. Cana seems serious enough, but she's already spent most of the day drinking. As for Loke…' Ragna then glanced at the wizard as he sat off in the corner.

"You're so handsome," cooed the attractive young woman in his right arm.

"And so very charming," sighed the appealing lady resting on his left.

"Thanks, kind of you to say," he said coolly as he shot them both a smile which was enough to make them both swoon a bit.

'WHY THE HELL AM I EVEN CONSIDERING HIM FOR THIS!?' Ragna thought enraged as a tick mark appeared on his forehead. 'But he might somehow be my best choice here, if that damn womanizer can keep his flirting down... dammit, this really is like dealing with a second Kagura.' "Loke, you think you can help me on this one?"

"Dad! Why the heck are you choosing him the first time you need help with something!?" Natsu shouted, clearly upset that Ragna was choosing someone outside the established team. "Come on, I'm good for this job!"

"No you aren't," Gray told him off. "Last time you tried to escort someone you ended up burning their hair off."

"It's not my fault their wig was so flammable!" Natsu shouted. "And the last time you escorted someone you froze them solid!"

"I told you that was to keep them safe, Flame Breath!" Gray shouted in insult.

"Frost Boy!"

"Volcano Head!"

"Glacier Brain!"

...Somehow the two had forgotten Erza's presence at the guild, likely by growing used to her more recent absence. Putting down her fork though she was only halfway done with her slice of cake, she rose from her chair and…

WHACK! WHACK!

Watched in slight surprise as Ragna delivered a powerful and deliberate blow to both of the boys' heads. She considered the fact that he was taking a responsibility that had been hers for quite some time… before deciding it wasn't worth interrupting her favorite dessert and took her seat to finish her prized sweet.

"If you both don't stop this fighting I'm going to get a migraine and then everyone's going to have a problem," he threatened with a one-eyed scowl. "Natsu, think about it. This job said that they were only taking two wizards and they weren't going to budge on that. Coming with me would mean that you'd have to leave Happy behind. Could you really stand that idea?"

"Nope, Natsu and I always stick together!" Happy said in agreement. "Kinda like you and comments about your age…"

"Dammit, I want to say you're wrong," Ragna growled as his head slumped forward for only a moment before looking back to the Fire Wizard. "Besides, this job's going to be putting us on a wagon; you know how brutal this job would be with your motion sickness."

"I guess you've got a point," Natsu reluctantly agreed.

"What about me?" Gray asked. "I don't mind getting left behind for this, but I was wondering what made you skip me over."

"No offense, but that's pretty easy. Look down." Gray headed the Reaper's words, only to appear in shock one more as he realized that he'd stripped down to his underwear once more. "Even if you don't mean to do it, stripping down to your boxers in front of some uppity noble is going to cause problems and I have a lot riding on this particular job." Ragna fought back a sigh. "Look, I'll still have six other ingredients to grab after this so you'll have a chance to help me out then, besides maybe that way I can bring you along for something a bit more violent."

"Alright, I'll hold you to that," Natsu conceded. "But if Loke screws this up I get to say I told you so!"

"...Okay, that's fair," the Reaper accepted, allowing Natsu to crack a grin while Gray only groaned at his guildmate's behavior. "So how about it Loke, ready to make some easy cash? That is... if you're not too busy goofing around?"

"Whose g-?" Leo had been about to say, before realizing the stern look Erza was sending his way. This let him know that if he turned down his guildmate's request for help, Lucy might just have an impromptu training partner. Not bad, but he'd rather get to know the blonde under circumstances where he didn't have to deal with broken bones. "...Sorry ladies, but I'm afraid duty calls."

"Aw already? Who knew that work was more important than me?" one of the girls said with a pout, causing Ragna to grow closer to developing that migraine as he desperately wished to get out of here.

"Make sure you come back to see me soon," the other said as she gave his side a small squeeze.

"Of course; that's a promise I can always make good on," the womanizer assured.

'Goddammit, I can already tell this is going to be one hell of a day,' Ragna decides. 'Just focus on getting paid, that's all you have to do today.' "We're off then."

"Best of luck!" Lucy wished him with her own smile. "I'll see you both when you get back… as long as I survive." At her last worried comment, Ragna gave her a warm smile before ruffling her blonde hair with his good hand.

"You'll do fine, I'll see ya for dinner," he reassured her before he and Loke exited the guild, Loke of course taking a moment to wave the young girls off with sweet promises that Ragna did his best to tune out. "I just noticed, those two aren't the same girls from when I first got into the guild."

"Should they have been?" Loke asked. "I can let those two know that you're interested in them."

"Not what I was getting at," Ragna told him with a groan. "Remember; I need this job to go well today, so no flirting with the client."

"Don't worry, I'll do my part and then some; I'm usually voted pretty high in the Wizard I Want to Be My Boyfriend Contest."

"And that's exactly what I'm trying to get you to avoid," he said, shaking his head with dismay. "Why the hell did Lucy have to be busy today?"

"Speaking of Lucy," Loke began, leading Ragna to scowl. "...How does she treat her Celestial Spirits?"

"Treat 'em?" Ragna repeated with an eyebrow raised. "Afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's exactly how it sounds. Is she kind to them? Does she treat them well?" Loke asked.

"I haven't seen anything that tells me otherwise, and I can't imagine her treating any of them poorly… Don't know the spirits that well, but I know Lucy well enough," Ragna said as Loki only looked thoughtful at that information. "Though I guess you should know…"

"Know what?"

"She's off limits," he told him with a stern look. Loke almost looked taken aback by how feral Ragna could look with only his left eye… but the Reaper dropped the expression quickly enough. "I mean, not that she can't tell you off herself."

"Sounds more like you're just playing the role of team father," Loke told him with a smile. "The way you managed to turn both Gray and Natsu down seemed pretty fatherly as well. Quite the bond to have after working here for less than a month."

"Natsu ended up giving me the nickname a week in, but it was moreso out of a spiteful joke, and I either had my choice of being called dad or old man… I just took the more bearable option."

"Maybe, but I get the feeling you're enjoying the role more than you're willing to let on," Loke suggested. "How did Erza take the news?"

"She joined in," Ragna told Loke bluntly, causing the womanizer to freeze in his stride. "...I'm not sure where that's coming from either."

"Huh," Loke notes before looking at the job instructions they'd been given. "This looks like the cafe that the job told us about. I've been here a couple of times with…" He paused again, this time patting frantically over his body.

"Now what?"

"I think I dropped my wallet somewhere!" Loke said with worry. "And if I left it back at the guild either Cana's going to use it to order drinks, Natsu's going to order a ton of food, or Erza's going to-!" Without another word, Loke turned and started running back to Fairy Tail.

"Hey, we're just about to meet our client! They're waiting for us inside!" he shouted.

"Just give me a second! I'll catch up!" he promised as he was already a good distance away. Giving a hollow sigh on how this job hadn't even started yet, Ragna headed inside the small cafe listed on the job description.

-And then what happened!-

'Aaaaaaaaand this is exactly what I was afraid of,' Ragna thought to himself as he looked at the scowling noble's daughter before him. She was dressed in a rather frilly white dress that might've reminded him of a wedding dress if it hadn't been for the occasional feather accessory that decorated it. As expected, she had an elderly butler with her as a guide with his nose up in the air as he refused to acknowledge Ragna's presence. 'Dammit, I already know how this job's going to go… all that's up in the air is if I'm really willing to stick around for the slightest chance that I'll be paid for this.'

"This has got to be some kind of a sick joke," the young noble said to him before she sipped the fine tea she'd ordered from the cafe. "Are you really a wizard from Fairy Tail? You don't look like one. And where's your partner?"

Trying to stay focused on the ingredient and money that he desperately needed, Ragna took a deep breath before causing his Fairy Tail insignia to glow around his still paralyzed right eye. "As for my-"

"I'm not done you cur! Don't open that horrid mouth of yours unless I speak to you directly!"

'You WERE talking to me directly... I’m starting to miss Granny from this morning, in fact I'm beginning to see her point,' the Reaper considered darkly.

"Listen here; even if you are somehow from the famous Fairy Tail guild, the only reason I'd be caught dead talking to someone like you is if I had no other choice. Stupid private train needing repairs at the last moment! Stupid dad saying I have to take two guards with me to get back!"

'She's complaining so much when she's literally using daddy's money? Must be nice,' Ragna considered, decided he'd just use a bit of bleak humor to try and cope.

"And to top it off I'm forced to endure this subpar cafe with this atrocious atmosphere," she continued in insult.

'Pretty sure the atmosphere of this place was fine until you showed up,' Ragna noted, glancing around the cafe which had several younger women there who were dead silent and trying not to stare at the noble's daughter. He felt a bit sorry for them given present circumstances, but there wasn't anything he could do… actually…

"And the swill this place serves! Ugh, I should like my father to buy this horrid place out and put it under new management."

The waitresses working at the establishment cringed as their business was insulted , but quickly turned to confusion when they heard giggling from their other patrons. Floating right above the young noble lady where neither her nor he butler were looking was a single glowing word.

Brat

"See?" she continued, still not realizing the word above her. "Now that someone with actual taste can judge this wretched little dump, they full heartedly agree with me."

Ragna gave his hand a subtle wave as it gave off the slightest of glows. The patrons and waitresses noticed easily enough, but neither the butler nor the noble lady did.

Dense

"As you can clearly see, I already have plenty of commoners who would take great pleasure in escorting me back home, so what makes you so special?"

"I'm not, I'm just the first guy that showed up," Ragna told her, before waving his hand again, creating another Image Cantrip that he'd learned from reading earlier that week. "But think about it, the sooner I start escorting you home the sooner I can get you out of here."

Translation: I'll get this pain in the ass out of your shop quick as I can

"Wh-What's going on? Why is everyone laughing?" she demanded, searching over the cafe and only finding laughing girls while her potential hire remained stoic. Luckily, Ragna had the mind to dispel his little parlor trick before she caught sight of it.

"Most likely they've gone mad in your presence, milady," he butler suggested, finally breaking his formal silence. "Their meager brains are slowly overheating as they wrack their minds to come even close to your radiance…" He sent the entire restaurant a stink eye. "...It is a rather daunting task for them."

The collection of girls then scowled as they had their looks insulted by the old man as said butler's master seemed very pleased at his choice of words. Ragna, not being one to let this go (and having WAY too many of these saved up after dealing with Rachel and Valkenhayn) waved his hand and created his next image. At first it was just a straight vertical line nearly as tall as the butler and they didn't see what he was trying, but then he added an arrow point at the line and a caption beside it.

This is how long the stick up my ass is

"Wh-what are these crazy commoners laughing at!?" the noble lady demanded, quickly scouring the room (but not quick enough to see Ragna's magic)

"No clue, but if it's infectious maybe you should get out of here soon," the Reaper offered, trying to use circumstances to his favor.

"...Very well, the words uttered by your ill spoken tongue may have some truth behind them," the woman insulted. "As soon as your partner arrives we'll be off. But if they're willing to team up with you, I'm not expecting much."

'Dammit, this ingredient better be worth it,' Ragna thought before hearing a bell jingle as the door behind him opened. "Took you long enough."

"Luckily I was just in time, another minute and Cana's order would've cleared my wallet out," Loke said before turning to the patrons of the small cafe and turning his charm factor back on. "Hey everyone, how's it been?"

"LOKE'S BACK!" one of the girls cried out with a swoon.

"COME OVER HERE AND SIT WITH US!" another begged.

"I HAVE SOME OF THOSE SWEETS THAT YOU LOVE! DO YOU WANT SOME!?" one of the waitresses offered.

'Well there goes any points I might've just earned with them,' the Reaper decided, admittedly feeling a little bitter. He'd been expecting the young noble woman to chide them on their behavior, but at present it looked like she was a little too busy staring at Loke… looking deep into the wizard's shade covered eyes. 'Ah hell, really?'

"A-Are you going to be guiding me to my estate?" she asked him, a slight blush on her face and a bit of trouble finding her voice.

"If you wish it, then be guarding you every bit of our travels… ensuring your safety as closely as I can," Loke promised, taking one of the dainty ladies hands in his own and kissing it. Ragna noticed the scowling eyes coming from most of the women at this establishment, but it seemed that they were angrier at the woman for taking their precious Loke's attention. "And my partner will be with us of course, to ensure the details of the contract are met."

"I love a man of business," she said with a satisfied smile, though it was clear Ragna might as well not have existed to her. "I am Lady Kura Poulet. We'll depart at once." Holding Loke's right arm within her own (and causing the girls quite a bit more anger), she, Loke, and her now scowling butler headed for the door.

'Son of a bitch. So now not only is he getting attention from every girl in a mile just by showing his mug, he managed to get that stuck up pain in the ass to open up to him and he's already breaking my no flirting with the client rule,' Ragna though as he fought back an annoyed growl. 'This just isn't my-'

"Excuse me, sir?" one of the waitresses asked from behind Ragna. He quickly caught sight of the small bag of sweets that she was holding onto.

"Oh sorry, did she order those?" he asked.

"Actually they're for you," she told him.

"I… didn't ask for anything," he explained. 'That and I'm broke as piss.'

"They're compliments from the table over there," she explained while gesturing. Looking at the table, Ragna caught sight of several young girls smiling as they waved to him. "And… on behalf of our small cafe, thank you very much for the entertainment you provided."

"Oh, I get it," Ragna said as he took the bag of what appeared to be macaroons and shot a smirk to the ladies that had ordered these for them. "You're welcome then." He headed for the door to join his partner and (hopefully) get this job done with, but on his way out he couldn't help but catch wind of what the ladies at the table were saying.

"I had no idea an old guy like that could be almost as cool as my Loke," one of them sighed.

"I know…" another added dreamily. "Just imagine if he were twenty years younger."

'...It's half a damn victory Ragna, TAKE IT.'

And then!

'At least I don't have to sit next to her,' the Reaper considered as he sat beside the still scowling butler as they traveled across the countryside. Kura's arms hadn't been detached from Loke's for even a second as she held the womanizer gingerly close to her, resting her head upon his shoulder. Loke himself seemed plenty satisfied with the situation, looking at both men with a smug gaze behind his sunglasses. 'And I can't even just take a nap and let these things play out since I'm supposed to be on guard duty.' "So-"

"Ah ah, hired wizards aren't supposed to speak unless spoken to," Kura chided mockingly. Screw the reward to fix his arm, Ragna was starting to lose his mind.

"Maybe let my partner talk, just this once?" Loke suggested at no invitation. "He might have something important to ask about our job."

"If you say so dearest Loki," she answered sweetly.

'GET. ME. OUT OF HERE.' "...You said that you needed to hire us for guard duty, but what exactly are we supposed to be guarding you from?" he asked while fighting to keep his temper down.

"Oh all sorts of nasties that might be after us," she told him, but likely only because Loke had asked her to. "Highway bandits, rouges hoping to demand ransom from my father, Forest Vulcans."

"Forest Vulcans?" Ragna asked, remembering the monster he'd beaten under Everlue's Manor during his first job as an official Fairy Tail wizard. "Do they frequently attack travelers on the roads?"

"Frequently enough that I'll need my Loke-kun to keep me safe," Kira told him, sighing as she seemed to hold Loke's arm all the tighter. While this woman's attitude was pissing the Reaper off plenty, he also tried to accept the fact that if Loke was the one dealing with her it'd mean less of a headache for him. "Doubly so given the goods I'm carrying."

'Goods?' Ragna thought to himself, only seeing a few packages in the back which he'd assumed was the girl's luggage.

"She means her family's special eggs," Loke explained. "Generations back they spent all of their resources towards breeding the perfect chickens. Now, I hear that the birds themselves are actually poisonous to eat, but the eggs themselves are heavenly."

"I'm glad to hear you're such a connoisseur of fine dining," the lady complimented yet again. "Yes, the birds are nearly the size of a horse and the eggs they lay are the size of your head. The quality is so good that most Wizards would give up any money we offered for just a single egg!" Her claims at Ragna done, she then turned back to her interest. "Of course if you'd like sweet Loke, I could maybe send you home with a full dozen?"

"Just the two are fine," he assured.

"Such a gentleman."

'...At least he's not happy either,' Ragna thought as he glanced at the butler, taking just the slightest bit of solace at the man's own angry expression. It was then that the carriage lurched a bit before coming to a stop. "Great, what now?"

"F-Forest Vulcans!" the driver called from outside. "Th-they're surrounding us!" Ragna then managed to pick up the bestial grunts coming from outside. It sounded a little similar to the beast that he'd encountered before, only now a few of them were chanting 'Egg!' with a deep hunger behind it. "G-Get the wizards out here now!"

"Well now," Loke said as he started to rise, though Kura was still holding onto his arm. "Looks like-"

"Forget it," Ragna growled as he quickly got to his feet and threw the door open. "You stay here; I'm handling this trash." With a grunt he slammed it behind him as the Vulcans outside seemed to grow even more excited.

"What a complete brute," the butler commented with disgust. "It's like he can't wait to get into a fight."

'More like he can't wait to get out of this carriage,' Loke admitted. He also noticed that the lady he was supposed to be guarding was gripping him even tighter, nearly climbing onto him as she held him close through her fright… was the message she was trying to portray.

Her fantasy going through her mind was clear as crystal to her. The nameless Wizard would fight against an endless hoard of Forest Vulcans. He'd put up a decent fight for someone of his age, but eventually the beasts would overwhelm him and it would be up to her hero to save them all. Loke would go into battle, holding her close for safety as he used his magic to slay the vile creatures. Afterwards, he'd look deep into her eyes and tell her that he was-

"Done," Ragna muttered as the door to the carriage opened once more, snapping Kura out of her fantasy. With an aggressive huff, the Reaper took a seat beside the butler. "Come on, the driver's waiting on you to say the word before we get going."

"Huh-? I-? What happened to the Vulcans?" she demanded.

"What else? I went out and beat them into next week," he returned casually, far too casually for the butler's tastes. "That's what you hired me for, isn't it?"

"You beat them!?" she screamed at him. "HOW!?"

"I punched 'em."

"You… punched them?" she demanded.

"Yeah, I've got one arm that's good for that at least," he reaffirmed. "Why… do you look so upset?"

'...Now,' Loke thought to himself cockily to himself as he looked to both men sitting across from him. "Sorry, but do you think the two of you can wait outside for a bit?" Ragna gave a growl as the womanizer was pushing his luck just a bit.

"We should be going," he tried to affirm.

"No no, I think you should check to make sure you got all of the Vulcans," the noble told him quickly before addressing her butler. "You should go with him; better to have two pairs… well three eyes for a lookout."

"Milady, you know I can't do that!" the butler protested. "Your father put me in charge of your safety and-!"

"LEAVE. US."

Kura's voice had turned so possessive and feral that even Ragna was caught off guard… before remembering Nu and knowing he'd dealt with far worse. The butler could only grit his teeth as he headed out of the small carriage. Ragna followed behind, though he gave one last stink eye at Loke for what he was doing. Closing the carriage door behind him, Ragna did keep his eye out of the Vulcans he'd beaten… though he admitted being away from the brat he was escorting wasn't exactly unpleasant. The butler didn't say a word to him, only pacing nervously in front of the carriage door. Hoping to rid himself of all present company Ragna wondered how long this would take.

Not very long, as Loke soon emerged from the carriage. The butler looked like he had some stern words for the wizard, only to see that Loke appeared to be as fresh as when he'd been left. No ruffled hair, no loose clothes, not a mark on his face or neck. Ignoring the playboy, he headed into the carriage to talk to the young noble he served.

"Mind telling me what the hell that was about?" Ragna demanded.

"Just wanted to discuss something with our employer," Loke told him seriously. "Her butler will be getting your payment in just a moment."

"My payment? What are you on about, I don't think we're even halfway there," he growled as he thought of the journey he still had ahead of him. "Why the hell would she be paying me now?"

"Because I suggested it to her, and because she'd clearly love it if you were out of the way so she can have me all to herself." That last part hadn't sounded like a brag, but even if it had been Ragna was more than willing to let Loke get every bit of that crazy. "Her butler certainly isn't going to like the idea of sitting up front with the coachman to keep lookout."

"...I don't understand, why are you doing this?" the Reaper hissed. "You'll get the two of us in trouble."

"No, I'll get in trouble for this, and believe you me that I'm used to this kind of trouble. If anyone asks, I'll tell them that you fought tooth and nail to finish the job properly, but Kura and I managed to force you out of the way. We even had to double your cut of the Jewels in order to get you out of the picture since you're so duty bound." He smirked. "When the truth is you can't wait to get out of here and I'm giving you an out to go along with some well-deserved extra pay."

'...There's more to this guy than I thought,' Ragna realized before answering with his own cocky grin. "So everyone wins?"

"Everyone except for the butler."

"Screw 'em."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Loke chuckled. "But I should remind you that you're walking back on your own to Magnolia. That's not a problem is it?"

"If every step back is one farther from those two then I'm ready for a marathon," the Reaper asserted. "Not that it's any of my business, but what were you planning to do with your egg?"

"That's easy; when I bring it in for breakfast tomorrow I'll be expecting you to make one hell of an omelet. I'll even let you take half for yourself."

"You got it; bell peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and whatever else you want in it," Ragna promised as he and Loke actually shook hands. 'Guess he's a real member of Fairy Tail after all.'

It didn't take too much longer for Kura to convince her butler of Loke's suggestion, though it was clear he was enraged at the two Wizards. Thrusting the reward into Ragna's hands he climbed onto the front of the carriage, taking the time to send one final departing scowl back at the Reaper… but since Ragna had already gotten his reward, nothing was keeping him from flipping the old fart off in response. Watching the carriage finally take off, Ragna started making his way back to the guild.

"Grr…" Emerging from the tree line was the same group of Vulcans that Ragna had just beaten back. They eagerly eyed the egg he carried, up until Ragna sent it to his storage. "HUMAN TAKE AWAY EGG! BRING BACK EGG HUMAN!"

"I don't think so. I had to put up with a hell of a lot of work to get that damn thing," Ragna told the monster before summoning his sword to his hand with a ruthless sneer. "And I've still got plenty of anger issues to work through. YOU IDIOTS SHOULD'VE STAYED DOWN!"

With a heavy roar from both sides, Ragna and the Forest Vulcan's charged each other… the Reaper ready for the most fun he'd had all day.

Chapter Text

Episode 010: Image of a Sunset

“That girl I had to escort might’ve been a total stuck-up bitch, but damn does her family make good eggs,” Ragna said more than pleased with himself as he slouched before a large plate that minutes before had been piled high by perhaps the greatest omelet known to man.

“Hey, she’s not that bad once you get to know her… assuming you’d ever get to that point,” Loke admitted as he sat across from Ragna equally pleased as he slouched in front of his own cleaned plate of eggs. Ragna noted that this was probably the one time he hadn’t seen the guy with a girl on each arm or even attempted his usual flirting, but then again, he might’ve been trying to keep his omelet half to himself. “My compliments to the chef of course, the only word that comes close to describing that is Godly.”

“Glad you liked it. Besides, it was thanks to you that I got this much to eat in the first place,” Ragna said with a smirk at the womanizer before him.

“Weird, when did you two become such good friends?” Natsu asked as he sat at the table right next to the two. “Before you guys headed out yesterday, I don’t think there was a time where you weren’t scowling at Loke, but now you’re acting like you’ve been this close for years.”

“Loke probably started calling Ragna Dad while they were on the job,” Happy interjected.

“Not that,” Ragna said as he glared at the cat with his single good eye. “Let’s just say I have a new appreciation for his talents after he got me out of one hell of a headache yesterday.”

“You’re not going to ask me what happened between us after you left?” Loke asked slyly.

“Nope. I’m in way too good of a mood right now and there’s no way in hell that I’m letting you ruin it for me,” the Reaper asserted as he continued to sit back contently with a sigh.

“I think I get the picture,” the more levelheaded Mira said as she came forward to gather the dishes.

“Hey, hey, I got those,” Ragna insisted as he started to sit up.

“No, sit down and enjoy yourself,” Mira insisted with her usual bright smile on her face. “You just said how good of a mood you were in and you especially need to make these moments last while you can. So sit back for a bit longer and enjoy yourself.”

“Well, when you put it like that, how can I argue with you? Thanks,” the Reaper said with a well-meaning smirk as Mira cleared the plates for him.

“Huh, looks like I might’ve had the wrong idea with you,” Loke noted from across the Reaper. “You do know how to flirt after all.”

“Shut up. This is my moment. You can’t ruin it for me,” Ragna insisted as Mira giggled slightly. “That being said, I wonder how Lucy managed yesterday with Erza. Training with her sounded pretty harsh.”

“About that…” Loke began with a scratch to the back of his head. “Lucy should be fine physically… probably. But let’s just say she’s not getting out of bed today… AT ALL.”

“You’re speaking from experience then?” Ragna had to guess. Loke gave a grimace filled nod. “I’ll go check on her in a bit. Make sure she’s doing okay.”

“What about getting the ingredients you need for that elixir?” Natsu had to ask. “That’s a pretty big deal for you still, isn’t it?”

“It is, but I already checked the board and none of those jobs are handing out the stuff I need,” Ragna told him. “Eh, worst thing that could happen is I take a day off to take care of Lucy.”

“Why don’t we get doted on like that?” Happy asked Natsu beside him.

“Because Lucy needs it.” …Ragna wasn’t sure if the Dragon Slayer had meant that as an insult or not.

“You know if it’s fatherhood you’re after, I happen to know a few single mothers in town. Their main focus is their kids of course, but I’m sure they’d be willing to give a father figure like you a chance,” Loke noted with a smirk directed at Ragna. The ex-Reaper couldn’t tell if he was making fun of him or genuinely trying to help.

“Think I’ll pass,” he said reservedly.

“Makes sense, I think he always has enough to worry about with our group,” Natsu noted.

“Darn right!” Happy chimed in… happily.

“I’m not sure that’s something you need to be proud of.”

Later -Lucy’s House-

‘Looks like Loke called it after all,’ the Reaper thought as Lucy laid in bed with a tray holding a warm cup of tea and plate of French Toast, both of which he’d prepared in her kitchen. She looked fine without as much as a bruise on her, but the signs of lingering exhaustion on her face and how badly she slumped while reading in bed made it clear that she was in no shape to go out for a job today. “…You’re sure you’re alright?”

“For the third time; I’m fine. You know even if Natsu and Happy are still calling you Dad partially to get on your nerves, you’re still giving them plenty of ammunition,” she reminded.

“Right… Do you do it to get on my nerves? Like at all?” His question was rewarded by a slight scowl by the blonde. “Just checking! Yeesh… So how bad was that training anyway?”

“I don’t want to talk about it… moreso because there’s nothing for me to talk about. The last thing I remember was standing in a clearing with Erza, she says ‘Let’s get started’, and then the next thing I know I’m collapsed in bed after she apparently carried me back.”

‘What the hell is that redhead doing to these people? Is this part of why everyone’s so effin’ terrified of her?’ the Reaper considered. “Do you at least feel stronger?”

“I don’t feel much of anything right now and magically I don’t think I could even summon Plue to snuggle,” Lucy admitted with a wince. “I’ll probably be stuck in bed the whole day. But what about you? How did the job with Loke go yesterday?”

“Way better than I thought it would. Everything about it pissed me off at first, but that womanizer managed to not only get me out of the job early, but with a hearty chunk of extra pay too. Past that I just did a couple of odd jobs around town to rack up some savings.”

“Well it’s good to hear that you didn’t have to suffer very long, but what were those odd jobs that you did?”

“Nothing as glamorous or exciting as proper guild work. Act as some hired muscle for a debt collector, gather some materials from the woods, even managed to catch a serial Dine-and-Dash asshole in the act. I barely got paid anything for them, but cash is cash.”

“I probably should try some of those quieter jobs myself, with everything that’s happened lately I could stand for a little less chaos in my life.” That was an understatement.

“Hey, you were the one that always wanted to join Fairy Tail after reading all of the stories of them blowing up towns and seeing it firsthand,” Ragna reminded. “Anyways, you should get started on your breakfast. You’ll feel much better after you eat some-”

“Hey Ragna!” came Gray’s shout from outside. Glancing out the window, the two found the Ice Wizard in the streets below (thankfully with his clothes on). “Mira sent me to come grab you. A job with one of the ingredients you need just got posted. It’s an urgent one and pay is high, so we need to go now before someone else snatches it up."

“I guess that’s your cue,” Lucy rightfully figured.

“Yeah, but… the condition you’re in,” he started hesitantly.

“Mira also said she’d bring some food for Lucy at lunch and dinner to make sure she was alright. Figured you might’ve been worried about that,” Gray elaborated yet again.

“…Either I’m starting to get predictable or Mira can see through me to a scary degree,” Ragna guessed as he looked at Lucy. “Rest up.”

“I don’t really have much of a choice do I?” she reminded with a smirk which was returned by the ex-Reaper before he headed downstairs. ‘I guess he’s really turning out to be a father after all, much more than…’ Keeping that regretful thought out of mind, she continued reading her latest novel.

And then!

“So it’s at Port Hargeon. I haven’t been there since I met Natsu, Happy, and Lucy,” Ragna said as he read over the job description now that he and Gray were on the train. “Let’s hope we don’t wreck it too bad in our monster hunting.”

“Even if we do, the townspeople will be more understanding than usual. This Sea Serpent that’s attacking is wrecking their ships and left their port practically unusable. Several other ships are left stranded and unable to dock, so they need this job finished ASAP. That’s why they made this contract as quickly as possible and why the reward is so high.”

“No kidding, this cash is going to go a long way for my transportation needs in the future.” ‘And finding a house to live in, but that can wait until after I get my eye and arm fixed.’ “But just to prepare for the worst case scenario, what happens if we arrive and another team’s already taken the job?”

“Then we’re out of luck; there’s nothing that we can do once a job’s been officially taken. Most of the time we send a message ahead to let the client know we’ve accepted it and are on our way. Given this job’s abruptness, I’m guessing it’s more of a first come first serve situation. As long as a team gets a job, there’s nothing anyone else can do.”

“What about interfere with the jobs?”

“Especially that. Fighting amongst the guilds is one of the biggest taboos out there. Eisenwald was fair game since they were a dark guild, but if official guilds ever fought even a little they’d be forced to disband. Even the most off handle people in our group know not to break that rule.”

“Good to know, thanks,” Ragna said in appreciation of Gray’s explanation. “Let’s just hope the job’s still available when we get there. Not a whole lot we can do until then.”

“Right,” Gray agreed. “But… there’s one more thing that I wanted to talk to you about.”

And that is?” ‘Gray’s glaring at me pretty intensely. Shit. Did I do something to piss him off without meaning to?’

“It’s about this whole dad thing,” he started hesitantly. “I know that the Fire breathing idiot and his cat are in on it. Lucy too, I guess… and somehow-”

“I don’t know why Erza joined in either,” he interrupted to defend himself before Gray could finish. “But yeah, I get called that a lot by those guys. What’s your point?”

“No real point; they’re all free to do what they want,” he answered. “The thing is… I’m not going to be joining in myself. Sorry to disappoint, but I thought you should know where I stood.”

“Disappoint?” Ragna repeated as he raised the single eyebrow he could. “God you’re dense. This whole thing started because Natsu would either call me that or old man; Lucy thought I should just take the less infuriating option.”

“You’re… serious,” Gray had to question.

“You really didn’t know? Sure it’s not nearly as spiteful now, but that’s where it started from.” Deciding it didn’t really matter, Ragna shot his current partner a smirk. “Just don’t go being an asshole by calling me old man and we won’t have any problems.”

“I’ll just stick to calling you Ragna then… or would you prefer the name you used when you were dealing with those two Magic Council members? Bloodedge I think it was.”

‘Right, I did use that name.’ “Just Ragna for now, not ready to be called that again just yet.”

“Fine with me,” Gray said as he leaned back in his seat and finally allowed himself to relax. “So about Lucy… any clue why she came up with the idea and started to call you Dad?”

“Nope, and I don’t feel like pressing her for answers about it,” he answered bluntly before using his Reequip magic to summon a book to read. While Gray still did grimace slightly at the sight, he’d gotten that particular reaction under control after having to recently witness the genuine article. Silence filled the cabin for all of a minute before Ragna noted the Ice Wizard’s lack of clothes and sent the former in a brief panic, unable to remember when he’d undressed.

Port Hargeon

“Odd change of weather; it’s been bright and sunny the whole damn way here and we arrive to a harsh downpour at our stop,” Ragna noted as his hair was already starting to sag.  “This doesn’t bode well, even if the creature caused it.”

“This brand of Sea Serpents shouldn’t be a magical monster; just big, strong, and agile in the water. I think it’s just your own luck here,” Gray explained. “Come on, we should hurry to the mayor’s office.”

The two rushed at a brisk pace, not bothering to avoid the many puddles and splashing through them adding to how wet they were already getting from the rain. There was a distinct lack of people out and about, not even the outdoor stall owners were risking to go out on this horrid day. While hurrying the two heard the loud roar of a monster, likely their Sea Serpent, as it declared its new territory. It was rather high pitched for something of that size, but it sounded powerful all the same as its voice would echo for miles. However, Ragna wasn’t nervous; this was far from the first oversized monster he’d beaten and it likely wouldn’t be the last. All he was focused on was getting the job before anyone else did, but as they approached the front door that plan appeared to be in jeopardy.

“Damn, someone beat us here,” Gray swore.

The woman exiting was something of an oddity and that (in Ragna’s eyes) made her suspect of being a mage. A long purple wool coat with some kind of ghost doll on the front, a wool hat, and high knee boots made the outfit that she covered with her umbrella. Beneath the dark covering Ragna saw a face that looked dead in emotion… at least it did until she caught sight of his partner and her cheeks suddenly filled with pink.

‘Oh hell, another one?’ he growled in his mind as he thought to the more insufferable half of yesterday (even worse than his curse filled check-up). Still, maybe this could be played to his favor as well. “You already get the job?”

“I have,” she responded plainly. At the very least she’d turned her heard to directly address him back. “Were you both hoping to take it for yourselves?”

“We were, and in fact we’re still hoping to,” Gray said seriously. “Where’s your partner?”

“He was supposed to meet me here, but it’s already painfully clear that he isn’t going to show,” she responded, though it was unclear if she even cared.

“Can’t he just be running late?” Ragna had to question, even though he knew it was only hurting his chances of getting the job himself.

“No, because he likely stopped to eat,” the woman readily responded.

“The trains serve food. Maybe he could’ve just gotten something while riding one of them,” Gray considered as well, not wanting to stir trouble with another guild.

“…From a certain perspective, that’s why he’s going to be late.” Ragna glanced at Gray, but the Ice Wizard was just as confused. “So there’s indeed an opening and I don’t mind working with another guild, but which of you is going to help me?”

“Which? Why can’t both of us?” Ragna asked. ‘At least she’s not outright trying to get me to leave so she can get Gray to herself… even if it looks like that’s what she really wants.’

“Because then we would be splitting the reward money three ways,” she answered back. “I’m prepared to take only a half of the reward like I was already expecting to, but not a mere third when there’s this much money being offered.”

“Damn, that’s actually fair. And since you’re the one officially signed onto this job we’re not in much of a place to argue,” Gray sighed before he addressed Ragna. “You need this job more than I do, so I’m gonna catch the next train back. With any luck I’ll be able to find a decent paying one that I can do on my own.”

‘Glad that Gray’s willing to sacrifice for the cause, but this just feels shitty,’ Ragna thought as he stole a quick glance at the girl, who instead of stoic now looked a little disheartened. It seemed like she wanted to try and to get her new interest to stay, to try and find some alternative, but she either couldn’t get the courage or couldn’t find the words. And was it just him or was the rain really starting to dump all of a sudden? A thought forming in his mind, Ragna couldn’t help but smirk. “I think I got a way where all three of us can all work together and still get what we want.”

“You do? Gray asked and the girl certainly didn’t seem to hate this. “What’s the catch?”

“That you both get half of the reward money like we planned,” he offered. Now the girl seemed to have a very appreciative face.

“Huh? But that’s hardly fair for you,” Gray argued back. “I know that you need to make that elixir, but to give up this kind of cash…”

“You were going to do the same until a moment ago,” he reminded a little cockily. “Besides, now I’m not just taking the thing’s eye. I’m getting all of it.” He turned to the girl. “You didn’t have any plans for that monster yourself did you? I know the request just asked for us to take it out.”

“I didn’t, I was more concerned on the money,” she confirmed. “But will that really work? The reward you’re missing out on is substantial.”

“And our hunt just so happens to be pretty damn big, judging from its roar,” Ragna reminded. “Its head, scales, meat, and even bones could be a ton if I play my cards right with it. Might even put me close to the money you’re both making.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” the woman said as she thought it over for a moment before eventually giving a small smile. Now Ragna knew he hadn’t just imagined it earlier as the rain was starting to lighten ever so slightly. “If you’re okay with these terms, then I’d appreciate the extra help. My name is Juvia Lockser and I hail from the Phantom Lord guild.”

“Phantom Lord, eh? That’s quite a big name guild to belong to,” Gray said in appreciation with a high whistle. “Name’s Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail.”

“Call me Ragna, also of Fairy Tail,” the Reaper introduced himself.

“It’s a pleasure to me you both Gray-san and Ragna-san,” Juvia said and her smile had yet to drop.

(Author’s Note: I’m… not completely sure what I going to do here. While the anime has her speaking normally, the Manga gives her another quirk where she constantly speaks in the third person. In this chapter I’ve settled on a compromise where she’s the only one to use Japanese honorifics. Leave a comment on what you’d like her to sound like for future chapters and maybe I’ll even come back and change this one.)

The Port

“Now I’m starting to get how this damn thing had such a high price on its head,” the former country-sized bounty muttered as he observed the damage caused by the creature. The port was littered with broken ships and broken buildings. The sea was a raging storm which was caused by the colossal monster as it thrashed about. The monster itself was covered in scales that shined like polished steel. Its head was surrounded with a coral-like mane and its mouth was filled with jagged teeth. Its eyes glowed a deep blue as it stared down the wizards, giving another shrill roar to assert its territory. “Second ingredient, here I come.”

“Gray-san had said something about an elixir earlier, Ragna-san,” Juvia noted. “Do you mind if I ask why you’re so invested if it has you hunting monsters to make it?”

“The elixir is for my eye and arm; if all goes well I’ll be able to use them both again… and with my eye finally open, people won’t be calling me an old man the whole damn time.” He added that last part with an accusatory glare to the young woman.

“I… I wasn’t going to say anything,” she promised, but was unable to look him in his good eye.

“Would appreciate it if you didn’t.”

“Guys, focus,” Gray told them seriously. “It sees that we aren’t leaving.”

(Paper Mario: The Origami King -Middle Boss/Boss theme-)

Indeed the monster had taken notice of the three morsels before it and was now focused as it wasn’t capable of scaring them off. Its mouth hung slightly open as it drooled in anticipation of a fresh kill. Deciding to test the waters (as appropriate as the term was) is slammed its large body into the sea and sent a massive tsunami wave at the group. Stepping up first, Gray used his magic to easily turn the attack into an ice wall.

“Gray-san, you use Ice magic?” Juvia sounded rather impressed.

“Ice Maker specifically, but that doesn’t mean I can’t freeze whatever I’m up against,” he told her. It was then that monster rose its head over Gray’s freshly created wall and leered down menacingly at the group. As the serpent inhaled sharply to prepare some form of breath attack, Ragna had brief flashback to facing down Take-Mikazuchi. “So Juvia, any magic that can deal some damage to that thing?”

“Of course! Water Slicer!”

The sudden formation and firing of several edges of water from behind Juvia surprised both of the Fairy Tail mages and only added to Ragna’s previous suspicions. The attacks slammed into the monster and left several deep gashes that caused it to throw its head back as it let out a shrill roar in pain, but it seemed more annoyed than injured. The monster then ducked beneath Gray’s created ice wall and slammed his head into it as hard as he could. The attack shattered the wall and sent large ice chunks flying towards the wizards.

“Requip!”

Scythe in hand, Ragna moved like a blur as he reduced the ice to little shard which were blown away by the forceful winds he caused with every swing. Rising up from the depth, the serpent tried to surprise the wizards with a full speed ram. Feeling that this town had gone through enough the last time he’d visited, Ragna made a single powerful swing as the creature was right on top of them. Even with only a single hand, the strength the attack carried and the sharpness of the blade cut a painful gash in the creature’s head and even managed to blast it back into the waters.

‘Such power,’ Juvia couldn’t help but admire before she got a good look at his weapon. “That skulled scythe…Are you-?”

“Nah, I ain’t Erigor,” Ragna said smugly as the creature raised itself out of the water once more, this time glaring in hatred. “I’m just the badass Reaper that took him down!”

“Save it for later!” Gray shouted. “It’s trying something!” Indeed it was trying something, grabbing one of the destroyed ships with its teeth and throwing it at the group. Rushing to the front of the group, gathered up his magic. “ICE MAKE: SHIELD!” A giant barrier of ice formed in front of Gray, large enough to protect the entire party as it took the thrown ship head on.

‘Incredible. The ice isn’t cracking even after an entire ship’s been thrown at it,’ Juvia thought from behind the barrier as the projectile shattered to pieces. She then looked to it’s caster and- “G-GRAY-SAN! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CLOTHES!?”

Blushing fiercely, she averted her eyes from the ice wizard who had once again stripped down to his boxers. The distracted her to the point that the monster finally let loose its earlier attempted breath attack; a high pressure stream of water. Gray hadn’t yet dropped his shield and continued to block, but this constant pressure was much stronger than the monster’s earlier attack and his shield started to show signs of cracking.

“Son of a-!” Ragna swore before he leaped into the air, just barely being able to do so without getting hit by the monster’s attack. Utilizing a new trick he’d practiced, he channeled wind magic through his still working arm and around his scythe. The entire weapon was covered in the violent winds, magical energy which was converted into an attack as Ragna made a long ranged slash which caused the monster to flinch and stop its attack. “You idiot! Keep your damn clothes on!”

“Little busy right now!” Gray argued back as he let the shield drop to charge up his next attack. “Ice Make: Saucer!” The bladed top like attack was far from slow, but the monster still managed to dodge the attack. “Tch! Juvia!”

“R-Right!” she said as she tried to focus before sending out another volley of water slicers. The attack hit home easily enough, but the monster seemed more annoyed than actually damaged.

“We need a new approach, we won’t get anywhere like this,” Ragna muttered. “Juvia, can you do something so that the monster isn’t moving so much?”

“I’ll try,” she promised as she began creating a whirlpool to draw the monster in.

“That’s thing is pretty strong in the water, I doubt that’s going to keep it in place for long,” Gray guessed before coming to his colleague’s strategy. “We’re going to get closer.”

“Right, now give me something to stand on,” the ex-Reaper order led as he leaped out into the distance.

“Ice Make: Floor!”

The area of ice Gray had created on top of the ocean wasn’t too large, but it was enough to give Ragna a solid area to land on and move around. With his advanced skills with the magic, Gray was also able to create a support base for the ice so it wouldn’t get caught in Juvia’s whirlpool. Facing down the scythe wielding man before it, the monster charged up and fired its breath attack. While Ragna’s better option was to simply block with his oversized frying pan, he felt like showing off. Sticking with the tool of a Reaper, he swung the scythe like a propeller before him. With as fast and powerful asl he was twirling it, not a single drop of water was able to get through. Using this cover, Gray leaped into the air for his next spell.

“Ice Make: Hammer!”

The large conjuration swung down with massive power and struck cleanly on the serpent’s head. Roaring, the creature came in for a charge to break their footing. Channeling again as soon as he landed, Gray brought out another of his Shields to absorb the blow. Leaping over cover, Ragna’s next blow struck right behind the creature’s head armor and left a much larger gash than he was expecting.

‘Perfect, a weak spot,’ Ragna thought as he countered the serpent’s tail swipe with his own swipe. Guarding the attack the monster was left open, leading Gray to come in with his technique.

“Ice Make: Knuckle!” The barrage of ice fists struck dead on and forced the monster ever closer to Juvia’s whirlpool. “Keep the pressure up! We’ve almost got him!”

“Just get it to focus on you, I’ll finish this thing off on my next attack,” Ragna promised, right before the monster dove under the water. “Dammit, don’t tell me that thing’s running.”

“Not with how aggressive it’s been acting. It wants us dead so it would either break the ice floor we’re standing on or-” Realization dawned on him. “JUVIA! LOOK OUT!”

Too late. As soon as the words had been shouted, the creature erupted fr the whirlpool the water mage had created. Roaring as it lunged with its jaw open, its mouth smashed down right on top of her.

“JUVIA!” The Ice Mage shouted as he supercharged his next attack. “WHY YOU-!”

‘She didn’t even try to dodge,’ Ragna thought before the creature roared its head back, blood pouring from the fresh cuts inside of its mouth. Juvia was in the rumble right where she’d presumably been crushed, though there wasn’t a scratch on her. “What the hell?”

“Ice Make: Geyser!” The powerful eruption of ice burst around the monster and managed to keep it locked in place. “That won’t hold for long! Finish him now!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Ragna shouted as he leaped at the weak spot he’d found earlier. Scythe in the air, he was just above the prone creature when he caught sight of the end of its tail out of the corner of his eye. Gray’s ice magic was strong enough to leave frost on even this distant end, but it still managed to cut through the air like a whip. Ragna swung his scythe and managed to deflect the attack, but it still sent him flying off course. If only to make matters worse, Gray’s ice was already showing signs of cracking. “Damn!”

“Gray-san!” Juvia called out as she used her magic to create a geyser in the water, right in Ragna’s path.

The Ice Wizard understood and managed to freeze the water formation solid. Smirking, Ragna flipped around and landed sideways on the pillar before leaping off with enough force to break the makeshift platform. The Sea Serpent then broke out of Gray’s ice geyser with a mighty roar, returned by Ragna as he sailed through air. A clean swing of the blade was all it took for the monster’s head to be severed from its body.

(End theme)

Now that the waves had settled down, the three had finally managed to get their catch to the port. Getting a good look at the thing, Ragna realized that he had plenty of material to sell here and making bank might not be as bad as he thought. It didn’t look like the guild had caused much damage to the town or the ships that hadn’t been caused by the monster… but Ragna figured that it was best not to bring that part up to Gray. The three of them hadn’t taken any damage either, which was good given the scare Juvia had caused both of the Fairy Tail wizards.

“Nice work out there both of you,” Ragna commended as he thoughtfully looked over the decapitated serpent, trying to come up with a method to take it apart. “This I can work with.”

“I’m glad to hear, especially since this is your only reward for helping me,” Juvia said with a small smile in agreement. “So what now?”

“Now we head back to the mayor’s office, let him know that the job’s done, and get our shares of the payment,” Gray said sounding pretty to the point. He still had yet to put his clothes back on from the fight and the blushing Juvia was trying her hardest not to look obvious as she flashed him passing glances. “After that I’ll come back here and help Ragna take this thing apart and that’ll be that.”

“A-Are you sure, Gray-san?” the blue haired mage asked as she sounded rather disappointed. “I could always help you both here as well.”

“Thanks, but you’ve already done plenty to help us,” Gray denied, though still in solid appreciation of the woman’s efforts. “Trust me, we both owe you big time.”

‘That’s true… so maybe…’

“I see...” Juvia said, once again struggling to find the words. “Gray-san, I-! I…”

“Hold that thought for a moment. Gray, taking a good look at this thing it’s going to be more complex to take apart than I thought,” Ragna interjected, though he didn’t bother to look at Gray directly as he addressed him.

“So you need my help after all?” Juvia asked hopefully.

“Just the opposite; I don’t want Gray getting involved either since he doesn’t have an eye for this like I do.” He then spoke to them both with a cocky smirk on his face. “I’m going to be stuck here for a while, so why don’t you two grab a late lunch together and see the town while I handle this?”

“R-Ragna-san!?” Juvia exclaimed as her blush became several shades darker, not that Gray ever took notice.

“Lunch does sound pretty good right about now,” the Ice Wizard agreed. “I guess we promised you the monster, so you’re free to do what you want with it.”

“As… as long as you don’t have any problems with being left with so much work…” Juvia started. Even if she wanted to jump on this chance, she also didn’t want to just abandon Ragna with such a large task.

“Only problem I have is that Gray keeps losing his clothes,” the Reaper muttered as Gray finally came to his (somehow) sudden realization. “Just leave me to my work, I’ll see you both at the station around sundown.”

“See you then,” Gray promised as he started walking off whilst hastily putting his clothes back on. "Coming Juvia?"

“Right behind you Gray-san!” she declared as she trailed behind her new crush… but not before turning back to Ragna to mouth Thank You.

‘Never thought I’d play matchmaker, but I at least gave her a deserved chance,’ Ragna thought smugly to himself. He was about to finally get to work on carving up the serpent like he’d promised, only to find another observation. ‘Huh, now it’s just a pleasant light mist.’

And then!

Taking the creature apart with only a single eye and arm was a touch difficult for Ragna, but thankfully that just meant that the process took longer and not that he was missing precious materials. He got the eye he needed and in the required conditions as well. The scales we tough to get off, but he managed to get some decent pieces to sell. There was a bountiful amount of meat underneath as well that had a strange texture between eel and blue finned tuna, maybe it was a delicacy? The bones he could sell once he found the right shop, which just left the guts that he turned into chum and gave to the local fishing groups so they’d have something to use as bait. Before heading to the train station as he promised though, he found a place to shower and wash his clothes so he wouldn’t smell like fish the rest of the day.

He found Juvia and Gray already waiting for him at the station, engaging in what was essentially small talk of their guild work. It didn’t look like anything outright romantic had happened on their lunch date (he would’ve been a little surprised if it had) but Juvia seemed much more expressive in that short of time… also Gray was already down to his undershirt and Juvia was holding onto his other clothes should he ever ask for them back. Ragna had figured he’d leave these two to their own conversation and read until their train arrived, but Juvia made a point to keep the ex-Reaper involved in their discussion. Even still, Ragna’s experience with a certain eyepatch girl made it clear that the Water Mage was quickly becoming obsessed with Gray. He only hoped that she wouldn’t move that far for him, but kept a mental note regardless.

The three were at the station a good half hour before a train arrived to take Ragna and Gray back to their guild in Magnolia. Ragna didn’t want to be an ass and automatically assume… but something about the conductor announcing an earlier train’s destination as ‘closest to Phantom Lord’s headquarters’ and Juvia not bothering to get on the train or even acknowledge the call made it clear she was trying to get as much time with her Gray-sama (someone had already gotten a big promotion) as possible. Since she wasn’t causing any harm (or even headaches really) and Gray seemed content enough, Ragna hadn’t bothered calling her out on it.

“Looks like this is our ride,” Ragna had to note (he’d done his best to grab tickets and wait to board until absolutely necessary). “Well thanks again for everything Juvia, you were a real life saver today.”

“It was my pleasure Ragna-s… kun… Ragna-kun,” the Water Mage corrected, giving a new honorific to the Reaper. “You and Gray-sama were a joy to work with as well. It made dealing with that monster easier than I had originally hoped.”

“Hey, don’t knock yourself either. That water magic of yours is something else Juvia,” Gray complemented, earning a beaming smile from Juvia. “If we ever get the chance we should totally do this again.”

(Cue Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days: Xion’s Theme)

“A-Again? I-I’d love nothing more than to… to…” Juvia had to stop as she felt a warm ray of something on her cheek. She looked outside the station and couldn’t help but gasp… at nothing more than the unobstructed view of a cloudless sunset over the horizon. “I-Is that…?”

“Huh? What’s the big deal? The sky just finally cleared up,” Gray said as he glanced outside to appreciate the view. “I mean the clouds have started fading for a while, but now you can finally see the sun. Still, that’s a really nice sunset.”

“But that’s not all this means to her.” Ragna had been very suspicious of Juvia’s relation to the weather for a while and her stunned look on her face was the final nail in the coffin, but also led to some uncomfortable implications. Gray could easily tell how worried he was, how still his voice he’d gotten. “Juvia… when was the last time it wasn’t raining for you? When was the last time you really saw the sun?”

“It was… I…” Silence.

“Hey.” Gray put a comforting hand on her shoulder and tried to give on the best smile he could. “Next time it… you know, starts pouring like that, come find us at Fairy Tail. We’ll do what we can to help you through it.”

“You… you really mean that?” she asked in a much softer tone herself.

“Damn straight, we both do,” Ragna affirmed sternly. ‘Maybe that’s what I’m trying to do here after all. This was the most important thing back home, even beyond killing Terumi. It was when I could start protecting the people who were dear to me… maybe I can do that here too. Even if they were a total stranger until today, that doesn’t mean I can’t ‘save’ them.’

Juvia had insisted she was fine waiting for the train after that, but had also insisted that the two would visit her in Phantom Lord should they ever get the chance. Both men had readily promised their new friend before boarding the train that would bring them home. They sat in silence for most of the way. Ragna reading a book with his good eye while Gray, just sat with his arms crossed… and still somehow undressed to his boxers (Ragna had completely given up at this point).

“Hope she’ll be alright,” Gray said to finally break the silence.

“If she isn’t, she can come find us at the guild like we promised,” Ragna assured, though he didn’t look up from his book. “…Can’t help but wonder what it was like for her, right?”

“Yeah…While I can’t completely speak for you, I get the feeling that we’ve both gone through some pretty dark phases in our lives.”

‘You don’t know the half of it.’ Somehow, it didn’t bother him like he expected it to. Maybe he’d matured after all. “She wants to tell us, she’ll tell us… Well she’ll tell you for certain.”

“I… guess.” Gray sounded oddly hesitant. “Can I ask you something about Juvia?”

“Of course,” he answered without reservation. “What’s up?”

“Don’t laugh at me. This sounds crazy, but…” The Ice Wizard paused for a second. When he looked at Ragna, he was completely serious. “I’ve got this weird feeling that she might kinda like me. You ever pick up on that?”

‘…Godspeed Juvia Lockser, Godspeed…’

(…and much less dramatic post scene)

“F-Fish…?”

“Actually it’s Sea Serpent meat, but close enough,” Ragna said with a cocky smirk as the blue furred cat stared at the giant cube of meat in front of him. “Got this stuff from my latest hunt and made sure to leave a bit for you.”

The portion that Ragna had set aside wasn’t insignificant and would likely net him not only additional transportation funds, but might even put him in range to finally start paying rent on his own place. Still, he figured it couldn’t hurt to leave a little aside for Happy. The cat himself seemed to appreciate the gesture if his still sparkling eyes were any indicator. In fact…

“Hey Ragna! Did anyone tell you how young you’re looking today!?”

“Hmm?” Ragna grunted, pausing as the words took hold.

“Happy’s just telling him that because of the fish he just got. He doesn’t mean a word of what he’a saying,” Elfman noted, having recently returned from his own job.

“Pretty much,” Natsu agreed through a mouth full of meat.

“…Oh really?” the Reaper responded to Happy smugly, his good hand on his hip and a cocky smirk on his face. “Tell me more.”

“Your hair looks like it’s sparkling! The very image of youth!” the cat complimented him yet again.

“Anything else?”

“Your closed eye makes you look really tough and not old in the slightest!”

“Glad you think so,” he mused, sounding genuinely pleased.

“Ragna’s really falling for it,” Elfman observed yet again, this time with a classic anime sweat drop. “He’s falling for it hard.”

“Probably not,” Natsu corrected yet again. “He just needs to hear it that badly.”

Chapter Text

Episode 011: Image of Brawniness

‘This guy isn’t saying much, and that’s coming from me,’ Ragna thought as he gave a glance to the only one sharing his train room and his partner for today’s job. ‘Still, he sure seems to be flexing a hell of a lot. And then there’s all his grunting… Shit, people outside are going to get the wrong idea, aren’t they?’ Putting those thoughts out of his mind as he sent his most recent book back to storage, Ragna decided to break his silence. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”

“My sister didn’t explain anything to you?” Elfman asked as he flexed his arm and kept a steady eye on his biceps. “I thought I told her to fill you in before she sent you here, maybe I forgot?”

“Maybe…” The Reaper unfortunately suspected that if he knew what Elfman wanted him here for, he wouldn’t have come. “All she told me was that you’d pay for my transportation costs so I could head to this select vendor that she’s got and who managed to find one of the items I need. Also told me to give you a hand with whatever the hell you needed help with. I think the one hand is about all I can still give.”

“Are you making a joke about your condition?” the wizard asked with an eyebrow raised as he stopped flexing for a moment. “I guess it doesn’t bother you after all.”

“It bothers me enough when people keep thinking that I’m a crippled old man because of it,” the Reaper reminded. “So, what’s really going on that you’d need my help with?”

“It’s not that I need your help, a true man could take care of this challenge all on his own! I just wanted some company while I did it; no one else in the Guild ever seems to up for what we’re doing. Always seems to be busy with God knows what.”

‘Dammit Mira, what the hell did you trick me into?’ Ragna thought with ire before calming himself. ‘Nah, she’s helped me out a bunch ever since I got to the guild. It’s only fair that I pay the favor back.’ “You still haven’t answered the question yet.”

“It’s a manliness contest, and you’re going to enter it with me.” Somehow, Elfman said that the same way anyone else would be announcing the weather. “You’ve come further than just about anyone else; this is the point where anyone that hasn’t left yet bails.”

“Don’t tempt me, the only reason I’m still going is because I need that damn ingredient,” Ragna muttered. ‘Manliness contest… Something about that sounds almost… familiar? Why the hell would I have ever entered one in the first place? How the hell could I have gotten into it without getting arrested? …And what’s this damn feeling of sheer annoyance I’m getting just thinking about it?’

“But you’ll still join?” Elfman asked. “I’m not the type to worry about such a thing, but there’s a great prize that’s offered for winning the event. And with how manly everyone would see you if you won this thing, there’s a slight chance that they won’t go straight to calling you an old man every single time.” Ragna couldn’t help but give a heavy pause at that offer. “At the very least… that’s what my sister told me to tell you.”

“Of friggin’ course Mira would be the one to think of that; underneath that smiling face of hers, your sister’s downright scary. Hell, I have to keep asking myself why everyone’s so terrified of Erza when they have her to compare to.”

“You’re right in saying that, but you don’t really know why you’re right to say it,” Elfman started. “Back when she was still a more active member on Jobs, people used to call her The Demon, and that’s not even starting to get into her mean streak back when we were kids… Still, I have no idea how someone like you has made it so far without getting on Erza’s bad side.”

“I’m blunt and I don’t take shit from anyone; she and I have that in common,” Ragna explained, proving his point on bluntness.

“That doesn’t change the fact that any sane person would think twice before messing with an S-Rank wizard, especially if they’re one of ours.”

“S-Rank?” Ragna repeated… and couldn’t help but feel oddly nostalgic for his old SS-Class Criminal title, no matter all the trouble it had brought him. “Sorry, it sounds impressive, but I don’t have the damndest idea what it means.”

“Long story short, it’s a way to tell that someone’s been accepted into the higher statuses in whatever guild they belong to. Each guild has their fair share of S-Rank wizards and all of them have different requirements in order to get recognized like that. Right now, the only two S-Ranks that you’ve met from our group have been Erza and Mira, but we’ve got a couple of other members. And of course, the old man’s the Guild Master which carries enough weight on its own.”

“I think that goes without saying; I haven’t seen Makarov in action yet, but I’d bet his magic is in a league of its own,” the Reaper guessed.

“Just promise me one thing.” While Elfman was hardly one to not keep an air of stern about him at nearly any moment, something about the shift in the air around him caused Ragna to do a double take at the fellow albino. “Never head off on an S-Ranked Job on your own, and if anyone unqualified leaves on one then you need to stop them. I know that you probably think that you’re tough, but if you get involved in these kinds of jobs, you’ll just end up getting yourself killed or… worse.”

Ragna could tell a lot by Elfman’s tone; the regret and pain it still carried… he’d spoken in that sort of voice himself not too long ago.

“You’ve got my word; I’m not looking of that kind of trouble anyways,” he answered sternly and didn’t pry any further for answers. “So Mira’s an S-Rank wizard, eh? Kinda makes you wonder why so many guys are going to her for dates when she could probably break them in half with just a dirty look.”

“What? You’re saying that she isn’t worth it?” Elfman asked with a forming scowl.

“…This feels like a loaded question.”

“Heh, now you’re getting it,” he answered as his face then gave off a smirk before the two shared a brief laugh.

-And Then-

“Got what you needed?” Elfman asked as Ragna exited the merchant’s store.

“Yeah, some odd brand of honey of all things. Supposedly the stuff’s hard to come by and should’ve cost more than I’d bring back with four high paying jobs,” Ragna explained. “Guy inside didn’t think I had enough money to smell the stuff let alone buy it, but as soon as I brought up your sister their tune changed completely. Paid for it at a halfway decent price and that was that.”

“Mira’s a pretty savvy businesswoman. Even though she only runs that one kitchen, she needs to cook a lot of food every day to make sure everyone’s fed and that means we always have to have a lot of supply on hand. Then there’s the drinks she needs to manage and even with her insane drinking Cana only takes up about a third of our stock. And that’s not even getting into actually running the place by managing the notice boards, making the food, serving customers, and the like. Mira does a ton of work, so it’s only natural that she has dealings with just about everyone.”

“She’s told me a bit of that, but I think you’re just trying to talk up your big sis,” Ragna responded with a wolfish smirk.

“Oh, so you knew I was the younger brother. Most people that don’t already know us assume it’s other way around for some reason.”

‘Not all that unreasonable of a guess,’ Ragna admitted in his mind. “Mira explained that she was the elder sister a bit ago, but even before then I knew. The way she brings you up, it was obvious just by her tone. This is coming from another oldest sibling.”

‘…Another of three.’

“You’re more observant than you look, but let’s hope that you have the muscle to show for it,” Elfman said before pointing to the hilltops and the mansion held on top of it to overlook the city. “That’s our destination, where the contest will be held.”

“Another Duke?” Ragna noted with great distaste. “First that bastard Everlue, then that bitched who stiffed me the bill. I'm zero for two with these people and I’m hesitant to make it oh for three so soon.”

“If you do, you can at least take it out on them; this one is hosting and participating. They do this every year to boost their own damn ego. Everyone’s here to overthrow them just as much as they’re looking to boost their own reputation.”

“Meaning you know the people who are participating in this-”

“Ah, the disgraced pup returns!”

The voice that shouted was both gruff and boisterous. Glancing up, the two found a giant of man looking down on them from a bar’s second floor balcony. This guy had insane muscles that went past Azrael’s type of body and encroached on Iron Tager’s. He had a wild blond mane of a beard and each of his arms were around a young and beautiful waitress.

“Finally worked up the courage to come back after I broke your arm last year!?” he shouted tauntingly before going into a fit of laughter while the girls with him giggled along.

“He broke your arm?” Ragna asked, raising his good eyebrow.

“Hairline fracture, I was fine three minutes later,” Elfman explained. “And it’s held every year! Any real man would be able to remember that! I never lost the courage!”

“A real man doesn’t waste his time worry about the details! You fell to me then and you’ll fall to me now Elf-Boy!”

“My name is Elfman! And this year I’m not just taking you down! I’m winning the whole thing this year!”

“Then why did you bring that old man with you? Isn’t he just some weakling that you can feel good standing next to!” More laughter from him and more giggling from the girls.

Even after all of his maturing into who he now was, Ragna would have been lying if he claimed that this hadn’t struck a nerve. Especially with that insult about his age. But he also knew that between the two of them, Elfman had received the bigger verbal taunting. He’d let things play out for the moment and see if Elfman would get the chance to pay back the insults given… and pick up the slack if he faltered. Nodding to Elfman, the two continued on their way as the echoes of laughter followed them.

“Must’ve been a hell of a blow to your pride losing to him,” Ragna muttered, wondering how a Fairy Tail wizard could have lost a contest like this.

“It was… enough to go to Erza for training willingly,” Elfman added. “It’s good that you didn’t lose your temper there. Twice I’ve lost mine and that expels you from entering. Sorry, I should’ve warned you.”

“I’m just considering this an investment. This time make sure it’s his arm that breaks,” the Reaper answered with a noticeable growl.

“Much as I like the enthusiasm, save your energy; that bastard’s still the nicest challenger you’ll meet here.”

“…I was afraid you’d say that.”

And then what happened!

For the umpteenth time, Ragna’s eyebrow twitched as he tried focusing on the book he’d brought with him. Elfman hadn’t been exaggerating in his claims and every one of these participants was more boisterous than the last. Some were showing their supposed masculinity by flirting with the female maids, other were engaging in flex contests, some were holding barbaric grappling matches, and finally there was a group participating in a slap to the face match (actual thing). In most eyes it would have been the very definition of testosterone, but to him it was nothing more than pointless squabbling while he was trying to continue his reading into the magics of this world. Elfman was leaning against the wall next to Ragna with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, something Ragna himself would’ve probably been doing if he didn’t have his reading material to catch up on.

“We’ve been here an hour already,” the Reaper noted. “How long is this guy gonna keep us waiting?”

“No clue; they tend to like making their big entrance when no one expects it,” Elfman told him, though still trying to appear stoic. Watch for when the participants are most involved in their matches, that’s when he’ll come in.”

‘Elfman’s still pretty brawny, but it’s obvious that he’s also got at least some brains to him here,’ Ragna considered as he continued reading his book. ‘In fact… I gotta wonder if all of the Fairy Tail wizards are smarter than they’d lead you on to believe. They’ve gotta have some talents if they’ve stayed in the game for this long and are seen as the elites.’ Hearing the grunts from the wrestling match growing even louder, it was apparent to Ragna that the match had reached its climax. “Now?”

“Now.”

“MEN AMONG MEN! WELCOME!”

A shadow loomed over as a massive giant who matched the impressive size and muscle mass of Iron Tager descended from the ceiling and landed with enough for to crack the marble floors beneath him. Ragna had a hard time taking him seriously with his cartoonishly over the top beard, divided into four thick braids on either side and styled to resemble flexing biceps. Though even Ragna could admit, it wasn’t every day someone could bring in a full, bright pink, four-piece suit and make it look even remotely masculine.

“I SEE WE HAVE A FEW NEW FACES THIS TIME AROUND!” they declared, obviously not having the slightest idea what an indoor voice was. “AND-!” His eyes immediately landed on Ragna who was obviously out of place with how lean his body looked, not to mention his still paralyzed features.  “…ONE VERY COURAGEOUS NEWCOMER IN PARTICULAR! NOBODY TAKE IT EASY ON THE GRANDPA, HE KNOWS WHAT HE SIGNED UP FOR!”

“And my investment grows,” Ragna muttered as everyone laughed at his expense, aside from Elfman of course. “This guy’s a noble?”

“More of a successful businessman that’s rich enough to run the town and be seen as one,” Elfman clarified. “He got his fortune by selling his own brand of-”

“Protein shakes and muscle powder?” Ragna guessed as more of a joke, but Elfman nodded regardless. “Okay then…”

“SINCE WE HAVE NEW PARTICIPANTS, IT’S ONLY FAIR THAT WE GO OVER THE RULES! WE SHALL HAVE FOUR DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENDURANCE TRIALS AND YOU’LL NOT ONLY HAVE TO SURVIVE EACH OF THEM TO PROCEED TO THE MATCHES PROPER, BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO SHOW YOU’RE GOOD ENOUGH TO EVEN GET IN! EVERYBODY REMEMBER THAT MAGIC IS FORBIDDEN! YOU’LL HAVE TO RELY ONLY ON THE MUSCLES YOU’VE ACQUIRED THROUGH YOUR OWN MANLY SHEER FORCE AND DETERMINATION!”

‘No magic, eh? With how important magic seems to be in this world, it’s kind of strange that they wouldn’t allow it. But even without it, it’s still weird to me that Elfman is talked down as much as he is. In terms of brute force, he’d obviously be able to overpower most of these guys… there’s something else at play here.’

“NOW! LET THE CHALLENGES BEGIN!”

‘Then again, this is the type of contest that I might actually be overthinking things. Probably just best to go with the flow and… it feels like it’s getting warm here… GAH!’ “WHAT THE HELL!?”

The entire room was covered in a violent red glow and there plenty of crimson magic circles around the room giving off the magical energy needed for this effect. Even if it had just started, Ragna felt like he needed to take his prized jacket off before he burst into flames.

“Oh? Is the old man out already?” one of the challengers taunted without so much as breaking into a sweat in the raging inferno. “Feel free to back out now, before you get hurt!”

“That outburst is going to cost you,” a sweating Elfman said next to him. “They’re judging your every move from here on out and that might’ve actually put you out of the contest, it’s going to be a hard fight from here on out.”

‘No kidding, even back home endurance was only ever my strong suit when it really came down my sheer willpower. Magic was hell to deal with for me then and I don’t that’s changed now that I’m taking the blows. Haven’t been able to develop any passive resistances that mages are known for, even if I can’t use them now,’ Ragna noted as Elfman had also dropped his guard for the trials… but had the other contestants? He couldn’t be sure. But one thing was certain; this did feel weirdly familiar and not in a good way. Soon the trial had ended leaving Ragna and Elfman both drenched in sweat. Most of the others were fine aside from a few beads of sweat and only a single one had actually succumbed to the heat and fainted. The host, of course, was still in prime condition.

“WAS IT JUST ME OR WAS THAT FIRE A LITTLE CHILLY THIS YEAR!?” Even something that was worded like a basic jovial question had to be shouted by this blabbermouth. “SPEAKING OF CHILLS, IT’S NOW TIME FOR THE ICE ROUND!”

Ragna actually fared much better with this challenge, as even in his weakened state it had little to offer compared to the sheer cold of Jin’s ice based attacks. That didn’t mean he had the urge to shiver, but he managed to fight through it regardless. Elfman appeared to have slightly more trouble as he trembled slightly, but his stoic and scowling face never wavered. Three more participants succumbed.

“HA! I MIGHT HAVE TO FIRE MY STAFF THIS YEAR FOR GIVING US SUCH A WEAK CHALLENGE! LET’S HOPE THAT THIS NEXT ROUND ISN’T TOO SHOCKING!”

As the bad pun indicated, it was a literal lightning round. The electricity hurt Ragna like hell and he admittedly had to grimace once or twice, but he at least considered it a victory that his good arm wasn’t shaking as the contest reached its end. At least a dozen weren’t as lucky and passed out before it was over.

“AND FOR THE FINAL ROUND! …YOU MUST ENDURE GREAT HEALTH BENEFITS AND AMAZING FLAVORS!” the host declared as several of his maids carted in several covered platers.

“This… is new. Last time we each had to endure a pressurized blast of water and keep from falling over,” Elfman informed. “None of the surviving challengers fell to it, so maybe he’s actually bringing out something more challenging?”

“I’m guessing no.” Ragna’s bluntness in his intuition was rewarded as the covers came off to reveal several bottles with gaudy labels of their host on the front as he flexed his muscles with an absurd style. “Figures, he’s just promoting his business. I guess this means we get a freebee, but still… It just feels like-”

“SUCH FLAVORS! SUCH ENERGY!” one of the other participants shouted in a manner so over the top, even next to the hosts performance it was obvious to Ragna that it was being faked. “HOW COULD I EVER IMAGINE TO STAND BEFORE SUCH MANLY ENERGY! I MUST FORFEIT MY PARTICIPATION IN THIS TOURNAMENT!”

“UNDERSTANDABLE! AND HAVE NO FEAR! IT TAKES A REAL MAN TO KNOW WHEN HE HAS ENCOUNTERED SOMETHING ABOVE EVEN HIMSELF!” the host shouted back with a joyful laughter.

“So he’s paying them off to lose just for some publicity,” Elfman summarized.

“Sure as hell seems that way,” Ragna muttered as he glanced around the challenge room, watching as several other participants seemed to be falling out themselves. Rolling his single good eye, he grabbed one of the untaken bottles and downed its contents in one gulp.

“So how is it?” Elfman asked warily as he reluctantly grabbed his own protein drink.

“The only thing I could never imagine to stand before is the god awful taste of these things…”

And then!

It was back to reading for Ragna and back to scowling for Elfman as the judges for this event weighed their options on the remaining challengers. It wasn’t any concern of Ragna’s whether he’d get into the final round of 64 (it was how many challengers happened to be left), it was more of how well (poorly) he was about to be ranked. Ragna halfheartedly considered dropping out here and now since this was a pain in the ass… but Elfman had provided him with the ride here. Eventually the judges came forward with the rankings and placed Ragna… 64^th. Last of the survivors.

‘And that just about settles it,’ Ragna considered as they then judged Elfman to be 63^rd. The man from earlier that had given Elfman crap ranked second while the host ranked their obvious first place. The way the bracket was set up, Ragna would be taking the host on in his very first round… which suited the Reaper just fine since he didn’t like the idea of waiting.

“Finally,” Ragna said as he put his book back in his Reequip storage (and ignored the slightly panicked look Elfman still gave off as a result). “I just met this bastard and I already can’t wait to pound his face in.”

“Do you mean that literally? Shoot, I forgot to tell you that there’s no fighting in the final round.” Right now Ragna was seeing Elfman as the kind of Knowledge After the Fact Informant, but held his insulting tongue for the moment. “The final challenge every year is arm wrestling.”

“…Seriously?” Ragna glanced and saw that they were indeed setting up a table with this type of match to take place. Using his good arm, he pointed to his paralyzed one. “You really think I can enter with this?”

“They’ll probably insult you, but I think that they’ll at least take you on while matching your left arm. They don’t think much of you at this point, so it’s hardly a problem,” Elfman informed.

“…Hey, you do realize that-”

“I know what you’re going to say, and of course I know it,” Elfman answered without even turning to Ragna.

“Then why?”

“Because it’s who I am; a REAL man.” He turned to the Reaper. “You ready to see this through with me?”

“…Why not? I think I could stand to break a few arms after all,” Ragna answered seriously as he headed for the stage, knowing that he was in the first round.

“THE SAME RULES AS EVERY YEAR STILL APPLY! IF WE GET ANY HINTS THAT YOU’RE USING MAGIC THEN YOU’RE OUT OF THE CONTEST! THIS COMES DOWN TO A PURE DISPLAY OF MANLINESS AND MUSCLE! AND-!” He actually paused as Ragna brought his left arm up. “…THIS ONE REQUIRES YOUR LEFT ARM! AND NO REAL MAN WOULD SEE THAT AS A PROBLEM!”

This gesture didn’t do anything to instill any goodwill towards the host, but Ragna at least figured that his luck wasn’t going to screw him over just yet. Taking a seat, a blue magic circle appeared next to him with three zeros.

“Uh, what the hell is-?”

“OF COURSE! I KEEP FORGETTING THAT YOU’RE A NEW PARTICIPANT!” the host shouted right in front of him. This mixed with the spittle droplets hitting the Reaper’s face made Ragna regret speaking up. “THAT LITTLE GAUGE THERE IS A HANDY LITTLE DEVICE THAT WILL TELL US THE FULL OUTPUT OF MANLY ENERGY THAT THE WINNER ACHIEVED! THIS IS MORE FOR BOASTING RIGHTS THAN ANYTHING, BUT ALL THE MORE REASON TO GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT! MY PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 694 AND I’M LOOKING TO BREAK 700 THIS YEAR!”

With that the host gave a (somehow even louder) battle cry as he ripped the top half of his shirt off and showed his absurd muscles beneath which looked like they had been contained by the suit if anything. The counter then seemed to boost itself straight to 300, but how the hell it calculated the score was beyond Ragna. Just like he was beyond the point of caring.

“GAZE UPON THE TRUE FORM OF MANLINESS!” he declared before directing his flexing to Ragna. “THERE IS NO NEED TO FEEL POORLY OF YOURSELF IF YOU DECIDE TO DROP OUT HERE AND NOW! GETTING THIS FAR WAS MORE THAN AN ACCOMPLISHMENT! I DO HOPE THAT YOU…! …YOU!”

Ragna hadn’t broken his eye contact (aside to wipe the spit away of course) and glared with his single good eye as her brought his left arm up ready to begin the contest. The host grinned smugly as he seated himself with enough force to cause the table to shake. One of the maids dressed in revealing referee style dress and skirt approached the table and nodded to both men.

“CLASP HANDS!”

Ragna’s reflexes saved him as his opponent might’ve grabbed him at an advantageous angle had he not shifted at the last instant, it seemed that the host was done playing as Ragna saw the glint in his opponent’s eye.

“Right then… let’s get this over with.”

‘ACTING SO CASUAL WOULD BE YOUR DOWNFALL IF YOU WEREN’T ALREADY DOOMED FROM THE START!’ the host thought, shouting so loudly in their internal monologue that Ragna could almost hear him. ‘YOU’RE JUST LIKE THAT FOOL, ELFMAN! WIZARDS FROM BIG NAME GUILDS ARE STRONG, BUT THEY CAN’T STAND UP TO US WHEN WE USE OUR OWN BOOSTING MAGICS! EVERYONE HERE IS SELF BOOSTING TO AND INSANE DEGREE AND PROBABLY EVEN HAVE BOOSTING THEM FROM TOWN. MEANWHILE MY ENTIRE STAFF IS GIVING ME AS MUCH MAGICAL ENERGY AS POSSIBLE! MANLINESS IS ONLY A PROJECTION OF YOURSELF UNTO OTHERS! ANYONE THAT BELIEVES IN THE SPIRIT OF IT IS JUST AN IDIOT AND BOTH OF YOU ARE FALLING FOR IT! LET’S SEE HOW COCKY THAT SMIRK OF YOURS IS AFTER I BREAK YOUR ARM!”

“READY!” the head maid declared as her host master tensed in anticipation as he had to keep himself from glowing with magical energy. “…GO!”

Even the other participants braced themselves as the Host’s roar itself shook his entire mansion. Pouring all of his strength, his hidden magical strength, and even the external magic given to him into his left arm, he pushed as hard as he could against Ragna’s arm and… just succeeded in have his veins bulge in a rather gruesome display as Ragna appeared unchanged in both complexion and his hand’s position. While the host had his teeth grit, steam comically pouring from their eats nostrils, and sweat drenching their brow… Ragna appeared quite bored honestly.

‘HOW!? I’M GIVING IT EVERYTHING I’VE GOT! BUT I’M NOT EVEN MOVING HIM AN INCH! ARE THE SPELLS NOT WORKING!? IS HE USING A POWERFUL COUNTER SPELL!? WHAT’S GOING ON!?’

“That’s really all you got?” The left half of Ragna’s face that the host could see was darkened, the only source of light was his shining green iris… and the bright teeth from his sharp smirk. “And here I was expecting some kind of a challenge.”

‘WHAT GODDAMMIT!? WHAT’S THE SECRET TO HIS-!?’

Tap

“I win,” the Ex-Reaper causally declared as he let his opponent’s arm go so it could lay limp on the table. He hadn’t slammed his opponent to the other side of the table and even calling it a push seemed a little overkill. It was more like the Reaper had simply put his opponent’s arm down to rest. “Thanks for the match.”

“Um, master?” the referee maid asked through her own surprise at the events. “Are you okay? (BUSTER WOLF!) The next set of challengers is waiting for you. Should I have them wait?”

“…no, that’s alright,” the host said as a faint whisper as he slowly raised himself from the chair. He then glanced towards the manliness rating for the match. 713. “he broke my record… without even trying.”

“What did you say master? I couldn’t quite hear you,” the maid tried to question as her boss stumbled off in a defeated daze. She shrugged and resumed her current duties. “THE NEXT MATCH!”

On Ragna’s side, he could already hear several of the other participants saying that the host had just let their guard down and there was no way that Ragna could have won otherwise… though he also noticed that many of these were the Hype Men from the protein drink round. Ignoring their chatter, he headed back to see Elfman who would be waiting on his first match for quite some time.

“And here I thought you wanted to be ready to break that guy’s arm. I’d say that you let him off the hook pretty easily,” Elfman observed before glancing towards the absolutely defeated husk of a man. “Though… maybe letting him off easily is what actually broke his spirits so badly.”

“Heh, now you’re getting it,” Ragna said with a haunting grin as he mirrored Elfman’s words from earlier.

“You’re starting to scare me man,” the fellow wizard said with the classic anime sweat drop.

When it finally came time for Elfman to take on the muscle head that had been taunting him earlier, Ragna noticed that for all of his boisterous attitude that he showed around the guild, right now he seemed dead serious for his match. Which was probably better for Ragna’s ears, because Elfman’s opponent still seemed to have plenty of taunting for the both of them.

“LOOKS LIKE THAT OLD MAN’S MADE IT THROUGH WITH A DOUBLE MIRACLE! BUT YOU’RE GOING DOWN HERE AND NOW ELF-WHELP!”

‘Does the guy that thinks of themselves as the champion have all of their words Caps-Locked?’ Ragna considered (possibly breaking the fourth wall). ‘I hope whatever training he’s been doing to get ready for this was enough, because I get the feeling Erza would have his hide if he lost to the same guy twice.’

“PARTICIPANTS! CLASP HANDS!” the referee shouted. ‘Looks like my master won’t be hosting this show next year. Without the bonus I get from announcing here, I’ll have to find a new way to pay my bills. Maybe I should check out the local waitress jobs… Or I could try to find my way into an actual guild.’ Though her thoughts seemed to be drifting, she appeared so focused on announcing that no one was the wiser. “READY… GO!”

CRASH!

“MY ARM!” the taunting cried in pain as he gripped his horrifically misshapen limb. Even Ragna who had experience in losing an appendage had to grimace at the sight as Elfman rose from his chair and faced the remaining participants. The counter read 732.

“I TOLD YOU ALL THAT I CAME HERE TO WIN THIS YEAR! AND NOW I CAN GET AROUND YOUR BOOSTING MAGIC TO SHOW YOU WHAT A REAL MAN IS!” …Apparently now Elfman had the Caps Lock curse. “DON’T LET THAT HOLD ANY OF YOU BACK! BOTH OF US WILL SHOW YOU WHAT THE POWER OF REAL MEN IS LIKE!”

“…Think we need a new table,” Ragna said as he glanced to the pile of splinters that Elfman’s match had been held on. The referee nodded and with a snap of her fingers, a grouped of butlers quickly cleared away the earlier splinter pile and brought in a new table (likely this happened often in the tournament). Taking a seat, Ragna put his left hand out for his challenger to shakily take. They seemed to scream with fright as they channeled all of their given power into the arm, only this time it was apparent that they were cheating with the boosting aura glowing around them. “Dude, just take the loss… No? Alright, I’ll humor his cheating.”

“READY… GO!” the referee shouted, only this time the match was over in the blink of an eye as Ragna gently put his opponent’s arm down. “WINNER!”

Again, Ragna hadn’t even bothered to use that much force, earning him a solid 740 from the ranking this time. His opponent shared the same signs of defeat as the host had and needed to be cleared off by the referee and the staff.

“I THINK HE SNAPPED IT OFF!” Elfman’s next opponent shouted (thankfully exaggerating) after his rather easy match. Score: 735

“WINNER!” the ref declared as Ragna broke another participant’s spirit. Score: 730

“IT’S BENT BACKWARDS! BACKWARDS!” shouted Elfman’s next victim. Score: 743

“WINNER!” the announcer shouted as Ragna finished reading a chapter from his latest book during his match. Score: 745

“GAAAAAAHHH!” All Elfman’s next opponent could do was cry a pain filled scream. Score: 738

“WINNER!” Now Ragna appeared half asleep as he brough his opponent’s hand down with the gentlest of taps. Score: 750

“…SCREW THIS! I’M NOT LIVING WITH AN ARM IN A CAST FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS!” Elfman’s next opponent forfeited… though Elfman still got his own 750 from the score cards.

“And that’s a wrap,” Ragna said as Elfman headed down from the stage. “Good work out there. I’m heading over to forfeit.”

“You’re what!?” his job partner balked. “After getting to the Grand Finals without a problem?”

“I’m just being smart and quitting while we’re ahead. With my string of luck lately it’d be stupid if I don’t step out now. You can just give me half of the reward later and we’ll call it good.”

“And disappoint everyone who came here with a display of pure manliness!?” Elfman demanded, gesturing to the participants.

“Elfman, half the people there I just destroyed spiritually. The other half just got their arm wrecked by you. Why would they want to watch us at this point?”

“None of them have left yet, have they?” the brute tried to reason. Ragna wasn’t sure that many of them could move at the moment. “And it’s one thing if I haven’t been able to win a contest that was obviously skewed against me, it would be another thing entirely if you dropped out. People wouldn’t care about context here; both your reputation and the guilds would be dealt a harsh blow, even if you’re surrendering to a fellow member of Fairy Tail.”

“…You’re scared of what Ezra would do to you if she found out this is how you won,” Ragna accused.

“If I were you, I’d be more worried about how she’d handle the news of you dropping out. You had a hell of a miracle run staying on Erza’s good side up to this point, but if you drop out your standings are going to crash and burn… possibly in a literal way… if you’re lucky.”

‘Everyone’s so damn scared of that woman,’ Ragna thought to himself with ire.

“Of course, that’s only giving extra fuel to the fire,” Elfman said seriously as he got right in Ragna’s face. “You have to understand, there’s a strong chance that this is the last year that they’ll be hosting this contest. With how badly you beat the host, I don’t think they’ll be in any hurry to bring back this contest until they’re sure they can win. I don’t want to have any regrets when I leave this place, so don’t you dare give me any now.”

“Fine, fine, and here I thought that you hated this place… or are you actually putting up with all of this to get stronger?” Elfman nodded but didn’t elaborate. “…This is bad idea, a very bad idea… but fine. I’ll see it through if there’s no talking you out of it.” Both men headed for the table, which had been replaced by a solid block of iron. “With all of this talk that you’re doing, you better not crap out on me.”

“Don’t worry, a REAL MAN can always back up whatever promise he shouts! And he always does it with his brawn!”

With his battle declaration made, Elfman took a seat next to their little dueling slab with enough force and showmanship to send a small shockwave across the floor. Unable to help himself, Ragna’s glace around the room told him that his participation here was at least expected… and he couldn’t deny that he felt like he could stand to show off after the insults he’d gotten. Even the brutally defeated host seemed to glance up as the two men clasped hands.

“THE FINAL MATCH!” the referee shouted. “TO DETERMINE WHO IS THE TRUE MAN AMONG MEN IN THESE SANCTIFIED HALLS OF TESTOSTERONE! READY… GO!”

Half of the cocky participants turned defeat onlookers flinched as the expected Elfman to crack the iron slab by slamming Ragna’s hand with the force to do so. The other half actually leaned in closer so that they could get a better view of Ragna who they suspected would easily set Elfman’s hand upon the table to win the match with ease. In the end, both men were completely still as when the call had been made. It was like the two were completely frozen in time. The referee didn’t take her eyes off of either of them for an instant as that split second change could determine the entire match.

“They… aren’t moving?” one of the participants with a broken arm stated as more of a question. “Are they waiting for the right moment?”

“Maybe they’re both so terrified of each other that they’re frozen stiff?” one of the men that Ragna had defeated guessed.

“No, they’ve got to be holding everything back!” yet another contender shouted. “They want to finish this all in one push and-! …What’s going on with the counter?”

While the two appeared still enough for the onlookers to make these outlandish claims, the counter behind them hadn’t been inactive in the slightest. Ever since the match began it was gradually counting up in value. Right now it was a 914 and raising fast.

“Th-that’s thing’s gotta be broken, they aren’t even doing any-” The participant talking couldn’t finish their thoughts as the ground beneath them began to fiercely shake and only grew in ferocity. “What the-!?”

“They gotta be using magic! That should mean that they’re disqualified!” one sore loser still upset with his broken arm shouted. “It’s the only way they could be doing this!”

‘No, I’ve already read in Sorcerer’s Weekly that Elfman uses Take Over magic in order to fight, so I’d notice if he were using it to enhance his strength. And this other guy was ready to quit before Elfman told him to stay in, so there’s little point in cheating now,’ the more levelheaded referee thought as she remained fixated on the two men and their unmoving fists… then they started to tremble for the colliding forces and the shaking skyrocketed. ‘But to think…’

“Holy crap! They’re already up to Sixteen-hundred! And it’s going up even faster now!” one of the men shouted.

“I thought it only recorded up to the hundreds!? Where’s the extra digit coming from!?” another demanded from the host.

“it’s not supposed to do that…” he answered meekly.

“SHAKING’S GETTING WORSE!” another shouted. “THE GAUGE! IT’S OVER 9000!”

“WHAT!? 9000!? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!”

‘It should be,’ the referee thought to herself as she continued watching, even if she had to fight to retain her balance.

“Hey,” came Ragna’s rasp of a voice. It was actually hard for him to speak given the sheer dedication he was putting into his match with Elfman. “You’re real brave and all, probably more of a damned man than any of those posers here… But seriously, you’re not safe up here. You can still watch the match just fine from down there.”

“R-right,” she answered as she left the podium and got to a saner distance, her eyes still never leaving the match in progress. ‘…That old guy’s actually kinda cool. I wonder why he isn’t in any of the Sorcerer’s Weekly issues.’

“…Now that she’s out of the way, WE CAN REALLY GO ALL OUT AS MEN!” Elfman declared as their hands shaking intensified, but neither of their hands moved to either of their favor. “You’re not holding back on me, are you!?”

“Don’t think I could if I wanted to!” Ragna shouted back. “BUT I AIN’T DONE HERE! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU GOT!”

“SHOW ME THAT YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A REAL MAN!”

“COME ON!”

With their battle cries done, both men let out the fiercest yells they could as the rumbling finally reached its climax. The counter put in place to measure their manliness was malfunctioning and rapidly counting random numbers before it shattered in a flash of blinding light.

Later -Fairy Tail Guild-

“I can’t believe that you were actually able to convince someone to go with your brother to that ridiculous tournament,” Erza said to her best friend as she stood before the bar holding a recently purchased slice of Strawberry Cake. “And what’s more you made it so that Ragna’s going with him. This after you told me how annoyed he’d become lately.”

“That’s true, but it couldn’t be helped,” Mira said with her classic beautiful smile, like there wasn’t a problem in the world. “The ingredient that Ragna needed just so happened to be in the town hosting, so it’s a perfect chance for him to make his way there without paying a traveling fee. Besides, he could use it to work off his stress.”

“We’ve known each other well enough that you’re just making excuses now,” the scarlet haired wizard said with a huff (much to the worry of everyone else in the guild) before she took a small forkful of her cake.

“That didn’t stop you from getting your own job quickly and coming back so you’d know the results,” Mira pointed out, earning a scowl from her longtime friend but not flinching in the slightest.

“With as much as Natsu and Gray wanted to show off, it was almost impossible to not get done quickly,” she answered, though out of the corner of her eye she did notice the scowl the two kept sending one another. ‘Not that their teamwork’s improved in the slightest.’ “Back to Ragna and Elfman, I certainly hope they won’t do anything to sully our Guild’s name. It’s a wonder that the papers haven’t had a field day with one of our members losing the tournament. And I’d hate to see you brother waste all of the training I gave him.”

“Don’t worry, Elfman sounded more than confident that he’d be able to win the tournament this year. And I’m sure that Ragna’s more than capable enough on his own. The only real question would be which of them won the tournament overall.”

“…Hence why Cana’s made a betting pool,” Erza said, noting that Fairy Tail’s resident drinker had indeed seemed to cash in on the event. Currently Elfman seemed to have the better odds than Ragna, but she wondered if that was merely because they hadn’t seen what their supposed Reaper could really do. “So who did you bet on? Ragna or your brother?”

“Neither, I didn’t place a bet. I figured it would just add insult to injury to whoever didn’t win,” Mira explained. It was then that the doors to the guild opened. Everyone went silent and turned their attention to the two silver haired men walking in side by side. Their dark complexions completely covered their faces as they stepped through the crowd and up to the front desk.

“Welcome back!” Mira said cheerfully, as if the situation hadn’t changed. “How was the tournament?”

No answer.

“So tell me… which of you won?” Erza demanded, getting right down to business. Everyone in the guild tensed even further in case either man dared to give her the wrong answer. Erza even set her cake down for a moment as she crossed her arms. “Well?”

Ragna responded by moving his arm to point straight at Elfman, but not to the expected reason.

“His fault.”

-Earlier at the tournament-

“I thought that kind of scanner wasn’t supposed to overload,” one of the contestants grumbled as they rose from the ruble of the ruined mansion. The venue hadn’t just been destroyed, more like the force from Ragna and Elfman’s match blew it away completely. “And why the hell should it blow up like that when it does?”

“it’s not supposed to,” the host said weakly as they took in what was left of their home. “i’m ruined…”

“Never mind that, who won the match?” another of the few conscious men demanded as they pushed the debris off of themselves. Glancing to their right, they saw the referee who was the only one that hadn’t been blasted off of their feet. Even her gaze hadn’t wavered from where the match had taken place before the blast, now the entire stage was covered in a thick dust cloud. “I don’t know what you’d expect to find there, lady. Those two are probably goners from that match.”

‘Any of you lot maybe, but those two were something else,’ she thought as her gaze remained fixated. The only thing that made her glance away were two pieces of clothing fluttering to the floor between her and the dust cloud; Ragna and Elfman’s shirts, blown off from the blast but somehow undamaged. Then the fog started to cleared and two silhouettes were revealed. “They’re here.”

“Huh?”

All of the men (even those who were thought to be unconscious) rose to observe the two as the cloud cleared completely showing them both in…

(Cue JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure -Awaken-)

Both Ragna and Elfman were currently shirtless after the explosion had taken their top halves of clothing off, leaving their upper bodies exposed for the defeated to bear witness to. Elfman had his back to the others, but had a single arm flexed showing off the core of strength that he possessed; the same strength that had ruined the arms of several men here that had taunted him for losing to him in the past. But now he had overcome them, and he scowled over his flexed arm in both challenge and sheer dominance. Ragna only showed his still functioning left half to the others, leaning back on the air almost as if he were sitting. His gloved left hand covered most of his face in his pose, but his glowing green eye still pieced through his self-created darkness and pieced into the very soul of all who looked upon it.

Behind these two champions, the solid slab of metal that had been used for their dueling ground had been reduced to a pile of dust. The other competitors looked on with awe as-

(End theme)

Back to the Guild

“I don’t understand, what happened?” Erza demanded. Her scowl hadn’t faded, but there was an element of confusion now present.

“Those assholes were so petty that they refused to pay us after we went and showed ‘em up like we did,” Ragna grumbled. “It probably didn’t help that we blew away their mansion, but to skip out and run us out of town like they did.”

“That’s not great,” Mira admitted as her smile because just slightly strained. “At least you both made it all the way to the finals. You even managed to beat the man running it, despite all of that cheating.”

“Both of you knew about that?” the Reaper demanded. “Then why the hell were you so upset that Elfman lost?”

“Even if they were using their magic while we held no such advantage, anyone from our guild should have been able to overcome this challenge,” Ezra said sternly. “Elfman.”

“Y-Yeah?” Now that the moment of judgement had arrived, the giant of Fairy Tail looked less than confident under the S-Rank wizard’s steel eyes.

“…Even if you didn’t win officially, I have to commend you on your victory none the less.” Erza actually seemed to be smiling at him, almost like a proud mother would. “And it was clear to me in our training how much this mattered to you. I hope you realize how far you’ve managed to come and how much further you still have to go. And with the level of effort you put in, I have nothing but faith that you can make it.”

“Erza…” It looked like Elfman was going to start crying. “You don’t have to worry about me; a real man is ready for anything!” He then turned to Ragna. “I have to thank you for this as well. You gave me one hell of a fight in that last round, I’m more pumped to improve myself than just about ever.”

“…Glad I could help,” Ragna said as he let his body relax from his darker phase. Some bitterness was still undoubtedly left, however.

“On the plus side, if you really destroyed the mansion like that there’s no way the Sorcerer’s Weekly can pass it up as a frontline story,” Mira encouraged Ragna. “You’re probably going to get quite the reputation soon!”

“Assuming that they don’t write me as some old fart that was just there,” Ragna said with a huff. Mira internally admitted that there was probably a high chance of that happening with his luck. “I guess I’ll just have to live with it. In a sick and twisted way, I guess I had some fun doing this.”

“See? You just have to take these wins where you can,” Mira encouraged. It might’ve just been Ragna, but her already radiant smile seemed to be just a touch brighter when he saw it aimed at himself. Smirking slightly, he decided to just run with the punches and-

“And here I figured you’d be a lot more upset than this; what with losing out on Twenty-Five million Jewels,” Ezra noted.

“Ah, who needs that kind of money when we have this experience to look back on?!” Elfman retorted with a laugh. “Right Ragna?”

“Twenty-Five… Million… We just lost out on Twenty-Five Million Jewels?”

‘Uh oh,’ Mira realized as her smile actually vanished.

“I mean yeah, but wasn’t the chance to blow the roof of the place worth more than-?”

“YOU IDIOT!” Ragna shouted as his left arm shot out, grabbed Elfman by his collar, and began shaking him violently. “WE COULD’VE SPLIT THAT KIND OF MONEY IF YOU’D LET ME DROP OUT! AND YOU WANTED ME TO STAY IN JUST TO SHOW OFF! EVEN FIVE MILLION OF THAT WOULD’VE SAVED ME SO MANY HEADACHES! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?”

…Apparently now he had the curse of the caps lock… a constant boldness to boot.

“Hey Happy?” Natsu asked from beside his constant companion. “Doesn’t it seem like Dad’s taking after Lucy?”

“Aye,” the cat noted.

“And that’s a problem, right?”

“A big problem. I don’t think our team could handle two Lucy’s. It could ruin us all.”

“It’s sitting right next to the two of you,” Lucy herself said with deep ire. Glancing back to Ragna she watched he continued to violently shake Elfman down. ‘…Is that really how I come across to people? Maybe I should take a step back and rethink a few thing… Nah, they’re probably just crazy.’

Next Time: Image of the Guardian

Chapter Text

Episode 012: Image of the Guardian

“Alright, we’re off!” Natsu declared as Elfman, Happy, and he started making their way out of the guild, ready to take on their next big assignment. “This job doesn’t stand a chance! Not with how fired up I am!”

“Aye!” the blue cat agreed.

“Hah! You think you’re going to be showing off? I’m about to tear everything apart with just my two hands! Nothing’s going to stand in our way!”

‘…And this is them on an ESCORT quest,’ Ragna considered as he continued preparing food, only to notice his guild leader looking at him out of the corner of his working eye. “What?”

“Nothing,” the wizened old man muttered, though his voice seemed tense.

“You were hoping that I’d go with them so they wouldn’t cause as much damage, is that it?” Makarov redirected his gaze at the accusation. “Really old man…”

“Can you blame me?! You went on a guild job with some of our most destructive members of the guild and you didn’t even get chased off by the army! How can I see a chance like that and not take advantage of it!?”

“The last time I went out, Elfman and I completely destroyed a mansion by mistake. How the hell is that damage control?”

“You didn’t blow up the entire city. For us that take a lot of restraint,” Mira rightfully reminded.

“That’s beside the point; we still wrecked the place,” he fought back. “Can’t you just chalk it up to a miracle? And why does it even matter? When I first joined you were all ‘screw the higher ups’ and told us to practice magic in our own way. What’s with the sudden change of tune?”

“I still stand by my words; but that doesn’t mean that I want to invite trouble!” he yelled back.

‘Especially if it means that he can just pawn the extra work off on me,’ Ragna thought. He then noticed Lucy reading off on her own at one of the nearby tables wearing a pair of magic glasses. “Weren’t we going to look for a job today?”

“In a bit, I need to finish this book first. I only got halfway through it yesterday and I could barely sleep last night with it half finished,” she informed, rapidly flipping through the book’s pages. “You should understand that much; whenever you have any down time all I see you doing is reading.”

“That’s different; you’re reading novels and I’m reading informational books on magic. I need to study those if I’m going to have any idea of how this crap works. If I don’t, that’s how a town would get destroyed,” Ragna countered.

“Right, the extra reading will help make sure it’s two or three towns.”

Ragna had to glare at Gray as he missed the vital point yet again.

“I’m guessing that you don’t read too many novels,” the blue haired Levy said to the Reaper as she sat at Lucy’s table. “I was wondering who’d picked up the last copy from the store yesterday. Could I possibly get you to loan that to me once you’re done reading?”

“Oh, sure thing. I didn’t realize that you were a fan of this series,” Lucy said as she actually put the book down for a second so she could properly hold a conversation.

“You mean there’s more than one of those things?” Ragna had to question from the sidelines.

“Pretty sure that’s book 7 and I doubt that’s the last one,” Mira informed. “This series really took off and it has quite the active fanbase.”

“…No kidding,” Ragna muttered, unable to comment further since he didn’t know anything about novels.

“By the way, I saw that you were reading that 1,001 Tips on Writing book the other day.” At Levy’s basic observation, Ragna noticed that Lucy seemed to fill with an incredible sense of dread. “So… you’re looking to become a writer too?”

“Huh!? I-I mean I guess!?” the blonde answered frantically. Ragna gave a questioning glance to Mira, but the fellow silver hair didn’t seem to have an answer for him this time. “I mean that I’m trying to write, but… I’m not very good at it.”

“Don’t say that; I’m sure it’s amazing and you’re just not giving yourself enough credit,” she told her… Ragna wondered if he was a little too proud of the support Lucy was getting. “Maybe if I read it-?”

“Absolutely not!” Okay, the last time Ragna had heard her scream like that Natsu and Happy had broken into her new house.

“Come on. You should at least let someone read it, even if it’s just to spellcheck. And we keep saying how great it probably is.” She then turned to the ex-Reaper. “Don’t you think Lucy would write a great story?”

“I mean, probably? I think we’ve established that I’m not the best person to be a judge of novels,” Ragna answered, maybe being a little too honest with that second part. It was then that he got a tap on his shoulder from Mira. At first he figured that she might be pushing him to support Lucy more, but instead she was pointing to some… Frog person outside holding a letter with Ragna of Fairy Tail written on it. Raising the only eyebrow he could at her, Mira’s nod told him that he needed to check in with whoever was outside. He could also tell that Makarov seemed a touch anxious at their presence, so he undid his apron and headed to get it over with.

“So where’s the rest of your group today? Those two that you usually work with?” Lucy asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

“Eh, Jet and Droy had an early job lined up and I stuck back because I wanted to try and check again for a copy of the book you’d gotten. So I’m free today! What about you? Hasn’t it been a while, since you last headed out on a job?”

“Levy, the last time I headed out was with Erza on training and I don’t even remember it! All I know is that my spirits refused to tell me what happened, but insisted I needed to give them some time off. At least I’m ahead on my rent thanks to Ragna making sure we had enough Jewels to cover me for a few months.”

“Add another three months,” Ragna said curtly as he headed back inside with a few papers in his hand. “High paying job. Right from the magic council.”

“They want to hire you?” Makarov asked. From his tone and complexion, Ragna was wondering if his jaw was literally going to hit the floor again. “And you don’t know why I want to keep you around Natsu and the rest of the troublemakers!?”

“Seriously, give it a rest,” Ragna muttered as he turned to Lucy. “Truth is they wanted Natsu and Happy as well, but they just left. So it’s just you and me, playing guard duty for Kaby.”

“Kaby? Isn’t that guy the son of Kemu Zeleon? The one with the Daybreak job I heard about from Lucy?”

“The same. In fact, he even special requested us for this job and…” Ragna had to pause as he got a good look at the sparkles in Levy’s eyes. “…You’re not allowed to spend the entire job reading. It’s an overnighter too.”

“Couldn’t stop me if you wanted to!” she exclaimed. “Ready to go reserve a carriage ride?”

“You two go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a second. Gotta clean cookware,” the Reaper promised. Lucy gave a nod at him and a smile before following after the blue haired girl. Once they were gone, Ragna’s own smile faded as he got to work.

“What’s wrong?” Gray asked in one of his less oblivious moments.

“Part of the reward’s one of the ingredients I’m after; one of the four I still don’t have,” he answered. “The magic council did their homework on me; I don’t like that.”

“If memory serves, you did tell me that you mouthed off to two of the leaders of the council after beating down a giant demon,” Makarov reminded. “They probably wanted to check on you for damage control in any future jobs.”

“This coming from the guy who two seconds ago was practically begging me to keep the more chaotic ones in line?” Ragna responded somewhat irately, working quickly not that there was much to do.

“To be fair they don’t know that just yet, and if they decide you are worth their time they might request your help specifically, seeing as how levelheaded you are,” the guild leader tried again. “Keep this up and there may actually be plenty of these high paying jobs in your future.”

“If the rest of the council is anything like the two members I met, then hard pass,” Ragna refused yet again as he scrubbed down the last of his pots.

“Are you going to tell the rest of the team, keep them in the loop?” Gray chimed in, though it was still unclear where he landed as far as teams were concerned.

“Not right now. I’d rather not get the rest of them worried over nothing, but if it looks like things are happening behind the scenes, I’ll get them caught up. I know how much it sucks to be left in the dark… like I am now.”

“Try to think positively!” Mira encouraged. “Maybe your luck’s just finally turning for-”

“Mira. Sweetheart. Please don’t even,” Ragna practically begged as he finished his final scrubbings.

“Sweetheart?” the guild leader questioned, as a few members of the guild (particularly fans of Mira’s) perked up at the address.

“Just getting my point across,” he nonchalantly clarified as he quickly put his gear away and headed out of the guild, leaving everyone in silence until Gray broke it with his own… observation.

“He’s scared of you, you know.” Mira’s look of horror was only too apparent. “Your brother told me.”

“I think she needs more context than that, Gray,” Cana noted from where she’d been drinking silently. “Also, your clothes.”

“Son of a-!”

And then! -The Carriage-

“Kind of funny that we’re taking a carriage somewhere and don’t have to worry about Natsu’s motion-sickness this time,” Lucy noted as the steady rocking of the carriage brought them closer and closer to their location.  “I keep glancing over and expect to hear him groaning about his condition.”

“Well unless Happy willing to carry him two towns over, I think Elfman’s going to be dealing with that now,” Ragna muttered. “Still, I got a new concoction that might actually do the trick. Probably should’ve given it to him before he left.”

“He’d have forgotten to take it,” Levy reminded.

“Probably, but let’s get onto the job details so we can sleep through the rest of the carriage ride. We’ll all be exhausted enough at the end of this job anyways,” Ragna said as he brought out the envelope full of papers that he’d gotten from the messenger. “Like I said back at the guild, our target to protect is Kaby Melon; son of the late famed writer Kemu Zeleon and more to point current holder of the book Dear Kaby. That’s what we’re supposed to be guarding.”

“From trying to erase every last trace of that book to protecting it; kinda seems like life has a weird way of working itself out,” Lucy said.

“To be fair, the book we were supposed to destroy was Daybreak. Dear Kaby was the true form of the book that you were smart enough to uncover,” he reminded. He could tell Lucy felt proud at that.

“That still doesn’t explain why the magic council thinks that this book needs our protection, and is willing to pay for it," Levy said.

"I was getting to that. Turns out our old buddy Duke Shithead-Nosehair-Everlue is finally being put on trial now that Kaby’s able to speak out against him. And the lynchpin for the entire case is the Dear Kaby book itself. Everlue has been put under heavy surveillance for a while now, but there’s still the chance that he’ll try to get the book destroyed before tomorrow’s trial through outside means. That’s where we come in. Our only goal is to keep Kaby and the book safe until then. Apparently, the evidence will speak for itself and they’ll finally be able to put the bastard away for a long, long time.”

“Thank goodness.” Evidently Lucy was still sore about the damage her pride had taken during the job and more importantly the dark deeds they’d also uncovered.

“Okay, that explains why they wanted the book protected,” Levy started. “Still doesn’t explain why they want us specifically. Most of their forces could take this no problem.”

“Special request from Kaby himself; doesn’t say anything specific in these papers. We can ask him when we get there and start forming a plan to guard the place. Like I said, get some sleep, we’re in for a long night.”

“But my new boooook,”’Lucy whined, trying to put on her best pouty face.

“I think getting eight hours takes priority; resting up for an important job does as well,” Ragna grumbled. “Just because you brought a friend, that doesn’t mean you get to treat this like a sleep over.”

“Ouch. You got a harsh dad, Lucy,” Levy teased.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Weird, Ragna didn’t think of himself as that strict, least of all with Lucy… was he though? “Still, I’ve never done a sleepover before. Might be a lot of fun.”

“Again, I wouldn’t know,” Ragna said, starting to feel like a broken record. “Never had a sleepover in my life.”

“Wow. Just a bundle of laughs,” Levy sighed.

“It’s how I grew up. Didn’t really know that many people or even what a damn sleepover was. By the time I even found out it would’ve been less of a sleepover and more of a…” He paused as he tried to put things delicately for once.

“A hook-up?” the blue haired girl offered.

“Yeah, I guess you could put it like that,” the ex-Reaper muttered. “Still, even if I’ve never had one that doesn’t mean that you can’t try for some kind of girl’s night. Have some fun with it. You could use a break in this crazy line of work.”

“If I do that, think you can try to make a guy’s night with some of the other members?” Lucy countered. “Lately all you ever seem to do is go out on jobs, cook with Mira, read on magic, and don’t hunt for a house to stay in.”

“How did you-?”

“Please, when I found out that you were staying at the guild because of Mira it was obvious,” Lucy told him with a scowl. “All of that work making sure I was able to pay rent and here you are completely homeless.”

“It’s not like it matters much; I’ve never lived in one place for that long anyways. The idea of getting a home just… hasn’t set in?” It was pretty clear by her scowl that Lucy wasn’t buying that. He wisely decided to change subject. “As far as a guy’s night goes… maybe once things calm down and I get my eye and arm back in working order, we can try something like that… Maybe even get Natsu involved if I can. It feels like I’ve been leaving him out a lot lately.”

“Aw, you really are the team daddy, aren’t you?” Ragna had no idea whether or not Levy was taunting him, so he simply chose to remain quiet. “How’s cooking with Mira going?”

“You’ve eaten our food; you tell me,” Ragna responded with a bit of a cocky smirk. “Good though. It helps me get a little money on the side and cooking’s one of the few things I actually enjoy doing. Mira’s easy to work with too; if either of us need to step away in the middle of a dish the other can take over and finish the work without a problem. No complaints from any of our customers either.”

“Expect for the fact that you get to work alongside a model all day and all they get to do is watch,” Levy noted. Lucy had been trying to get some sleep per Ragna’s advice, but at the blue hair’s inquiry she couldn’t but try and see what her father-figure’s response was.

“…Oi, didn’t I tell you both to get some sleep? Don’t come crying to me later if you end up getting dark circles under your eyes,” Ragna dismissed as he slouched down until he was comfortable, lightly snoring not long afterwards.

Meanwhile -Siegrain’s Office-

“All of this research and not a single concise finding,” Siegrain sighed to himself, tapping his index finger on the edge of his desk while he read through the documents he’d been given.

“Almost like this whole endeavor has been a huge waste of time, like I’ve been saying,” Ultear groaned from where she lay sprawled out on Siegrain’s couch reading Sorcerer’s Weakly (something she only did when she was truly that bored). “Why do you take such interest in him?”

“Because I know better than to ignore an obvious sign; that arm of his seems especially vexing… though you seem to have a grudge to bear against the man attached to it. If memory serves, you insulted him first.”

“It shouldn’t matter who gave the first unkind words to the other; even someone from that… unique Guild should know better than to insult a member of the magic council.”

“You’ve just been spoiled because the only one you’ve had to interact with directly with is Erza Scarlet and even if she can cause the most destruction, she’s certainly among their most refined… I should know,” Siegrain added that last part a little cockily. “But you read the reports from the city the same as I did; his arm seemed to have a unique reaction when it approached Lullaby, one of Zeref’s dark tools. It could possibly lead us to the other tool or better yet, be a hidden artifact itself... An undocumented one maybe.”

“If it’s undocumented, it’s likely because it was a failed project,” Ultear insisted.

“Or too terrible for paper to communicate. I just ask that you keep an open mind. We won’t know anything for some time, but allowing him to complete his elixir could still yield some results if he gains a closer connection with his arm.”

“If you’re so worried about it, then why not just hand off the rest of the ingredients to know immediately instead of waiting for if he can ever acquire them all?”

“Then he’d be immediately suspicious of us and could piece together the plot on his own. For now, the only way he’d suspect something is if he were either a very distrusting person or an extremely cautious one… which is what I could have said were it not for your own move.”

“You’re not getting an apology for that,” she told him off as she went back to reading yet again.

“I knew better than to expect one.”

Kaby’s Hut

“Those guys guarding the entrance are Rune Knights,” Levy explained as the group approached the specified location. The two she was explaining to Ragna were stationed just outside the closed front door to Kaby’s hut. “They’re pretty powerful and directly serve the magic council. If it wasn’t for the job offered to us, I’m sure they would be the ones to take full responsibility for guarding the book.”

“Try not to get them mad,” Lucy begged, remembering Ragna’s last run in with anything council related.

“That’s up to them; I don’t play nice with arrogant pricks.” Lucy already had a bad feeling as they headed overing. Approaching the knights who seemed to tense as they drew near, Ragna produced the documents he’d been given for the job. “Here to relieve you from your posts.”

One of the knights looked over the documents for a long moment before nodding. “Everything’s in order, but we’re counting on you to make sure that book survives.” The three nodded. “And I know that you’re all members of Fairy Tail, but try to keep it from going too far. This is a poor farming area; for a lot of these families these small farms are all that they have. Try not to ruin what chance of a future they have left.”

“That’s fair; we’ll do our job then,” Ragna assured, admittedly a little impressed that they cared. “When can we expect you back in the morning?”

“The trial starts at Daybreak; this could be a coincidence, but I think the judge just happens to have a twisted sense of humor. You can expect us shortly before then,” he said before nodding to his companion and leaving the small farm.

“…That was simple,” Lucy observed.

“They were reasonable,” Ragna explained before knocking on the front door. “Kaby?”

“Ah, just a second,” came the man’s voice from inside before the door slowly creaked open revealing their old employer, now dressed is less formal and MUCH less expensive clothing. “Ragna, Lucy, and…” He paused as he got a look at Levy.

“Natsu and Happy had already left on another job by the time we got your letter,” Lucy explained. “This is Levy, she’s a fellow Fairy Tail mage and can fill in for those two.”

“If you can vouch for her than that’s all I need to hear. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Please, come inside.” Levy smiled pleasantly at the friendly greeting as the group followed Kaby into his hut. “My wife will be out for the duration of the job. We have a good family friend who belongs to a nearby smaller Mage’s guild. We decided that as long as I have the book they’re after, that should be enough to keep them from spending time or resources trying to use her to get to me.”

“Agreed, and that’s some pretty good planning on your part,” Ragna complimented “But we’ve got questions. First off, who’s them?”

“Everlue’s maids most likely. He claims to have fired them shortly before the Magic Council put him under heavy surveillance, but since no one knows their exact location it seems more likely that he just wants them to ensure his way out, using them to clear his name via destroying Dear Kaby.” The book in question was sitting on the table. “I’m a little hesitant to give up my father’s last work as evidence, but if it will get Everlue to answer for his crimes including those against my father… then it’s a sacrifice I’ll have to make.”

“It’s a really big burden for you, but we’re here to help you see it through,” Lucy promised. “Speaking of us being here though, why did you request us for guard duty instead of the Rune Knights?”

“Two reasons for that; first was since you’ve already dealt with Duke Everlue I figured that you would be the best qualified to protect the book from his followers. Frankly, I don’t think that there’s anyone I’d trust with this assignment like I do the two of you. And since the Magic Council was willing to pay extremely well for this job, I saw this as a way to get you both your deserved payment from the last job… not as much, but I hope that it helps.”

“It does, and it’s appreciated.” ‘Still can’t help but be a little pissed at Elfman though.’ “In that case, we should get started.” Taking a few supplies out of his bag, Kaby saw a small tea pot, several bottles of water, instant coffee mix, and the utensils and ingredients needed to make a large stew. “Mind if I use your fire pit for this?”

“B-By all means,” their employer stuttered. “I-I can gladly feed you; I bought supplies earlier in preparation.”

“Don’t worry about it; just focus on keeping yourself safe and I’ll make sure everyone’s got energy when it’s go time.” He turned to his two companions. “Why don’t the both of you head out and get a lay of the land? I’ll get to work over here.”

“You got it, maybe I’ll even have Virgo set up some pitfalls so that we can get covered on as many sides as possible!” Lucy suggested confidently. “…Out of the way of the other farmers, of course.”

“Virgo… right. Is she going to be alright with job?” Ragna asked, remember that the Celestial Spirit had been under Everlue’s contract in the past.

“Already cleared it up with her back at the train station, she’s just as ready as we are,” Lucy said with a solid nod as she headed outside with Levy.

“So does Ragna usually treat his employers this well? No offense, but I get the feeling he’d be pretty blunt with most of them.”

“We’ve worked for Kaby before and we all like Kaby. Besides, Ragna’s a much bigger softy than he lets on,” she said as she got a good look at their fields. “We’re pretty out in the open here, so I think whatever traps we can set are going to go a long way. There’s no telling what we’re in for.”

Meanwhile -Nearby Hideout-

“These are the best we could afford!? These mercenaries don’t even look that tough!” one of Everlue’s former maids shrieked. Ignoring her… unusual complexion for the moment, her normal maid’s uniform was a touch more ragged than when she’d had a constant employer and it seem like she needed several washings.

“Well what did you expect, this is all that we could afford from the master’s secret nest egg!” another declared as they looked over the grumbling mercs. For as dirty as the maids felt, these merc looked serval levels dirtier. These guys were bottom of the barrel folks, but they were still tough as nails and more importantly there were a lot of them. “Poor master, we need to make sure that he’s found innocent, but will this be enough to overcome the Rune Knights?”

“We have to try! He’s doomed in there without us!” another yelled emotionally. “Our dear master… He’s the only one that would hire us in this stupid judgmental world!”

“And we lived in paradise! We barely had to do any dirty jobs for him! I’ll never forgive those Fairy Tail wizards for what they did! If we ever see them again, we should-!”

“I think you’ll have your chance soon enough.” The maids shrieked and even a few of the thugs seemed unnerved as a masked man stepped out of the shadows. He wore a long brown shroud that covered most of his body, though it was clear that he had metal plated armor underneath. The mask he wore would be a familiar one to Ragna, only this one was marked with a XII; twelve.

“Who are you!? We didn’t call you here whoever you are!” one of the maids shouted at him.

“And that was your first mistake; it’s idiotic to think that you could get past well-seasoned Rune Knights with a measly force like this,” they explained with a mocking tone directed towards the thugs.

“Now hold on a second you bastard! Are you calling us weak!?” one of the lead thugs demanded. “You don’t look like much yours-!”

A lightning-fast attack from beneath the cloak smacked the man straight in his face and sent him flying back into a large group of the hired thugs, causing a mild quake as all in the blast range fell unconscious. Glancing at the other thugs (evident by the direction his mask was facing), those not hit pretended to be readying their gear or doing something else entirely.

“Back to business; you’re fortunate. Not only will your group not have to fight through a squad of Rune Knights, but you’ll even get a well-deserved chance of revenge. I have it on good authority that you’ll now be up against members of the Fairy Tail guild, and they will be the same members that you claim to have wronged you all so badly.” The maids seemed to smile evilly at that news… at least that’s what anyone would guess they were doing.

“So you’ll help us deal with them?” one of the maids asked with a sneer (again, just guessing).

“I’ll be blunt; your cause and loyalty to your jailed employer mean nothing to me, but there’s someone there that I have business with; a half-paralyzed man in a red coat.”

“So what? You just want to take on the easy target and leave the rest of us with the actual job!?” another thug shouted, only to once again get hit in the face knocking him out along with the group behind him.

“Make no mistake in his appearance; this man is dangerous and certainly the most capable out of the group. I would be doing you a large favor in offering to merely distract him, but I will… deal with him personally. For my down payment, I’ll take whatever was promised to those weaklings that just became unavailable. And should it become clear that only I can retrieve that book you’re after, then I expect that your boss will handsomely reward me once he regains his freedom… or else.”

The maids hesitated, not that they doubt his abilities but because they didn’t want to speak for their master. They knew that they’d need this man’s help right now if they wanted any chance of freeing Everlue, but to condemn their beloved boss into paying his price was something they couldn’t easily bring themselves to do.

“…You’d better come up with an answer soon,” the figure said before a third of their attacks resulted in the same chaos and destruction as the previous two. “I’m getting impatient, and soon I’ll stop keeping myself from killing them.”

“W-We’re on your side!” one of the remaining thugs cried out in panic.

“Not yet, so you may want to help convince them of my terms so I am,” the Twelfth Blade of Gilgamesh explained cockily. “Now… who else wants to give me their paycheck?”

Midnight

Ragna fought off a yawn as he stood guard with a slouch in front of Kaby’s hut. While the two girls were going to be switching shifts, Ragna with his strong (if slightly impaired with his condition) senses were too important not to make full use of… Besides, Levy hadn’t been too off mark when she’d said he’d still be a big grump with or without tonight’s sleep.

“Coffee?” he heard Lucy offer as the door opened revealing two steaming mugs of the instant stuff he’d purchased in town.

“Thanks,” he said as he grabbed one, taking a nice long sip. “What?”

“That’s… pretty hot stuff,” she tried to warn him.

“It is? Guess I’m just more tolerant to hot food,” he shrugged off. “Beats eating it cold like Levy had to because she wouldn’t put that book down for dinner. I’m surprised Kaby let her read it when it means so much to him.”

“He’s going to have to give it up tomorrow so he might as well get used to the fact now. And it’s going to be read aloud to the court as evidence, so I guess it’s not going to stay private for him either. He’s giving up a lot to in order to bring Everlue to justice,” Lucy then got close to Ragna’s face. “And I also heard that you told him to write a book about his side of the story.”

“You don’t think it’s something worth writing about?”

“This is coming from the guy that was saying how little he knew about novels earlier.”

“Yeah, meaning if even I can see that then it’s probably a half decent idea.” Ragna at least got a short laugh out of Lucy, but he wasn’t sure if it was just for his own stubbornness. “So what did he have to say about the book idea?”

“He actually already had a few pages to show me when I brought it up.” She gave Ragna a somewhat uncomfortable smile. “It… doesn’t really seem like he’s inherited his father’s talent for the craft, and I tried to tell him that gently. He didn’t seem to upset by it though and was more than happy to take any advice Levy and I gave him.”

“And yet you won’t let anyone read your own writing,” Ragna argued, referring to her scare that morning.

“He even said that he’s going to put whatever his book makes towards a better life for everyone in his farming community.”

“Come on, at least try to be subtle about changing the subject,” the Reaper muttered before taking another sip of his instant coffee.

“He’s actually going to put the money he was going to pay us for our first job towards it too,” Lucy added. “He said that the only reason he hasn’t done it yet is because he wanted to be sure Everlue didn’t try anything against the village as vengeance.”

“Right; something he wouldn’t have been able to do if we’d taken the money outright like you’d wanted to,” Ragna reminded.

“…Yeah, you got me there,” the blonde agreed with a slightly disheartened nod. “If it weren’t for you and Natsu, I don’t think the people of this place would have that bright of a future.”

“Then again, if it wasn’t for you Kaby wouldn’t have been able to find out what really happened to his father and get that final piece of closure that he needed,” he added for Lucy’s benefit. “And in the end, we managed to still get a chance for a giant reward without costing him anything.”

“Right, in a weird way everything seems to have worked itself out after all,” she agreed with a smile. “At least it will once this part of the job is over, meaning we need to make sure that everything goes well.”

“Right, so do me a favor and tell Levy to give it a rest with reading that damn novel you bought,” Ragna sternly ordered. “She’s going to need to be rested for when she’s on lookout and these extra hours of reading aren’t helping anyone.”

“…Maybe she’s right about you being a strict dad after all,” she taunted him before sticking her tongue out slyly.

“Yeah, maybe she is,” Ragna added with a small smirk.

And then! -Two Hours Later-

Ragna had to fight to keep his good eye from twitching as Levy yawned for the umpteenth time since she’d come out to replace Lucy. They didn’t have too long before the sun came up and the night had been completely silent, but that didn’t mean they were in the clear just yet. Even in his current state, Ragna still had plenty of stamina to spare (it helped that he’d actually been getting his expected 8 hours recently as opposed to sleeping with one eye open when he’d been a one man revolution), but he knew that it’d be in his best interest to take the rest of the day to catch up on his sleep… at the Fairy Tail guild… when he didn’t have anywhere to call home… yeah, Lucy was going to bring that up again.

‘Weird, I would have figured that they’d have sent SOMETHING by now. They’re awfully close with how early the sun has been rising. They got around 4 hours before the magic council comes for the book and at that point it’s all over. Would they have actually gone after Kaby’s wife? No, she’d definitely be safe at that guild and at this point it would still be cutting it too close to get the book through her. What’s their angle here? I-’ “Levy, I swear if you yawn one more time, I am going to drown you in all the instant coffee we have left.”

“I think I heard about that threat from Natsu,” Levy said as she tried to stifle another of her yawns… failing. “First, thanks for not following through. I’m trying as hard as I can and you are being very patient with me.”

“…Right.” Ragna found it difficult to stay angry at someone so collected.

“Second, sorry I went a little overboard with my reading. I would say that you know how it is when you start reading a good couple of books and have no chance of putting them down, but clearly you don’t know anything about it.”

“Not really, but that’s beside the point. Just keep your eyes out and we’ll get through these last couple of hours.”

“Might help if we actually had a conversation to keep me awake. I promise I won’t get distracted.” Ragna didn’t immediately turn her down. “So about this whole father-daughter thing between you and Lucy, how exactly has it been working out?”

“Not a whole lot to say that you can’t already see… also, Natsu and Happy are a part of it too. It’s not just Lucy,” Ragna reminded.

“Yeah, but it’s kind of obvious to see where those two fall into all of this. They probably started with this as more of a joke, but they’re probably sticking with it in more of a lighthearted manner because it’s fun. As far as drama goes, that sort of thing would lie with Lucy.”

“…Fair assessment, though there hasn’t exactly been a lot of drama to talk about,” he admitted. “Like I said, the whole relationship is fairly skin deep. I do my part to look out for Lucy and make sure she’s in a good place. That includes making sure she’s got enough money to cover her rent and to keep safe from the crazies… a few of which we have in our guild.”

“Not arguing with you there, but they’re all good people. Right?”

“From what I can tell anyways. But I guess I’m not exactly what you’d call that much of a ‘doting’ father. I’ll just do my best to keep her and the others safe, but I know that they have their own work to do and being a wizard can be a dangerous job, so I’ll just hope to high hell that I’m there when they need me.”

“So… in short you’re winging it.”

“…Yeah.” ‘Maybe it’s not just Mira that’s able to see through me so easily.’

“And in spite of that, it looks like you’re actually doing a good job by just being there when they need it.”

“…Glad that you think so,” Ragna answered with a soft smile. “Someone I didn’t include in all of that talking was Erza.”

“Why? Did she have something to say about it? Try to stop it even?”

“No no, she actually joined in.”

“What!?” Levy exclaimed before laughing. “You’re making that up!”

“No, I’m dead serious. We start explaining things to her; all of a sudden she joins in and calls me Father out of nowhere,” Ragna explained with a soft smile.

“Joined in? Erza? The biggest stickler for rules in the guild and the one that’s always the first to chew us out whenever anything happens that would damage the guild’s reputation?” Levy asked, unable to hold in her laughter. Ragna was glad that her earlier signs of exhaustion were gone, but he was worried that she might start waking the neighbors. “There’s just no way.”

“To be fair, I don’t think there’s anything written against this in the rules. Go on and ask Erza, she’ll own up to it.”

“Or put me through a couple of walls!”

“Then ask Lucy, Natsu, Happy, or even Grey. They were all there, they’ll tell you exactly what I told you.”

“Or they’re all in the know of some massive prank.”

“You’re impossible to convince, you know that?” Ragna muttered, but couldn’t help continuing to smile. His happier complexion didn’t last long as his features narrowed. “They’re here.”

“This close to morning? That doesn’t leave them with a lot of time.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them to keep a tighter schedule in the future. Go grab Lucy and make it quick; I’ll stay here to greet them.” Levy nodded and headed inside, though Ragna didn’t take his eyes off of the surrounding darkness. ‘There’s a lot of them out there, and they’ve got this place completely surrounded. What kind of skill are we dealing with in these guys? Lucy’s got her spirits and Levy’s got that magic that she told me about, so will that be enough… and why the hell is one of them coming over ahead of the rest?’

“What’s that idiot doing!?” came a shrill voice from a short distance away. The Reaper thought he recognized it as one of Everlue’s maids from the job the group had taken a short while ago.

With the larger group staying back while the lone figure made their way forward, Ragna knew that it wasn’t in his best interest to engage the enemy just yet. By the time Lucy and Levy had stepped out of Kaby’s hut, the approaching threat had just stepped out of the shadows.

“Hello… Thirteen.”

‘Weird, makes me remember Nu,’ Ragna considered. “Took you long enough to catch up, Blade of Gilgamesh.”

“This is like that other guy you ran in to at Everlue’s Mansion?” Lucy questioned. Ragna had the foresight to tell the rest of his team what had happened and the situation it had put him in, better than have it come up now as a complete surprise.

“…Never refer to that weakling in front of me.”

WHAM!

XII had unleashed the same attack that they’d used to threaten the thugs and this time it was aimed straight at Lucy’s head. It was a fatal blow with no chance of survival… or it would have been if Ragna hadn’t taken the full force of the blow by extending his arm to cover her. Even with the sudden attack blocked, the ground in front of them was horridly cracked from the force alone. Ragna narrowed his eyes in a scowl.

‘That was just a shockwave from a physical punch, no magic involved. This guy is actually dangerous.’

“Not bad. I’m glad you were able to defend her against that little trick of mine. It’d be a pity if this was all it took. I wouldn’t have been able to rip you all apart myself.”

“You’re only here for me,” Ragna reminded, holding his rage back though it was clearly evident in his voice.

“I’m here for you and my job. It’s clear that those fool maids waiting back will all of that hired muscle want you all dead or worse. Something about their boss? I couldn’t give any less of a damn. You’ll be dead. I’ll be paid and well on my way to earning the next spot as the new Eleventh.”

‘So there’s some kind of fighting within the Blades for rank? That might explain why it took this guy so long to come after me. Weird, I thought they would’ve been a lot more upset with me.’ Ragna weighed his options. “Lucy. Levy.”

“You can count on us,” Lucy affirmed with a nod. “If you both fought here, it would be hard for you to go all out without the entire village getting swept up in the chaos. The three of us can handle the rest no problem.”

“Three of you?” XII questioned. “I guess what they say about dumb blondes is… Oh, you have a Celestial Key. And a golden one… just like your stupid hair.”

“Just for those comments, I’ll throw in an extra punch for you,” Ragna promised his daughter figure who was already fuming. “We going?”

“…Why not? The fewer distractions, the better. And the more of those thugs that fall, the larger of a paycheck I can demand.” Rolling his good eye at how materialistic his opponent was turning out to be, Ragna started heading towards the outlying field with XII following closely behind him.

“Not going for a sneak attack?”

“Don’t tempt me; they said I had to beat you legitimately.”

“They?”

“Keep moving,” came the harsh demand from beneath his opponent’s mask. Ragna knew he wasn’t going to be getting anything else just yet, so he kept quiet and followed his opponent, even when they stepped through the ranks of thugs and the strange maids he remembered from last time. “I’ll handle him like we planned. The rest are all yours. I’d hurry if I were you.”

“And who was the one saying we needed to wait until they were good and exhausted!?”

‘Seeing how dirty this guy is still playing even when ‘they’ told him not to, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s trying to get everyone else as desperate as he can just to get more money. XIII was only prideful, so what’s this guy’s deal? Maybe it’s that position thing.’ These thoughts lingered with Ragna as he was led away, along with any consideration for how he was going to fight off this new foe.

“…Sooooooooooo…” one of the thugs began once Ragna and XII were gone. “Are we supposed to-?”

“ATTAAAAAAAAACK!”

Their hired thugs gave vicious cries as they rushed forward. The didn’t make it far before a large section of the ground fell out from beneath a group of them and they stumbled in unable to escape.

“YOU PREPARED A PITFALL!?” one of the maids demanded.

“COURTESY OF VIRGO! AND SHE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE OUT TO PLAY TONIGHT!” Lucy declared as she brought out a golden key. “OPEN: GATE OF THE GOLDEN BULL! TAURUS!”

With the ringing of a cowbell and a loud MOO! as a battle cry, the giant Celestial Spirit emerged from the portal with a giant crash. The bull-man with a giant battle axe was not unlike a Minotaur, save for its white and black spotted fur compared to the usual darker brown, making it look cuddlier despite its massive muscles. The charging thugs couldn’t help but pause for a moment at the bastion of raw power before them… right as it turned to Lucy with hearts in his eyes and steam blow out of its nostrils.

“Why hi there Lucy! Thanks so much for summoning me again! Always happy to see you and your killer bod! Why don’t you MOOOOve on over here and give me a little kiss?”

“…Ragna’s going to turn that oversized bovine into Fillet Mignon,” Levy noted appropriately.

“Why do you think I don’t summon him whenever dad’s around?” Lucy asked rhetorically, something that seemed to confuse her summon. “But enough perving Taurus! I need to you to beat up those guys charging us!”

“MOOOOOOO! YOUR WISH MY COMMAND! I’LL GET THESE STEERS OUTTA HERE!” the summoned spirit declared as he brought out his twin-bladed battleaxe and blasted a large group of the thugs away using the blunt side of the weapon.

“WHAT THE HELL!? I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS BULL!”

…As expected, no one found that particularly funny; least of all Levy as she used her own magic to create the word stone, made out of stone, and threw it at the jokester to crush.

(SHE THREW A ROCK AT HIM! …It was a big rock)

“So that’s your magic script,” Lucy noted as she kept her whip out and at the ready should she need it. Taurus was going to town pretty hard at the moment, so it didn’t seem all that necessary. “What else do you have?”

“How about this one for size!?” she declared at some of the attacking maids got close. “SOLID SCRIPT: HOLE!” The spoken word appeared in front of her on the ground and right under a few of the maids. A second later, a pitfall materialized and caused them to fall in.

“You can do that with your magic!? Why didn’t you tell me!?” the blonde demanded.

“You seemed really excited to dig all of those pitfalls with Virgo, I didn’t want to ruin your moment,” she explained innocently… Lucy couldn’t exactly argue with her there. “SOLID SCRIPT: FIRE!” The resulting word and the explosion sailed towards their opponents and seared several of them quite badly.

“Nice! They aren’t even getting close to the house!” Lucy said excitedly with the job going so well. “I hope Ragna’s having as much fun as we are.”

-Meanwhile: Outer Dirt Fields-

“I think this is far enough. I have to allow myself some time to head back, deal with your companions, and grab that book after all,” XII said as he turned to face the Reaper. “I’ve done a fair bit of research on you, so don’t think that I’ll be underestimating you like so many others have.”

“Huh… thanks for letting me know. Now I won’t need to give you a second chance once you’ve realized your mistake,” Ragna smirked cockily.

“Second chances shouldn’t exist in our line of work,” XII insisted dismissively as they tossed something from beneath the folds of their cloak that clattered to dirt ground between the two. “Let my most recent trophy be proof of that.”

It was XIII’s mask, broken horridly with missing sections, countless scars, dents… and stains of dried blood. The previous XIII mark which had already been crossed out by its owner post their defeat looked like it had been impaled by something and was surrounded by a majority of the blood. Ragna didn’t say anything, though his cocky smirk was gone and replaced with stillness.

“None of the higher numbers thought we should waste our time with a weakling who had given up title and honor, but I knew differently. His blood had become a part of our covenant; we needed to take back. What should I do to you and the two girls with you? I want to take as long as I can to draw the life from them while you watch.”

Ragna was silent for a long moment… before sighing tiredly.

“Look, if you’re trying to-”

(Cue DragonBall FighterZ Goku Black’s Theme Extended)

Quick as a flash, Ragna guarded with his right arm to defend another of XII’s shockwave punches as cracks appeared on the ground between the two. Before Ragna could retaliate with as much as an insult, he was forced to block a series of these attacks as XII unleashed a full barrage, tearing chunks of the very earth apart as Ragna fought to hold his ground. Taking the time to reel back one final shockwave punch, XII unleashed a wave unlike any before it that caused Ragna to actually grimace at the impact. Throwing his cloak off and towards Ragna gave XII the cover he needed for his next attack.

CLANG!

Ragna had summoned XIII’s old war blade and had cleaved through the cloak at just the right angle to counter XII’s duel-wielding katana blades from behind the cover. The blades were golden and pale white with the golden blade having a sun keychain trinket at the pommel’s end while the pale white one had a waxing moon. Sparks flew as the golden blade scraped across Ragna sword from XII’s forward lunge until he’d passed by and swung into a backhand slash with his other sword which Ragna countered with a blade clash. Ragna’s overhead swing was dodged by a lightning fast sidestep from his opponent before he blocked their parallel slash with the flat end of his sword and avoided the follow-up before swinging wildly and forcing his opponent to leap back.

XII quickly strafed towards Ragna’s blindside the instant they landed and charged forward with a pincer attack. Ragna was already used to fighting half-blinded and thrust his sword into between the pincer and stopped both blades. With his opponent unable to close the gap, Ragna chose his moment to unsummon the blade before smashing XII in his face with an expertly timed jab. Ragna then summoned Erigor’s scythe for a wicked slash that was guarded against by the golden blade before XII went into a heavy swing with his other blade resulting in another clash. As both warriors slid back from the exchange, Ragna used the additional range granted by his weapon to use a deliver another powerful attack to his opponent’s guard before unsummoning his weapon.

“REAPER’S STORM!”

With all of his recent studying and practice with Fiore’s magic, Ragna had managed to improve his spells drastically since their last casting. Now instead of just a few jagged bolts of violent electricity, Ragna managed to fire off one massive bolt that appeared to pierce through XII before his afterimage faded. Summoning XIII’s sword to his side once more, he deflected XII’s rush to his blind spot before swinging around with a roundhouse kick to their side. Ragna didn’t know what the Blades used for armor, but though the contact had been solid enough to launch XII off their feet it didn’t feel like a lot of made it through to damage XII.

Landing to his feet with a bit of a stumble, a low growl could be heard from beneath XII’s mask. Ragna meanwhile was managing to keep his calm complexion during the fight, waiting for XII to make the next move that he would counter. The Blade of Gilgamesh readied their blade before unleashing a wicked slash that created a razor shockwave as his form of attack. Using his own large blade, Ragna guarded against the projective, deflected XII’s forward sword lunge, before counting their follow-up swing and putting the two into a blade-lock. While XII was clearly struggling to push forward even with all of their established power, Ragna wasn’t moving an inch as he held the sword back. Even asserting pressure with his other sword did nothing, leaving Ragna to drop the sword and fire off a point-blank fireball to send his opponent flying back. Catching his sword before it hit the ground, Ragna unleashed his own shockwave cut that crushed XII’s ill prepared guard and managed to knock the golden blade out of their hand. The blade spun through the air before it impaled itself in the ground a short distance away.

Making sure they didn’t have time to retrieve their sword, Ragna rushed forward to continue exerting his pressure. XII dodged the Reaper’s overhead slash, but Ragna’s kick forward caught them straight in the gut and sent them stumbling back. His follow up swing only sent them further off balance from the clash and XII’s retaliating slash was easily dodged. Ragna next swing against the poor guard blasted them back even further before they crashed violently to the ground. While Ragna could’ve rushed forward to mercilessly continue his onslaught (and even heavily considered it) he stayed back for a moment to allow his opponent to climb to his feet.

“Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m kicking your ass pretty damn hard right now. I think it’s about time you backed the hell off.” Honestly, Ragna already knew that this was never going to work. He’d given this offer plenty of times back in his home world and they never took it (aside from Platinum of all people oddly enough). His only hope was that people were a little more reasonable in his new setting, but even still there wasn’t much evidence for their saner thinking.

“Don’t you dare mock me…” his opponent seethed. “I’ll never allow myself to be thought poorly of… Never AGAIN.” Without elaborating further, the placed both of their hands on their pale katana and began glowing with energy. The golden katana that Ragna had disarmed them of faded into golden energy that was absorbed by the blade they still held.

“You waited until now for this? I thought you said that you weren’t going to underestimate me like everyone else,” Ragna reminded as he readied his sword. “And what about the damn Blades and their hatred of magic? Looks like you got no problem using it.”

“I DIDN’T UNDERESTIMATE YOU! AND THIS ISN’T YOUR FEEBLE CANTRIPS! THIS IS THE DIVINE POWER GIFTED ONLY TO THE MOST ELITE GROUP OF WARRIORS IN THE WORLD!” he declared as the glowing increased and the warrior was encased in a binding flash of light.

‘Divine Power? I mean I didn’t see any magic sigils like I see from most spells, but are they just calling magic by another name to justify their own use of it? Sure as hell seems like it,’ Ragna considered as the light faded. Now the katana XII held was pale white with golden flame detail covering the metal of the slightly longer blade. The chain at the end was now a flaming sun with a pale white center and golden flames surrounding it. Or more accurately, it was an eclipse with the center being the obstructive moon.

“DIE!” XII roared as he rushed forward for an overhead slash. Ragna easily deflected the slash, but as he went back for a follow up attack, he heard what seemed like a gleeful scoff from beneath XII’s mask. In the next instant, he suffered a fairly deep vertical cut across his chest as a spray of crimson was drawn. “FIRST BLOOD!”

It was like Ragna was dealing with a shark in a frenzy now that he’d been hurt. XII went for a cut from Ragna’s right blindspot, but Ragna was able to clash the attack with his own blade. As XII went for another attach from the opposite side, Ragna was then slashed from the right by a sudden force and began bleeding further. Holding, his opponent’s next attack in a blade lock, Ragna grimaced under the new weight due to his injuries before his blade was struck by another sudden force. His tensed and grit his teeth at the new development… before pausing thoughtfully. Ragna backstepped the next slash as XII’s swing went wide, then rushed in a by swing his sword to the side as if to counter the former attack after the fact. It was the right move as the next instant sparks flew from the invisible attack and Ragna used that instant to unsummon the sword. XII’s follow up swing was too slow for Ragna’s forward uppercut which launched his opponent off their feet. Going into a roundhouse kick, he blasted the Blades of Gilgamesh member back once more.

“WHA-!? I-!? HOW-!?” XII demanded as they struggled to stay standing. “YOU FIGURED THAT FAR TOO QUICKLY!”

“To be fair, your little trick was easy to recognize when I’ve already dealt with it once before,” Ragna said calmly as he brought his sword back out. His wounds were already starting their process of healing (greatly impeded by his weakened state). “You’re able to make a small breakthrough in time-space giving you a sort of phantom-strike after the fact. I had a good friend that used to do the exact same thing. Only difference is you need that little toy to do it and she was just batshit hyper!” ‘Thanks Tao, I owe ya one.’

XII’s feral roar made it clear that Ragna’s taunt had made it through to the formerly cocky and now enraged sellsword. They charged forward and unleashed swing after swing on the Reaper, coming at him from different angle each time and yelling like a madman all the while. Ragna hadn’t backed down from the attack, in fact he was at the center of the chaos. Blocking the first swing, then the follow up, then the first attack’s phantom strike. None of XII’s attacks made it through Ragna’s defenses and the Blade realized that the only reason that could be true would be if Ragna was moving at least twice as fast as him. Trying desperately to move themselves faster, their attacks became even more crazed before-

CLANG!

(End theme)

XII’s combined sword sailed spiraling through the air much like his single blade had, only now when it landed XII was defenseless. Slowly glancing to his missing sword, he almost frightenedly turned his attention back to Ragna who barely had to move to put his sword at the opponent’s throat.

“Tell the rest of the idiots in your group that I’m ready whenever they are. Better yet, I’m more than ready to finish this all now if it gets you off my back.” A strong breeze blew through the dirt fields as Ragna unsummoned his sword. Now XII was starting to shake as he stared down Ragna.

“You… idiot.” Ragna tilted his head slightly at the insult; not the sort of thing he was expecting. “You really think you can just fight us off like this? That we’re not going to try to kill you with everything that we have!? Why didn’t you cut that last weakling down!? Why are you letting me live!? Pity!? There’s nothing for me now! NOTHING!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ragna actually had to take a step back from this intense ranting of someone that had been cutting him open two seconds ago. “You’re… you’re acting like you actually want me to… Oh no.”

“Ugh… I… KILL M-!”

“On second thought.”

WHAM!

Ragna’s punch struck XII straight in their face. They didn’t go very far, but the direct contact and power the Reaper put behind it made things clear that the disgraced Blade of Gilgamesh wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

“I promised my daughter an extra punch for your comments earlier. I’d say sorry, but you really earned that one and at least this way you’ll have no choice but to take it easy for the moment.”

With his opponent knocked out, Ragna headed over and grabbed the combined katana they’d been using. Giving it test swing, it didn’t feel any different than swinging any other sword, even if it was expertly crafted. Channeling his magic into the weapon and swinging again yielded the expected results as he felt the air shift from the phantom slash.

“So their weapons are compatible with magic after all. Makes it seem like these Blades of Gilgamesh guys are all hypocrites when it comes to hating on the stuff. Or is it just this guy’s case? Either way, he won’t be giving any answers for at least a… What the-?”

XII was gone. Without a trace. Not even his cloak had been left behind.

“I… couldn’t feel him leave? My senses haven’t been that bad while I’ve been half paralyzed. I even kept an ear out for him and… Wait, how the hell was he even standing? Even with how tough he was, a punch that solid would’ve kept him down for a whole day. Hours at the very damn least. What’s going on and where…?”

Chills.

“Oh shit.”

Back with the Girls

“And that should be the last of them,” Lucy said as she pulled the final ropes, leaving the maids to give pained gasps as they were finally tied up. “Nice job getting all of this rope for us, Kaby!”

“I explained the situation to everyone else in the village and (after dealing with many many noise complaints) they brought over what they had. I… hope you don’t mind that they started asking for a small cut on the bounties of each of the criminals their rope’s helping to subdue.”

“Huh, take all of it if you need it. The reward we’ll be getting from the Magic Council is much bigger than what they’re worth and you guys look like you need it more than us,” she explained.

“Uh, shouldn’t you hold onto some of that?” Levy asked awkwardly. “Ragna will need some of the extra funds to house hunt, won’t he?”

“Don’t worry, this job will cover any down payment plus at least two months,” Lucy explained before gripping her fist tightly. “And I’m going to make sure he spends it right this time!”

“…Can Ragna not manage his money?” Kaby asked innocently.

“He likes to spoil his team, almost like they’re his kids,” Levy explained, though it almost looked like she was getting used to the idea.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Kaby explained before looking towards the horizon. “It looks like we won’t have to wait much longer. The Rune Knights will be here to pick up that book before long.”

“Finally, I can’t wait to get back take a bath and sleep for the rest of the day,” Levy said with a long stretch. “…Oh who am I kidding? I’m probably going to check that book shop to find something else to read until I pass out. Care to join me, Lucy?”

“Can’t. Need to capitalize on Ragna’s latest paycheck and make sure he manages to find a place to call home straightaway. He’s helped me get started, so I can’t pass up this chance to return the favor.”

“You two certainly seem close; much closer than the last time I saw you both,” Kaby commented. “And… you’re definitely living up to that father and daughter type relationship you were telling me about. My father and I had most of that time together stripped from us; be sure not to let the chance you both go to waste. I…” Kaby noticed some of the tied-up thugs were shaking and followed to their gaze to a slumped over figure slowly shuffling towards. “Who… is that?”

“That’s the Blade of Gilgamesh that Ragna was fighting,” Lucy realized as he got closer. “Don’t tell me… he lost?”

“I doubt that the case,” Levy said, trying to comfort her friend. “I… Wait, why are these guys so terrified of him?” All of the thugs and even the maids were shaking as XII approached. “Weren’t they on the same side? Lucy you better bring out-!”

“Already on it!” she declared as she brought out the same golden key from before. “OPEN! GATE OF THE-!”

“STOP.”

Levy tackled Lucy at the last instant, right before XII’s shockwave punch would’ve connected. The ground along the attack was horribly torn, the thugs in the way were blown off the ground with every bone in their bodies broken, and half of Kaby’s hut was completely obliterated.

“DIE.”

Another shockwave aimed at the two. His aim was slightly off and only delivered minor cuts to the girls from the debris. Kaby himself was nearly hit by the attack and dove behind the girls to keep the sought after tome safe, knowing very well he couldn’t be of any help in this fight. The figure shuffled forward one final time before raising its head like it was possessed. The bleeding red eye that was poking out from beneath his horridly cracked mask certainly gave off that sort of impression.

“I’M GOING TO KILL… ALL OF YOU!”

With a brutal howl, he rushed forward as anyone tied up let out their terrified cries. Hurrying to their feet, Lucy grabbed out her golden key while Levy readied and quickly cast a spell.

“SOLID SCRIPT: GUARD!” she shouted as she quickly wrote the word in the air and created the barrier.

Lucy tried to use that time to begin her casting for Taurus once more, but it wasn’t enough before the opponent closed the distance. XII roared as he swung both of his fists upwards against the barrier and destroyed it in that one single strike, causing magical energy to shatter away like glass shards. Both girls and Kaby fell back helplessly with XII towering over them. Roaring with his fists raised in the air as the very earth around him shook violently with his power, he prepared for the final death blow. Barely starting his downward swing though…

“…Levy… Kaby… Lucy… I’m sorry.”

With a quick flash of steel, XII went hauntingly still a mere second from following through with his final attack. There wasn’t any sort of blood spray for the blow had been far to clean. All Lucy could see was XII’s bloody eye seeming to dull for a brief moment. Then his top half fell one direction while his bottom half moved another, both of his halves hit the ground and began to bleed out on the dirt while also revealing Ragna standing behind him. His posture indicated that he’d just finished a powerful sword cut, made all the more evident with his new katana coated in blood. His face wasn’t in a terrifying scowl, not even annoyed, to the three it almost looked… sad.

‘Dammit… Of course it was too good to last,’ Ragna thought before swinging his new blade to rid it of blood and sending it back to his magical storage. You could hear a pin drop in the fields as his good eye glanced to the shocked trio he’d just saved. “Is everyone alright?”

“Y…y… y…” Lucy couldn’t even form an answer.

“I’m going to assume you’re trying to say yes.” Not a bit of humor in the ex… current Reaper’s words. “…Just worry about yourselves for right now… I’ll take care of XII.”

“D… Da… Ragna,” Lucy tried again, at least managing to say her father figure’s name. “I’m… I’m… so-”

“Don’t you dare apologize.” It had been some time since Ragna had spoken that forcefully, and never before in this new world. “If it’s to save the people I care about… then there isn’t a line out there I won’t cross.” Ragna turned his back to her as he used XII’s cloak to wrap the bleeding pieces, already they were staining and starting to leak through the material. “This isn’t your burden to bear; it’s mine.”

Ragna didn’t offer another word as he left... knowing that no matter the pay he received, the job had been an utter failure.

Later -Day Break-

It wasn’t long before the Rune Knights returned with what looked like several officers of the army. By then Ragna had already buried the two halves of his first taken life in this world and had wordlessly returned to the girls and Kaby. It had been a long, silent, and agonizing wait which heavily contrasted their jolly followship mere hours before. The two Rune Knights from the day before approached the group while the other officers went to the tied criminals who were honestly relieved to put whatever distance they could between themselves and the skilled killer in their midst.

“…Before I start,” one of the Rune Knights said as he held onto a metal suitcase with a magical sealing rune on it, “Let me just say that I was left in the dark as much as you were… and I don’t approve of these methods.”

“What’s that mean?” Levy demanded, still shaken by the earlier events and now felt… mixed.

“Everlue was already tried. And found completely guilty of every crime brought before him,” the fellow knight explained joylessly. “It was a court held in secret, no one on the outside was privy to the knowledge.”

“Without the book?” Ragna demanded. Even his words barely held any rage at the reveal.

“There was a bounty of other evidence and witnesses gathered from all over in secret,” the Rune Knight explained. “The only thing that we didn’t have was the location of his maids who had all done their own fair share of dark deeds.”

“You used us all as bait!?” Ragna and Lucy had only seen Kaby shake with that kind of rage when he was talking about Day Break in its original form.

“They only intended to us you as the bait, but then you requested these wizards to your aide,” the first knight said as he offered the briefcase. “And while I again say that I don’t approve of these methods, you did perform more than admirably. Not only are the maids in custody, but a fair number of criminals all with bounties on their heads as well. All of which you deserve payment for.”

“Give that to the village; we already agreed to that and you owe them all that much,” Ragna ordered as he grabbed the suitcase. Not a word or even motion of disapproval was made by any of the knights. “How long?”

“Several life sentences for Everlue, but I don’t know about the rest of these,” the second said, gesturing to the tied criminals. “There are going to be a lot of trials; every single one needs to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I know it’s hardly anything, but… you made this Kingdom just a little safer with your actions. And even if you received payment in return for them, you still have both our sincere thanks.”

“…Whatever.” Neither of the guards knew what had transpired, but both also knew better than to question. With a solid nod from each, they rejoined their officer in arranging to bring their new prisoners to justice. “Kaby, we need to be going.”

“I… I agree,” their client agreed. “Even if it wasn’t for the cause that I thought it was, you still have my gratitude. I’ll… write to you all later, under better circumstances.”

The three nodded as they headed off wordlessly. Ragna knew that he’d have to walk in the lead, not side by side once more. Circumstances were what they were; it didn’t matter when the end result had ended in someone dead. He told himself that there was nothing else to do as the passed by the recently dug grave… nothing except to avoid another secret.

“Lucy. Levy.” The three came to a stop as he turned to face them. Their faces weren’t shocked, moreso tired… and not just from the long night that they’d all endured. “It doesn’t excuse what happened, but I noticed something completely off when I was burying the body.” Both girls stood patiently. “Their blood, it… it looked like it was getting eaten away by something green.”

“Green?” Levy questioned. “You mean… some sort of poison? Or acid?”

“I think it was more accurately a drug; something that put him in that state. Regardless of…. anything else, it was obvious that it would’ve killed him soon enough. Before I burned the body to ashes to make sure it didn’t spread, I got a good look at his face under his mask. And it’s clear that he was turned… well, Feral is too kind of a word for what I saw. And he didn’t have anything on him to inject or consume that sort of drug. Someone else did that.” He shook his head. “Problem is I don’t have a damned idea who could’ve done that between my fight with him.”

“So someone even worse is still out there?” Levy asked since Lucy still hadn’t started talking yet.

“…Sorry, I’m still in the dark.”

-…And then…: Carriage Ride Back-

The ride back was as dead as they expected. Aside from hiring another carriage there hadn’t been a single other word said as the crew traveled the slightly bumpy terrain. Unlike their journey there which had Lucy sitting beside Ragna, now she and Levy were both seated across from the Reaper. It was a minor change, but was indicative of the new distance between them. Despite the physical and mental exhaustion they carried, not a single one of the tried getting any amount of sleep. As they traveled, Ragna felt something warm on his cheek, a bit of direct sunlight. Seeing this made him realize something; even if he was still put in similar circumstances stances as his last life… that didn’t mean he was stuck with his old self, not by a longshot.

“Hey… Lucy,” Ragna started gently. In the long pause, he wondered if she’d heard him or if she was just ignoring him… turns out, neither.

“Yeah?” Her voice was still hollow, even talking with him.

“Once we get back to the guild… why don’t I take a look over that book you’re writing?” The sudden request seemed to at least bring some life back into the blonde, even if it was clearly dominated by her surprise. “I mean, I know I’m far from an expert on something like this. I wouldn’t know where to start with this sort of thing… but maybe you can help me with that.” He smiled, and unexpectedly it didn’t even feel forced. “I’d love to see whatever it is you’ve written. I’m pretty damned sure that it’d be amazing.”

Another long moment of silence. Levy just looked at the two worriedly, turning her head between each of them and waiting for the next move… the tension made it feel like the carriage could explode at any instant.

“…Only on one condition,” she finally said, now officially finding her voice again.

“Name it,” the Reaper told her without reservation.

“Before you do… and hopefully as soon as we get back,” she started as she finally looked him in the eye. “We’re house hunting for you… you still need a place to call home… Dad.”

“…That’s a high asking price,” Ragna said with his warm smile turning to more of a soft smirk.

“Going once…”

“Okay, okay; you got me,” he relented with a chuckle as Lucy final gave her own smile. Watching the two of them… it wasn’t much for Levi, but her smile made it clear that it was more than enough to start.

Next Time: Image of Fellowship

Chapter Text

Episode 013: Image of the Fellowship

‘Guess I was worried over nothing… weird, back home I would’ve either have been too pissed to care what anyone thought about me or… actually, that was really it. Kind of nice that they’re not all around upset with me for the most part,’ Ragna thought as he headed around the tables of Fairy Tail on one end while Mira handled the other. ‘…Key phrase is for the most part.’ “You guys need anything?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Macao said, not even bothering to look the Reaper in the eye.

‘Okay, that man’s a father. I wouldn’t blame him if he’s just trying to look out for his kid here.’ “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. Had my fill of booze for now,” Wakaba answered, not eyeing Ragna either.

‘Bullshit, there’s hardly a time where you two aren’t drinking. Most of the guys here aren’t giving me the time of day.’ “Mira, this side’s clear. I’m gonna go on break for now.”

“Right, I’ll call you if I need you,” she promised. She was keeping up with her usual smile, but something about it still seemed off to Ragna. The Reaper also notice that Levi hadn’t come into the guild today (not that he could blame her after the day she had yesterday). “Something wrong?”

“Nah, just tired,” he lied as he headed over to one of the empty and seated himself before pulling his book out of storage. Everyone still seemed uncomfortable at the sight of his reequip magic, so that much hadn’t changed. Speaking of which, Ragna hadn’t seen Erza since he’d left for his job… and was all but certain that she’d have words for him when she did return. He’d only opened his book on magic when Lucy entered the guild. Everyone seemed to brighten up at the sight of her, even when the first thing she did was head over to Ragna’s table. “Morning.”

“Good morning, though I guess we’re closer to noon at this point,” the summoner admitted. “You come to a decision after our house hunt yesterday?”

“That third one looked pretty alright for what they were asking, but it’s going to be a while before I save up to afford the first few months,” Ragna decided. “I think for now I’ll have to keep staying at the guild, at least until I have this elixir ready. That’s my priority right now.” Lucy didn’t seem to complain so Ragna took that as a sign of approval… and knew he needed to ruin it with his next question. “So… how are you holding up?”

“I’m doing okay; you’re the one I’m really worried about,” Lucy said as she glanced behind him at the other members of the guild who had gone back to their normal discussions. “You realize that you didn’t have to tell Makarov in front of everyone?”

“No, I did. It’s better that I brought it out on my own terms instead of having everyone find some dark secret on me,” the Reaper admitted. “They haven’t done anything aggressive but…” He then noticed Wakaba heading over to Mira at the front desk. Along with his usual flirting with the young lady (Ragna could’ve sworn he’d heard the guy was married) it wasn’t too hard to tell he was getting his drinks from her after turning Ragna away. “I kind of wish they would, just get it over with so things can go back to normal all the quicker.”

“I can try talking to them, make sure they understand the position you were put in,” Lucy offered.

“Don’t worry about it; I just think it’s going to take some time to move on,” the Reaper answered maturely. "At this point, all we have to do is be patient and thing will go be to some semblance of normal sooner or-”

“ALRIGHT! JOB TIME!”

Natsu had come in out of nowhere and slammed a request down in between the two with enough force to crack the table.

“Aye! And this job will even have one of the last three ingredients you need!” Happy declared as he flew in from behind.

“It will? Didn’t see anything like that when I got in this morning.” ’Believe me, I checked. I wanted the best way to get out of here I could find.’

“That’s ‘cause we snagged it yesterday when we got back, make sure no one else beat us to it today,” the Dragon Slayer declared proudly. Ragna and Lucy had to both share a grimace at that. “Come on, you’ve gone on a mission with just about everyone else. I need a chance to really let loose with you on a team up!”

“Sorry that you felt neglected, but are you sure that now really the best time for this?” the Reaper had to ask. “After what happened on yesterday’s job, several members have been giving me dirty looks. It might be better for you if I do this one alone and-"

“That’s not why they’re angry at you,” Happy interrupted.

“…It’s not?” Ragna was taken aback. “Then what the hell is it?”

“Something else they heard you say yesterday; I only heard about it after the fact,” Natsu told him with a mischievous smirk. “Hey Mira! Ragna’s too embarrassed to say it out loud, but did you give any thought to the date he asked you out on!?”

…The earlier contempt the Reaper had detect earlier had now evolved, nearly to the point of bloodlust.

“This was all because of my sweetheart comment yesterday?” No one around the guild seemed to be in any rush to correct him, though Lucy seemed especially surprised. “I can’t tell whether I should be relieved or disappoint right now.”

“Boy. And you keep calling Gray dense,” Happy mocked with a laugh.

“It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it,” Natsu countered, more to the Ice user’s detriment than Ragna’s defense.

“You know what? Screw it, let’s go. I didn’t need to be here today anyways,” Ragna commanded with a huff before today’s trio left through the front door.

“At least he’s his usual annoyed self?” Lucy decided… rather unconvinced.

“Good morning, Lucy,” Mira said as she headed over to the blonde’s table with an empty tray after bringing Macao and Wakaba their orders. As usual, she had only her most welcoming smile. “Anything I can get you?”

“I think what I really need right now is some context. What’s the story between you and Ragna’s sweetheart comment?” she all but demanded.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that. Your dad wasn’t trying to flirt with me; I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know how,” Mira said while not dropping her smile for an instant. “In fact, he’s scared of me!”

“…Now I just need more context!”

Later -Dig Sight-

“You’re… all Fairy Tail wizards?” the head of the archeology dig asked with terror in their eyes. He wasn’t the only one, every other man there seemed genuinely horrified at the trio that had arrived. “The same guild known to take entire cities off the map if things get too intense?”

“Sounds like our reputation precedes us,” Ragna sighed.

“We do blow things up a lot,” Happy admitted.

“It’s not a Fairy Tail job until something is destroyed.” …Again, Natsu was saying this like he was boasting. The way the crew was acting, Ragna knew they were weighing their options on whether or not they should fire the group immediately. He decided to step in for little more reason than he still needed the offered ingredient.

“Look, the job you posted isn’t paying us much for such short notice, so good luck finding other help. I’ll do my best to keep this one… these two in line.” Ragna wondered how much he needed to worry about Happy and desperately hope he wouldn’t have to. “Just tell us where you need us and we’ll stay out of your way until you need some muscle or magic.”

“That… will hopefully have to work,” the head of the dig admitted. “The situation as things currently stand is that we’ve finally uncovered the ancient, buried ruins and we’ve nearly pinned down our way inside. The only issue is if this place has any magical barriers protecting it or if it has a monster guarding the treasure. Hopefully, we’ll have simply paid you to show up here and stand ready for the worst while we find the legendary treasure.”

“Legendary treasure? What kind?” Natsu asked, showing genuine interest.

“Maybe a long-lost recipe of the perfect fish stew!” Happy considered.

“Probably not, I just hope it doesn’t end up being dangerous,” Ragna sighed, knowing how his luck would take this job.

“If it exists it’ll certainly earn its status as legendary; we just have to hope it measures up,” one of the diggers noted with a chuckle.

‘Okay, why the hell did they say it like that?’

“Either way, you’ll have a good couple of hours to yourselves at least. So… stay at a safe distance and don’t get involved unless we need you.”

“Right,” Ragna agreed before turning to Natsu. “Up for some light sparring?”

“Uh…” The head of the dig was NOT put at ease.

“I said light sparring; you’ll be fine,” the Reaper promised as he and Natsu headed out of the site and back into the surrounding forests. It didn’t take them long to get to a decently sized clearing that would do for their match (as long as they didn’t go too far) “Happy, you joining in?”

“Nope. I’ll just stick to being a ref for the fight!” the cat declared. Ragna had to wonder what they’d be doing, but hopefully the cat would at least prove to be the voice of reason if Natsu got too heated. “Are we putting any stakes on this?”

“I got one,” Natsu thought as he got the same mischievous smile as before. “You lose to me, then you need to ask Mira out on a date. For real this time. And in front of the rest of the guild.”

“…That’s just sadistic,” Ragna said with heavy disapproval. “There’s no way I’m going to make that situation worse, not when things are already this tense for me after yesterday’s job. Hard pass.”

“You know that they understand, right?” the Dragon Slayer asked, now turning rightfully serious. “Killing at all is a rare event and it’s pretty dark, but they get what happened to get you there. You didn’t have any choice; it was either you let Lucy, Levy, and Kaby die or you kill the guy. If I were your position, I… I dunno know what I’d do, but you made the only choice you could and saved some members of Fairy Tail. I can’t hate you for that.”

“…Glad you think so.” Ragna was trying to stay neutral, but he knew that there was a part of him that needed to hear this from someone.

“The rest of our guild understands too, but…” Natsu grimaced. “I honestly can’t say I know what Erza’s going to say or do when she gets back. You’re probably going to want to be on her good side leading up to her finding out. Maybe even do something to soften the blow.”

“…Like throwing both of you at her first?” Ragna suggested giving a sharp smirk that made Natsu and Happy’s blood go cold. “You want to make this a high stakes match? That’s all I’m willing to accept for a gentlemen’s gamble, so you better be ready to play ball!”

“…You kidding? Now that I know I can’t possibly lose, I’M FIRED UP!” Natsu shouted as his fire magic exploded outward as a violent aura. Ragna raised the eyebrow that he could (glad that his hair wasn’t burning off). “Let’s do this!”

“Aye! I’ll quickly go over the rules!” Happy declared as he thrusted a paw into the air. “Since we’re on a job right now, the goal of this fight isn’t to Knock Out your opponent, but to score points! Each clean hit on an opponent is a point and the fight will end when one participant has both at least three points and a two point or great advantage over their opponent! After a point is scored, both of you must return to a ready position. Am I understood!?”

“Just one more rule to add on,” Ragna said seriously. “We can’t let this fight get out of hand, so we gotta keep the destruction to a minimum.”

“Understood! The fight must be kept at a street fighting level or lower! Are we agreed!?”

(Cue Guilty Gear XX Get down to business Extended)

“Not a problem! This time I’ll have all of my attention on kicking your ass, dad!” Natsu declared.

“You can talk whatever game you want; just make sure you can back it up. Otherwise you’ll just look like a cocky idiot,” the Reaper warned.

“Fighters ready!” Happy declared. Natsu did the classic fighter’s nose wipe with his thumb and his personal implementation of flames coming off. Ragna didn’t do anything of the sort, only standing at the ready.

“What? No weapons?” Natsu sounded genuinely insulted.

“I’m working with a different kit today, don’t worry about that and focus on fighting me,” he ordered.

“GO!”

At Happy’s call, Natsu made the first move by rushing forward with a flaming fist. Ragna took the attack and guarded with his forearm, but had to lean back as Natsu nearly connected with a follow up flaming kick. Landing from the attack, Natsu tried to go into a backhand on Ragna’s blind spot, but the Reaper saw the move coming and countered with a high roundhouse kick that blasted his opponent back. Though it had overpowered Natsu’s own attack, this was more of a clash meaning Ragna wasn’t granted a point.

Gathering up two fireballs in his hands, Natsu threw the first at Ragna who managed to block it with a wall of ice that he’d conjured. Not as strong as any of Gray’s creations, but enough to take the attack. Instead of preparing another to block the follow up or dodging, he managed to catch the attack and keep it from exploding by containing it in a sphere of wind magic. Using the two projectiles as an opening, Natsu had rushed forward with a flaming lunge only for Ragna to throw his own fireball back at him.

“You added your magic to mine! This just gives me a free meal!” he declared before opening up for a bite… only for the wind containing the ball to pick up after it left Ragna’s hand, mixing the magics so badly that it created a powerful flash bang. Natsu powered through it (even eating a bit) regardless, but the attack still blinded him, didn’t allow him to track Ragna’s dodge, and earned him and uppercut straight under the jaw that sent him flying.

“Hope you liked your knuckle sandwich,” the Reaper said as Natsu landed. The fire breather was immediately on his feet again to continue fighting.

“That’s the first point!” Happy declared from the sides. “But you really had to add a dad joke?”

“…Everyone’s a critic. And here I thought you’d like me being on brand for once.”

“Puns later, match now!” Natsu declared as he took the first move again.

This time he leapt in wide right hook which Ragna easily leaned back to avoid. As Ragna went for an easy strike on his opponent’s exposed back, Natsu let loose a burst of fire magic from his leg that propelled him high into the air. Looking down at Ragna with a smirk, he brought his hands together.

“Fire Dragon: ROOOOAR!”

“HAPPY SAID STREET FIGHTING LEVEL!” Ragna shouted as he brought up a shield of wind to protect him.

“Aye! This would completely annihilate a large street, so it checks out!” Happy declared, flying to stay safe as flames ravaged the ground.

‘What was I expecting?’ Ragna thought irately as the attack died down. Natsu wasn’t in the air, so figuring that he was using his own fire as cover (and to stop the potential forest fire) Ragna cast a powerful water spell and flung it around him and extinguishing the flames… only to see that Natsu still wasn’t hiding there either. He did take note of a molten hole in the ground. ‘Then that means-!’

“BELOW YOU!” Natsu declared as he erupted out of the ground with a flaming punch aimed straight for Ragna’s head. It almost made it mark as Ragna grabbed his forearm and stopped him mere centimeters from his face. “Damn!”

“Next time, don’t announce your-”

FWOOSH!

“…attack.”

A powerful column of fire had shot out of the hole and caught them both, though it was only damaging for Ragna. The Reaper had been fairly cooked by said attack, but was still fighting fit as he glared at Natsu who only looked too pleased for himself. Throwing him a short distance, Natsu easily landed on his feet ready for the next encounter.

“That counted as a point for Natsu. One all!” Happy said, fulfilling his role as score keeper.

‘Okay, let’s see how he likes playing defense for a change,’ Ragna thought as he took the first rush forward, attacking fast enough to stir up heavy winds behind him. Unable to conjure a spell to counter him in time, Natsu was forced to guard by bringing both of his arms up as Ragna launched him flying back. Outspeeding the opponent he’d just launched, Ragna came from behind with a screaming roundhouse kick that Natsu just barely managed to turn and counter with his own flaming punch. The resulting clash sent the both of them sliding back, returning them to the neutral.

As Natsu landed, he worked to quickly conjure up a massive fireball in front of him. Ragna himself quickly channeled his own water spell to extinguish the attack, but as he launched his own attack Natsu smashed his fist into the fireball to create many smaller ones that avoided the deluge and homed in on Ragna from all directions.

‘Not bad, he’s giving this fight some thought,’ Ragna thought, unable to help but feel a little proud. Though he despised the technique’s user, he tried channeling his wind magic again, this time to completely cover his body. The winds were enough to extinguish Natsu’s multi-fireball attack. ‘Not a great casting, but at least it’ll keep me safe from-’

He couldn’t finish as a new purplish flame broke through his barrier and struck him square in the face.

“Two-one! Natsu’s lead on match point!” Happy declared as Ragna’s Storm Armor dissipated.

“You like that? It’s called Purple Fire. Might not burn like the regular stuff, but it can’t be put out by wind or water,” Natsu said proudly. “Had to go back to Macao for help on mastering it, but what do you think?”

“It’s a good tool, but let’s see how you deal with this!” Ragna shouted as he charged forward once more.

This time Natsu was ready and leapt over the Reaper’s wide haymaker. While Natsu tried to go for another Purple Fire attack, Ragna backflipped over the move and performed an impressive axe kick that sent Natsu barreling down, though the Fire Dragon Slayer had managed to guard it before he crashed and slid on the ground. He barely had enough time to ready himself before Ragna was on him again and rushing forward with a lunging punch. Natsu leapt back to get barely out of the attack’s range as he readied a flaming kick to Ragna’s face.

“Not happening.”

Ragna had casted a quick spell with a white magic circle, but Natsu figured he’d be able to destroy whatever the attack was.  The problem was that the spell wasn’t an attack and Natsu felt himself starting to slip as his back foot hit the suddenly frozen ground below him. It wasn’t enough to make him fall over completely, but the kick still went wide and Ragna’s punch made solid contact and slammed the Slayer in the ground with enough force to cause a powerful tremor.

“Two all!” Happy called, securing a point for Ragna. Though Ragna had hit him pretty hard, Natsu was back on his feet in no time. “If either of you can grab two points in a row then, that’ll be the match!”

“You’re not half bad, keeping me on my toes for sure,” Ragna commended as neither wizard had gone for the opening charge. “Got any other tricks for me?”

“I’m sure I’ll pull one or two out,” Natsu promised eagerly before tensing up for a charge. “I ain’t losing today!”

“One of us has to and it sure as hell won’t be me!” Ragna shouted in return as the two of them surged forward with powerful lunges (Natsu’s engulfed in flames) that clashed at the center and sent out a destructive wave from the impact.

Natsu leaped up and flipped forward to deliver an axe kick, but Ragna caught that attack before turning and slamming Natsu to the ground. Natsu managed to soften the blow as by catching the impact with his hands, but Ragna also noticed the flames emitting on the ground where he’s slammed him. Letting go of his opponent’s leg and leaping back at the last instant, he managed to dodge the flaming pillar that had erupted beneath him. Natsu sprung forward with a flaming kick to chase after him, but Ragna froze the ground beneath him to slide further back as soon as he landed and avoided the attack. Delivering a heavy punch forward, he struck Natsu’s crossed forearm guard that his opponent had set ablaze but Ragna didn’t even seem to notice the fire as Natsu stumbled back before retaliating with his own flaming punch that clashed with Ragna kick and send both of them sliding back.

While both of them were eager to continue the encounter, the sudden rumbling forced them to stop.

(End theme)

“You… didn’t cause that with your digging, did you?” Ragna asked worriedly.

“I don’t think so; I wasn’t going that deep with my burning,” Natsu answered before the rumbling became more intense. “Either way, it’s coming from the dig site.”

“Shit, that’s exactly what I was afraid of. This match is going to have to wait until later. Work calls,” Ragna ordered. Natsu and Happy nodded as the three headed back to the dig site.

 Once there, they saw that the dig team had already broken into the ancient building and had entered without them (likely because they were worried that they would have blown the structure up). The full team emerged just then carrying an old worn-out wooden chest and screaming their lungs out as the rumbling increased behind them. Thankfully they’d made it to a safe distance before the entire structure erupted behind them and a giant stone statute in the shape of a giant solider complete with a massive shield and curved sword emerged behind them.

“That’s a golem…” Happy said worriedly. “Not as big as the Lullaby demon, but it still looks tough.”

“Maybe it is, but at least we have a contest decider!” Natsu declared. “Whoever takes that thing down first gets the win from out match!”

“No,” the Reaper outright refused. Natsu looked to his father figure with a sense of confusion. Thankfully the golem below was still scouring for the dig team as they cowered in fear, so Ragna didn’t have to worry about them just yet. He created a small but dense fireball for the Dragon Slayer to consume for power and energy. “I want you to take that thing out in one shot… with one condition; no collateral damage.”

“…You’re asking the impossible.” Happy was less optimistic here, but the cat was in the right here.

“That chest that they’re carrying looks like it could get alit with the smallest spark and that means that we don’t get payed and I need this ingredient. So I’m asking; can you deliver?” Natsu was silent for a moment ad he shifted his gaze back to the golem who was getting ever closer to finding the dig team.

“…I have something that might work, but I want a second to charge it up to make sure it’s strong enough,” he explained. “Can you keep it busy until I’m ready?”

“I can, but don’t take too long,” Ragna ordered as Natsu took the fireball and swallowed. As a powerful red circle started to form beneath his feet, Natsu focused in on the giant construction to find its best point of attack as Ragna got its attention. “HEY STONEHEAD! OVER HERE!”

…Not his most impressive or vulgar insult, but he wasn’t even sure it would register with his target. It merely glanced his way, but with Ragna striking it with a quick casting of ice needles he at least had its attention. Swinging down its oversized sword on the comparative minuscule target, Ragna managed to deflect the attack with just his working arm. It then tried to step on him, the Reaper easily dodged to the side a struck the thing’s ankle hard enough to create wicked cracks.

‘Ragna could probably bring this thing down without much trouble. Not to mention he could probably do it without causing damage to the surrounding area like most of us do,’ Happy considered as he watched the golem continue to go after the Reaper with little success. ‘Is he just trying to make sure that Natsu can finish a fight without damaging the surrounding area? Did he do this as some kind of test?’

“Happy, I need you to fly me to the back of that thing’s neck,” Natsu told his feline friend as he’d finished his charge and now maintained his spell. “Just get me there and pull back as far as you can; I’ve got one chance to get this right.”

“Aye.” ‘Natsu’s treating this pretty seriously. I guess he wants to make sure Ragna knows he can count on him. I have to make sure he’s able to do this.’ Following through with his friend’s plan, Happy sprouted his wing and quickly flew Natsu up to the back of the golem’s neck before letting his friend go and booking it out of there. ‘What’s he using anyways, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this spell before.’

“HERE GOES NOTHING!” Natsu said as he closed in on the construct, the creature still fully focused on Ragna. “JUST MADE THIS ESPECIALLY FOR YOU! FIRE DRAGON: INTERNAL! COMBUSTION!”!” Natsu then slammed his fist on the target and while the was a brief and small blast of flames where his fist impacted it, there wasn’t all that much damage.

‘Just made it? Hell of a time for a field test,’ Ragna thought below as the golem hadn’t even registered Natsu and went for another downward sword swing on him. Ragna got ready to deflect, but the attack didn’t even reach it as the golem’s sword stayed suspended in midair. He saw that the Natsu hadn’t moved from the spot he’d struck and still seemed focused on his magic. It was then that the monster started shaking so violently that the entire area started was caught in the rumble. “NATSU!”

“Part of the plan! Just hold on a second!” he shouted before leaping up and delivering and axe kick to the top of the golem’s head. It was a powerful enough to crack it and the spot started glowing red before it erupted and shot a massive column of fire high into the sky, but leaving the area around them safe. Happy managed to catch his friend as he fell and brought him to the ground near the Reaper. “Since all of its gears are on the inside, I though it made more sense just to burn it out from there. All I had to do afterwards was make sure I could release all of the built up fire magic before it went off like a bomb.”

“Smart thinking, and you kept the damage to a minimum after all,” Ragna commended. “How does it feel that you can pull something like this off?”

“Knowing that I improved? Great!” Natsu said with a cocky smile… before grimacing. “The act itself though? Sick to my stomach, like something’s wrong with me.”

‘These damn wizards act like they’re wired differently,’ Ragna considered, disappointed but forgiving at the moment. He headed over to the diggers who were trying to undo the look on the chest (thankfully unburned) with little success. “Move.”

A well-aimed chop from his usable arm and the lock was in pieces. The dig team tensed up as they slowly lifted the top of the chest. Ragna, Natsu, and Happy couldn’t help their own curiosity as they got their own look in the box. Inside they found a collection of ancient parchment with… crude ink drawings of young lady. They were rather crass drawing too, with the woman barely covering herself and posing seductively to make her large breasts seem even bigger.

“…A porn stash…” Ragna concluded grimly. “An ancient porn stash, but still… sorry that you wasted-”

“IT EXISTS!” the lead digger shouted as they brought out several piece of the paper while the rest of the group let out a loud cheer. It was then that Ragna and Natsu started to notice how old these diggers actually were. “THE LONG SOUGHT AFTER CENTERFOLD OF PRINCESS ALIANA THE FOURTH! WE FINALLY FOUND IT!”

The men were in a complete frenzy as they scrambled for their own pieces of paper. Fawning over the drawings, blushing harshly, and Ragna could swear he saw steam come out of their nostrils once or twice. Since they hadn’t been paid yet, all the Fairy Tail wizards could do was stand back and watch until they got it all out of their system.

About an hour later -The road back to town-

“Anyone at the guild asks what we found; we tell ‘em it was an ancient peace treaty that barely stopped a war from happening. Got it?”

“Aye!” Natsu and Happy said in unison. Since the dig hadn’t been that far away, to save money (and keep Natsu from getting motion sickness) the trio had agreed to walk both ways on the job.

“I still can’t believe that was what those idiots were going after. All that time and money they spent digging, just for some crap you could probably buy in the store,” the Reaper continued to grumble. “The pay on this was barely worth it, and that’s including the ingredient that I needed.”

“Eh, getting the chance to have a one on one with you and show my stuff was worth it enough for me,” Natsu said contently. “Plus, I think we can at least look back on this and laugh as an inside joke.”

“I don’t know what those guys were getting so worked up over,” Happy told the two seriously. “Are pictures like that really so important?”

“To some people, I guess. They seemed to be taking it way too far,” the Reaper groaned.

“Even still, all’s well that ends well,” Natsu said joyfully. “But you know, we were at two-all when we finished our match; want to start the tiebreaker now?”

“I’m in no mood for more sparring; I just want to go home,” Ragna sighed. “Match is a draw; so the bet’s off.”

“Aw, you’re no fun…” the Fire User whined.

“Hold up a minute! I’m the referee, so what I say goes!” Happy announced, sounding as official as possible. “And my final verdict is-!”

Later -The Guild-

“So I’ve noticed that Erza hasn’t been around for the last few days,” Lucy said as she sat at the bar with Mira. Much as she’d planned earlier, the summoner had taken a nice day to herself and caught up on her reading. “Did she leave on a big job?”

“I think she might’ve taken two jobs from the S-Rank quests upstairs,” Mira informed, not having any orders to cook or drinks to serve at the moment. “They weren’t any of the most difficult quests you can find up there, but they might keep even someone like her out for a few days. Still, she’d probably be back by early tomorrow.”

“…Is she going to have something to say to Ragna?” Lucy asked worriedly. “And… has news about what happened spread around to the other guilds?”

“I don’t think so on that second part; I’m pretty sure that the only people who know were those in Fairy Tail and I think we know better than to spread rumors about one of our own,” she answered much to Lucy’s relief. “As for Erza… he’s probably in for a heavy lecture of some kind, but he doesn’t need to be worried about getting kicked out of the guild unless our guild master changes his mind.”

“It won’t come to that,” Makarov said as he sat at the edge of a bar with a fresh tankard of beer. “With how upfront he was yesterday as well as testimony from you and Levi, Ragna’s shown that he’s not running from what happened even if he was hardly given a choice. Still… there’s no telling what Erza might do once she finds out.”

“What?” Lucy asked worriedly.

“Master! I was trying to keep her calm!” Mira scolded the older man.

“Well lying isn’t going to help when she gets back! There’s no telling what’s going to happen tomorrow! I’d rather be prepared for-!”

Makarov fell silent as the front door to the guild opened, revealing Ragna’s trio for that day. Lucy was far from put at ease right now… but had several other questions as Ragna gingerly held a bouquet of pink carnations his good arm. While the Reaper’s face seemed unreadable, she could easily tell that Natsu and Happy were both trying their hardest not to laugh.

‘…Whatever this is, it’s not going to end well,’ she quickly realized as Ragna headed over to them. Ragna passed her a side glance, but said nothing to her. He then gave Mira the best smile Lucy had seen on him.

“Just a little something,” he said warmly as he offered the bouquet to Mira who didn’t even look surprised as she took them with her own smile. Who DID look surprised was Macao, Wakaba, and Makarov whose jaws looked like they’d hit the floor at any moment (Makarov’s actually did). Elfman appeared passive, but clearly raised an eyebrow at Ragna’s gift to his sister. “I saw these in the market as we passed and… well I couldn’t NOT get these for you.”

“They’re beautiful, thank you so much,” Mira answered kindly as she held the flowers close to her.

“Also, I’ve finally managed to save a bit of cash up after all of these jobs so I have a bit of spending money,” the Reaper continued. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in joining me for dinner tonight and-”

“You lost a bet with Natsu.”

Dead silence.

If this had been anyone else, Mira would have stopped them dead in their tracks (to be fair, she almost still did) but Ragna had a better follow through game than that.

“No…”

…not that it was an especially complex or even convincing one.

“In that case you tied a bet with Natsu,” she corrected. “And for his part he needs to try to lessen whatever Ezra has planned for you.”

“…This is why I’m scared of you, Mira,” the Reaper answered honestly, earning a giggle from the bartender.

“Well, I think I’ll hold onto these flowers regardless,” she decided.

“Please do, and sorry about that,” Ragna sighed as an apology. The rest of the guild just seemed relieved as they went back to their own business.

“Aw, that was disappointing. We barely got a reaction out of anyone,” Natsu groaned.

“Don’t blame me; I put my all into that,” Ragna scolded in return.

“THAT was your all?” Happy demanded.

“Quiet you.”

“What would you have done if she’d said yes?” Lucy had to ask.

“Take her out like I had said, explain everything to her afterwards, then apologize,” he answered. “Probably get a little heat from everyone, but I guess I’d just have to deal with it.”

“If the papers found out about this, you might even make the front page for dating a model; with all of the rabid Mira fans there are it might have been for the best that she just turned you down,” Lucy said, trying to make him feel better.

“Being honest, I don’t exactly feel datable right now anyways,” Ragna conceded, trying not to sound too disappointed. “Well regardless of how it played out, that’s still my part of the bet done. Now Natsu…”

“Gotcha, gotcha, I gotta think of a way to soften Erza’s wrath when she gets back like Mira just said,” the Fire User sighed.

“Best of luck Natsu, I believe in you,” Happy told his friend with a pat on his shoulder, trying to stay encouraging.

“Happy, you’re involved in that too,” Ragna reminded sternly.

“I am?”

“Yeeeeeeah? The bet was that both Natsu and you would have to soften the blow from Erza.”

Dead silence yet again.

“You know what? As ref I’ve now decided the bet’s off.”

“IT’S TOO LATE FOR THAT! YOU CAN’T JUST BACK OFF AFTER MAKING ME DO MY HALF!”

“BUT I DON’T WANT TO DIE! NATSU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO THIS! IN FACT HE’D JUST MAKE IT WORSE!”

“IF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO GET INVOLVED WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL THE DAMN THING OFF FROM THE START!?”

“I THOUGHT THAT YOU TWO WOULD FORGET ABOUT ME! NEITHER OF YOU ARE THAT SMART!”

“OH! NOW YOU’RE ASKING FOR IT!”

“So much for believing in me,” Natsu said, sounding hurt as Happy was starting to get frantic while Ragna continued to grill him (thankfully, metaphorically). As the two continued to bicker loudly, he barely managed to hear Lucy giggling beside him. “What’s with you?”

“Just… relieved he’s back to normal after all; even if normal for him is dealing with this chaos,” the blonde said. “So you’re really going to try and stand up to Erza?”

“I’ll give it my best shot,” Natsu promised before smirking. “Actually… I’m starting to look forward to it.”

Later -After closing-

Much like any other day of the guild, it was only Ragna and Mira there at closing. Wiping down the tables, sweeping up, washing up all of the dishes that had been used, taking inventory, and all the likewise responsibilities. While Ragna had only joined in as a cook during his spare time, he eventually found that Mira was handing him off more and more responsibilities as time went on. Not that she was pushing extra working on him, but it seemed that soon he’d be as good at running the guild as she was with all he was learning.

“That’s the last of the pots,” Ragna informed as he put the cookware away before eyeing the flowers from earlier that day, now put into a glass vase on the front desk for everyone to see. “…Sorry for making a scene and dragging you down like that.”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s far from the first time someone’s asked me out in front of the entire guild,” she answered, not missing a beat in her work. “And I’m pretty sure some of those were dares or bets anyways.”

“That still doesn’t excuse me from doing that. It felt like a shitty thing to do for a silly bet of all things; especially with how much you’re gone out of your way to help me get my footing back. I owe ya a lot and sort of just stabbed you in the back.”

“Come on, it’s not nearly that bad,” Mira told him before putting the broom away. “Although…”

“Yeah?” Ragna asked quickly, eager to make it up to her. Mira wasn’t smiling like she normally was, it was honestly an odd look for Ragna who was too used to that bubbly beaming face of hers.

“Focus on getting your last two ingredients, make sure you’ve saved up enough money, deal with whatever Erza has in store for you…” Her smile returned. “Then we’ll have a nice dinner together to celebrate your success where it counts.”

“…You don’t have to pity date me,” Ragna refused.

“Just think about it; you’ll have plenty to keep you busy before then,” Mira told him sweetly (not correcting the pity part) as she headed over and grabbed her list to start inventory of the backroom. “You can leave the rest for me since you’ve already done more than your fair share. Head to the back and get some sleep for now. You’ll have a busy and hectic day tomorrow, I’m sure.”

“I work in Fairy Tail, there any other kind?” he answered back to Mira’s giggle. “But again… thanks for everything.”

“My pleasure Ragna, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she answered as he left for the beds in the back. Meanwhile she was heading to the pantry to do inventory, but not before getting one last look at her flowers. A long pause as she looked at them. “Ragna?”

“What’s up now?” he asked as he turned to face the receptionist… but it wasn’t quite Mira he was looking at, at least not the one he was familiar with.

Now most of Mira’s hair was standing straight up and most of her facial features had sharpened, almost like glaring was their natural state (Ragna could relate). She was covering up considerably less now in leggings and a front-open leotard that looked like it was made entirely of sharp red leather. The most telling parts though were her long and pointed ears, long reptilian tail, bat like wings, and monstrous clawed hands that looked like gauntlets. The two stood in silence for a long moment, Mira’s dark eyes boring deep into Ragna’s emerald-green one, like the consequence of whatever that next move was would be earth shaking.

…Only for Ragna to give a high-pitched whistle, breaking Mira out of her serious stare.

“Damn.”

Somehow everything was perfectly summarized with just that.

“You don’t seem as shocked as I was expecting,” Mira admitted. To Ragna, she almost sounded disappointed while in reality she was more confused.

“Well your brother had filled me in on your whole Demoness reputation already, this is just taking things a little more literally,” Ragna answered back with a chuckle. “So… this is the magic that makes you an S-Class wizard?”

“Right; Full Body Take Over magic. My various of the technique is called Satan Soul since I take the form of demons,” she explained, looking down to seemingly observe herself. “It’s been… a bit since I last brought this out.”

“Any reason you wanted to show me specifically?” the Reaper asked.

“…I was kinda curious to see if you were going to freak out and how you would,” she admitted. Even as a Demoness, Ragna recognized Mira’s more playful side poking through her expression.

“Please,” he scoffed. “It’s the part of you that can read me so well that I’m so damn afraid of. So you’ve got a form of power that’s capable of god knows what; you’re still the one driving it.” He’d meant it as a compliment, but Mira seemed… sad. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, but… don’t bring any of this up to Elfman. Don’t ask too much about his own transformations if you can help it either. There’s… a hard history behind his style of this magic,” she explained.

“I won’t say anything, but if either of you have got anything to get of your chests I can at least give you both a willing ear to hear you out,” he offered. Mira still seemed downcast, so Ragna gave a cockier smirk to defuse the situation. “Seeing you now though… maybe I’ll take you up on that date offer after all. Especially if you went like this.”

Mira tilted her head before in more confusion before she let out a laugh that looked and sounded wicked in her current form.

“If I did that, maybe you wouldn’t have so many onlookers trying to kill you,” she retorted with an almost evil grin.

“Oh, that’s what you think I’m doing? Nah, I’m trying to make sure they’re all jealous, damn the consequences,” he answered back with his own wolfish smile. “I mean you were already cute as all hell, but with this new side of you I’m okay being the most hated man in the world if that’s what I get a crack at romancing.”

“So you can flirt,” Mira teased back before the two gave loud laughs at the absurdity of their conversation as she reverted back to her usual self. “Seriously though, I think you should get some sleep. You’ll need it if you’ll be facing down Erza’s temper tomorrow, whatever form it takes.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m heading to bed,” Ragna answered. “See you bright and early tomorrow.” Their goodbyes finally said for good now, the Reaper couldn’t help but let himself fall to an easy slouch. ‘I can get through to Erza tomorrow… I can keep my place in Fairy Tail with Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and the others… I haven’t given up on this life just yet.’

Next Time: Image of the Unstoppable

Chapter Text

Episode 014: Image of the Unstoppable

Like yesterday, there was an obvious difference in the air around the Fairy Tail guild. While most of the earlier stigma that had been caused by Ragna’s actions two days prior (both sets) had essentially been settled, there was still the looming threat that was Titania Erza herself. The redhead was supposedly returning that day and no doubt whatever words or punishment she had for him would be much more intense than any he’d gotten from Makarov or anyone else in the guild. Lucy and most of the regulars seemed nervous at the idea of being in the splash zone, but Natsu looked almost… eager. Mira was smiling and continuing business like nothing was wrong, a clear contrast today especially. Then there was the man himself, Ragna’s face had been oddly stoic though he could reasonably assume he wasn’t in for an easy day.

“I almost wish she’d just show up so we can get it over with,” Macao muttered before he took a long swig from his morning tankard to help calm his nerves. “I hate just sitting here and waiting for the chaos to start.”

“After all of those other times that we’ve seen her chew someone out you’d think we’d all have gotten used to it by now, but…” Wakaba grimaced. “She’s still finding new ways to terrify us all each and every misstep.”

“Here’s a thought, you both could head out and try to get a job done,” Ragna bluntly suggested. “I’m the only one that has to face her wrath so there’s no reason you gotta stick around.” He didn’t get a response as the two men continued their drinking. “Don’t complain about your damn safety if you’re prioritizing booze over it!”

“Forget it, you’re not going to get through to either of them like that,” Cana said before taking her own swing of beer… from a tankard that was nearly her size. “If you’d like, I can do a card reading of how today might end up going for you.”

“Pass, not a real big fan of fortune telling. And I’m pretty damned adverse to destiny,” the Reaper denied. “You don’t seem all that nervous yourself.”

“I am, but the beer’s helping me hide it,” Cana said. “So be ready for at least a couple more top offs before the day’s done.”

“The hell is your liver made out of? And that can’t be healthy,” Ragna said slightly awestruck. Shaking his head, he cleared what tables he could and headed back to the front desk with Mira. “Everyone’s here like they’re either waiting for a funeral or performance.”

“So a tragedy play?” she suggested with a tilt of her head.

“I guess, but it’s not going to come to that,” he told her firmly.

“You must be confident; there’s not even a fresh strawberry cake waiting for Erza,” Mira noted, glancing at the half-filled cake stand.

“Please, I’m above bribery. I’ll say what needs to be said and deal with whatever fallout there’s going to be, that’s on me.”

“Noble of you, but what about Natsu and Happy?”

“That’s their own damn fault for the bet, I hold no responsibility there.”

“Even if Happy’s been petrified all morning?” the receptionist asked as she glanced to unblinking Happy sitting next to Natsu. If they hadn’t already checked earlier anyone might’ve thought that this was a body double.

“Eh, he’s probably got at least two more lives,” Ragna said in a bit of dark humor. “But I’m not counting on them for much anyways, I’m just making sure they follow through out of principle.”

“So another dad moment from you,” Mira realized before turning thoughtful. “Couldn’t you try something like that with Erza? She did call you father once.”

“Not gonna bother; nothing’s going to stop her when it comes to guild business, especially if it’s this serious.” If Mira had an argument for him, she didn’t get a chance to say it as Ragna’s one eye seemed to look directly at the front door. “She’s here.”

The sudden heavy step outside sent the already calmer guild into complete silence. There hadn’t appeared to be that much force behind such a simple step, but a noticeable ripple appeared in Cana’s oversized drink. Several members of the guild gave audible gulps as the strongest Fairy Tail wizard made her way into the guild. Glancing around for Natsu, the Reaper found that his pink haired team member had vanished. Had he really gone back on his word and booked it? The Reaper didn’t think so, but something about it still had a pit forming in his stomach. As Erza finally took a few steps right towards him, everyone could see that she was not pleased and her constant glare at him told them she’d already heard the news.

‘Here we go,’ Ragna thought, ready for whatever lecture he was in-

CRASH!

Natsu had returned with... a bunch of blank white paper taped to his hair to clumsily turn it white, glasses with only a green right lens (he hadn’t even gotten that right), a black shirt promoting some indie wizard band beneath a red cloak (blanket), horribly torn black jeans, metal bucklers taped to the top of each of his sandals, and his left arm in a cloth cast (again, wrong side). He even had small elevator blocks underneath his shoes to try and make up the height difference, but it wasn’t enough and just made the overall appearance that much more obnoxious.

“I’M RAGNA, DAMMIT! GET REAL AND FIGHT ME!” 

Erza had gone still at the sheer absurdity alone.

“…Am I allowed to be offended here or do I have to settle with near-crippling disappointment?” he questioned.

“No one would blame you if you felt both, moreso surprised at the near part,” Mira answered, unable to keep from staring.

“Natsu… what are you doing?” Erza answered once she finally found her voice.

“Wha-! I’m Ragna, dammit! I already told ya to make like an egg and fight me!” 

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” a mortified Lucy screamed.

Erza broke the imposter’s concentration by simply pointing to the man in question behind him.

“WHAT THE-!? WHY DIDN’T YOU HIDE LIKE HAPPY TOLD YOU TO!?”

“Cat didn’t tell me jack,” the Reaper informed since the cat had been petrified of the impending doom all that morning. Actually, the feline wasn’t where he’d been sitting just a moment ago, so where had he-?

“PLEASE DON’T KILL OUR DAD!” Happy sobbed hysterically. “HE WAS JUST TRYING TO KEEP LUCY AND LEVI SAFE! HE DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL ANYONE ERZA! HAVE SOME MERCY ON HIM!”

“…That’s a nice plea for me…” Ragna began before glancing behind him. “Only thing that ruins it is that you’re using me as a shield.”

“THE PLEA’S FOR ME! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I’M RAGNA, DAMMIT! FIGHT ME!” Apparently, this one didn’t know when to quit.

“Natsu, get out of that horrendous costume,” Erza ordered.

“Tch, would’ve fooled her if you’d bothered hiding,” Natsu muttered under his breath. The implication that she’d be so easily tricked seemed to only worsen Erza’s mood as she headed over to the Reaper.

“I don’t suppose I can take that little display as punishment enough?” he tried, knowing full well that negotiations never seemed to work for him.

“…Ragna,” she began by just saying the man’s name as everyone in the guild tensed as she was about to bring the hammer down. “I need you for a job.”

Silence from the onlookers.

“There’s a job out there that you need me for?” the Reaper questioned.

“Indeed, and we need to leave immediately.” She wasn’t asking.

“…Right,” he said, throwing his apron back onto a nearby hook. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Erza,” came Natsu’s voice as the pink hair was peeling the taped paper off his head.

“Give it a rest; she isn’t going to fall for it,” Lucy tried to tell him.

“This isn’t about that; Ragna or not I still want a fight.” That… at least gave Erza pause. Everyone else was questioning what little sanity Natsu had left. “Come on, that Lullaby demon went down way too quickly. Don’t you really want to see what I can do going all out?”

“I’ll admit I’m a bit curious,” the redhead admitted. “And you did seem to have improved with what little I saw of you.” She gave a small smile. “Very well, I accept your challenge and you’ll get your fight soon enough. But for now, Ragna and I have… work to do.”

‘The way that she said work just now was terrifying,’ Lucy considered as Ragna followed Erza out of the guild. “Think he’ll be okay?”

“I’ll get his coffin ready,” Happy sighed.

“THEN GO OUT AND HELP HIM!” Lucy screamed.

“If I had to guess, he’ll probably come back in the same condition you did,” Levi figured. “If he was kicked out of the guild or worse, I doubt that Erza would bother drawing it out like this. Ragna’s no doubt going to be sore as can be by the end of this, but he should be… okay?” Far from certain with that affair as it was, she then turned to Natsu. “But you really want to take her on? You know what she’s capable of, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m ready to give her the fight of a lifetime!” Natsu declared. “I’M ALL FIRED UP NOW!” He turned to Lucy with an eager smile. “Let’s go on the hardest mission available as a warmup!”

‘I guess I should support him and working like this will keep our team from worrying about Dad,’ Lucy thought. “One condition: NO VULCANS.”

“Cross my heart; I’ll check the board and make sure there’s not a single Vulcan on this job!” Natsu gave an earnest effort and looked over all information to ensure Lucy’s request was met. However…

There would be MANY Vulcans on this job.

Outside with Ragna and Erza, the man was trying his best to address his current situation without setting off the woman in front of him (difficult for a man of his… talents).

“So, what’s the job?” he asked, figuring he was due at least that much.

“You’ll find out when we get there,” Erza told him unyieldingly.

“Okay, but how are we getting to our job?” he tried again.

“We’ll be taking the train for most of it, but we’ll be walking for a good amount afterwards.” An answer to the point.

“…I’ll notice that you aren’t bringing along any luggage,” Ragna stated, testing Erza’s limits just a bit.

“This job will be done by day’s end; I’ll see to it.” The solid scowl on her face was almost a challenge to make the two late.

“Right,” was all the Reaper said in response. He decided it was best to stay quiet starting now, Erza seemed like she was about to snap at him or worse at any moment and while he wasn’t one to back down, he also decided not to flat out invite that kind of trouble.

“Hey guys! Wait up!” That had been Gray’s voice. A visible tick mark appeared on Erza’s forehead as they were interrupted, but turned and whipped her head around with a scowl harsh enough for the Ice user to go cold… so pretty damn harsh. “Uh… well…”

“Yes, Gray?” Her voice was sweet and motherly… her expression was not.

“I… just thought I should hand this off to Ragna,” Gray said, slowly inching forward towards Ragna, as if Erza was going to do whatever she’d already planned for him. Handing him this last second delivery, Ragna saw that the item in question was a letter. “From Juvia.”

‘She wrote to me? Why not-?’ he considered before smirking despite the situation he was in. “So I got a letter… meanwhile she sent you an entire novel’s worth of her writing.”

“What the-? How’d you know that?” Gray’s surprise was genuine, it would have to be to keep him from fleeing Erza ASAP.

“Cana’s been teaching me a bit of fortune telling,” he explained sarcastically… before realization hit him of how literally these two could take an offhand remark. “I’m joking. But thanks for the delivery.”

“No problem and… good luck,” Gray said before barely mustering a nod to Erza and running off as fast as his legs could carry him. Anyone could tell that he was terrified, even someone as dense as well… Gray himself. For now, Ragna just had to hope he was ready for whatever everyone was so fearful of.

Later -The Train Ride-

‘She gotta do that here?’ Ragna thought to himself with a bit of annoyance as Erza sharpened one of her many, many blades with a portable whetstone from where she sat right across from him. Her expression didn’t make it seem like she was trying to intimidate him, but Ragna had to wonder how nervous she’d be unintentionally making someone with her actions. Rolling his good eye and ignoring it as best he could, he opened Juvia’s letter to finally begin reading.

“May I ask who this Juvia is?” Erza questioned, though she didn’t take her eyes off her work.

“When Gray and I went on one of our jobs to grab an ingredient, she’d gotten to accepting it before either of us could. She was understanding of our situation, so we ended up working together and made a pretty damn good team,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “I don’t know all the details, but she seemed to have been in a pretty dark place for a while. I think… the two of us were able to break through some of that, just by being there for her that one day.”

“Really?” Erza asked as she thought that information over. “What guild does she belong to?”

“Phantom Lord if I’m remembering that right. Why? Don’t approve of us working with other guilds?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I was just curious. Phantom Lord though seems… hmm…” Erza ceased in her work for just a moment to gather her thoughts. “Jose, their guild master, has something of a competition with our guild master and possibly Fairy Tail as a whole. I don’t know too much about it, but Makarov did say that he’s been taking said rivalry fairly seriously during their last few meetings. But if he’s still allowing her to work with members of our guild, it may only be a surface level matter.”

“Can’t say I know anything about that, and her letting us join was sort of a last second matter in the first place. Doesn’t seem to bring anything up in her letter either.” Erza nodded and only proceeded in her work. While she appeared neutral as usual, Ragna could easily tell that she was still rather curious about what was actually written. “There’s not much substance in the letter; just thanking me for helping her out during our job and what ended up happening after plus a little of her own going-ons. Apparently she’s leaving for a big solo job of her own, so I won’t be hearing from her for at least a bit.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t another love letter.” Ragna’s good eye blinked a fair few times at that assessment before looking in shock to Erza for answers. “On my travels I’d heard about you sweeping single women, those already taken, and even widows off their feet with your honeyed words and gentleman mannerisms.”

Ragna took a painfully deep breath.

“First with Lucy and the ape, now this. Erza… you’re really shitty at picking up rumors.”

No one would dare think of talking to her like that if she was in a good mood. And if they were in Ragna’s position you would bet that they’d be staying dead silent unless spoken to.

“…I am?”

“Yeah.”

“…Oh.”

One side benefit of Ragna’s attitude; he was so blunt that even Erza had to question herself.

“Besides, if anything it’s Gray that she’s completely fallen for.”

“And knowing him, he doesn’t have the slightest idea,” Erza guessed. At least she had the right idea there. “Not too surprising.”

“You seem to know him pretty well. Natsu too now that I think about it,” Ragna noted. Erza was silent before reaching into her pocket (not her Requip magic) and bringing out a small piece of paper to offer him. Ragna took it, only to realize that it was a group photo from when they were kids.

Erza was easily recognizable as a glaring figure of authority, Natsu and Grey were already scowling at each other, and Cana was in the background drinking juice… at least he hoped it was juice since she was still a kid in the photo. Ragna then saw that there were other members of the crew that were far less recognizable. Elfman, while still pretty big for a kid, seemed to be much less confident and pretty darn shy. Mira was there too and while she appeared the same size and age as Erza, her mannerism was completely different as she was dressed an abrasive rebel (he made a mental note to bring that up to her later). But strangest of all was another silver haired girl standing next to Natsu who was laughing happily. Her features made it clear that she was somehow related to Mira and Elfman… but he’d never seen her around the guild.

“Nice to see the group as a bunch of little tykes, but who’s this other girl?” There was a noticeable grimace from Erza as she took the photo back.

“That’s… their little sister… Lizana.” It was rare for Ragna to see Erza this unconfident, but he didn’t comment for the moment. “Sorry, I… with how much you’ve been working with her I thought Mira would’ve told you about her by now…”

“She hadn’t,” he answered seriously. “But I think I can tell there’s a lot going on there; I won’t bring it up to her or Elfman.” Erza gave a solemn nod at the promise, but it did little to help her composure. Though he’d just read it, Ragna brought Juvia’s letter to read again while Erza went back to work on her sword. Neither one of them said a word the remainder of their train ride.

The Wastelands

“Alright, you set up this big claim of needing more for some job just so that you can get me out here without anyone else to see this.” Much like Ragna had claimed, the two were miles and miles from any nearby town. The rocky desert terrain housed no life whatsoever and seemed the perfect arena for whatever Erza had planned for him. Ragna had to wonder how many times she’d hosted training sessions here. “You heard the news from two days ago… so I want to know what you have to say about it.”

“You’re the one that just said that I’m horrible at picking up rumors,” Erza reminded with a scowl. “I want to hear your side of the story; tell me what really happened.”

“And you’ll trust what I have to say?”

“It depends on how well you tell it.”

With that Ragna explained himself, though there really wasn’t all that much to say. He didn’t defend the actions he took all that much or try to cast himself in a heroic light, just stating all of the facts that Erza needed to hear from him. She didn’t see the need to ask any questions while he was talking, nor did she ever change her expression. Instead she was laser focused as Ragna recounted what had brought him to taking his first life in this world, the action of doing so, and the fallout he’d taken note of afterwards.

“And that’s all I’ve got to say about that mess,” Ragna said, a serious glare in his eye. “I know that you probably don’t need to or want to hear it from me, but if I had to do it again… I wouldn’t hesitate.”

“I’m not at all surprised,” Erza agreed. “Ever since I first met you, I’ve had the impression that you were the type of person that would do whatever was needed to keep those you cared about safe.” Her expression hadn’t softened in the slightest, in fact it only looked sterner. “But if you’re serious, then that would mean that you’re due to go down one of the darkest roads of the kingdom. People could start fearing you just as much as any Dark Guild, possibly even worse.”

“Like I said, if that’s the price that needs to be paid then I won’t hesitate,” Ragna answered sternly. He remained perfectly still as Erza put her hand out and used her Requip magic to bring out the same sword that she’d performed maintenance on during their train ride. A heavy wind blew between the two in their silence. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure that you never get to that point.”

(Cue Persona 4 Golden I’ll Face Myself)

Despite the severity of her words, her piercing glare, and the gesture of the redhead arming herself… Ragna actually gave a toothy smirk as he brought his own Gilgamesh XIII blade out. He noticed that this weapon seemed to have a new sort of weight when he carried it now, like it had a new burden now that its original owner was gone. The Reaper couldn’t let this distract him though, not with a battle ready Erza standing in front of him.

“Luckily this doesn’t seem like you’re not expelling me from the guild, arresting me, or executing me,” he started. “You just want to do everything possible so I’m never put in that position again.”

“Right, and that entails making sure I know what you’re truly capable of,” she said pointing the sword directly at him. “This isn’t some basic spar for fun, treat this seriously or you’ll end up regretting it.”

“Same to you.”

Both fighters participated in an opening charge as their blades clashed causing a shockwave to echo throughout the wastelands. Despite his one arm handicap, Ragna had managed to match Erza’s strength with his own and the traded blows appeared to be equal. Erza then performed a stab forward which her target dodged before moving to Ragna’s right and entering the Reaper’s blind spot. By now Ragna had earned more than enough experience with his opponents trying to take advantage of his paralyzed eye and predictably blocked Erza’s incoming underhand slash before performing his own overhanded one. While she avoided the attack by leaping back, Ragna’s attack caused a huge tremor and resulted in a long crack in the earth.

In Erza’s defensive backstep, she’d taken the opportunity to change weapon from a sword to a halberd and she used the additional range it granted to thrust with the weapon’s lance head. Ragna blocked the attack and deflected it to one side, but Erza used the force to turn into a full body axe swing from the other. The Reaper leaped over the vicious attack before flipping over and bringing a powerful blow down, one that Erza was forced to switch to a tower shield to block. The resulting shockwave roughly tore through the wastelands and made a deep crater.

Recovering from Ragna’s attack, she quickly swapped her shield for a two-handed greatsword. While Ragna’s current weapon could have matched her own style, he decided to go his own path and instead changed over to the scythe previously belonging to Erigor. While this gave him his own advantage in weapon length, maintaining that required that he keep Erza out which he did with a wide but quick slash that Erza deflected before rushing in with an overhead slash. Adjusting his hold on the scythe so it was closer to the blade, Ragna struck the attack but allowed the force to push him back into the proper range to get a proper full length slash that had Erza on the defensive. While she blocked the attack, she also realized she wouldn’t be able to get past Ragna’s advantageous range in one simple push.

Engaging him at his preferred range, she clashed with Ragna’s swing from her right before blocking his immediate conversion to slash at her other side. Still unable to use his right arm for anything, Ragna instead gave a hefty kick to the ground and sent a cloud of dirt and debris at his opponent. Erza seemed to scowl at the move, even though it did little to impair her vision as her sword swing was easily enough to dissipate the attack and enter a blade lock with Ragna’s scythe. The two exchanged a heated glare as they struggled against each other, though their weapons didn’t even shake as the opposing forces pushed forward with all their might.

Erza then surprised Ragna by surrendering the lock and stepping back, leaving him to slash where she’d been standing as she barely dodged his blade. She then tried to attack Ragna with a horizontal slash while he was recovering from the attack, but he low profiled the move by countering with a low slash with his scythe. Now Erza leaped over with her own forward flip to bring her blade down on Ragna, but instead of blocking he spun his entire body into a sky-reaching slash. The clash that resulted disarmed both fighters of their weapons, leaving them to return to their own Requip storages.

Both pulling their next weapons out of storage, Erza raised a surprised eyebrow while Ragna smirked as they had both drawn katanas in unison with no additional prompting. This was only a brief pause however, as Ragna initiated the opening charge this round. Erza dodged his attack without difficulty and countered, leaving Ragna to avoid and retaliate with his own attack. In the dance of blades that followed, neither sword contacted the other for several swings as it was more a contest of agility than power. Eventually though, Erza was the one to push forward and finally deflected Ragna’s attack before stepping in with a heavy attack that Ragna blocked and allowed to push him back and reset them both. With Erza’s gradually increasing scowl, it almost seemed like Ragna was trying to get under her skin.

In the next katana match that followed, Ragna and Erza both seemed to be fighting completely at ease despite the quick and destructive blows shared between the two, creating shockwaves from both merely the force behind their sword swings and the resulting contact, leaving long gashes in the terrain and rocky plateaus reduced to nothing but rubble. In fact, the only moment of any real note from this series of encounters was when Erza sent her sword back into storage, but without pulling out a new armament in its place.

(End theme)

“What gives? Had enough?” Even if Ragna put his own weapon away in kind, he knew that it was far from over with Erza. In fact, he might’ve been even closer to her supposed bad side now than when she’d first grilled him on the details that had brought them to this point.

“Not nearly, I want to know why you’re treating this as a game despite being told not to,” she ordered. “No alternative magics, you haven’t brought out any of your weapon’s unique abilities, and you’re far too calm in this fight.”

“What can I say, sometimes being level-headed in the heat of the moment is the only way to do it,” he responded sarcastically. “It’s when I start to lose that control that I’m really in deep shit.”

“And you still think that you’re in control now?” Erza demanded.

(Cue BlazBlue Black and White Extended)

“Of course I do; even though you’re eager to point the finger at me, you’re still the one between us that’s really holding back.” Erza raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Even if you were using your armor, which you’re not, the way you’re fighting is way too lax if you wanted to come all out right from the gates like everyone says that you do. I was just waiting for you to get serious so things could really get started between us. I want to get a real taste of that so-called Hell that everyone’s been warning me about like crazy.”

“…Be careful what you ask for.” 

Erza’s clothing then glowed with a blinding light as she adorned the Black Winged armor Ragna had seen her wearing when they’d faced down the Lullaby demon, but he knew that he’d likely only witnessed a still devastating fraction of its output back then; now it was time to feel the full force targeted directly against him.

“If you’re going to be this cocky in the middle of a fight, then it’s time our little warmup ended,” Erza instructed as she brandished a double headed battle-axe, twirling the weapon before pointing it squarely at the Reaper. “Now… show me what you can really do.”

Ragna still hadn’t learned his lesson yet.

“Heh, you gotta make me first.”

Now just the takeoff from their opening charge was enough to create a massive shockwave that tore at the very foundations of their arena as they barreled towards one another. Ragna summoned his Gilgamesh sword in the middle of the charge and made a viscous swing while Erza answered in kind. Now the resulting completely shattered any remaining rock formations around them as well as the ground beneath leaving them to continue their fight in an even deeper crater of their own making. Ragna gave a grunt under the force of the attack and backstepped as Erza brought her axe down and left a massive fissure where he’d been standing. Clashing their blades once more only continued the emerging series of earthquakes that was merely beginning.

Focusing on his speed for the moment, Ragna made a straight charge only to dive to the side as he entered Erza’s weapon range. The lead for her initial slash to miss him, but she managed to redirect her weapon easily and clashed as he came at her from her exposed flank. Leaping up into the air, Ragna flipped forward as he brought a powerful blow down upon the redhead, but Erza’s preemptively swung with her own overwhelming attack and while the attack clashed, Ragna was sent off balance in the air. Another slash against Ragna’s midair guard sent him flying back, but amazingly the Reaper managed to anchor himself the instant he hit the ground. Erza still took advantage of the time she’d just made for herself, but instead of performing a charge against the Reaper she began her casting to switch armors.

‘She’s changing in the middle of a fight?’ Ragna considered right before the light around Erza dissipated and it revealed her in an armor resembling that of an angelic knight carrying a longsword in each hand. ‘…Something tells me she’s not putting that on to show any mercy. So what’s it really-?’ Pointing her hand forward, countless blades appeared behind Erza before they launched at Ragna resembling machine gunfire. ‘THIS SHIT AGAIN!?’

Without his usual Barrier Ars Magus, Ragna was forced to settle for the next best thing. Switching his weapon out, he went back to the Vanish Brother’s frying pan and ducked behind it as a shield. The extra area kept him safe from the attack, but the item was barely holding as Erza’s blades continued to restlessly assault it. Not that it even mattered that much, because then Ragna took notice that the blades were surrounding him from all directions, trapping him inside a dome or sharpened steel. Erza then sent them flying inward leaving Ragna no room to escape and to get him to yield once she had him pinned, only for his weapon to change back into a katana and with a mere flash of his blade all of her countless swords were knocked away in that instant. Not deterred, Erza set up her swords and performed the same technique again, but this time she also charged into the fight herself.

Ragna wasn’t knocking back every blade as he fought her head on, some he was forced to weave though as he clashed with her held longswords or one of the blades that got a little too close to them. One time she even gathered the swords around her in a vicious circle to charge the Reaper, but he even managed to leap over and avoid that at the last instant all while deflecting the countless assault of floating blades that hunted him. Over fifty blades before he’d even touched the ground and not a single one got through.

‘That’s certainly something,’ Erza internally admitted, though she focused Ragna down at a distance as he continued to deflect the blades coming in from all around him. He wasn’t making any further pushes to her, but without Erza herself getting involved the Reaper was handling this usual daunting technique with a strange sense of ease. ‘It’s like he’s fought against something like this before, but how? And where? He’s…’

Another wave of her hand sent all of her weapons back to storage, but she was still adorned with her current armor. Ragna remained on guard, keeping his curved sword out as he prepared for her next move though he could tell that she was oddly hesitant for the middle of a fight. It wasn’t that she was pondering her options or wondering whether or not Ragna would be able to take what she was considering, more like she was reluctant to bring out whatever the already selected option was. This pause lasted only a second in real time, but it was still a noticeable lapse before Erza’s body was once again coated in light as she dawned her next armor. This gear set was much less covering, now only having wrappings to cover her chest with red hakama pants to serve as leggings. Her weapon style of choice was a long katana in each hand, again matching Ragna’s weapon type.

‘Fighting an entire fricken wardrobe here,’ Ragna thought. ‘Well, more like an armory.’

Erza then moved so fast that for an instant she escaped even his sight. If it wasn’t for his still recovering sixth sense she’d have gotten him with just that rush, no questions asked. As it stood be barely managed to guard before she rushed around to the other side and their katanas clashed again. Unleashing a rapid three hit combo on the Reaper’s frantic guard, Erza barely had to move to dodge Ragna’s retaliating roundhouse kick before moving into a parallel slash with her two swords which Ragna knocked away with a heavy swing. Coming back around for the next series of blade strike, the two barely appeared to move before the end result of countless slashes in the span of an instant was made clear, destroying the air around them and the ground they’d before standing on save for two small foot footholds in midair that just barely began to fall.

Erza vanished from sight once more and Ragna did likewise as the two seemed to soar around the wastelands; they moved faster than the human eye could track and the shockwaves from their clashes seemed both random and sudden. Any attack that wasn’t met instead left long and deep gashes along the ground as the damage only seemed to escalate. In fact it might’ve gone much further if the two hadn’t finally come to a standstill by entering a blade lock, finally anchoring them in place as they fought for domination of the clash.

“You’re smiling…” Erza noted as the two struggled against each other’s blades, their faces mere inches from the others.

“I am?” The Reaper was truly surprised before giving a faint chuckle. “Sorry, but… how can I not when you’re giving me all this? No hatred, no bullshit, just the two of us fighting each other with everything we’ve got!” ‘I don’t think I’ve ever actually enjoyed being pushed like this, but maybe that’s just how things are now.’ The sudden burst of magic energy that followed from Ragna’s blade actually blasted her back, leaving the redhead to dig her feet into the ground as she slid back. “COME ON! I AIN’T DONE YET!”

“Nor am I…” she began as her lips twitched in the briefest of smirks. “And I wouldn’t mind seeing this go for a while longer… Provided you can last that long.”

“I won’t disappoint.”

Erza leaped back at him faster than she’d ever gone before, Ragna instantly readied his sword to parry the attack…

…only to find that the match had fallen out of their control.

(End theme)

From out of nowhere, thick and wicked bolts of electricity shot out at the two and forced them to stop their charge and they both cut through the magic and faced down the direction the attack had come from.

“Aw, sorry about that,” though the voice attached (which was uncomfortably similar to Ragna’s own) hardly sounded sorry in the slightest. It’s owner and their current attacker was a scruffy blond haired man with a thick jacket and a lightning bolt scar over his right eye. His arms surged with a few leftover traces of his yellow lightning magic. “You guys were really starting to go heat up there, and I was getting worried that either Erza was going to eviscerate a cripple or…” It was barely noticeable, but even with his shit-eatting smirk his eyes did tighten slightly with a glare. “I was about to watch a fellow S-Rank lose outright.”

“Neither of us were in that danger, Laxus,” Erza said, though she was clearly agitated by the man before her. She allowed her weapons and armor to return to her Requip storage so Ragna sent his katana back as well.

“Oh ho, so Erza’s got a fan of her magic,” the new arrival noted with a mocking laugh. “Don’t kid yourself old man, no one’s been able to get into this one’s good graces.” When he didn’t respond, Erza realized that Ragna was actually keeping himself silent. His scowl was probably the sharpest she’d ever seen it, but he still didn’t make a move. “What? Is your eye and arm not the only two things you're missing? Did your hearing give out too, or are you just senile?”

A wayward glance to Erza told Ragna that she was waiting for him to introduce himself to the new arrival. He didn’t like it, but decided to comply. “I go by Ra-”

“Don’t care.”

Ragna’s scowl dissipated long enough to give Erza an exasperated look, one which was starting to leak through for her as well.

“So what brought you here in the first place? It’s been a while since you’ve been back to the guild,” Erza questioned.

“I saw you guys fighting in the distance and thought I might as well watch for some mindless entertainment, but I was just about ready to fall asleep watching that snoozefest. Same reason why I haven’t been back to the guild, no one there comes even close to being worth my time.” He then directed a smirk directly at Ragna. “Though I heard something about this new blonde piece of eye candy that joined up. Maybe I’ll make a special trip to see if she’s worth taking for myself.”

Had this been the same Ragna from not all that long ago, he would’ve already felt the sting of Laxus’s insulting taunts and he’d have been plenty pissed. With what he’d just said, it would’ve been enough to send him over the edge and engage his BlazBlue (if he had it)... but he’d grown since then and had started to lead without pure rage. Instead of falling into Laxus’s game...

“Go ahead and try; she’s easily enough to turn you down and kick your balls straight off.”

He gave a different kind of Ragna response. Erza gave a few startled blinks while Laxus just gave a hefty laugh.

“So the geezer’s got a mouth on him after all! I like it!” Laxus then closed the distance between the two and got right up in Ragna’s face. “Problem is I’ve gotta set an example to the rest of the guild and talking back to your S-Rank betters is worthy of a healthy beating.”

A harsh aura of electricity surrounded Laxus as the two stared each other down, Ragna not breaking his scowl; despite the cut the lightning caused to his cheek. It was deep enough that it began bleeding, but he didn’t even flinch.

“ENOUGH.” Erza’s demand full of authority was enough for Lauxus’s lightning to finally fade, but otherwise his demeanor hadn’t changed. “I was here with Ragna on business; you know as well as I do that we don’t tolerate interference with other wizards.”

“...Like I said earlier, I was just trying to lend either of you a needed...hand.” Laxus’s last pause had been due to the cut he’d delivered to Ragna. While it might not have been the most severe thing he could’ve done even with just his aura alone, watching the damage heal right in front of him to leave no trace of injury was enough to at least get his interest for a moment. “Whatever, tell the old man I’ll be back in a week. I’m not done spending my last paycheck.”

‘At least he’s heading the opposite direction that we’ll be going,’ Ragna thought. Even if he could take pride in knowing that Laxus hadn’t sent himself off like a certain mint-haired antagonist, that didn’t mean he wanted to be anywhere near him. He turned his attention back to Erza. “So… was that as huge a mood killer for you as it was for me?”

“Unfortunately, I think it was. We’ll have to call it here after all,” she said, sounding disappointed.

“Hell of a rush though, so thanks for giving me a good workout,” he commended.

“You still didn’t use everything that you had; your output of physical ability may have increased substantially, but you didn’t use your basic magics or even your weapon’s abilities,” Erza again assessed.

“They’re not strong enough yet,” he defended. “Against your run of the mill thugs and monsters they can come in handy and I even worked on them a bit in a spar with Natsu, but magic’s still hardly my strong suit. Smashing stuff or cleaving it apart is what I’m best at and I could only use what I could count on with you.” He then gave a soft chuckle. “Like you were using every weapon and armor set available to you.”

“…Fair enough,” she finally decided before smiling at the Reaper. “I can honestly say that I had fun as well, so thank you for the match. And you held your temper with Laxus better than I thought you’d be able to; if Natsu were here, just the interruption would’ve sent him immediately into a rage.”

‘That’s not too hard to see, I get the feeling that asshole likes to throw his weight around a lot at the guild and Natsu’s not the type to take that shit lying down. Doesn’t help that he was using those insults and…’ “You’d think that if he really wanted to make me angry, he’d have brought up what happened with XII.”

“He’s the type that would have, meaning he didn’t know. In fact, I can guess the only reason anyone in our guild knows is because you made a point to make sure anyone present knew and Laxus hasn’t been back in a while.” A fair guess, but something else was bothering Ragna now.

“If they’re the only ones that know, then how the hell did you ever find out? You weren’t there when I told the guild and you wouldn’t have had any way of finding out unless someone told you before you got back.”

“…Someone did tell me.” Ragna could see her discomfort as she hesitated. “It was Siegrain; one of the two Magic Counsel wizards that we encountered after defeating Lullaby.” Ragna figured that someone important as that could have made the discovery of his actions especially if it had been a job specifically for the council, but again this only led to more questions.

“How did you two… meet up?” he tried carefully, knowing this person was a sore subject for her.

“He was in the area of my last job on his own business, at least that’s what he claimed.” Ragna took some solace in the fact that Erza didn’t trust him either, though it was hard to know how heavy that distrust was without knowing her history… but he knew better than to push that too soon. “Changing subject to something lighter, I think you more than completed the job that I needed you for.”

“I… guess? I mean is it really worth it to keep this front up? I mean everyone knows why you really took me out of the guild, they were even talking about it all of yesterday and this morning.”

“Front for what? I said I had a job that I needed your assistance with and you were willing to comply at my asking. The job giver has made you swear secrecy however, both on the job’s details and their own identity.”

“That’s… probably not going to work,” Ragna admitted honestly.

“Is there anyone in our Guild who would say otherwise?” Erza asked confidently, so confidently that Ragna was the blindsided one now. “With all of that settled, I think it’s time that we handled your reward.”

“My what? Even with this whole job front, you really think I deserve something?” Erza merely gestured to the destroyed terrain around them, both to indicate what Ragna had survived and what his effort had (offhandedly) created. “I mean… I guess I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. So what were you thinking?”

“That much is easy.”

That Afternoon -Fairy Tail-

“I said I was sorry, but how was that my fault?” Natsu groaned. After the job Lucy had just been put through, even Natsu felt bad enough that he decided to pay for the blonde’s dinner. “Even our guide said that he’d never seen Vulcans migrate into the area like that before, there was no way I could’ve accounted for that.”

“I’m still the one that had to get kidnapped! And I had five of those things making advances at me!” Lucy whined after the understandably trying day she’d been through.

“I wonder if maybe they somehow knew she was in the area and made a point to follow her?” Happy asked from the table’s corner.

“Don’t even joke like that! I don’t want this to be a permanent thing!” she cried.

“I’m sure your luck will turn around for the better soon,” Mira tried to promise with a bright smile as she brought the table their orders. “In just a little more time Sorcerer’s Weekly won’t have enough pages to list all of your accomplishments.”

‘Mirajane is just the best,’ Lucy thought with sparkles in her eyes at the kind words she’d just been given.

“By the way, you think… Dad's doing okay?” Natsu asked, leaving Lucy to pause as the normally upbeat Fire Breather actually seemed worried. “I don’t know how long they were supposed to take on their job or how far they were supposed to travel, but we ended up getting back before they did.”

“I dunno, but I hope so,” Happy said genuinely. “Some of us can’t tell what Erza’s thinking at the best of times, so her asking our Dad all mysterious-like… who knows what’s going to happen. At least she wasn’t outright angry.”

“I get the feeling that he’ll be okay; he doesn’t scare easily,” Mira said, her sudden faith in the Reaper surprising the entire table considering what he was up against. “What? He’s never been afraid of Erza before.”

“That might just be his thickheadedness talking though,” Happy realized.

“I don’t disagree, but be nice,” Lucy scolded right before the door to the guild opened. Everyone immediately turned as Erza made her way into the guild… followed by a seemingly unharmed Ragna. Lucy could at least take solace in that, but then the two headed over towards their table and she had to endure the insane pressure that Erza’s mere presence brought. All pairs of eyes in the guild were on them. “Um… H-How did it go?”

“…Almost perfectly,” Erza eventually responded. “Ragna proved to be exactly the kind of help I wanted on this job. Aside from a small interruption towards the end, the job went off without a hitch.”

“Does that mean you two didn’t fi-?” Natsu’s question was silenced before it was finished by a harsh glare from the redhead. “I-I mean that’s great guys, way to go! Must have really made a ton of money on it.”

“About that…” Ragna began slowly, knowing he owed Erza enough to keep this odd cover… and what he was saying was at least true enough. “Erza ended up taking all of the money that we made on this job, but in exchange I managed to get two whole ingredients from here.”

“Two at once?” Mira repeated before the realization dawned on her. “Oh, so that’s why you’d left on those two S-Rank quests for a few days.”

“Exactly. Ragna can’t access the S-Rank board up above,” Erza explained. “And since he helped me with this rather important task, I was still able to let him earn them as his reward.”

“Hold on,” Natsu said, seeming to double check the math on his fingers. “Then that means you’ve got everything!”

“Yep, we made a stop on our way back to drop off all of the ingredients. All I gotta do is head out tomorrow, grab my elixir, and I should finally have my damn eye and arm working again. I think I may finally be in the clear.”

“That’s amazing news!” Lucy cheered with a bright smile. “We should totally do something to celebrate tonight!”

“Aye! Let’s go out on one last late night mission!” Happy declared.

“THEN I’D JUST HAVE TO PUT UP WITH EVEN MORE VULCANS!” Lucy screamed. At the monster’s name, Ragna turned to glare at Natsu as the likely culprit, but the fire user waved his hands before him to declare innocence.

“It’s already late and it’s not like you have the cure for your condition yet,” Makarov commented, making everyone aware of the guild leader’s keen attention to the conversation (despite his constant drinking that day). “Besides, shouldn’t you be helping Mira with the dinner rush?”

‘Is he planning something? Sure as hell sounds like it.’ “Guess you got a point there; let’s save the whole celebration tomorrow when we’re sure it’s worked. Last thing I want is to celebrate and have the whole thing be a bust.”

“Excellent, tomorrow it is!” Makarov said joyfully. Now it was obvious to Ragna that the old man was going to try something, but considering that he was the reason he was getting restored in the first place he decided he’d play along. Maybe it’d at least be enjoyable chaos.

‘Enjoyable chaos…’ Ragna thought silently before looking around the guild and… actually taking it all in for once. ‘Like you’d find anything else in Fairy Tail.’

Chapter Text

Episode 015: Image of the Restored

“All that work and trouble that I went through… and this is all I get?” The vial Ragna had just been given was the size of his pinkie finger. It was capped at the top to contain the thick red liquid inside, very little red liquid for what the concoction was about to do.

“I spent all night refining the materials and concentrating the parts that I needed for your mixture. I stayed up so long that I have bags under my eyes." Ragna decided not to comment that he honestly couldn’t tell with Porlyusica’s wrinkled face. “You should be grateful that I took all of that time to have it ready first thing this morning!”

“You were the one that told me to show up early the next morning and to not be late, never said this couldn’t wait until the afternoon,” Ragna sighed at the older woman’s attitude. “Though I was… honestly expecting some kind of twist. Like you already had the potion this entire time and I was just getting you those ingredients for a killer feast or some shit.”

“…Is that what humans would do? It sounds like a joke in poor taste.” To be fair, it was. “So, now for ingesting the potion. You’re going to want to take it in one gulp, but you’ll have to be ready. The amount of pain is excruciating and will doubtlessly render you unconscious for the rest of the day at least. After that you’ll have to go through the process of rehabilitating yourself with your new eye and arm. Best to take it slow and not have jobs to worry about for a few days.”

“So that’s it? Just drink it?” Ragna asked. While he got a sharp glare for ignoring her words, he didn’t receive any denial. “Huh, bottoms up I guess.”

“What did I just tell you about preparation! I’m not taking care of you here when you go unconscious!” Despite Porlyusica’s heated mouth, Ragna popped off the vial’s top (wincing at the smell of the potion) before downing it in one swig (tasted twice as bad as it smelled). “I may not care a thing for humans, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch you go into pain!"

At first nothing seemed off aside from the horrid aftertaste of the potion. Then all at once his eye and arm flared up in a pain so bad that Ragna gritted his teeth. His foulmouthed caretaker even showed some signs of concern as his pain truly set in… but Ragna didn’t go unconscious. Don’t get him wrong, it was every bit as painful as when he first lost his arm and had been replaced with the BlazBlue… but he also felt very familiar with it. And since then, he’d grown. What was only a few minutes felt like an eternity, but eventually the pain subsided.

“You’re still awake?” She didn’t sound concerned for him, merely thoughtful at the development. “Either the potion didn’t truly take effect and all you received was a fraction of the pain, or… you actually endured all of that.”

“…Guess I should check.” After being in this state for so long, Ragna had to focus to use his right arm. When he made the effort though, it moved with ease though it didn’t feel like he was fully coordinated with it just yet. Not a problem, that would come back quickly enough. Forcing his right eye open and seeing in a mirror that it was indeed still red, Ragna closed his left and found that his vision had indeed returned like he’d never lost it. “Answer your questions?”

“I suppose it does, but now that you’re finally fully healed you can leave for good and never return.” Kicked out almost immediately, but Ragna was surprised she hadn’t just handed him the potion and told him to piss off.

“Come on, I’ve got to do something to help you out,” he insisted, feeling pretty giving now that he’d been restored. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Peace and quiet! So leave me be!” After shouting, she turned her back and appeared to be rather busy with a collection of beakers… though Ragna had the slightest feeling that she was just trying to appear busy so he’d get out of her hair.

“Right, I get the hint… seriously, thanks for your help though.” She gave him the kindest response possible towards a human… she ignored him. Shrugging Ragna headed off out of the door. “Guess I’ll have to see what everyone at the guild is going to think of the new me.” He smirked sharply. “Can’t wait.”

Now that Ragna was finally out of her hair, Porlyusica eventually noticed the scent something nearby. There on the table where Ragna’s potion had been lay a fresh cobbler resting in its tin, looking like it had just come out of the oven. Knowing her patient’s ability with Requip magic, it was easy to assume that the Reaper had kept the treat in storage to keep it warm. She considered throwing it out to keep her pride… but it did admittedly smell good. It would be needlessly wasteful just to discard it outright, so she took the accompanying fork and gave it a taste. The flavors were exactly what she expected…

And that was the problem.

“He stole some of my apples when he was here last night to make this,” she growled. “…Ever the human that one.”

She still finished it, cursing out Ragna’s humanity between every bite.

Later -Outside of the Fairy Tail Guild-

“Everything ready for Ragna’s big surprise?” Makarov asked Erza Scarlet. The S-Rank mage gave her guild master a confident nod, no doubt she’d ensured that everything would be prepared through her usual efficient (if draconian) methods. “Good, he’ll be in for quite the surprise when he returns.”

“It doesn’t hurt that we’ve also managed to sell out every seat available on such short notice; most of the town seemed excited for the competition.” To the outsider looking in the wasn’t much to gleamed from the setup. The was a large stage perfectly set for the countless chairs that occupied the street. One side of the stage held three small and simple desks while the other side held two much larger tables covered in cloth. “If anything, we’ve already made a large profit outside of the heavy betting. Now we have to hope that the man himself doesn’t abandon the event.”

“Compared to the chaos that his team causes him, this will be a refreshing change of pace,” the guild leader chuckled. “Still, he left for Porlyusica’s first thing this morning. I don’t know what’s taking him so long to return. We only have an hour before the main event starts, so we’re cutting it close.”

“I’m sure that we’d be able to entertain the crowd thoroughly enough with pre-show entertainment if he’s truly that late. Or we could send his team out to grab him? Though if he headed off to try a job now that he has his arm back, tracking him down could be-”

“Oi, don’t worry about it. You made it clear you had some kind of party plans last night so I’m already here.” Erza and Makarov stared blankly at Ragna who’d just arrived. Now his arm was finally back in his place through its sleeve proper (goodbye Auron look), he carried himself much more steadily, and his depth perception was back. “Sorry I took so long getting back, I tried to get some practice in on the way just trying to get the right feeling back into this damn arm of mine. Got it back pretty quick at least, since I’ve been through this shit already.”

Silence.

“Uh… guys? Isn’t this where you overreact with how young I look?”

“Alright, enough jokes,” Makarov sighed. “Who are you and where’s Ragna?”

“Tch, good one old man. If that’s the most original thing you could come up with…” Ragna then remembered the kind of people he was dealing with. “Oh god, you’re serious.”

“Identity fraud is no laughing matter,” Erza scolded with a scowl that usually sent people into a deep panic… Ragna merely grimaced at how dense these two were.

“Guys… it’s me? Don’t you recognize…?” No answer or change in their complexions. “So if you don’t think it’s me then-”

“What’s going on? Is he back yet?” Natsu asked as he came out the front doors of the guild. Taking one look at Ragna, Natsu gave the air a quick sniff. Ragna at least appreciated that Natsu was confirming his suspicions, even if it should have been obvious. “Wow, you must’ve really gone the extra mile by making sure you smell like him and everything!”

“DAMMIT NATSU!”

“WOW! EVEN HIS YELL’S COMPLETELY ON POINT!” Happy applauded from the Slayer’s shoulder.

“Well of course; Ragna’s probably thorough enough that he’d make sure he practices to really sell that it’s him,” Gray agreed as he too came out into the street (of course only wearing his boxers).

“...” Lucy gave Ragna a long stare as she stared him down. Ragna knew that his surrogate daughter was the most levelheaded person that he knew in the guild, so surely she’d be the one to- “You almost had us, but he picked out someone that looked way too young.”

‘…I guess a backhanded compliment is still a compliment, but what the hell am I supposed to do now?’ Ragna considered, trying to think of a solution before Erza and Makarov threw him out of the guild or worse. Coming up with an answer he tossed the right side of his jacket off his shoulder, let his arm go limp, and closed his right while lighting his Fairy Tail symbol. It took the group a moment as they stared intensely at him… but eventually even they got it.

“WAIT! IT’S REALLY YOU!?” Lucy screamed. Ragna reset his jacket and opened his right eye again. “I-!? HOW-!? YOU LOOK SO YOUNG!”

“…Thank you?” He should’ve been happier to hear that right now, a lot happier.

“If this is what you really look like, then it’s no wonder you were so depressed that everyone was calling you old,” Natsu realized, having an odd reflective moment where he actually looked guilty. “Sorry about that.”

“Eh, now that I’m back to my old self it’s water under the bridge,” he assured.

“I… suppose you won’t be able to go by your Dad title any further,” Erza guessed, still a little in awe of Ragna’s new appearance.

“Yeah, I guess that’s gone and taken its course,” the Reaper admitted, not sure whether or not he was actually disappointed at that fact.

“…I don’t think it has.” Lucy was the one who’d suggested that bizarre idea, then again she was the one that had suggested this in the first place. “Even if you look so much younger now, that doesn’t change how you act towards all of us. As long as you’re okay with it, I’ll still call you Dad.”

“Wait, really?” Ragna asked with an eyebrow raised (his left one since that’s the one he’s been able to use lately). Turning to Natsu and Happy, the two nodded in agreement. “I mean… sure. I guess you guys can do whatever the hell you want to.”

“I don’t see any problems with this,” Erza agreed, reminding everyone of the oddity that was her going along with this completely.

“…You guys sure you don’t want to give me the big brother title?” Ragna thought to try. “…No? Alright.”

“I’d just be careful with it,” Gray decided to interject, even though he wasn’t a part of the ‘kids’ group. “If you call Ragna Daddy by mistake, that’s going to send a pretty different message.”

“…Gray?”

“Yeah, Ragna?”

WHAM!

Everyone (after getting over the unfortunate implications of what he’d said) looked up as the Ice user was launched high into the air by Ragna’s punch. The Reaper took a deep breath after suddenly expelling his rage all at once before glancing up at the airborne lad he’d sent beyond the clouds.

“Hmm… still needs some getting used to.”

“Just a bit,” Erza casually agreed.

Once Gray had… landed, he recovered quickly enough and now had a mental note to watch what he said around the Reaper. With that out of the way, the group headed inside and (after much vouching it was really him from the others) the guild got a solid look at the real Reaper.

“Damn, guess Makarov isn’t the second oldest looking guy here,” Macao commentated, worrying Ragna with just how old everyone really had thought he was.

“Gotta say, now I’m feeling self-conscious,” Wakaba agreed, seeming oddly depressed.

“You’re not bad looking at least,” Loke conceded. Ragna fought the urge to kick his ass since he’d played his part in the recovery. “Maybe if you give it some time you’ll end up in the Sorcerer’s Weekly Boyfriend Rankings.”

“Just ignore these guys, but I’m impressed at your latest glow up,” Levi complimented. “You were already really strong before, but now that you can use your other arm I have to wonder what kind of jobs you’ll be able to tackle.”

“Not much until I get back up to full coordination, but just watch me,” Ragna told her confidently.

“That’s what I’m talking about; NOW WE’VE GOT A REAL MAN BACK HERE!” Elfman congratulated in his own way. “I’D SAY THOSE CHEATERS IN THE MANLINESS CONTEST HAD BETTER WATCH OUT! …If we’re ever allowed back.”

“Eh, they might not recognize me so I could probably enter again if they hold it,” Ragna teased with a chuckle. “So what’s with the stage outside? And where’s Mira? Figured she’d want to see the fresh me as well.”

“Oh, she’ll see you soon enough,” Elfman agreed. “But for your first question, take your place up on the stage at the big desk on the right, but don’t remove the cover yet. You’ll know what you’re in for once it’s time.”

“This was the celebration you guys wanted me to wait for, isn’t it?” Ragna figured. “Am I about to get a migraine?”

“No, actually. I think you’ll have fun with this,” Lucy assured him. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to spoil what you’re in for, but I think it’ll be a good time for all of us.”

Ragna trusted Lucy’s saner judgements (saner compared to the rest of the guild at least) and headed to his place. He had to wait for quite a while at his appointed place as people started piling in to take their assigned seats. Some of them were people that Ragna had already seen around town and several were certainly questioning his much younger appearance… if they’d even bought that it was really him. Eventually it seemed that everyone had taken their seats though he didn’t see his regular team in the crowd aside from Lucy who was front and center.

“TIME TO GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!” Happy declared as he flew in front of the stage in his winged form. Someone had seen fit to give him announcer duties and given how well he’d done in his spar with Natsu, Ragna agreed with the decision. “I’m Happy of the renowned Fairy Tail guild and on stage now we have Ragna, our newest member who just healed himself from paralysis!” Several people in the crowd still appeared doubtful. “…At least I’m 99% sure it’s him!”

‘So there’s still that one percent of him that really doubts that it’s me… guess I’ll have to live with it,’ Ragna thought with a sigh.

“Anyways, to celebrate this occasion we bring to you-!” Happy began as he put his paw up as a signal and the cloth on the desks in front of Ragna faded into light to reveal a cooking station. From behind the stage several carts filled with prime meat, vegetables, spices, and all other types of ingredients were brought in. “A FAIRY TAIL COOKOFF!”

‘So that’s what they had in store for me. I guess this does sound like a good time,’ the Reaper thought as he glanced to the empty table next to him. ‘Then that means…’

“AND FOR HIS OPPONENT! CONSTANTLY SEEN IN THE POPULAR SORCERER’S WEEKLY MAGAZINE! THE MAIN CHEF AND HEAD RECEPTIONIST OF FAIRY TAIL! MIRAJANE STRAUSS!”

The crowd went absolutely wild as Mira made her way onto the stage, everyone shouting their love for the model and there even seemed to be a dedicated fan club in the back. She was wearing the same red dress as she always did, but now she also had a white frilly apron on top of it and a tall chef’s hat on her head for the occasion, likely making her fans go even crazier as she took her spot at the desk beside Ragna.

“You look good finally healed,” she complimented, knowing it was him after seeing him prior with both eyes open. “…Still a little surprised at how young you look.”

“I’ve heard; even from you before. But thanks,” Ragna answered back in kind. “This all your idea?”

“Makarov’s actually, but when he brought it up to me I could hardly decline,” she corrected. “I figured you’d get a kick out this, maybe even help get some coordination back in your cooking skills.”

“Right, but on the big stage though? Pressure’s on.” Ragna smirked at Mira’s giggle while Happy continued on.

“These two have been cooking together at the Fairy Tail guild for some time now, so it only makes sense to have our judges be those who already know the cooking! Coming on stage now we have Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet!” There was more cheering (mostly for Erza) as the three made their way onto the stage and took their places at the judging tables.

“Not gonna lie; this kinda feels skewed in my favor,” Ragna admitted, knowing the connection he shared with most of them.

“Anyone else we would’ve asked would have voted for me outright to gain my favor,” Mira explained. “Here at least Erza’s so strict that she’ll have to give her honest opinion, Natsu’s going to listen to what his stomach and tastebuds say, and Gray’s too dense to have any biases.”

“…Okay, fair enough,” Ragna immediately conceded.

“Now that everyone’s here I’ll go over the rules!” Happy continued announcing. “This will be a three round match! Each round is its own course going from an appetizer to the main entrée, and finishing with a dessert! Each of our judges holds three coins, one for each round with two bowls representing each of our contestants! Each round each of our judges will put a single coin in a selected bowl to vote with the corresponding chef. Three rounds each carrying three possible points leads to a total of nine points overall! With no possibility of a tie, we’ll know who the true leader of Fairy Tail’s kitchens is by the end of today!”

There was further cheering, obviously in Mira’s favor. Ragna didn’t let this get to him, only going deep into thought for what he was going to cook. He had a pretty fair idea of what he was going to do for the first two rounds at least, that last one though… Well, it was all good fun and he’d just have to give it his best shot regardless.

“One further rule! Self-cast magic may only be used in the preparation of the food! No spells that artificially enhance a meal’s flavor are allowed!” Happy added sternly.

“Huh, so those exist.” Ragna had never come across that brand of spell casting in his reading. “But knowing you, you’d never use them in the first place.”

“Now you’re starting to read me; is it my turn to be scared?” Mira flirted.

“Not at this point,” the Reaper admitted.

“CONTESTANTS READY!” Happy shouted, putting his paw in the air. “GO!”

Mira and Ragna both made a mad dash for their selected carts as the crowd cheered the contestants on. Mira went right for the vegetables while Ragna grabbed the meat and some stock first. The ingredient gathering didn’t take too long and soon both participants were at their stations getting their meals ready.

“The energy of these kids,” Makarov laughed as he watched with a large mug of beer (he’d gotten a refill before the contest had begun). “Though now I have to start treating Ragna like he’s younger than me… can’t say that feels all that good.”

“Ah, I finally made it. Apologies for the late arrival,” a familiar voice sounded. Makarov turned his head to see his old acquaintance; a lankier man with a purple cloak and jagged hat to match. He had a darker complexion and a sharp mustache. “Seems they just started at least.”

“Good to see you, Jose,” Makarov greeted. “Would you like a beer? It’s early in the day so you may not want to start drinking just yet.”

“Hah. Don’t be so cocky after winning our last drinking match at the summit,” Jose answered with a roll of his eyes. “And I don’t think a man of any size should be drinking that much, least of all one in your natural state.”

“…You do remember Cana, correct?” Makarov asked, pointing to the woman who was already halfway through the large barrel of drink she’d brought just to have something to sip during the competition. Jose shrugged as he conceded the point. “Still, I’m happy that you accepted our last minute invitation.”

“I didn’t have too much on my plate, so a chance to visit my sister guild felt like a good way to spend my time,” the leader of the Phantom Lord guild answered. “Also it gave me chance to blow off the meeting I had scheduled with the Magic Council today.”

“Hah, what will the youngsters of your guild think when they look to you for inspiration?” Makarov jokingly chided.

“Don’t give me that; we’re both Saints in title only.” The two master laughed at their argument before Jose got a good look at the competitors. “Mira comes highly ranked as a chef, yet this man from out of nowhere thinks he stands a chance?”

“I can personally vouch for his cooking, though it’d never be enough to dissuade most people from voting for Mira anyways. The selection we have here is the most even footing we can give both challengers.”

“Yes, Mira is quite the celebrity after all,” the follow master agreed.

“That can also be said for most of your guild as well, I’ve heard that you’ve been making quite the commotion as of late with your jobs,” Makarov laughed. “If you want to take the position of most destructive guild in Fiore, then be my guest! You’d save me a hell of a headache!”

“Nothing of the like; I just think some competition between the two guilds is good and…” Jose seemed to pause as he looked not at the stage, but at someone standing just off to the side. “That girl… is she another of your new members?”

“You mean Lucy?” Makarov asked for clarification. “She joined our guild at the exact same time as Ragna up there. Apparently they had just met before coming here, but they’re already close enough that she considers him to be a father to her.” He chuckled. “Just in case you were getting any ideas.”

“I don’t particularly have a taste for blondes, but thanks for the warning,” Jose said, though something about his words seemed… cold. The expression faded quickly as he smirked at Makarov. “Though the man on the stage hardly looks old enough to be her father.”

“He didn’t use to! That’s why we’re celebrating!”

“…I see.”

“You don’t see.”

“I really don’t.”

Soon enough Mira had finished with her appetizer and brought it before the judges. She’d made a basic salad, so it was hardly surprising that she was able to present before Ragna who was still mixing his soup starter. Mira’s salad was fairly basic in appearance: lettuce, tomatoes, bits of onions, some cheese, slices of boiled egg, and a bit of grilled chicken sprinkled within. But it wasn’t the ingredients that made this dish her entry, Mira had developed her own homemade brand of dressing and the judges got their immediate taste of it.

“A nice balance and a very simple way to start our three courses,” Erza commended after she’d taken a forkful with everything on it. “Normally I think it would be a waste that one single ingredient is bringing this entire dish together, but since the dressing is able to cover and enhance every part of the dish it actually works to it favor.”

“I agree, and the lettuce here is a perfect opener,” Gray elaborated. “Crisp, light, leaves plenty of room for what’s ahead while being its own thing.”

“…There’s not nearly enough chicken in mine,” Natsu said, airing his grievances.

“There’s more to food than just meat, you flame head,” Grey argued.

“Yeah, well why would you want to skip out on the best part, ice ass,” Natsu shot back.

“Boys. Behave.”

“Yes, Erza,” the two said in unison as Mira headed back to her table to wait for the next round.

They had to wait a bit longer for Ragna to finish his soup, but it wasn’t too long thankfully as Ragna came forward with three bowls of hot soup for the three. There was plenty of vegetables in this dish along with thick chunks of perfectly seared beef and the broth was plenty thick with flavor.

“Oh yeah! Now this is what I’m talking about!” Natsu said eagerly before taking his first bite, finding that the flavors certainly agreed with him. “Ah man, so good!”

“Clam down,” Gray grunted as he tried it himself. “…Don’t get me wrong, this is really good. But it’s so damn heavy for an appetizer. Also, not really a fan of hot food most of the time.”

“This isn’t payback for me almost sending you into orbit, is it?” Ragna had to ask.

“Nah, I’m not petty.”

“Just had to check.”

“I think I’m in agreement with Gray myself, it’s too hearty to be just a starter,” Erza said as she put her first coin in Mira’s bowl and Gray followed suit.

“Come on guys! That soup was really good!” Natsu whined.

“Then vote for it; each of us have the power to make our own choice each round,” the Ice user reminded. Natsu (still grumbling slightly) put his coin in Ragna’s bowl.

“And Mira takes the first round!” Happy declared. “A single point might not seem like much on an advantage especially in the first round, but if Mira does a clean sweep and earns three points in the next round then the contest is already decided! Let’s see if Ragna can keep that from happening.

‘Not good, she managed to appeal to a majority of the tastes and that cost me,’ Ragna thought as he looked at the food that was still available. ‘At least I already know what I’m making for round two.’

“Next up the entrees!” the cat declared. “Chefs get cooking!”

Mira immediately went for some of the already prepared dough (she’d made some last night for both of them to use in the tournament) as well as some hearty vegetables and some more good cuts of chicken. She also gathered ingredients for gravy and was multitasking right from the start. Ragna meanwhile went… solely for the meat and spices.

“He’s… gotta be doing more than just meat, right?” Gray asked his fellow judges Ragna immediately started mixing his spices together in a mortar and pestle. “He… can’t just be banking on Natsu’s vote, right?”

“We’ll just have to see,” Erza decided as she turned her attention to Mira. “I recognize that chicken pot pie that she’s going to present; she told me earlier that it was a recipe that she worked on with Ragna.”

“Meaning she thinks that it’s the best choice to play after working together or she’s managed to improve the recipe without him knowing. Either way, it probably going to be difficult for Ragna’s meat dish alone to beat.” Gray’s summary was further reinforced as he realized just how Ragna was preparing his food. “Is he just… barbequing it? Not even any special like flambe?”

“Who cares how it’s prepared, long as it tastes good,” Natsu argued.

Once again, Mira was the first to bring her food to the judges first. Normally a pie would take far longer to bake than simply grilling meat, but either Ragna was insistent on going second again or this was a different process. Either way, all three judges were once again unanimous that they had a strong contender.

“Now this is what I can an entrée,” Gray said in appreciation. “Light and fluffy crust, a hearty filling that still tastes balanced, heck I don’t even mind that it’s warm.”

“Plenty of meat too!” Natsu complimented.

“Now now Natsu, you need your vegetables as well,” Erza lectured, though far from as intensely as she usually was. “And thankfully this dish has plenty of them to offer. It’s still more comfort food than something you should always enjoy, but I certainly feel plenty of comfort just by eating it.”

“Aw man, that was a really good review from everyone,” Levi concluded. “Has Ragna done anything special with his dish yet?”

“Nope, just plain BBQ,” Elf man assured, having kept a constant eye on the Reaper while he’d been grilling. “I guess that’s an unusual spice combination he has for a rub, but how is that going to overcome one of my sister’s better dishes? One that he helped her on at that.”

“I think Mira’s got this one in the bag, not there was much doubt to begin with,” Loke said coolly.

For Ragna’s meal, he specifically had chosen to make a platter filled with ribs. He set each plate down before the waiting judges, looking oddly confident in his choice.

“So… is that it?” Gray asked for clarification. “Like there isn’t any hidden extra step or some secret ingredient you’re going to add in at the last minute?”

“Nah, what you see is what you get. Just give them a try; the results will speak for themselves,” the Reaper insisted.

Shrugging (and wondering if he was taking the contest seriously at this point) Gray went for a bite of his ribs only to stop as he was distracted by sounds of obnoxious scarfing coming from beside him. He figured it was Natsu too eager to try the newest meat dish… only it was actually Erza. The normally reserved (unless enraged) S-Rank was unable to stop herself as she mercilessly tore into the meat she’d been given. Even Natsu seemed too awestruck to try his own plate before Erza had reduced her own meal to a pile of bones and staring shocked at the remains after she’d done so.

“Uhhhhhhhh… what?” Lucy asked.

“This is new to me too,” Happy commentated beside her as Natsu and Gray overcame their surprise long enough to try a bite themselves… and immediately going into a similar frenzy as Erza. “Huh.”

“It.. it came right off the bone,” Gray realized, completely awestruck. “It just about melts in your mouth and the flavors… the spices don’t distract from the meat; the enhance it as well as add their own spin on top of it.”

…With that review given, Ragna made a clean sweep of the second round. His entrée earned him three points and put him firmly in the lead by two going into the final round.

‘Where’s he been hiding that?’ Mira wondered curiously.

“AND A SURPRISE UPSET FROM RAGNA!” Happy announced, though the audience was too stunned by the display (mostly Erza’s reaction) to cheer or comment. “Now for the dessert round! Ragna just needs one single point to clench his victory, but Mira has some of the best sweets out there! Let’s see what both contestants are capable of as they give it their all!”

‘…Dammit, I’m in trouble,’ Ragna thought, not moving from his station as Mira was already gathering her ingredients. ‘My best chance was having already won by now, but I can’t just throw away this last round. Knowing Mira, it might not be impossible for her to pull a clean sweep. Think, what are my options?’

Since he needed only a single point, he considered going after only Natsu’s approval but it would be difficult to work a meat dish as a dessert and now wasn’t the time to experiment. Going after Gray meant making something cold and while he could make a decent ice cream from scratch that wouldn’t be nearly enough to win him over by itself, and that would all but forfeit Natsu’s vote. As for Erza… if he wanted her vote, he had to win in quality outright or impress her in some bizarre way.

‘I… have to try and get a single vote from one of them, but to have the best chance I need to try to appeal to all of them and hope they like the dish better than Mira’s. Something cold but is also hot and can be good overall…’ Ragna wracked his head as he glanced over the ingredients… and coming up with an odd combination. “Brain blast!”

“And he’s finally moving,” Cana observed as she put down her already finished barrel of booze. “Took him long enough, but… what the hell is he grabbing?”

While Ragna was taking what he needed to make his own ice cream (with strawberries for flavor), he was also grabbing some corn syrup, baking soda, and… spicy peppers? While the audience was obviously confused by his choice in produce, Ragna couldn’t afford to care as he set to work. Now that he had both hands working, he was actually able to cast spells in his left hand while he prepared the other food with his right (still needed to practice casting with that hand). While it was still in a cantrip state, he managed to create a good enough ice spell to speed the process of making the ice cream while his other hand went to work on the peppers. With them he made a strange sort of gel after mixing in the corn syrup and other bizarre ingredients he’d gathered. With his ice cream finished, he returned his full attention to the mystery mixture and cast another spell which caused it to gather together and tighten.

“That’s a Condensing spell,” Levi realized. “It’s a gravity based one, but it’s still on cantrip grade meaning it’s usually seen as useless in casting especially with how difficult it would be to learn.”

“But what’s he applying it here for, and with all of those peppers and other ingredients?” Elfman had to question right as Ragna’s mixture crystallized. Breaking it the crystal apart in shards, he sprinkled it over the three bowls of ice cream he’d prepared. “He’s… using it as a topper?”

“Spicy, creamy, and sweet with strawberries… just what is he trying to do?” Loke tried to figure as Ragna set each bowl in front of the judges.

“Really? Cold stuff?” Natsu had to asked.

“With some hot and spicy added on top of it,” Gray added. “…Are you trying to lose both us with this?”

“We were just blown away with his basic barbeque, so maybe this is also an unexpected surprise?” Erza suggested, though she herself was less than confident. All three of them took a bite in unison and none of them hated it. In fact… it seemed thought provoking.

“So I still think the ice cream’s okay, but it’s helped a lot by those crystals you threw in,” Natsu judged as another of the crystals went off in his mouth in small burst of spice. “Each pop’s a sudden burst of something resembling fire and I kinda dig it.”

“I like it too, but in the opposite way,” Gray added. “I’m more of a fan of the ice cream, but the spice flakes aren’t bad. In fact they break up the taste of the ice cream here and there with their sudden pops. I get to keep enjoying the ice cream when they fade and I don’t get tired of the taste as easily.”

“So in short… this dish is both of you,” Erza realized, causing Natsu and Gray to balk at the assessment. “Both parts of this dish are good on their own, but it takes them mixing together to create something truly unique that no one expected; something that’s even better than the sum of their parts when applied correctly.”

Natsu and Gray paused at that, glancing each other’s way. They were far from convinced at Erza’s claim, even with the example that had been shoved right in their face… but for once they weren’t glaring at each other.

“…I think Ragna just won,” Lucy realized. “He managed to not only impress all three of them, but even gave an example to Erza’s desire to get Natsu and Gray to work together… and all with a dessert.”

“That is a pretty strong entry, but maybe Mira can top it somehow?” Happy guessed; at the very least keeping an open mind. “Though… she’d have to find some way to earn all three points like Ragna did last round.”

“What’d she make anyways? I was way too focused on Ragna’s insane cooking ideas to watch,” Lucy noted as she saw Mira bringing up her… strawberry shortcake. “…Is she really hoping that’s what gives her the win?”

“I mean it’s Erza’s favorite treat,” Happy answered but he didn’t sound any more convinced than she did. All three of the judges again took their bites, and it was clear that most of them were far from impressed.

“You’re… sure this is what you’re going with?” Natsu asked. Ragna might’ve been worried that Mira was going to pull a surprise out of nowhere like he had in the second round, but this was after the judges had their taste. “Don’t get me wrong, I like this. But are you sure?”

“Same, it’s a really good strawberry shortcake. This is probably the best one I’ve ever tasted so it’s a least a strong entry but nothing all that revolutionary like Ragna’s entry.” Despite Gray’s clear criticisms, Mira’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest from her smiling form. “What about you Erza? What do you think about the-?”

“IT WINS.”

‘…Shit, really!?’ Ragna realized.

“You… mean it’s got your vote?” Natsu tried. “I guess if you feel that strongly about it-”

“NO. I MEAN IT WINS. CAN’T YOU TASTE IT? IT’S THE OBVIOUS WINNER!”

With the deathly aura around Erza, Gray threw his coin into Mira’s bowl giving the receptionist his vote after a bit of ‘helpful nudging’ from the redhead. Natsu couldn’t argue either and firmly placed his coin in the appropriate bowl giving Mira the win.

“Damn,” Ragna grumbled. Mira’s giggle did seem a touch more demonic now. “So I go through all of that soul searching, come up with a dish that not only teaches a lesson and puts my new arm to good use, and tastes pretty damn good… and you just take it apart like that.”

“It’s pretty simple; that last round you were cooking as an optimist while I decided to cook as a realist. You played to be the better cook, I played to be the winner of the contest. Your message was amazing honestly, but… nothing gets between Erza and her love of strawberry cake. Especially after all of the improvements I made.”

“Fine, guess you had to work hard to even blindside me,” Ragna finally conceded with a shrug. “I still had fun, so it’s not like I lost anything by losing in-”

“AND NOW TO ANNONCE THE GRAND PRIZE!” came Makarov’s cry out of nowhere as the diminutive guild leader flipped through the air where he’d been standing with Jose and landed in the center of the stage.

“Grand Prize?” Ragna repeated. Mira was at just as much of a loss as he was. Neither Erza nor Gray seemed informed either.

“Since Mira was our grand winner here, she gets the Grand Prize of…” Makarov paused for dramatic effect. “Making our loser have to fulfill the most embarrassing request she can think of!”

“Wait! What!?” Ragna shouted. “I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS!”

“Master! This is hardly fair!” Mira shouted in Ragna’s defense.

“Now now, Mira, this all in good fun,” Makarov assured her. “Just think of a little something for your prize. That’s not too much, is it?”

“HAVE HIM DRESS UP AS A MAID FOR A DAY!” Cana called out (she wasn’t drunk in her suggestion either).

“NO! A BABY!” came Loke’s call.

“HAVE HIM GO AS AN OLD MAN! HAMMER THE POINT IN ONE LAST TIME!” Wakaba shouted (apparently eager to hold onto their fleeting youth one final time).

“NO! KICK HIS ASS INTO THE SKY THIS TIME!” Gray declared only to get a suspecting look from Erza. “What? I wasn’t acting petty earlier and this time it’s just being fair.”

Mira was overwhelmed as she tried to come up with a decision, everyone shouting demeaning challenges for their local Reaper. Ragna just gave her an annoyed grunt and a shrug, not looking forward to this in the slightest but also not holding this against her. She could hardly take that to heart though.

“EVERYONE HOLD ON! THIS CONTEST ISN’T OVER YET!” Happy shouted out, breaking all of the jeering from the crowd. “LOOK AT NATSU!”

…The Fire Dragon Slayer had yet to fully take his hand off the single coin he had in Mira’s bowl. He honestly seemed to be struggling as he held onto it, an effort that was pushed all the further as Erza’s overwhelming aura returned.

“NATSU…” she roared softly.

“I… I… scream…”

“DON’T YOU DARE.”

“…FOR ICE CREEEEEEEAM!”

Taking the coin out of Mira’s bowl, Natsu unleashed one final surge of willpower as he slammed it into Ragna’s bowl with the other two. Finally moving his hand off of the coin, he slumped forward on the table as his energy finally gave out. Concluding his performance, he gave Ragna a thumbs up.

“Really… liked your… cooking…”

‘Oh my brave baby boy. Oh my stupid suicidally brave baby boy.’

“Natsu.” Even though her aura was gone, Erza didn’t seem any less terrifying.

“…yes?” Natsu could barely squeak out.

“I see that you’ve taken the decision into your own hands despite my… feelings,” she noted. “I’ll have to look out for that bravery while we’re sparring.”

“Uh… yeah?” he answered, sweating bullets but all the same trying not to lose it. “I’ll be sure to show ya what I’ve got when-”

“Translation,” Gray cut in. “How dare you go against what I’d already decided, I hope you’re ready for me to kill your ass when we’re fighting.”

…Erza didn’t correct him.

‘Pretty sure I owe it to him to make sure he lives through this,’ Ragna considered before looking at Makarov who’d been stunned into silence since Natsu’s sudden reversal. “So…”

“Ahem,” the guild leader cleared his throat as he recollected himself. “In light of Natsu’s… change of heart, I’ll now award Ragna his well-deserved prize.” Ragna wondered why the prizes were different depending on who won, but stayed silent as Makarov grew one of his hands and… gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Well done.”

“…OH BULLSHIT!” Ragna roared. “You guys were ready to have me play dress up as a baby or worse for losing, and that’s what I get for winning!?”

“What? Are words of encouragement from your favorite guild leader really worth so little to you?” Makarov asked, sounding rather hurt at the development. “Or... are you just upset because you won’t be able to embarrass Mira?”

“DON’T GASLIGHT ME OLD MAN! I SHOULD GET SOMETHING HALF AS GOOD AS WHAT SHE WAS GETTING! AND YOU KNOW I’D NEVER PRESSURE HER OR ANYONE ELSE INTO THAT CRAP!” He then turned to the rather ‘defensive’ Mira fans. “Not that any of you would have problem with her waiting tables in a swimsuit for the day.”

“Why not? It’s close to what I wear,” Gray decided to input.

“Not the point, Gray,” the Reaper had to clarify once more before shaking his head. “You know what? Just forget it. For now, I’ll just be happy that I avoided your crap and got my eye and arm working again.”

“I suppose that’s for the best,” the guild master chuckled while everyone else decided they may as well leave things as they were.

“Oh no, all of you aren’t getting off the hook that easily!” Mira declared. Ragna considered talking her out of whatever she was about to try… but decided after the teasing he’d just gotten this would be the true just desserts of the day. “And I just happen to have the perfect reward in mind.”

Later -Lucy’s House-

“He’s already been in there for an hour,” Lucy sighed as she stood outside her bathroom door which had been emitting steam for the last while. “If he keeps this up, he’ll shrivel up completely.”

“You mean that’s not just myth?” Natsu asked from beside her.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!” Lucy screamed as she dive-kicked at Natsu, a move which he barely guarded against.

“You let me in here!” he shouted.

“…I did?”

“Yeah, Gray and Happy too,” Natsu said as he pointed behind him to the fellow Fairy Tail wizards.

“…Sorry, force of habit thanks to some people.”

“You really shouldn’t let those guys into your house in the first place,” Happy lectured.

“You’re those people and I didn’t let you in! That’s the whole point!” Lucy shouted.

“Ignoring Ragna for the moment while he finishes up in there, you realize that you’re in for hell, right Natsu?” Gray told him realistically. “Erza’s really going to be gunning for you when you finally have your match. As if you weren’t already in trouble.”

“I know, I know,” the pink haired wizard sighed. “Ragna talked to her; said something about needing me for a couple of days to buy time. I think he’s going to do whatever he can to make sure I’m ready for her wrath when the time comes.”

“A few days, you really think that’s going to be enough?” Lucy asked worriedly.

“I don’t have much of a choice either way, but if Ragna thinks he can help then I’m going to have to take whatever he’s willing to give,” Natsu answered, right before Lucy’s water finally stopped running. “Finally, that was ridiculous.”

“You’re not the one that has to pay the water bill,” Lucy sighed. “At least he bought his own shampoo and cologne, though he did spend quite a bit on it. This… seems like overkill for any date honestly.”

“Maybe it’s not,” Gray countered. “Think about it; Ragna’s been stuck with his eye and arm paralyzed since you’ve known him and he’s constantly been called an old man by everyone despite being fairly young. This is his first real date in who knows how long; he’s going to want to make it count.”

“That’s… that makes a lot of sense,” Happy agreed.

“…Also if he sees Mira in half a percent, half of A SINGLE PERCENT, of the same light most of the other guys in the guild see her; he’s gonna want to try for a second date.”

“Oh, now you’re not oblivious,” came Ragna’s call from inside the bathroom.

“Still, smart thinking on Mira’s part to make sure part of his winning conditions was that no one could follow them on their date,” Lucy commended. “…Do you think they’ll listen though?”

“She threatened to take their bar privileges away for a week if they tried, so they might,” Happy considered. “But… I think there are still going to be plenty of people still trying to listen in.”

“I know what you mean; even I’m a little tempted to,” Lucy admitted, only to get disappointed looks from the boys. “Not that I’m going to, just that I’m still curious.”

“They deserve their privacy,” Happy insisted.

“For once I’m in agreement with the cat,” Ragna said as he finally exited from the bathroom. He was wearing a black dress shirt with a crimson tie and a blood red vest with slacks for bottoms and appropriate dress shoes. He hadn’t tried anything with his hair, not that it would listen to most styling gels in the first place. “How do I look?”

“Nothing close to what we’d expect a few days ago,” Natsu told him without hesitation.

“Hah.”

“You look good,” Lucy assured him right as there was a knock on her front door. “And you got ready just in time.”

‘At least nothing went wrong with the prep work,’ Ragna thought as he headed to Lucy’s front door, everyone following to see that. He opened the door to see his date for the night waiting for him… wearing what she normally did. “Not to say you don’t look nice, but am I overdressed?”

“Just a bit, but I’m sure that you can make do,” Mira assured him. Despite saying that, Ragna wasted no time in taking his favorite coat out of storage and throwing that back on. “There, much better.”

“Glad you agree,” Ragna answered with a smirk before closing the door behind him, Lucy and the others trying their best not to look too disappointed. “So I’m happy that you’re making good on your pity date promise, but I don’t think we’ll be getting much privacy. Even if they aren’t part of our guild, we’re gonna have eyes on us all night… well eyes admiring you and eyes glaring at me making sure I don’t try anything.”

“Are you asking that us to go somewhere private so that can try something?” Mira asked with her regular smile.

“Mira, just going out with you is putting me on plenty of Shit Lists. Let’s not knock the hornet’s nest and get me on their kill lists.”

“Alright, but I think I have just the event for us,” she assured him. “You’ll enjoy yourself, that’s a promise.”

“I’ve already been made that promise once today… and I guess the turnout wasn’t too bad,” Ragna admitted as he offered the receptionist his arm. “Shall we?”

“Right this way,” Mira answered as she hooked arms and started walking down.

“…Also, did Elfman have anything to say about this? Trying not to upset the guy.”

“Eh, he’s mature enough to know I can make my own choices, though he’s probably happier that it’s you instead of some of my other admirers,” she answered as the two made their way down the streets.

“…What about you? You at all happy that it’s me?” Ragna questioned, deciding to be a bit bolder for once.

“Get back to me after our date; I’ll have to consider it while we’re out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The Next Day

“So where were you last night?” Macao asked, unable to keep his usually calmer composure. “None of us saw you around town on your date with Mira… not that we were looking.”

Ragna was sitting at his usual spot in the guild right at his team’s usual table. He and Natsu hadn’t left yet to try and prepare the Dragon Slayer for Erza’s now enhanced wrath, instead electing to start the day off with a proper breakfast and (a rare sight for the Reaper) a large mug of frothy beer.

“You wouldn’t have found us if you had been looking… which you were,” Ragna answered realistically. Most of the men (some of them not even guys from the guild) couldn’t dispute the claim. Apparently there had been an (expertly coordinated) undercover watch at all of the popular restaurants to make sure the Reaper didn’t go too far out of line. “Mira knew that you guys would be out there waiting for the two of us even after telling you not to, so instead we went out of town on a late night job.”

“A… late night job?” Wakaba repeated as the men gathered exchanged confused glances. “That was your date?”

“Yep, one that had us fighting through some monsters to gather a strain of rare herbs that can only be harvested at night. Apparently, she’d been saving that job for the two of us to do together.”

“And Mira… fought alongside you?” Loke asked. Ragna nodded and the womanizer smirked, almost in pity for the man. “Then that means you saw her Satan Soul side up close?”

“Oh yeah, front row seats and everything. It was so close when she unleashed it, I couldn’t look away for even a second. Felt every bit of it, think I literally tasted the power for a moment there too.”

As Ragna began taking a long swig of beer to (what the guys assumed) help him forget last night’s events, much of the gathered crowd gave relieved sighs. Clearly Ragna had taken one look at the onslaught of power and had either crumpled completely if not outright run for the hills. The gathered crowd started to part as they were satisfied with the turn of events, only to be frozen by the heavy slamming of Ragna’s mug on the table sounded through the entire guild. The Reaper had the cockiest smile that anyone had seen on him.

“JOKE’S ON ALL OF YOU! I’M INTO THAT SHIT!”

Chapter Text

“Seriously, did the world just suddenly decide that I had to be the world’s biggest Vulcan magnet!?”

Lucy was speaking aloud as she wrote, her complaints were regarding her most recent job which had been with Levi’s team of Shadow Gear along with Jet and Droy. She’d had her chance to look through the job description and it hadn’t seemed like there would be any of the beasts on their job… but that hadn’t stopped them from running into one on their way back. The beast had even ignored Levy completely to go straight for her. Thankfully Shadow Gear and her summons had dealt with it, but Lucy was becoming increasingly frustrated with how often this was happening. Composing herself, she continued her writing and tried to keep her thoughts more internal.

‘Weirdly enough, Levy was actually begging that I didn’t tell dad about this. Oh yeah, even after he looked younger I’ve still taken to calling Ragna that. He’s pretty much our group’s father, even Erza Scarlet herself refers to him as father here and there. The only one that doesn’t seem to in our group is Gray, but who knows what’s going on with that crazy stripper?’

Was it just her imagination, or did she hear a sneeze as she wrote that?

‘Still, Ragna’s been taking the role super seriously. Especially for me, I think I might secretly be his favorite. That said, he’s already been gone almost a week with Natsu and I have no idea when they’re getting back. If what Natsu’s been saying about challenging Erza is true, then there’s going to be a new crater near the guild. All in all, it’s been… nice to have an actual father figure.’ She sighed. ‘Sometimes I have to wonder if he even realizes I’ve left. Either way, I’m doing well so don’t worry about me.

Love you mom.’

Letting off a weary sigh as she finished writing her letter, Lucy stood and gave a lengthy stretch. Now that she wasn’t solely focused on writing, she swore she could hear something coming from downstairs. Quickly grabbing her Celestial Key and whip for protection, she bolted towards the noise and arrived at the source in her kitchen.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Gray greeted. Seated at her table. Eating her favorite chips. Dressed only in his boxers, as usual.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” No whip or keys needed, Lucy just delivered a roundhouse kick to Gray’s face and sent him flying into the far wall… apparently she’d been around Ragna long enough to learn his signature 5B. “WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!? AND WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE!?”

“I was the one they sent to come grab you,” the ice-user groaned as he picked himself from off the wall. “Ragna and Natsu just made it back and the first thing Natsu did was challenge Erza to their fight.”

“Just now?” Lucy asked, her rage pushed to the side for the moment (she was going to make him pay for those premium chips though… both literally and figuratively).

“Yeah, and the entire guild’s getting ready to watch them. Come on!”

Episode 016: Island of Conscientiousness

“You weren’t kidding when you said the entire guild would be here,” Lucy noted as the two walked around the crowd gathered in the fields just outside the city. “I also see plenty of people here from outside the guild too.”

“I mean it’s not every day that you find someone stupid enough to pick a fight with Erza, even the fire idiot usually knows better,” Gray muttered. “There’s Ragna up ahead.”

“I see him… hey, out of all of us you’re the only one that doesn’t call Ragna ‘dad’. Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to.” Gray may have sounded more dismissive than usual, but it was as fair a reason as any.

Though the fighting had yet to start, Ragna looked deathly serious as he crossed his arms and looked over the prepping Natsu and the just as stoic Erza. Mira was standing beside him as well, but with Elfman on her other side it wasn’t likely she was there solely because of the Reaper. He barely glanced over at the duo as they approached before turning his attention back to the combatants, but he did have to raise an eyebrow for the welt on Gray’s face.

“How’d you earn that one?” he asked.

“What do you think? Classic case of home intrusion,” Lucy huffed.

“…Gray, I specifically told you to knock on her front door,” Ragna growled. “I even told you twice and had you repeat it back to me.”

“Yeah, and I was going to. But then Natsu said I should totally listen to you, so there was no way I could.” Oddly enough, Gray’s imitation of his rival was pretty passable.

“That brat.” At Elfman’s groaning, the five of them could already hear Natsu snickering. “So? Does he stand a chance?”

“He made plenty of progress when we were out, but I can’t say much more than that,” Ragna admitted.

“Great strides for him must mean more destructive results,” Lucy guessed as she glanced around. “Should we… maybe move further away from the city? If two of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail fought, the collateral could damage Magnolia too.”

“Strongest wizards? Who’s the idiot that told you that?” Gray demanded.

Mira’s regular bright smile only lasted for a few second longer before she burst into tears at being called an idiot. Lucy and Elfman collectively turned to glare at the now panicking ice user.

“Strike two, Fullbuster,” Ragna warned, though he was still staring down Erza and Natsu.

“I mean Erza is one of the top members, that much no one will debate,” Elfman acknowledged.

“I just thought that Erza, Natsu, and Gray mixed so well with their dynamics and powers that they’d be one of the best team-ups,” a still saddened Mira tried to defend.

“Oh… I was included in that?” Gray, scratching the back of his head as his guilt only seemed to be growing.

“Feel bad yet?” Gray knew enough not to answer Ragna’s question.

“Now that I think about it, how are things between you and Mira?” Lucy questioned her father-figure. “Past that massive shock you gave everyone the morning after your date, you haven’t told us anything.” Obviously, plenty of surrounding conversations halted as the bystanders (Elfman included) wanted an answer. Only then did Lucy realize how much she was putting the two of them on the spot. “…Uh?”

“Mira?” Ragna asked simply.

“We dated this once and that’s really the extent of it; you can’t even say that we’re dating now,” the receptionist answered, causing more than a few people to sigh in relief. “With my modeling career and taking care of the guild, I wouldn’t have that much time for anything else anyways.”

“And that’s about how things fall; keeping you all out of trouble is a full-time job for me as well,” the Reaper agreed. He didn’t sound heartbroken over it, even with his previous flirting with Mira.

“Aw, that’s a shame,” Levy sighed. “And here I thought the two of you would’ve made a good couple.”

“NO THEY WOULDN’T HAVE!” a large number of bystanders shouted in unison.

Elfman only rolled his eyes at the behavior. If the two had ended up dating, then so be it. Mira was her own woman and she’d know what she was getting into. At the very least, the spite he’d be rewarded from seeing the reactions of Mira’s more obnoxious fans would be good for a laugh.

“Ignoring them, in a way it would’ve made the most sense,” Lucy decided to share.

“Really? How do you figure?” the model decided to ask.

“Well, our team is constantly calling Ragna Dad and since Mira’s always taking care of everyone in Fairy Tail, that basically makes her the guild Mom…”

“…Strike one, Lucy,” Mira said in a deadpan voice which Gray and Elfman seemed nervous, almost as if they’d heard it from Erza.

“What did I say!?”

‘She’s not completely wrong; I’ve had similar thoughts myself.’ Like hell Ragna was going to admit that out loud though. ‘Then again I’ve also had similar thoughts about Erza, but she already called me Father, so…?’ He shook his head; he had bigger and less inane worries right now.

“Hey, where’s Happy?” Lucy asked as she looked around for the blue cat.

“Think he said he was going to place a bet with Cana,” Elfman said, gesturing to a small stand that the drinker had set up which had a decent line formed. “Any bets in Natsu’s favor have less than manly odds; think the payout for him even lasting until Makarov calls the fight off was around fifteen to one.”

“Him winning today would quite the upset, huh?” Lucy realized.

“We’ll see how far he can take it,” Ragna answered as Natsu finally began stepping forward to the Queen of Fairies. “Looks like they’re starting.”

The Fire Dragon Slayer had his usual cocky smirk as he approached while Erza actually allowed herself a small smile, like she was going to enjoy what was about to happen. All around them the crowds were shouting with excitement. Most of them were for Erza’s impending victory, but there were a few that were wishing Natsu luck. To the two, this might as well not have mattered. Already, they were only focused on the fight they were in for.

“Looks like she’s forgotten about Natsu dissing her favorite cake.”

…Immediately the shouting stopped and Erza’s smirk vanished into a harsh scowl. Natsu wasn’t looking anywhere as confident as before, even showing off some nervous pre-battle sweat. Wondering who was idiotic enough to bring it up, Ragna sent an absolutely scathing glare to…

Lauxus.

“Just wanted to remind her what on the line,” the blond lightning user said with a sharp grin aimed back at the Reaper. Ragna noticed a betting tab sticking out of his pocket; clearly having wagered for Natsu’s demise and doing whatever he could to ensure that he would get a decent payout. “How the hell are you even uglier after getting fixed?”

“…And I thought I was the asshole of the guild,” the Reaper vented as he turned his attention back to the two as Natsu gathered up his nerves again. Lauxus didn’t appreciate being ignored, but for now he’d already secured his verbal win as far as he was concerned.

“Who’s he?” Lucy whispered. “And why does it seem like he has a bone to pick with you?”

“A bastard not worth worrying about,” Ragna dismissed. “For now, just focus on Natsu and Erza’s fight. And cheer him on while you’re at it; he’ll want all of the support he can get.”

“Did you end up placing a bet on him?”

“Probably wouldn’t have, but Cana said that I had inside info on him so she wouldn’t take it from the start.”

“Unlike me, who was staying at the guild this whole time,” Happy boasted with his ticket. “I’m really pulling for Natsu here! I said he’d actually manage to do pretty well before getting knocked out!”

“But you’re still betting that she’d win,” Lucy reminded with a scowl.

“Read the room; doing that much against someone like her actually is pulling for the guy,” Gray explained. “Apparently the most popular bet was her crushing him in under 30 seconds without anything to show for it.”

“Which I might’ve taken after what Lauxus just said, but Cana already cut bets off,” Happy sighed. Ragna and Lucy might’ve been appalled at this betrayal if the cat didn’t have an honest (if brutal) point. “Come on Natsu! Don’t let my fish allowance go to waste!”

“I guess he’s got to have some faith in him if that’s what he’s betting,” the Celestial Wizard conceded. Eventually, Natsu had worked up the courage after Lauxus had brought back Erza’s rage enough to where he could finish closing the distance between them.

“This may be less of a match and more of a… lesson,” Erza told Natsu while her scowl hadn’t faded. Natsu took a deep breath to steady his nerves before bouncing from side to side on his feet. “What now?”

“Fire magic’s all about that flowing energy, so I gotta get my own blood flowing,” he answered. “Stay moving, keep my head in the game, and keep my eyes on the target.”

“That’s a good deal different than your usual ‘blow everything up’ approach,” she commended. “Did Ragna teach you that?”

“Eh, more like he tried to enforce it a bit more,” the Slayer admitted before smirking. “The stuff we really worked on together, you’ll just have to see for yourself.”

“As long as you’re still standing to show it.”

“Right! On to the match!” Makarov declared as he raised his hand. “As Guild Leader I both sanction this fight, though I also have the right to stop it if either of you get too out of hand! The match begins-!”

(Cue King of Fighters XV: Like A Queen)

“NOW!”

Much like most of them had expected, Natsu did his usual charge straight into the melee while Erza follow suit after quickly equipping herself with a standard longsword. With an immediate swing, Erza’s blade clashed with Natsu’s fire-coated fists, though Natsu’s slight stumble made it immediately clear she was the stronger of the two. That stumble alone might have already cost him the match if he hadn’t preemptively leapt back to avoid Erza’s follow-up sword swing. Pressing the advantage even further, Erza lunged at Natsu with her sword before he’d even a chance to land. Letting loose a burst of fire magic from his legs to propel him upwards, avoiding the blade before using one final burst of fire magic to propel his right leg around into a brutal flaming axe kick.

“Fire Dragon Talon!”

Erza easily proceeded to defend the attack, but it managed to force her to continue holding Natsu back in a struggle as Natsu tried to power through himself. Up until he smirked, twisted his body around, and delivered a follow-up rising kick with his left leg.

“Hades!”

Despite the new change of tactics, Erza was still ready for the second attack. She even allowed it to send her sliding back until she decided to come to a complete stop. Once she had though, she actually had to take a second step back as a pillar of fire erupted from underneath her. From the visual cover the flames provided, Natsu dove through them to try and get a sneak attack, but his flaming fist again clashed with Erza’s sword and sent him flying back before he forced himself to come to a complete stop as soon as he landed. Gathering up a large amount of magic into his cheeks, he let loose a Fire Dragon Roar that Erza managed to dissipate with a single swing.

“Not good, she’s shutting him down completely and without having to do much at all to counter him,” Elfman examined. “The difference in power makes it look like she’s just playing with her food.”

“Or giving him the chance to try and prove himself,” Mira guessed. That was before Erza’s clothing started to shift. “Of course, I think that mercy’s already at its end.”

Her regular chest plate and blue skirt had now been replaced completely with a black leotard, heavy dark gloves, and thigh-high black stocking, all of which were covered in golden metal details. Her hair had even changed styles to twin pigtails and she had a duel cape in the back with a red and black pattern which resembled a ladybug. For her weapon, she carried a single red blade.

“Is that-?”

“Fire Empress Armor, just the thing I need to stifle your flames completely,” Erza explained. “This will be this armor’s first proper test run. Prepare yourself!”

‘Problem is we DID prepare for something like this,’ Ragna thought, though he didn’t give his usual cocky smirk at the idea. Natsu still needed to prove he could capitalize on his training.

‘Tch, if she was at all serious she’d have lead with that,’ Lauxus irately thought. ‘Come on, kill his ass so I can get my money already.’

Natsu himself wasn’t intimidated, only getting into a ready stance as he waited for his opponent to make the first move this time. Erza’s raised her eyebrow for all of an instant before doing so, the force behind her charge sounding like a canon shot.

Trying to get a feel for this new power his opponent possessed, Natsu tried to counter her sword with another flaming punch and unlike last time this move barely even halted her attack as his fire magic might as well have not been there. He managed to duck her follow-up sword attack, only to put himself right in range of her drop kick that managed to send him airborne. Blasting his fire magic again he managed to avoid the skyward slash that Erza had attempted to chase him with and get back to solid footing, only to need to dive out of the way as she brought her blade down and cleaved through the ground he’d been standing on an instant before.

“She’s already got him on the defensive,” Lucy realized as Erza continued to chase after Natsu and he was forced to use his fire magic just to make distance. “And it’s taking every bit of his magic just to stay in the fight.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think that idiot had a defense,” Gray recounted as he continued to watch carefully. “He’s not fighting like he usually does.”

Repositioning himself in the air to avoid yet another one of Erza’s swings, Natsu had a somewhat clear opening to unleash his own attack and he took it. Letting loose a Fire Dragon’s Wing Attack, he managed coat Erza entirely in his magic, only to have Erza not even attempt to dodge the move. Tanking the hit completely, she retaliated with a devastating backhand that would’ve ended the fight if he hadn’t leaned back slight. The pain from the attack was still one of the fiercest blows that he’d ever taken and Erza wasn’t giving him any mercy as he stumbled back and she closed the distance with a final rush.

‘Okay, so far so good,’ he thought, still somehow not giving up even through the obvious difference in power. ‘But I’m barely going to have any opening at all for this… LET’S DO IT!’

Gathering his Fire Magic, he let it explode all around his body similar to one of Ragna’s Barrier Bursts. Thanks to her armor Erza was barely even slowed by such a huge release of magic as she cut through the flames… only to find that Natsu wasn’t in the inferno.

“Where-?” Erza said only to realize the obvious answer as the ground beneath her opened and Natsu lunged out with a flaming uppercut. Erza barely had to step back to avoid the attack, but then the next torrent of flames erupted behind him and coated them both his fire. Erza’s horizontal slash missed Natsu by mere centimeters as he went into his next attack.

“FIRE DRAGON-!”

“THAT WON’T DO ANYTHING IDIOT!” Gray shouted from the sidelines as Erza tried to meet the attack with a sword lunge. Natsu dodged the attack as he carried his own forward… and his magic switched from its usual red flames. “Wha-!?”

“PURPLE FIST!”

The attack struck Erza dead on, right in her side, and the sound that resonated was clearly enough to confirm that it had been a direct attack. What stunned the onlookers the most however was that as the blow landed…

Erza lurched slightly.

‘I DID IT! I LANDED A-!’

WHAM!

(End theme)

Most of the crowd almost had a look of pity on them a Natsu fell forward before hitting the dirt face first. Erza’s punch directly into his solar plexus was still ringing in their ears as she stood over her unconscious opponent.

“And Erza wins!” Makarov declared leading for the gathered observers to cheer for the Queen of Fairies.

“Not even close,” Lucy sighed.

“With how scary Erza can be it wasn’t much of a surprise,” Gray reminded. “Still, the fact that even managed to land a solid hit on her is worth bragging about… even if it didn’t do much.”

“Wow Gray, that was an almost genuine nice thing to say about Natsu,” Mira noted.

“I’m just stating facts; he still got crushed out there.” The Ice Maker then turned to Ragna. “And you? You were the one getting him ready for this.”

“Yeah, and as long as he gave it his all out there, I won’t complain. He took this challenge seriously and gave it his all when he was getting ready for it. Nothing you can fault him for there.” Glancing back for a moment, Ragna didn’t bother hiding his smirk as Lauxus walked off with a scowl after tearing up his betting tab. Apparently Natsu had exceeded his wager even after he’d tipped the scales for the bet. ‘Nice to see this asshole getting what they deserve.’ “Anyways, he doesn’t deserve to be left sleeping face down in the dirt.” Heading over to the two fighters before hefting Natsu over his shoulder, Ragna started making his way back to the guild.

“Isn’t that kind of a bigger blow to his pride than just leaving him behind?” Gray felt the need to question.

“Maybe, but it’s more a dad thing for Ragna anyways,” Lucy answered with a small smile.

Mira shared in this smile, but instead of following the group she instead waited back with Erza who had yet to say a word since the fight ended. She hadn’t dropped her small scowl either, meaning no one from the guild had worked up the courage to approach the redhead and offer congratulations on her victory.

“You’re not upset that he got that hit in, are you?” Mira asked with a bit of teasing that few would dare to try with Erza.

“No, but I guess I am a little disappointed in myself. I already knew that Natsu would have a surprise or two for me this match, but even knowing that he still managed to catch me off guard however briefly he held that edge,” she answered before giving a sigh. “I should probably just relent and say I’m proud he managed to accomplish this much.”

“That would probably help take some of the sting away, even from a perfectionist like you.”

“I never claimed to be-”

“You didn’t have to; it’s already pretty obvious.” Mira’s giggling once again proved infectious as it got even someone as stonewalled as Erza to smirk. “Still, you weren’t wrong to be surprised. I was just as shocked as you were that Natsu managed to keep up so well for as long as he did. And it still feels like he has the potential to go even further.”

“But for now it’s just potential. Just like anything else, it needs the right tempering,” Erza strictly reminded as she reverted back to her normal armor before the two ladies finally started following the rest of Fairy Tail back to their guild. Out of the corner of their eyes, they took notice of Happy speaking with Cana; clearly his bet had come through unlike Lauxus’s. “Let’s hope that the guild doesn’t go too overboard with their drinking tonight; you probably want to close the guild early and go out with your boyfriend.”

“…Boyfriend?” Mira repeated. Not a tinge of red to be seen among the confusion on her face.

“Ragna obviously,” Erza answered casually. “While you’ve been exceptionally tight lipped about that date you went on, I already heard how he actually got you to completely fall for him and you two are going to be going steady from now on. I even heard that Sorcerer’s Weekly is in a panic now that their top model is off the dating market.”

“…So… how BAD are you at picking up these rumors?” Mira demanded with an exasperated facepalm. Apparently Erza hadn’t overhead their conversation from earlier.

“…Thanks to Ragna, I’ve had to start asking that myself,” Erza admitted at least.

Later -Fairy Tail’s Backrooms-

“…Did I win?”

Cliché as he might’ve found it, Ragna had some pity for Natsu at his first words after waking up. After getting him into one of the guild’s beds (he’d continued sleeping back here in spite of his daughter’s demands he find his own place), he insisted he was fine waiting back for Natsu to awaken so he could break the news to him. At the moment, the entire rest of the guild was in the front room drinking as they talked about the fight they’d just witnessed.

“No…” Ragna answered a bit reluctantly. “Though, you did manage to surpass a hell of a lot of expectations though.”

“That hit I scored on her. Tell me I didn’t dream that up.”

“Nope, you managed to score a direct hit on her alright. But it didn’t end up doing a lot and she knocked you out the instant after you hit her.” He’d talk up Natsu’s achievements, but he wasn’t about to lie about how short he’d come up next to his opponent. Ragna needed to do better than that.

“And you growing a beard, roaring like a barbarian, and charging Erza head-on with an axe that looked like it was made out of volcanic rock?” Natsu wasn’t kidding.

“…That was a dream,” he muttered; wondering how Natsu’s subconscious worked to come up with that vision that crazy.

Giving a shrug, Natsu picked himself out of bed without much difficulty and was standing on his own. Heck, he looked well enough to go another round with Erza as he smiled brightly. “Oh well! I guess that’s still a step forward! If I can do that much to Erza, imagine how much damage I can cause out there!”

“Much as I like your optimistic outlook, don’t try to blow up a city every time you go out. If you get too absurd in your destruction, Makarov’s going to making me your probation officer.”

“But Cana’s the one that drinks too much.”

“…Not what I meant,” Ragna sighed, but didn’t push the issue any further. “Good work out there today.”

“…Thanks dad,” Natsu answered back with a smirk before shivering as he followed Ragna to the front. “Gotta be honest, when Lauxus brought up my non-cake vote I thought I was a dead man.”

“He thought the same thing and even placed a bet on it, so as a bonus you got to prove him wrong too,” Ragna retorted with a smirk. “And don’t worry about Erza staying sore about that; Mira and I put all of our efforts into making the best Strawberry cake we could to sooth her over for ya.” Natsu nodded, clearly relieved that he wouldn’t have to face Erza at her worst now.

Getting to the front room of the guild now, everyone in attendance gave the Fire Slayer a short cheer.

“Congrats on the loss,” Loke complimented coolly, one of the few time he was seen without a girl on either arm.

“Hey! You don’t have to put it like that!” Natsu’s outburst caused a couple of well-meaning chuckles. “I don’t see any of you challenging her!”

“That’s because we don’t have a life-ceasing desire, unlike you!” a light purple haired girl in glasses answered readily. Ragna didn’t have a name to go with her yet.

“You mean Death Wish?” Elfman asked.

“Why a Death Wish? I wouldn’t kill him,” Erza answered calmly as she cut into her second slice of strawberry cake that day. (Normally she’d stick to one a day, but Mira and Ragna’s combined cooking prowess had crushed her willpower). “…Not on purpose anyways.”

“And that’s what we’re worried about,” Gray admitted, obviously down to his boxers already. “Two seconds of you losing control and he’d just be a smear on the wall.”

“I could take more than that!” Natsu proudly insisted.

“Oi, everyone stop giving him crap; it took him a lot of guts to follow through with this fight like he did,” Ragna defended before turning to Mira. “Get everyone set up with a round of the good stuff, on me.”

“Way to kick ass Natsu!” Cana cheered from the back.

“…Standard tankard sizes,” the Reaper felt the need to clarify.

“Even if you account for that, that’s not going to be a cheap purchase,” Mira informed. “In fact, I’m not sure you’ve got enough cash on you now.”

“I’ll fix that; just make sure everyone’s having a good time,” he insisted before heading over to the job board and grabbing off the highest paying assignment he could find. Lucy was about to get up and follow after as he passed by, but his gentle hand on her shoulder left her seated. “Let me take this one as a way to raise up some quick cash; anything I don’t use to cover my drinks will go towards buying a place.”

“I like the plan, but are you sure? I can still come along and-”

“Vulcan hunting job.” He stopped her words dead with that. “And this job might even take me over a full day because there’s going to be so many of them.”

“…Never mind, have fun.”

“Think I will,” Ragna told her with a knowing smirk as he stepped out. Oddly, he also felt the weirdest urge to yawn.

“That’s standard size?” Cana asked, almost sounding insulted as Mira handed her the quality drink Ragna had just paid for her. “There’s barely anything to drink in it!”

“Well if you don’t want it, I can happily give yours to someone else who will appreciate it,” Mira suggested (threatened).

“Now now, let’s not go that far,” Cana said as she eagerly took the drink. “I’m just saying that my next round of this stuff better be in my regular amount.”

“I’ll check to see if we have any more barrels in the back.”

But as Cana went to take her first sip of quality liquor, it didn’t even get to her lips before she hastily set her drink down and faceplanted on the table. Mira managed to stay standing long enough to set her own tray down on a stable surface before she slumped to the ground. Not everyone around them managed even that much as many of the passed tankards fell to the floor and spilled their expensive content. Even Erza couldn’t stay upright as she slumped down beside her cake. The only one that had managed to even stay conscious was the guild leader, but even that was a struggle for the Sage as a new arrival entered the guild.

“Sorry about the mess,” came an empty voice from inside the dark folds.

“Mystogan…” Makarov barely managed to get out as the figure approached and put down the paper of the high paying job they’d just completed before they headed over to job board once more.

“I heard that there was a rather high paying job available to hunt a large troop of Vulcans. Where is it?” he questioned after looking over the board a moment.

“You just missed it; the man who took it left only a minute ago… You may be able to catch him if you hurry.”

“Not my style,” Mystogan answered before taking the next highest paying job off the wall and heading to door.

“Wait… undo your spell before you leave,” the guild leader ordered with a much authority as he could muster in his weakened state.

“This will wear off shortly; you’re not in any danger,” the enigma promised before he departed. He left some parting words, but he didn’t turn nor look up to address who they were meant for. “Stop looking so damn smug.”

A Few Minutes Later

“MY DRINK!” Macco exclaimed as he looked down at the spilled tankard that he’d barely started on. He already knew what had happened to get him to spill premium drink like that, but that shouldn’t mean he’d have to miss out on a free treat like this. Glancing over to-

“Don’t even try it.” He hadn’t even tried to move before Cana had said that. And was she still out of it when she said that?

“Damn…” Natsu groaned as he picked himself up. “I hate it when he does that.”

“What happened?” Lucy drowsily asked as she got up. “Was that some kind of attack?”

“No, it was actually a member of our guild. A very high ranking member; Mystogan.” Makarov explained, the guild master having recovered the quickest.

“Mystogan… I’ve read about him only a couple of times before. There were never any pictures in the articles and usually there weren’t any direct witnesses. For the longest time, I thought he was just a myth.”

“HAH! Don’t make me laugh! You’re just making him out to be a bigger deal than he is,” came a cocky voice from above (yes, that sounds like Ragna in the English dub but this is the last time I’m addressing that so it doesn’t become redundant). It was the man that had brought Erza’s rage back shortly before she’d fought Natsu that had insulted Ragna. He was sitting in a second floor area overlooking the rest of the guild that Lucy hadn’t really paid that much attention to, but looking at it now that area even had its own job board. “Truth is, the guy’s just got a bit of a shy side. Though I can’t really blame him; I’m half-tempted to start following his example so I don’t have to put up with you losers.”

“Who are you calling losers!? We’re a part of your own guild!” Natsu shouted from down below. Even if he had a hotter temper than most, Lucy had to assume that there was some history with how easily Natsu was already going off the handle.

“And I’m nauseated by the fact I gotta share it with chumps like you; gives me a hell of a bad name when I’m out in the town.” Lucy couldn’t quite figure out why, but there seemed to be some kind of rage in the sharp smirk Lauxus had. “You’re all so weak, I can barely keep my booze down.”

“If all you’re going to do is run your mouth, why don’t you come down here and prove it instead of hiding up there!” Natsu shouted.

“Why would I waste my time? You can’t even keep up with Erza!” Lauxus laughed. Natsu was gritting his teeth hard as he was pushed to his limit. “Though… maybe I can’t blame you for that one. Even I might’ve lost hard if that piece of trash was the one trying to help me, negative results and all. He’d have been better off with the all the pity he was getting half-paralyzed.”

“THAT DOES IT! I’M TEARING YOU A NEW ONE!” Raging flames in his hands, Natsu cleared the air between the ground in second floor in a single bound… or would have if he hadn’t been stopped by the giant hand blocking his path.

“You’re not allowed on the second floor,” Makarov reminded with an empty voice before turning his eye back to Lauxus. “And that’s more than enough out of you.”

“Hardly; they’re all the ones that need a wake-up call!” Lauxus shouted. “You got a problem with what I’m saying! Then get on my level and prove me wrong! Show me that you’re not all the weaklings I know you are!”

A few heads hesitantly turned to Erza; she was the only one who really could shut him up being an S-Rank wizard herself. While far from pleased with anything Lauxus had said, it didn’t seem like she was about to challenge him either. Some even wondered if there was a part of her that actually agreed with what he was saying. Trying not to let the insults get to them, the first floor tried to resume their usual drinking and conversations despite the heavy stigma in the guild.

“Hey, whatever happened to my drink?” Lauxus called to Mira from his chair on the second floor. “I thought everyone got a round on the broken bastard’s credit.”

“Everyone he would’ve wanted to treat. He’d never include you,” Mira answered, not flinching in the slightest. “And I don’t blame him.”

‘Mira’s not impressed by this guy,’ Lucy realized.

Later -The Guild’s Pantry-

“Thanks for helping me take inventory of everything,” Mira said to Lucy as she scanned her next shelf while taking notes on her clipboard.

“I’m the one that should be thanking you; anything to get out of that tense situation,” Lucy answered as she looked over her own section. “I’m surprised Erza didn’t end up doing anything… she held it in tighter than anyone else there.”

“Just for the moment she did; why do you think she took that job and left when she was done with her cake?” Lucy almost pitied whatever Erza would be hunting. “I get what you’re saying though; Lauxus went too far.”

“What’s his deal anyways? And how could someone like that be a member of Fairy Tail?”

“He’s Makarov’s grandson for one thing.”

“Him?” Understandably, Lucy didn’t see the resemblance.

“And his power’s no joke; even being direct family with the master wouldn’t have let him skip the process to becoming an S-Rank wizard in our guild.”

“Right, dad told me a bit about S-Ranks,” Lucy recalled. “He… also mentioned that you’re one?”

“Yeah, but I don’t go on jobs anymore; even with his help I’m too busy running things around here.” It wasn’t the only reason, but it was explanation enough for now.

“So… I noticed that there was a separate job board on the second floor; does that mean S-Ranks have their own jobs?”

“It does. But those are jobs far too intense for your normal everyday wizard. The payout can be amazing at times, but… there’s far less of a guarantee that you’d ever make it back from the job. They’re so tough and dangerous any non-S wizard is effectively banned from those job. And with good reason.”

“But since you’re an S-Rank wizard yourself, you’ve probably been on your fair share of those jobs,” the blonde guessed.

“Nothing worth talking about. I’m much happier working the front counter and doing my modelling assignments anyways,” Mira insisted, partially forcing herself to smile. “Speaking of which, I might have a potential shoot for you coming up.”

“Y-Y-You might!?” Lucy asked with sparkles in her eyes. “My big break! Oh Mira!”

“Now, don’t be too excited just yet… It’s only for a new cleaning product,” she admitted. “Some company calling themselves Top Hattin’ Industries has been trying to break into a number of markets. I don’t know if their products are good or not, so-?”

“Even if the products end up being total trash, this’ll be my first step getting my foot in the door! First this, then I’m on my way to Sorcerer’s Weekly!”

“Hehe, if I hear anything else about the shoot I’ll pass it onto you first chance I get,” Mira promised. “It’s all lining up though; they were looking for a naughty maid type to push this product and Natsu said that you enjoy dressing up as one-”

“I did it for a job! I don’t enjoy doing it!” Lucy shouted. “And what’s this about naughty!? I’m as pure hearted as snow!”

“…Lucy, I accidentally went through your bag that one time. Judging by the underwear I found in it, that’s not the case,” she reminded, causing Lucy to pale. “Just… keep better track of it in the future, especially with everyone breaking into your house.”

“…Yes mom,” the blonde hopeful sighed, before realizing what she’d said. “Uh-! I mean-! I didn’t-! …Strike two?”

“Just help me finish going through inventory.” ‘…Darn it, why is that growing on me now?’ “Though you know, I think a few members of our guild have called Erza mom by mistake. Even some of the older ones.”

“That doesn’t really surprise me.”

Later that night

What did end up surprising her, though barely, was coming back to her house and again finding her chips raided by Natsu and Happy. Her eyes twitching at the sight, Lucy was about to go for her keys, her whip, or just another roundhouse kick (potentially all three at once) before deciding that Natsu had probably been through enough after going through both Erza and Lauxus in the same day. So she decided to stick with the fairest option she could manage.

“You’re paying to replace those,” she ordered sternly.

“What? Are you really charging your guests?” Natsu asked, taken aback.

“You’re not my guests, you’re my intruders!” she shouted before shaking her. “Why are you here right now anyways?”

“Because Happy and I have a little something special to show you,” he said mischievously before taking out a piece of paper from the job board and placing in on the table. Lucy looked over it for all of five seconds before she realized this wasn’t from the ground floor. “Got Happy to snatch this from the S-Rank job board!”

“Are you crazy!? Forget that! I know you’re crazy, but are you completely insane! Do you know how much trouble you’re going to be in!”

“That’s what I tried to tell him, but there was no changing his mind,” Happy voiced.

“Liar; you were already moving to steal it before I even said anything.”

“Was I? As a cat, my memory’s not that good,” Happy admitted sheepishly.

“Two weeks ago today; what kind of fish were you eating around mid-day?”

“Neptune’s Dagger; fresh caught swordfish from the west coast. Tasted really good even though it shouldn’t have been in season!”

“Uh huh.”

“Happy’s… selective memory aside, why?” Lucy had to ask. “Did what Lauxus say really get to you?”

“What? Nah, he’s said all the crap before and worse,” Natsu brushed off. Lucy crossed her arms to look authoritative and… it actually worked on him. “M… maybe a little, but it’s not the only reason. I spent all that time getting ready to fight Erza and… well I’m a little unsatisfied. Like I gave it my all out there, but I still feel like I could’ve done a lot more if I’d been given the chance to. Maybe this S-Rank job would be good proving grounds.”

“I guess I understand some of that, but by that logic wouldn’t losing to Erza mean that we’re definitely not ready for this? I mean, as an S-Rank wizard this is the type of job she’d go on regularly.”

“Not necessarily,” Happy cut in. “Even if all guilds have the same S-Rank jobs, that doesn’t mean that they all have the same requirements for S-Rank members. And you can probably tell that even amongst other S-Ranks, Fairy Tail’s are in a league of their own.”

“I mean… I can buy that, but…” Lucy shook her head. “What about dad? You know he wouldn’t go along with this. And he’s part of our team too.”

“You’re probably right there,” Natsu admitted. "But this is going to be our only chance to do something like this; and if we don’t leave first thing in the morning the guild’s going to try to stop us.” Lucy still wasn’t convinced. “Also… there’s a special reward for you.”

“A special… what now?” Lucy asked before looking over the job in more thorough detail. “Demon Island… that’s not reassuring at all. And we’re supposed to break some curse? That sounds tough, the reward better be…” Not only was there payment of money so large it put their Everlue job to shame, but there was even a Golden Celestial Key available.

“And… Happy and I are going to send you back with both the key and a third of the money,” Natsu promised, confident he’d made a deal. “So what d’ya say now!?”

“That you’re crazy.”

“Yeah, we established that. What about the job?” Lucy still wasn’t answering right away. “Again, I gotta know soon otherwise we’re going to lose out on this one chance. Ae you in?”

‘After everything Mira said about how dangerous these jobs can be…’ “ONE condition.”

“Name it.”

“The second any of us thinks this job is too risky or getting too intense, we get out of there. No questions or arguments from anyone else; we need to leave.”

“…Alright, you got me there.” Weird, and here she was expecting Natsu to say something along the lines of There’s no Danger I can’t handle! or some equally obnoxious boast. The fact that he at least knew how dangerous this job would be gave her some confidence. “Also, as an added bonus this is one job with a Zero chance of Vulcans.”

“Careful; if that’s your big selling point I might have to take S-Rank jobs exclusively.”

“Told ya we should’ve lead with that,” Happy commented.

“I thought cats didn’t have great memories,” Natsu reminded, only for Happy to shrug the comment off. “So… since we need to leave first thing in the morning to grab the train and your house is closer to the station…”

“You can have the couch, but JUST this once. This isn’t a situation where you can come over and crash any time you want to,” Lucy tried to insist, futile as it likely was.

“Hold on a sec. If you have a couch that’s available, then why doesn’t Dad sleep there until he finds a place to call his own like you want him to?” Happy asked.

“Because… I honestly hadn’t considered that,” she admitted before really thinking the idea over. “If I did keep him around though, that might be enough to keep the rest of you from breaking in.”

“We’d find a way regardless.” …Natsu might’ve been right, but she was a little angry it sounded like he knew what he was doing.

Glancing back at the job details for a moment, Lucy actually got a bit of rush thinking about what this job could mean for her. If she managed to pull it off, completing an S-Rank assignment would be perfect for growing her reputation and if she could get the word out during her photo shoot then she’d have eyes on her for certain. Even past that, just imagining the shock from the entire guild when they got back was enough to make her giggle.

…But if she was looking for shock, she should’ve seen Makarov’s face as he was informed there was a missing S-Rank job. The most dangerous S-Rank job on the board.

His jaw had broken clean through the floorboards.

Author’s Note

Storm: Storm VII here!

Happy: Happy too! Aye!

Storm: So not a lot to cover for the first chapter of the upcoming arc. Very standard and I got a… admittedly shorter fight done between Natsu and Erza. I had a lot going on in January and even with a full month, I’m still pushing to get this out before it’s too late.

Happy: Not to mention you big day is coming up in the middle of February.

Storm: Right! Any of you on YouTube might know that I promised another birthday video that will be complete with fan-art at the end. This will be an hour long and premier on February 17^th, so stay tuned then. Other than that, not a lot to cover.

Happy: Ciao!

Chapter Text

“Go ahead and give me a head count if you want; that should be every last Vulcan accounted for.”

Ragna’s tone was pretty cocky, but given the circumstances he was fairly deserving of it as he stood before a pile of defeated Vulcans so large that it might’ve given even Erza Scarlet pause. The Reaper hadn’t broken a sweat in this job, if anything it was the lengthy work of having to hunt all of these apes down that had been the most trouble. Now that proper control of his right arm was starting to return, fighting through monsters like these felt like something he could do in his sleep.

The village that he’d done this job for was fairly small, but it seemed to be a well-off farming community. The town wasn’t on any map and was a lengthy walk from the nearest train station, but the reward money was good and the work had been plenty involved. Ragna had needed to make a decent payday if he was going to pay off the tab he’d wracked up the day before; he had a feeling those drinks he’d promised were on the pricy side. The village aside, the inhabitants had an odd quality about them… namely their oversized ears that would put most elephants to shame.

“He really managed to put them all down in one night; I didn’t think anyone would be capable of that,” one of the townsfolk whispered to another, covering the side of their mouth so Ragna couldn’t read their lips. “Least of all this guy.”

“I know what you mean,” another townsperson answered in a similar manner. “If they’re not written about in Sorcerer’s Weekly then they’re usually a two-bit wizard from a no-name guild.”

“This one certainly looked like he fit the bill,” a third joined in with their own whisper.

“You know I can still hear you? Right?” Ragna wasn’t sure if it was their large ears, but the village always seemed to talk to him much louder than normal, like they thought they couldn’t hear him with his regular sized ears. It was like this no matter how much he insisted he could hear them, and when it came to whispers all they were doing was speaking at a normal volume. Shaking his head he noticed the leader of the village bring forth a decently sized briefcase. “My payment in full?”

“Yes, plus a little extra for protecting our entire town. When we first saw the horde of Vulcans on the horizon, we’d feared that our entire village would be destroyed once they caught sight of us. Not only did you defeat the monsters, but there are no injuries or and structural damage to speak of.” Ragna smirked as he took the briefcase; clearly his efforts hadn’t gone to waste. “If you don’t mind my asking, you never said what guild you were from.”

“Well…” Ragna let the Fairy Tail marker over closed his right eye glow. Now the village’s widening eyes were almost as absurd as their ears. “You’re right to be surprised; I just happen to be the one member that can do all of this fighting without the collateral.”

“…Our town was close to getting completely wiped out anyways.” Ragna wasn’t about to debate that.

“If there’s nothing else, then I gotta be heading back. Got a lengthy walk to the train station.”

It wasn’t like he minded; the work was done and even if it had been a sleepless night he’d be able to catch up on his shuteye on the train ride back to Magnolia. A simple walk sounded perfect right now.

“Gotta get back soon though; without me there’s no telling what kind of trouble those kids are going to get into.” Ragna gave an amused chuckle. “And that’s with my supervision.”

Back at the Fairy Tail Guild

“To think he’d go and pull something like this,” Makarov groaned while nursing an early morning beer. He was in desperate need of the alcohol to take the edge off the headache he’d just been given… by another constant headache. “I thought Natsu had finally started to mature, to simmer down just a little. How could I have been so wrong?”

“I don’t think you’re wrong; Natsu had changed,” Mira assured the guild leader. “When he was fighting Erza he kept a level head and fought with improved technique instead of relying on overwhelming power. He’d had to train himself plenty to manage that much.” She scowled up to the second floor. “The problem was someone trying to set him off.”

“Like that was my fault,” Lauxus argued boastfully from up above. “You’re all talking about how much he grew, but the second that’s tested he flies completely off the handle. Maybe his wimpy fire magic’s gotten good enough to fry his own brain at least.”

“Maybe you’re not one to talk about magic frying a brain; Happy got past you to get that job description, didn’t he?” A deathly silence fell over the guild. Even if she was technically the same rank as Lauxus, Mira hadn’t talked like that to anyone in quite some time.

“It’s like she’s gone back to her delinquent attitude,” Wakaba noted with a grimace.

“That or her Satan side’s starting to leak into her regular personality,” Macao guessed through a pained wince.

Neither option was good.

“You kidding? Of course I noticed that damn furball. I just didn’t give enough of a shit to stop it. So what? Natsu’s the one that’s going to get his ass kicked tackling an S-Rank mission when he’s not ready for one. All that’s gonna get you is killed.”

A comment that harsh already hit the rest of the guild hard, but for Lauxus and Mira it was like twisting a serrated knife. Now Mira’s scowl was exactly like that of her Satan Soul and the rest of the guild reacted with same fear as if they were in the same room as an angry Erza Scarlet. Elfman also had a different reaction, but this one had his head slumped forward in shame.

‘…Too far.’ Even Lauxus knew he’d crossed a line with what he’d just said, but he couldn’t let himself double back in front of the rest of the guild. He had a reputation to keep.

“We can address his attitude later; right now we need to focus on getting them back to the guild before they get hurt,” Makarov insisted, though the glare he sent at his grandson made it clear he wasn’t going to be let off the hook. “Can Erza retrieve them?”

“I tried to get in contact with her as soon as we found out, but I haven’t been able to reach her,” Mira explained. “I’ll keep trying, but it’s going to take time.”

“Time’s something we don’t have,” Makarov groaned before looking back to the second floor. “Lauxus…”

“Save it old man; I ain’t lifting a finger for that punk,” he grunted.

“But you’re the only one that can bring him back!” the guild master insisted. His grandson wasn’t moving. Was he waiting for Makarov to beg?

“Sorry pops, but I gotta disagree with you there,” Gray chimed in as he rose from his seat “I’ll get him back first thing. There weren’t any trains running last night and the station didn’t open that long ago. If I leave now, chances are I’ll be able to nab that idiot in Hargeon Port before he can find a boat to take him to the island.”

“Gray…” Cana said softly, seemingly mystified by the Ice User’s determination to step in for someone he hated.

“Don’t get me wrong; I’m not doing this outta any sense of friendship; I just wanna see him get what’s coming to him after I bring him back,” he explained with a cocky smirk.

“Oh, I already knew that. I just wanted to remind you about your clothes,” she said boredly, leaving Gray to yell in pain as he realized he’d stripped to his boxers yet again.

“Then hurry, Gray; get him back here before he really gets himself in danger,” the guild leader insisted as the Ice User quickly dressed himself. “But… if you can’t catch Natsu before he’s made it to the island, do not pursue him. Let the rest of us know and we’ll find a new strategy.”

“Got it; I’ll be back soon,” the Ice User promised as he took off for the train station

“…Where’s Lucy in all of this?” Mira asked as she glanced around. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday… Don’t tell me she’s-”

“I have to hope she isn’t. Maybe she decided to take a day off and is staying out of it,” Makarov interrupted, but the elderly guild master was hardly convinced himself. “I had thought her to be a voice of reason in the group, surely she’d reject Natsu’s plan outright.”

“…I just remembered that there was a Golden Celestial Key available as part of the reward,” Mira added unfortunately. “And knowing how she is, there’s no way she’d ever have the self-control to pass it up.”

At that Moment

“ACHOO!”

As soon as she’d stepped off the train into town, Lucy let out a heavy sneeze out of nowhere. There was no draft, she was feeling healthy as ever, and it wasn’t like there was pollen in the air.

“See…?” Natsu groaned as he slowly made his way off the train, supporting himself off the wall in his weakened state. “It’s not just me… that gets sick on these trains.”

“It’s just a sneeze; don’t lump me in with your insane motion-sickness,” she insisted before glancing around the town. “Weird, it hasn’t been so long since we first met here, but it feels like so much has happened since then.”

“From what I’ve heard, that’s a pretty common feeling for most new Wizards, especially when you’re really active by taking as many jobs as we have,” Happy informed. “But normally, it’s that they feel nostalgic coming back to their hometown.”

“I… don’t think I’d be feeling it if I went back there,” Lucy denied. “Besides, this is where things really began. Where we all met each other and became an unofficial early team.”

“Yeah, and we had to deal with that Salamander faker and that boat of his,” Natsu groaned before shaking off most of his nausea. “And we’ll have to find a boat to get to the island too… great.”

“We’d better start looking for someone to take us now; there’s no telling how long we’ll have before the Guild sends someone after us,” Happy reminded. “When we can get the island most of the guild won’t be able to get to us, but until then we’re at a heavy risk of getting caught.”

“Right, this’ll all be for nothing if they stop us before we can prove ourselves,” Lucy agreed. “But you said most of the guild can’t get us on the island. Is there anyone who still can?”

“Yeah, since the area’s supposed to be the site for an S-Rank job, any qualifying Wizard can come and go as they please,” the cat explained. “Normally there’s a strict policy among the guilds that forbids interfering with a Wizard that’s taken an assignment, but…” Happy started sweating. “I’m pretty sure we don’t get those protections here.”

“So if any S-Rank wizard from Fairy Tail tries to come after us…” Lucy began with a growing sense of dread.

“Lauxus won’t be coming after us; that asshole doesn’t do anything he’s told and wouldn’t bother dealing with us no matter what,” Natsu explained. “Mystogan’s impossible to get in contact with so we won’t have to worry about him. Mira might be an S-Rank Wizard, but she’s going to be too busy working as guild receptionist and she doesn’t take jobs anymore. The only one that’s a real threat right now is Erza, but she headed out on a different job last night. Until she gets word, we’ll have some time to get the job done.”

“Right, but we still need that boat first; we won’t get anywhere without one,” Happy decided as the group of three hurried to the port.

“Excuse me?” Lucy asked once the trio had found a group of sailors. These seemed like your typical seadogs and didn’t smell great, but the blonde was more than convinced she could turn the charm on them. “We were all looking for a ride out of the harbor.”

“Oh yeah?” the lead one grunted, before getting a good look at Lucy and seeing that she was leaning over to really show off her cleavage. He wasn’t the only one as the rest of his crew had stopped their work to take in the eye candy. “So… where ya headed?”

“Not very far out, just a bit for the journey,” Lucy insisted as she gave a cute girlish wiggle, fully aware where the sailors had their attention at.

“She’d never try something like this if Ragna was around,” Happy whispered to Natsu.

“Yeah, if Dad was here he’d probably ground her for even thinking about it,” Natsu whispered back.

‘Let’s hope they don’t snitch on me then.’ “Listen, it’d really help us out if you took us to Galuna Island. We’ve got plenty of Jewels to pay for your troubles.”

“Galuna… Island?” The lead sailor had stiffened and the rest of the crew were stiff as statues. “Sorry, can’t help ya.”

“But you-?”

“I said can’t help you, so beat it!”

Not wanting to make a scene, Lucy and the others headed down the rest of the harbor, keeping their eyes out for another boat.

“That was weird; I had his entire crew wrapped around my little finger with my charms, but as soon as we brought up the Island there was no arguing with him.”

“The job did say something about it being a Demon Island, remember?” Happy chimed in. “All of the sailors here probably have plenty of reasons to keep away from it.”

“Then we should just ask to have the boat take us out and see how close to the island they’re willing to go,” Natsu suggested. “It means a shorter boat ride at least.”

“Too risky; we don’t know what direction we’d need to sail to the Island or how far we’d need to swim in order to get there. We’re going to need to be honest.” Lucy sighed. “For now, we’ll just have to ask everyone we can and hope we get our ride soon. We’ve got limited time and we haven’t even started the job yet.”

In the two hours that followed, the three were having Ragna levels of luck finding a boat to the Island… which is to say horrible. It didn’t matter how much Lucy tried to put on the charm, how much the group was willing to pay or even how much Happy tried to bribe them with fish (that he didn’t have anyways). The moment that Galuna Island came up they were told to get lost just as quickly as the first group. Natsu even tried threatening to get their passage to no avail, and if Lucy hadn’t stopped him in time, then the port authorities would be on them. By now word of them had spread and the remaining sailors were turning them away before they could even get two words out.

“That’s everyone in the port…” Lucy sighed with disappointment as she looked over the harbor hoping to see a fresh face. There wasn’t one. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but shouldn’t we head just head back?”

“What? Without even starting the job!?” Natsu shouted. “You heard what Laxus was saying about us yesterday! Can you imagine what he’ll be like if he hears that we couldn’t even manage to get to the job site!? We’d never hear the end of it!”

“Maybe… we don’t have to make it sound like we chickened out?” Lucy vainly tried. “If we told them that our judgement got the better of us, that could both get us off the hook and lessen the blow.”

“You think they’d believe that? With Natsu?” Happy reminded realistically.

“Right!?” At least the Salamander was owning up to it.

“Never mind,” Lucy sighed before vainly scanning the port again. She paused when she looked just a little further down. “That guy… he wasn’t there a moment ago. And I’m pretty sure no boats just pulled in.”

“We might as well try asking him,” Natsu reasoned. “What’s our approach this time? Good-cop-bad-cop?”

“Dibs on bad-cop!” Happy volunteered… a little too readily.

“Let’s just ask him; if we scare him off then we’re stuck either stowing-away or going through the black market,” Lucy said, hoping she could reign them in. She also hoped that this guy would see reason at least. “E-Excuse me sir?”

“Yeah? What do you want?” they answered in a gruff voice, already in an irritable mood.

“We were hoping you could give us passage; we have plenty of money to pay for it,” Lucy said, only testing the waters.

“Not really much of a ferry, lady. And I got my own problems to worry about,” they insisted as they continued attending to their boat. Oddly, Lucy noticed that he was only using a single hand from beneath their poncho.

“Funnily enough, we’re the Fairies around here,” Natsu noted with a smirk at the wordplay.

“…That can be interpreted as something else and I’m pretty sure it’s a derogatory remark,” Lucy felt the need to inform.

“Fairies?” the sailor asked before finally looking up at them and seeing the sigil on Natsu’s arm. “Fairy Tail?”

“Yep! Hoping that someone could finally hook us up with passage to Galuna Island!” Natsu said eagerly because they hadn’t been turned down yet. “You game? We got plenty of money to pay you!”

“Wait! You’re taking the job!?” the sailor demanded in shock. It was the first time any of the sailors had mentioned that, so Lucy gave a reserved nod. “I… Get on.”

“Wow, I’m so good at being bad cop that I don’t even need to say anything,” Happy self-congratulated.

“Ignoring the talking cat, what’s your payment going to look like?” Lucy asked, hoping she wouldn’t be sent into debt from this.

“It’s on the house, but you need to get in now!” the sailor insisted as they adjusted their poncho. “Come on!”

“Alright!” Natsu shouted, loud enough to be heard across the entire harbor. “Our lucks finally turning around!”

“Meaning it’s just about to run out.”

“Come on, why you gotta all pessimistic like that, Gray?” Natsu groaned… before realizing who he was speaking to. “GRAY!?”

“You found us!?” Lucy shrieked.

“Wasn’t too hard; this guy isn’t exactly known for his volume control,” the Ice-Make user noted, but he looked more amused than upset. “Come on you two, back to the guild.”

“But we can’t give up now! We just got our ride finally settled!” Natsu yelled.

“Yeah, you can give up here and now because that’s exactly what’s going to happen! You of all people should have some idea what goes on with these kinds of jobs!” Gray shouted before shaking his head. “Natsu…”

“…Don’t you dare say it.” He wasn’t his normal playful self now. In fact, Lucy was worried that it looked like he was ready to kill Gray if he was pushed a little more.

“...Guess it doesn’t matter if you already knew what I was going to tell you,” Gray admitted ominously. Weirdly enough, he actually looked guilty that he’d had to bring it up in the first place. “Look, if you guys come back now, I promise to do what I can to vouch for you. Believe me, I think Lauxus has been plenty of a dick to all of us. Erza might be too nosy and a total pain in the ass, but-”

“DUDE STOP! SHE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!”

Natsu’s shout had been in genuine terror and he sold it so well that Gray had to stop himself and check to see if the redhead was about to kill him. Obviously, she was nowhere near the group, but that brief instant gave Natsu just the advantage he needed. Striking a defenseless Gray in the gut, the Ice User barely had time to register he’d been tricked before losing consciousness.

“Got ‘im… but I’ve been saving that move for so long and this is how I have to use it?” Natsu said with plenty of disappointment.

“Just be glad it worked, but what are supposed to do with Gray?” Happy asked worriedly as he looked at the unconscious wizard. “We can’t just leave him here.”

“Why not? It’s not like he’s in any danger,” Natsu tried to argue.

“Maybe not now, but if we’re already in hot water with the guild,” Lucy argued. “If they find out that we just abandoned Gray on the Harbor, our punishments are just going to get even more severe. Maybe even to the point that it wouldn’t matter we completed an S-Rank assignment.” Thinking quickly (and lacking) options, she grabbed the Sailor’s rope. “Going to need to borrow this.”

“So kidnapping him is better?” Natsu asked with legitimate confusion. Happy only shrugged.

Meanwhile -Oshibana Station-

“Can’t believe I got another damn layover on top of everything else,” Ragna grumbled as he paced around the station impatiently. Unlike his trip heading out to the job, his trip back was anything but quick, filled with several train delays, a layover, and further delays when his first train didn’t make it in time to make his second one. He was at least getting compensated for that last one… but he’d had to argue for it something fierce.

“I was fighting all last night and I didn’t eat anything since I was sleeping too hard on the train… I should head into town and grab something for dinner,” he told himself aloud. “Nah, I still gotta save up money for that house to keep Lucy in a good mood. I can hold off for a while and make something myself once I’m back at the guild’s kitchens.”

That still left his issue with his present boredom and more importantly, his nerves. Maybe it was because this was his first time away from his entire team in so long, but he also knew that Natsu was the type to start something if… well, he didn’t actually need a single example. Everything about him spoke to this happening.

‘Maybe Lucy can do her part to keep him in line until I get back tonight,’ he hoped, though knowing it was mostly in vain. ‘I mean… maybe she can at least manage him as far as damage control?’ He glanced out one of the station windows in the direction of Magnolia. ‘If I start running now, I can probably get back by… No. Gotta have more faith in the kid than that. I’m probably thinking like this because I just miss ‘em all.’

Taking a deep breath and centering himself, he then glanced out the window at someone standing on the balcony. She was wearing her familiar blue outfit and recognized the hair even from the back. Giving a small smile, he decided to head outside and make the most of this run-in.

“Hey! Juvia!” he called out as he approached. The water mage turned to him excitedly as she heard his voice… only to grow more confused when she laid eyes on him. It took her a few moments, but eventually she realized that it really was him.

“Ragna-kun?” she asked in surprise. “You… you look completely different.”

“Yeah? Much younger?” he asked with a cocky smirk.

“You don’t look half as old as you used to,” she affirmed. With Juvia far less eccentric than most people (aside from her obsession with Gray) Ragna could tell that she meant it. …Plus, it was kind of nice to hear now after the fact. “I suppose this means you found the rest of the elixir ingredients?”

“Yeah, some of them were hell to get though.” He was referring to his encounter with Twelve and the first life he’d had to take in the new world, but he wasn’t in any mood to elaborate, even with Juvia. “What about you? Heard you were in the middle of an important job from your letter. Already done?”

“No; even as an S-Rank wizard this job was going to take some time to complete,” she began.

“Hold up. You never told me you were S-Rank,” the Reaper noted with some surprise. “That’s pretty damn impressive.”

“Thank you, but I’m not sure how much it’s really worth… and I’d hardly compare myself to someone like Erza Scarlet from your guild.” The way she spoke was more factual than hard on herself, so Ragna just gave a casual shrug.

“Well Erza’s… different,” he put simply. “But if you weren’t done with your job, what are you doing back here? Was the assignment canceled by the client?”

“No; I was the one that had to cancel,” she told him before her expression turned a touch worried. “I… received summons to return to the Phantom Lord guild. Effective immediately.”

“Summons back? What for?”

“I have no idea, but I know I wasn’t the only one,” she said, gesturing to a group down below the balcony that Ragna could recognize as a Wizard team. “They’re from my guild as well and they received the same summons that I did in the middle of their own job… Something’s going on.”

“No kidding. It doesn’t sound like this sort of thing usually happens,” Ragna guessed. “Could it be some massive job that’ll take every single member of the guild?”

“Maybe, but for something like that I figured there would be more planning and organizing than this spur of the moment action,” she figured. “I heard from the team down below that our guild leader, Jose-sama, has been acting strange these past few days.”

“Jose…” Ragna repeated as he tried to think back. “Why does that name sound familiar? …Right, he was at that cooking contest that I did with Mira. He was the one that was talking with Makarov. Never spoke with the guy myself, but it seemed like he and the old man were having a decent time and even had a few drinks with each other afterwards. Doesn’t sound like anything happened to him there.”

“Then what else is there?” she asked again, only to shake her head. “I’m sorry, this is Phantom Lord business. I shouldn’t be bothering you with this and it would only get us both in trouble if I got you any further involved.”

“If you say so, but do me a favor and keep me in the loop if you can, yeah? You’re not kidding when you say everything about this feels off.” Juvia nodded to his request. “So… how long before your train gets here? I’m stuck with a damn layover until this evening.”

“I’ll have a few hours to wait myself. Why?”

“Wanna head into town and grab something to eat? My treat.” Hey, he wasn’t about to waste money on himself. But getting a nice meal for someone else was never a waste… so long as he wasn’t getting suckered into it.

“This… are you asking me out on a date?” she asked nervously.

“Huh? No. Why would I ask you for a date after all trouble I went through to get you that lunch with Gray?” he answered reasonably. “This is just me trying to treat a friend to a good meal while we kill time waiting for our trains.”

“Oh, of course.” Ragna wasn’t bothered at her obvious relief; it was more than clear her heart was already taken. “But if that’s the case, please let me treat us. It’s the very least I can do after all you did for me on our last job together with Gray-sama.”

“Eh, if you insist, I’m not gonna turn the offer down,” Ragna answered with a smirk. Glancing up at the sunset, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. ‘Probably still worried about the Guild Leader thing, but she seems to be in a good mood now.’

“Shall we then?” she invited him.

“After you,” he insisted with all of the false etiquette he could muster as he bowed for her to lead on which she did and he followed close behind.

“If Ragna-kun doesn’t mind, I was hoping to try out a new type of restaurant that was in town. They insist that they’re trying a new type of food that’s never been seen before. If we both have a few hours before our trains arrive, then maybe it would be worth enduring the lengthy wait in order to try it.”

“Sounds good to me; and if it really is a new type of cuisine then maybe I can take some inspirations for my own menu… before making some obvious improvements and taking to a whole other level,” Ragna decided cockily. “Next time you’re around Fiore, make sure to stop by the Fairy Tail guild. I’ll blow your mind with some of my cooking, guaranteed.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise… and your boasting,” she informed, though she seemed playful in it. “Actually, that might be a worthy meal for Gray-Sama and myself to bond over, if we’re given the chance…” She then realized how it sounded. “N-Not that I want to use you for those ends, Ragna-kun. Just that it might be a nice chance to… to…” Her face was beat red as she averted her gaze, a little ashamed at just the idea of it.

Ragna wasn’t.

“Sunset or candlelit for the setting?” he offered readily. Juvia was still blushing, but at least she managed to smile back at him.

“Though… speaking of dating… I did pick up on a rumor that you and Mirajane Strauss happened to go out once. I even sought after a Sorcerer’s Weekly magazine for the first time, but it held no mention of it.”

‘Big surprise. It might’ve hurt her popularity (and more to the point their sales) if they let on that their lead model was spotted in any romantic setting with a man.’ “It was just a date, and nothing more… if anything, we actually did it just to spite a pretty large group of people.”

“…Sounds fitting for you, Ragna-kun,” Juvia admitted with a laugh.

“No argument with you there,” he agreed with a smirk. “But… I wouldn’t be lying if I wasn’t kinda hoping for that follow-up date.”

“And… the rumor that almost the entirety of your date took place with her in her legendary Satan Soul form?”

“Five words, Juvia.” Now he was smiling cockier than ever before. “Go big… or go home.”

That Night

“I always knew you were insane Natsu, but now you’ve really done it!” Gray shouted as he sat on his side of the boat, still tied up from Lucy’s ropes. He hadn’t stopped glaring ever since he regained consciousness. “You’ve played yourself right into Lauxus’s hands!”

“No I didn’t, you’re just sore that I got one up on you!” Natsu shouted back… before doubling over on the side of the boat.

“First of all, that was dirty tactic using Erza like that, so don’t think for even an instant that it counts!” the Ice Maker argued back, not letting the fact he was bound keep from making angry arguments. “Second, he noticed Happy when he was stealing that job. Told us himself; he was hoping that you’d do something stupid like this.”

“I thought I was being sneaky; he didn’t even look my way the entire time I was up there,” Happy recounted. “You’re sure it wasn’t just a lucky guess that it was me and he was playing it up?”

“…He’s an S-Rank wizard, he probably did see you,” Natsu had to concede through his motion sickness. “But even if this was his plan, there’s no way he’s counting on us completing the assignment! He’d have to eat his words at that!” Natsu boasted before turning to Gray. “Right?”

“…Well, about the fact that he has no faith you’d be able to complete the job, you’re right.”

“See?” Natsu said with a boastful smile… until he doubled over yet again.

“He’s actually doing a lot better with his motion sickness on this trip,” Lucy noticed.

“Probably ‘cause he’s doing it out of spite to keep arguing with me,” Gray guessed.

‘I’m not sure if it’s more fascinating or worrying to think about how his brain’s programmed,’ Lucy thought, but to be fair that could be said about a lot of the Fairy Tail guild members. Turning to their boat driver, she then had the realization that she’d never gotten his name. “Excuse me, Mister…?”

“Call me Bobo,” they instructed, not taking their eyes off the water as they continued sailing with unfettered determination.

‘Something’s really driving this guy to get us to the Island. He’s not even making any money on this,’ she remembered. “Are we close to the Galuna yet? My friend’s kind of having a hard time in your boat.”

“We’ll be there soon, he just has to hold on a little longer,” Bobo promised, again his gaze had yet to shift. “That speck you see out there on the horizon?” Lucy barely could call it a speck with how far away they still were, but they were getting closer pretty quickly. “That’s where we’re headed, home sweet home.”

“So you’re from Galuna Island?” she asked in surprise. “But I heard a lot of sailors calling it Demon Island.”

“Right, and that might as well be Galuna’s second name,” Bobo didn’t deny. “Our island has a lot of superstition around it. A lot of scholars believe it’s the sight of demon worship or sacrificial rituals, not that the two are mutually exclusive. Some even believe that there are still demons on this Island to this day.”

‘Creepy.’ Lucy held back her comments though. “If that the case, then why live there?”

“It’s where I was born, and all of the stigma around the place can actually be fairly useful. No one comes by to bother us; what pirate would risk going to a place supposedly filled with demons instead of attacking some merchant ship?”

‘Ironically, those pirates will be in for far worse than demons if they’re the ones Erza went after,’ Gray thought, but kept his mouth shut. Taking one more glance towards the rapidly approaching Island, he then saw a strange bright light coming from the top. “Is that… a lighthouse?”

“Galuna Island doesn’t have any lighthouses,” Bobo stated as he shifted his poncho around. “But… it’s where I would start looking for your job. That place might be the origin…” He then finally brought his other hand out from his poncho. “Of the Demon’s curse.”

It was horribly disfigured, looking like it was made of some sort of dark coral. Just by looking at it, the Fairy Tail wizards could tell that it wasn’t a disease, but a curse.

‘…Why am I getting Ragna vibes from this?’ they all wondered in unison.

“Guys! Look at the light!” Lucy instructed and all heads turned (even the seasick Natsu). “It’s getting even brighter now!”

“This feeling…” Gray grunted. “That’s magic all right, but… it’s not like anything I’ve ever encountered before.”

“Wait! Where’d our guide go!?” Happy screamed. Looking around the small boat, Bobo had disappeared without a trace and that wasn’t their only problem as the waves suddenly became much rougher and knocked their little ship leaving them helpless.

“What do we do!?” Lucy screamed.

“You’re asking me!? I’m still tied up!” Gray shouted.

“Guys… Gonna lose it…” Natsu groaned as his motion sickness only got worse.

“TOO LATE!”

With Happy’s final scream, the boat capsized. All four of them blacked out the instant they hit ocean’s dark, cold waters.

On the Island

“So?” The expectant figure was a short, odd man in a cloak with waving dull green hair and red mask that looked somewhere between draconic and demonic in its design. “What’s the situation?”

“They didn’t drown, but they’re not moving from the beach either.” This figure also wore a mask, but had no skin to show from the light armor all over her body. On her back, she carried a heavy repeating crossbow and she was currently looking at her targets through a set of eagle themed binoculars. These gave her a far better view than any regular tool, but use required a steady focus and that was difficult now. “That stupid chanting is getting on my nerves.”

“It’s necessary; you’ll just have to learn to ignore it,” the man said, still giving a strange haunting smile though there didn’t seem to be anything humorous about the situation.

“Tch… either way, they all appear to be breathing and they all have a Fairy Tail sigil on them. This could turn complicated if I don’t handle this now.” She went for her crossbow, but the man from behind her stopped her hand.

“Leave them be; I doubt we have anything to worry about with them. Maybe they just got lost.”

“I’m no idiot; I can tell that you don’t believe that,” the woman seethed, but she left the crossbow where it was. “Should we inform the Cold Emperor?”

“No… in fact, never speak of this encounter again; consider this as just another part of our contract,” the strange, masked man insisted. “If they show up, then we’ll deal with them, but for now it should only be a few more nights at worst.”

“And then you’ll give me exactly what I want?”

“Yes… a sanctioned fight between you and your target with no one to interfere. I’m a w… I’m a man of my word, and with plenty of connections to see this through perfectly. You’ll have your chance to finally put an end to the usurper of your order.”

“You better mean that,” the sniper insisted, the XI on her mask gleaming in the moonlight as she growled at the chanting which only seemed to be getting louder. ‘I can’t wait for this hell to finally be over.’

Magnolia

‘Evening already. Mira probably had to do the entire dinner rush without me.’

Even if the sky had darkened long ago, Ragna knew that the guild would still be open until Mira announced last call on drinks. Long as he didn’t waste any time, he’d be able to at least help her clean up and secure one of the beds in the back to sleep for the night. He’d considered taking another night out in the fields, but if Lucy found out he’d likely be in for another lecture from his daughter.

‘Gotta keep that one happy,’ he sighed to himself as he finally it to the front doors of the Guild. Opening the front door and stepping in, everyone turned their head to face him but quickly turned back without offering a single word of greeting. ‘…Something is wrong. Something is VERY wrong.”

“Welcome.” Even if Mira kept that bright smile on her face that she always had, Ragna could tell that whatever was bothering everyone else had an effect on her as well. Glancing around, he already had part of the answer.

“Where’s the rest of my team?” he demanded. While there was always the chance that they had just returned to their homes for the night, Ragna knew that was what was keeping everyone on edge. Glaring at Makarov, who was fighting to avoid eye-contact just like everyone else, his scowl only tightened. He waited for them to give him an answer while he headed for the front desk and put down the money he owed for yesterday’s drinks. The same drinks he’d treated to the people who were holding out on him. “Well?”

“N-Now Ragna…” the guild master tried hesitantly, not wanting to set the Reaper off.

“They left on an S-Rank assignment,” Elfman finally answered in his place.

“What!?” Ragna couldn’t help but outburst.

“Elfman!” Makarov scolded.

“He’d have found out eventually, we’re just wasting time keeping it a secret from him,” the well-built man insisted. The truth was, he hated how helpless he felt with a second instance of something like this occurring.

“Tell me Erza’s with them at least,” Ragna demanded as he hadn’t caught sight of the redhead in the guild.

“I’m afraid not; and I doubt that she would’ve given them permission to join her even if I’d said they could,” Makarov sighed now that the jig was up. “We realized they were gone this morning and we’d hoped that Gray could stop them before they got too far, but we now have to hope that we can get in contact with Erza.”

“So they’re out on a dangerous assignment that’s more than likely out of their league and you’re all just sitting around!?” Ragna was fighting hard to keep himself from yelling. Though everyone’s hands in the guild were tied, the look of shame among each of them was unmistakeable. And if what he suspected with Elfman and his sisters was true… “Mira, where’d they go?”

“Galuna Island; and the closest port to it would be Hargeon. The job they took… I have a bad feeling about it,” she answered honestly.

“All the more reason that I’ll have to hurry,” Ragna answered as he quickly turned back for the front door.

“Ragna! You can’t be thinking of going after them!” Makarov shouted. “I don’t like it either, but that cursed island is designated as an S-Rank area! You don’t have the permission to-!”

“LIKE I GIVE A DAMN!” the Reaper shouted, silencing the guild leader. “If this gets me kicked out the guild, then fine! If something happened to them and I just stayed behind, I’d never forgive myself no matter what the punishment would’ve been! I gotta to do whatever it takes to make sure that they’re safe!”

‘I… can’t argue with his reasoning, but...’ Makarov didn’t have the chance to finish his though as a shadow briefly cast itself over him. Landing in front of Ragna and blocking his way to the exit… was Lauxus. ‘Oh no…’

“Oh… now he decides to step in.” Mira was plenty annoyed.

“…I… am giving you one chance,” Ragna insisted with a dark aura around him while Lauxus only gave him a cocky sneer. “Out of my way.”

“Or what? You heard the old man,” Lauxus answered as he got right in Ragna’s face. “Trust me, I’d love nothing more than to see your ass kicked out of here, but you don’t get to make that decision. As long as you’re stuck on this floor, you gotta play by the same rules as the rest of them. And I say-”

The resulting blow that followed didn’t generate a shockwave, but only because Ragna’s rage was entirely focused into his fist, delivering all of the power behind the blow into that one single point. That didn’t mean that everyone in the guild didn’t lurch at the attack and even Lauxus couldn’t contain the sheer shock that someone he saw as a weakling would strike him. He’d blocked the attack with his left forearm and had taken all of the damage there… which resulted in the limb going limp.

“I warned you,” Ragna said darkly as he continued to glare at Lauxus. Already his mind was screaming for the danger he was in as the rest of the guild dove for cover and Lauxus started crackling with electricity. Once again he was ignoring it was Lauxus’s eyes started glowing a deathly yellow with lightning magic. Not just his eyes, Ragna took notice of. There were traces of a few sparks coming from his mouth. ‘Wait, is he…?’

“Your arms, your eyes, your legs…” Laxus could barely get out through his growing rage and overcharged magic. “NONE OF IT WILL EVER WORK AGAIN WHEN I’M THROUGH FRYING YOU!”

“ENOUGH!”

Makarov’s shout wasn’t amplified with any form of magic, but it was forceful enough that Lauxus was no longer gathering power, rather keeping at an even level. It was still enough that the entire rest of the guild was rumbling violently around them and no one else had emerged from their cover… but through his other senses, Ragna realized that both Makarov and Mira hadn’t gone for any protective positioning.

“Ragna… I am giving you this special permission… Just this once…” Makarov said evenly. The Reaper actually had the gall to take his eyes off the enraged lightning user in front of him so he could face his guild leader. “Get to the Island… and bring them home safely; that’s your assignment. If Erza’s already beaten you there, then get off the Island with her. Am I clear?”

“Clear as rain; get everyone home safe,” Ragna said before returning his gaze to Lauxus. Still their magic energy was held and a less experienced Ragna would want to finish their confrontation on his way out. Now though, he knew how to see past his rage to focus on his priorities. Stepping around Lauxus, he finally exited the guild.

‘As soon as I’m in charge of this guild, that bastard’s the first one I’ll be kicking to the curb. PERSONALLY,’ Lauxus promised as the lightning magic finally faded. A few of the wizards peaked out from behind their makeshift barriers, but ducked behind them again after one harsh glare from Lauxus. “I’m outta here; you all make me sick to my stomach.”

‘I imagine with most of them, the feeling might be mutual,’ Makarov internally sighed. ‘Lauxus… what happened to you?’

Outside, Ragna’s troubles for the night weren’t over.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he groaned at the magic mobile owner he’d found. “You’re charging me how much?”

“I’m not going a single Jewel lower,” the vehicle’s owner (a short, portly man that was dressed like 30’s New York cabby) insisted before he took a long swig from his flask. “No appointment, dead of night, and you’re even catching me off hours. Just count yourself lucky I’m the one sucker out here that’d be willing to take you.” He then eyed him. “Wizard, right? At least you’ll provide your own protection on the ride instead of hiring someone out.”

‘That’s the least of my problems,’ Ragna thought as he took out his wallet. His recently filled wallet. Settling up from yesterday had already taken a fair-sized chunk out like he’d imagined, but with new extra costs piling up he wasn’t sure he’d be able to avoid going into a heavy debt after all. ‘I can pay it, but will there even be enough left to get a boat to take me to Galuna Island?’

“Well, time’s a-wasting. Are you going to give me a job for tonight or what? Wait any longer and I’ll have had too much to drink.”

‘Like you’re completely sober now,’ the Reaper noted with a scowl at the red in the driver’s cheeks. Before he could give his answer, Ragna heard footsteps approaching the two. His first instinct told him the Lauxus wanted to settle up after all, but it turned out to a much more welcome sight… and not just to him. “Mira?”

“MIRAJANE STARUSS!” the cab driver explained, screaming loud enough to awaken an entire block. “I’M ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS! I NEVER MISS A SINGLE ISSUE OF SORCERER’S WEEKLY SO LONG AS YOU’RE IN IT!”

“That’s… that’s nice,” Mira said with a less than comfortable smile before she turned to Ragna. “I’m glad that I caught you before-”

“YOU WORK WITH HER!?” the cabby interrupted, screaming Ragna’s face and getting alcoholic spittle all over him. Ragna was strongly considering running the entire way to Port Hargeon so long as he could knock this nuisance out before he left. “NEW OFFER! IF YOU CAN CONVINCE HER TO GIVE ME SOME OF HER BEST POSES THEN YOU CAN RIDE TONIGHT FOR FREE!”

‘Not the first time I’ve gotten this brand of request from someone.’ “Well, I’m sure-”

Mira couldn’t proceed much further as Ragna roughly shoved the full amount he owed right into his driver’s hands.

“Get the engine warmed up; we need to get going,” he instructed with enough malice that it was more of a threat. Much as he wanted to see Mira’s display, the cappy complied and grumbled as he entered the vehicle with one final swig from his flask for good measure.

“You know I’m a model, right?” Mira asked the Reaper with an amused smile. “I already do this sort of thing for a living.”

“Maybe, but if you get that idiot too excited then I’ll be stuck here all night,” he grumbled in retort. If anything, he’d only added to Mira’s amusement. “Are you…?” Knowing what he was about to ask, she shook her head solemnly. “Not coming with, so what are you stopping me for?”

“I’m making sure you’ll have ride from Hargeon to Galuna,” she explained as she handed him a letter she’d been holding. “Ask around for someone that goes by The Sailor of the Azure Waves. Give that to her, tell her that I’m calling in that favor she owes me, and she’ll get you to the island quickly.”

“Perfect,” Ragna agreed, readily taking Mira’s goodwill in the form of her letter. “You still going to try and get in contact with Erza?”

“Of course, there’s no telling what sort of back up you’ll need out there,” she insisted. Ragna didn’t argue and opened the cab’s back passenger door as soon as he heard the vehicle start up. “Thanks for doing this, Ragna.”

“You know I’d make a point of this no matter who stood in my way; no cost too great and all that,” Ragna insisted.

“You made as much clear after what happened with Twelve,” she said, still a little sorrowful after the outcome of that job. “So I want you to keep a promise.”

“Mira? I’ve already got kind of a lot going on with this job,” he tiredly reminded, before glancing at the letter of help she’d given him and realized he at least had to hear her out. “What’s the promise?”

“No one is allowed to die while you’re out rescuing them, friend or foe,” she insisted, not breaking her gaze as Ragna shifted uncomfortably like he’d just been accused. “…You’re not allowed to hurt yourself like that again.”

“In that case… I promise.”

That was the last thing Ragna said as he closed the door. The Magic Mobile didn’t hesitate after that, driving off almost immediately and quickly disappearing into the darkness of the night. Inside the car though, Ragna had already nabbed his driver’s flask. In truth he shouldn’t have been in the car with an intoxicated driver in the first place, but with a lack of options he’d have to settle for damage control… as well as motivation.

“You’ll get this back after I get to Hargeon. Drive fast.”

Chapter Text

“Ugh… my head…” Lucy groaned as she slowly managed to open her eyes. Every part of her felt soaked through due to the water or covered in grit thanks to the sand she’d awoke on. It took the Celestial Wizard a good moment to get her bearings straight as her remaining senses recovered. Hearing the gentle crash of the waves from the surf, tasting the overpowering ocean in her mouth, and smelling the salty breeze. Finally opening her eyes, she expected to be blinded by the morning light but instead found that it was still night… well hopefully it was still that night.

“Feeling okay?” Natsu’s voice gave her something to fixate on and helped her mental recovery all the quicker as she shook herself off.

“As good as I could feel after almost drowning like that,” she said, coughing to recover as her voice sounded hoarser than she’d been expecting. Glancing around to get the rest of her surroundings, she saw that Happy had recovered and was sitting right next to her. As for Gray, the Ice Make Wizard had lost his bounding ropes in the surf (she only suspected that because Natsu didn’t seem the type to free him) and was currently sitting on the sand with both arms and legs crossed as he held his eyes closed like he was meditating. “Gray? What are you doing?”

“Trying to decide my next move, but at this point I’m just weighing my options. Part of me knows that Erza’s really going to let me have it if she finds out I couldn’t stop you. If that’s the case, I might as well try to actually impress her and see this job through to the end.”

“Hey! It’s supposed to be our job! You’re not allowed to just swoop in partway through!” Natsu denied.

“Partway through? You haven’t even started yet! And part of why I want to get you guys off the island now is because staying would mean I’d have to work with you!”

“Then leave. Be careful not to finish drowning on your way back,” Natsu dismissed.

“I wouldn’t have to worry about drowning at all if you didn’t kidnap me in the first place! I just wanted to bring you back to the Guild!”

“And watch us get punished!”

“That’s your own damn fault for taking an S-Rank job!”

“Oh joy, they’re already bickering again,” Lucy sighed.

“Aye,” Happy responded in a similarly tired manner.

“And we don’t even have Erza or Ragna to try and break them up,” she realized as the two’s argument was only becoming more intense and would continue to escalate the longer she did nothing. “Is it really going to be on me to keep them from fighting this trip?”

“You might as well get started, otherwise Natsu might think to blame you for getting Gray tied up and brought along.” That cat was speaking reason.

‘Guess I gotta try something.’ “Hey Natsu, why don’t we just work with him. For now at least?” The in-fighting at least stopped long enough for Natsu to glare at her slightly, though Gray didn’t seem much happier despite that she was technically taking his side. “This is going to be our first S-Rank assignment and none of us qualify as S-Rank wizards. Even if it means there’s going to be another share of the credit and reward, I think it’s worth the extra security on a job like this.”

Again, no boasting from Natsu or saying that he didn’t need Gray’s help. He didn’t look like he was going to enjoy the idea, but it was clear that he wasn’t about to resume his argument. Inhaling deeply, his exhale actually produced flames from his nostrils which was an odd sight.

“You’d better pull your weight out there,” he said to his rival with a toothy smirk as he settled for a taunt. “S-Rank’s already going to be tough enough without having to pick up your slack.”

“Heh, you’re not the only one who’s been improving. Wanna know where I was when you were off training with Ragna? Doing jobs with Erza. And keeping her satisfied along the way meant I had to push my own magic to the limit and improvise as much as humanly possible; I couldn’t beg for better training,” the Ice user boasted back.

“Think it’s a match for me though?”

“Wanna find out?”

‘Now they’re looking like they want to fight each other. A much more friendly fight than usual, but it’s still a problem if we’re going to need to focus.’ “Starting off, you guys notice that the light’s not coming from the top the Island anymore?”

“Yeah, it stopped just after I woke up,” Gray informed as the two quickly dropped their aggressive demeanors. “Moon’s still purple though, no clue what that’s about.”

“No sign of that Bobo guy either. He just left us as soon as he got us to the Island,” Natsu added. “But it didn’t feel like he was trying to drown us or anything. He really wanted us to get to the Island.”

“I felt that too, but it doesn’t explain why he just left us on the boat like that. Though maybe he somehow knew that we’d make it safely to shore?” Lucy was just guessing at this point, but at least she had a next move in mind. “Bobo did mention growing up on this island and someone had to send the job request out. Maybe there’s a village around that we can check for?”

“I’ll fly up and try to see,” Happy offered before sprouting his magic wings and taking to the air.

“…So… how can Happy fly?” Lucy decided to ask since they had a moment. “Like is it a spell, is it just him like the way he’s able to talk?”

“I dunno, never really thought about it,” Natsu passed off with a shrug. “Just like I never ask how Gray keeps stripping all the damn time.”

“There’s… a reason for that,” Gray said, just as he realized he was about to strip and stopping himself. “But it’s not anything you need to know, just like I don’t need to know about your stupid motion sickness.”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t need to know about you and I don’t wanna talk about me.”

“Good, then we’re agreed.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

‘They’re already glaring again, off of such a basic question,’ Lucy sighed. ‘My first S-Rank job’s going to be tough enough without trying to keep both of them in line, but I need to do my part to aide here as well. I haven’t contributed a whole lot on any of our jobs, but maybe Erza’s training pushed me far enough to give me an edge on the job… if I can remember any of it.’

“Good news, I found what I think is Bobo’s village and it’s close by. If we start heading that way, we should get there in no time,” Happy told the group as he flew back down. “It’s weird though; this late into the night and everything still seems really active.”

“Maybe that’s part of the job? The weird color of the moon’s keeping everyone up?” Grey guessed. “I didn’t get a look at the job description, so what are we supposed to do here?”

“It didn’t tell us a whole lot,” Lucy admitted as they started following after Happy to get to the village. “We’re just supposed to undo the curse that’s effecting this place and we’ll be getting a sizeable reward in exchange. They said they’d explain the details of the curse when we got to the village, but I guess it’ll have something to do with what we saw happening to Bobo last night… also the moon.”

“So we head to the village, get our job details there, and then come up with a plan to solve the curse,” Happy summarized.

The front gate to the village was fashioned out of sturdy lumber from the surrounding trees. Towards the top there were cloaked lookouts that were standing guard as the team approached.

“Let me do the talking here,” Lucy insisted… She tried not to show how insulted she felt as Natsu and Grey both shared unconvinced glances. “Excuse us! We’re here because of the job posting!”

“If you’re here for the job, then why didn’t we get the notice that you were on your way!?” a voice from one of the cloaked figures demanded. Lucy paled for a moment as she hadn’t considered that Fairy Tail would send out messages like this, but refused to falter there.

“It must’ve gotten lost in the paperwork, or maybe the messenger didn’t want to come all the way out here!” she tried. The eyes in the back of her head could tell her that Natsu and Gray were already sharing another glance as there was no way this would work.

“If you really are wizards, then how about your guild marks!?” Lucy nodded at Natsu who took that as his signal to use his fire magic and provide some extra light. Using the illumination, Lucy showed off the symbol on her hand, Natsu showed the one on his shoulder, Happy’s was on his back, and Gray had to bring his shirt up to show the symbol on his right bicep. “A-Are those Fairy Tail marks!? They’re just about the only guild crazy enough to take on this job! Open the gate!”

‘That doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence, but I guess it’s at least believable on our end,’ Lucy considered as the gates started open. Briming with confidence as she’d managed to handle the precarious situation of getting into this ill taken job, she turned to Natsu and Grey so they could tell her how much they’d underestimated her… only they weren’t about to as the two boys headed straight for the village. ‘COME ON! GIVE ME SOME CREDIT HERE!’

Once inside the village, Lucy noted that everyone in the village was wearing the same cloaks as the guards from above. Judging by the little time of moonlight they’d have left, it was clear that it was now absurdly early in the morning, but it seemed like the entire village was here for their arrival. One of the shorter cloaked figures walked forward, a wooden staff accompanying them to show their position as village leader.

“Are you truly here to help life the curse of our Island?” they asked with desperation in their voice.

“That’s what the job listing said, but you didn’t give us any real information about the curse or how we’re supposed to break it,” Lucy said. “Why all the secrecy?”

“We were worried that if we explained the exact details of the curse on the job description that no one would come, but I suppose there no need to hide it now that you’re here.” Rather reluctantly, he and the rest of the villagers started to undo their robes and show what lay beneath.

While there wasn’t an exact model to follow and all the villagers were humanoid in shape (roughly) their appearance was anything but human. Long and sharp teeth, wicked claws, some with horns, and skin tones that went all the way from sickly orange to dark purple. But in spite of their vicious features, they all appeared… sad.

“Are they-?” Lucy began.

“Demons,” Gray finished in answer.

“Oh man, you guys look so cool!” Natsu all but blurted out. The villagers were able to overcome their sorrows long enough as they stared blankly at him. “Oh man! With how much dad likes Mira’s Satan Soul form, he’d flip if he were here!”

“N-Natsu! Try to show some tact!” Lucy tried fruitlessly. “Sorry about him…”

“We’ve… never been called cool before,” one of the demons responded, almost sounding confusedly proud.

“Anyways…” the elder and leader of the village began (yes, they had absurd sideburns, moving on). “We didn’t always look like this. Ours was a prosperous village of normal humans long before this curse took our forms and changed them into the monsters that you see before you. We don’t know its origin, but we can confidently say that it started on the same night the moon began that unnatural purple glow.”

“Meaning you’re humans, but you change form whenever the moon comes out?” Lucy clarified.

“Were it so simple, but the curse has started to spread. Look there!”

Glancing to the horizon, the team saw as the purple tinted moon finally sunk behind the hills. Soon the morning sun would be out, but there was another glow that surrounded all of the villagers. When it faded, only about half of each of their bodies had returned to a human form. The rest of their bodies remained with a demonic visage, though each held the characteristic in a different place of their body.

“They’re still effected even outside of the moonlight,” Happy realized. “Is it like this even if you’re directly in the sun?”

“Yes, it seems that nothing can turn us purely human again,” the elder sighed. “But… it’s far worse than that; not only is it affecting our physical bodies, but with enough time the curse effects our minds as well. Turning some of us violent and mad…” The group’s gaze followed his own and landed on a small cemetery in the village with recently dug graves. “And… we’ve had no choice but to stop them and hopefully give them some final measure of peace.” His eyes began to tear. “Including my own son, Bobo.”

“Bobo?” Lucy repeated. “But-”

“Not now,” Gray said as he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Continuing to speak, he did so quietly to keep the rest of the village from hearing. “That was probably his spirit that we saw, trying to get someone to help the island as their last act from beyond the grave.”

“We’ve sacrificed so much already,” the leader sobbed as the rest of the village was as heartbroken as he. “But we’ll have to suffer so much more if we do nothing! That is why we put in the request for powerful wizards! Please! End this curse! Destroy the moon!”

“…Huh!?”

Later -Outside the village gates-

“So… any ideas?” Lucy asked the others. The group had headed outside of the village to investigate, but right now they were simply coming up with a plan of attack. “I feel like I actually have to ask with you two, so destroying the moon’s out? …Right? …please?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think either of us are crazy enough to try it even if we could break the moon,” Gray tried to assure her. Lucy wasn’t completely convinced as she turned over to Natsu.

“I guess trying to blow up an entire moon could be awesome to try doing, buuuuuuut I’ve also read a book that told me everything that would happen if I managed to pull it off,” Natsu explained. “For whatever reason, the guild leader made me read that book.”

‘One of Makarov’s better ideas, truly,’ Lucy thought before giving a breath of relief. “Good, so-”

“I’ll notice that you’re not worried about me blowing up the moon and I take offense to that,” Happy chimed in moodily.

“Oh, it’s just because I know that you have a better brain on you than these two,” Lucy lied with a guilty laugh.

“That’s better,” the cat accepted proudly.

‘Suck up,’ both Natsu and Gray thought in unison.

“Since getting rid of the moon’s not an option, we gotta start looking for a different cause,” Gray reasoned. “Even if it’s not the way the old man thinks will turn them human again, he’ll consider the job done as long as we lift the curse.”

“There was that light that came from the top of the Island, seems like heading further inland would be the best place to start,” Lucy suggested. “Even if we can’t fix it there immediately, maybe we’ll at least get a better understanding of the curse.”

“Alright, we’ll all start there,” Natsu agreed as he began making his way into the jungle.

“Right now? But we’ve been up since yesterday,” Lucy protested. “I mean I know we were unconscious for a couple of hours, but I wouldn’t exactly count that as sleep.”

“We don’t really have a choice; if we’re going to investigate around the Island then it’s easier to do that in the morning before things get dark,” Gray reminded as he followed after. “And don’t forget that we’re on a time limit. The people back at the guild are going to get in contact with Erza eventually and she’ll beeline it to us as soon as she finds out where we are.”

“I… guess,” Lucy conceded before taking out one of her silver Celestial Keys. ‘I guess at the very least I can get some rest as we walk.’ “But… what about dad?”

“Huh? What about him? He was out on an overnight job when we left, remember?” Natsu recounted.

“But he’s gotta be finished with it by now. And if that’s the case and he’s made it back to the guild already, wouldn’t he have found out where we are?”

“Probably, but remember what we said back in Hargeon about this being a designated S-Rank area?” Happy informed her. “He wouldn’t be able to come after us without being in just as much trouble.”

“And unlike a certain idiot here, I’d say he’s got a better mind than to go looking for ways to piss of Erza,” Gray added.

“HEY!” Natsu could easily tell that the ice user had implied him in that insult. (He had)

“I get what you’re both saying, but…” Lucy hesitated. “Somehow I get the feeling that might not be enough to stop him.”

Meanwhile -Port Hargeon-

“Finally made it here…”

It wasn’t uncommon for Ragna to be in a bad mood, but the bitter Grim Reaper had plenty of reason to feel the way he currently did. It had been an especially bumpy ride the prior night meaning he hadn’t gotten much sleep, he was still worried about the rest of his team, and after paying the cab driver he was already running low on money. He had Mira’s contact to get him across for free at least, but first he had to find them first in this large port town.

“Let’s ask around for… Hey! You there!” he called out, stopping a group of dirty sailors as they were heading to the port.

“Ah great, another wizard. Lemme guess, you’re trying to get to Galuna Island too?” the leader asked.

“Uh… yeah,” Ragna returned, wondering if these were the ones that had taken his team.

“Forgot it,” another sailor cut in for his captain. “They weren’t able to get us to take them to that damn Demon Island yesterday, so there’s no chance that we’d be taking you there today.”

‘At the very least, if there was even the slightest doubt where they were headed now I know for certain.’ Ragna was barely allowing himself that little of a win.

“Shame we couldn’t take ‘em too; that blonde was one damn fine piece of eye candy,” another of the sailors felt the need to comment.

“When she started talkin’ I didn’t hear a word until Galuna. Couldn’t keep my eyes off that rockin’ bod of hers!” the captain added and the other sailors gave a cheer.

“Hopefully she comes back to us for a nice ride she comes to her senses about that place,” a third said hopefully. “Gonna hope it’s a bumpy one too, and not just from the waves if you know what I-!”

SNAP!

The group was stunned into silence at the sound of Ragna just cracking his knuckles. The Reaper’s face hadn’t changed, but the dark aura that surrounded him and shaded his eyes was more than worthy of his old title.

“That’s my daughter you’re talking about,” he informed the men, causing them to grow terrified enough that he just might’ve gotten them to risk the trip to Galuna after all.

“U-u-uh o-our apologies,” the captain tried to cover. “We had… no idea…”

“Y-Yeah!” another sailor tried to cut in. “Y-You just look way too young to be her father!”

Even in spite of recent events, Ragna wouldn’t be bought so easily.

“Even if she wasn’t, that’s no excuse. I find out that you’re causing trouble to any of the women, well then I’m not letting you off with just a death glare next time.” The group gave a terrified nod in unison, quite certain that this would keep their catcalling in check… for a while at least. “Good. Now I’d really appreciate it if any of you could give me directions. I’m looking someone called The Sailor of the Azure Waves, any idea how to find her?”

“Sailor of the… That sounds like it’s Wadina; you’ll find her on the south side of town. Got this house that’s complete decked out in pirate décor, you won’t miss it,” the captain informed. “But… you’re tryin’ to hire her to take you to Galuna?”

“That’s the idea, and you better hope she does ‘cause otherwise I’m chartering with your lot.” Leaving them terrified as he speedwalked down to the south side of town as he’d been advised, Ragna admitted to himself that his last threat was nothing more an intimidating bluff. He didn’t want anyone like them around Lucy… though if the emergency called for it, he’d have to adapt. ‘Hope that letter Mira got for me is convincing enough.’

As he’d been advised, finding the house wasn’t difficult in the slightest. Even if most of the houses in Hargeon had at least a slight seafaring theme to them, the sailor he’d been searching for seemed like she’d had a ship first and someone turned it into a house later. Not regular sailor stuff either, specifically pirate themed with the jolly roger flying high above, signs of damage from a battle, and a sign that read ‘Dead men tell no tales.’

“If she’s this committed to a bit, hopefully that translates into good service,” he muttered to himself as he marched his way past the front gate and began pounding his fist on the front door. He heard some groaning coming from inside, but it was moving too slow for his liking so he proceeded with another round of harsh knocking.

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” came a pained voice from inside, followed by another groan of agony. “Makin’ me get up with this kinda hangover qualifies for cruel an’ unusual punishment.”

‘Guess I know she doesn’t have Cana’s tolerance for booze,’ the Reaper figured as the lock rustled for a minute before the door opened partway. Couldn’t see much of the woman as she peaked her head out from aside the door, only that she had a long scar on the left side of her face that resulted in her wearing an eyepatch. Long light blue hair which was clearly disheveled after her apparent drinking binge. “Wadina? Better known as The Sailor of the Azure Waves?”

“Who’s askin’?” she demanded before Ragna took the letter out of his pocket. “…You sure as hell don’t look like the usual lawyers. Much better looking than those other leeches.”

“Thanks for the compliment, but I’m not here to serve you; I’m here because I need passage to Galuna Island and fast.”

“Oh, so yer a comedian then,” she corrected as she rolled her good eye. “…’Cept you don’t sound all that funny. You serious?”

“Mirajane Strauss from the Guild said that you could help me,” he insisted as he shoved the letter closer.

“…Come inside,” she insisted, taking the letter before slamming the door shut. A second of undoing the latch later and the door was flown full open, leaving Ragna to almost gag at the smell of booze from inside. He’d been around Kagura’s room after one of the Black Gale’s infamous nights of heavy drinking and this was just as bad… also Wadia was only in her underwear, so he was trying not to pay too much attention to that. She led him into her booze bottle covered kitchen which didn’t look like it’d been cleaned in week and he couldn’t help shaking his head. “…You sure you’re rough enough to take my ride?”

“I don’t have a choice, like I said I’m in a hurry,” he insisted hoping that they could get on with the job as his guide opened the letter and began reading “Mira said that she’s calling in a favor you owe her, so-”

“I can read what it says, I’m just making sure of what she’s trying to pull here,” she insisted. Ragna held his tongue, but he grew more impatient by each passing moment. “Not saying a whole lot in this; how exactly do you know her?”

“Part of the same guild; often time I’ll help her cook or serve food to the other members.”

“Ah, and with her looks that’s a very sought after position.” No teasing, more matter of fact and Ragna couldn’t bring himself to argue (both for time and for accuracy). “Hmm… this might be a big ask, but it doesn’t compare to the real reason I owe the favor and…” She appeared serious enough that her hangover symptoms were starting to fade, so Ragna didn’t insist on hurrying at that moment at least. “Has she… gone on any jobs recently?”

“I mean, there was one we did together but that was a thing between friends.” He had a suspicion that calling it a date would only land him in more questions and waste further time that he needed. “Nothing S-Rank since I met her if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Figured… Alright, I think I got a clear enough picture, but it’s not going to be as simple as all that. First off, I’m not counting this as the favor I owe Mira. She really wants to make things even between us, then she has to come to me directly instead of this letter shit.” This seemed to come from a place of caring, but really it was just getting in Ragna’s way. “That said, she’s insisting that I get you to the Island. So I will… for payment.”

“Then that’s gonna be a problem then; I’m not exactly drowning in Jewels over here.”

“How much do you have then?” Wadia demanded. Rather reluctantly, Ragna went into his wallet and brought out the last of the money he’d made before handing it over. She couldn’t every last bit of money he still had to his name… it didn’t take her long. “…Dammit, this wouldn’t even come close to covering hazard pay on this job. Uhhhh… fine, but the news is only going to get worse from here. I can get you to the Island just fine, but I won’t be sticking around to drop you off on it. I don’t want to spend any more time so close to the cursed land than I have to and I’ve already got an important and high paying job that I need to be back for tomorrow. Sorry, but it’s on you to find a way off.”

“I guess I’ll just settle for that then.” It was a major inconvenience, but as long as he could ensure that his team was safe he could figure out the rest afterwards. If he was lucky (though he couldn’t count on it) he could get off the Island the same way the others got there. “How long before we’re able to leave?”

“Ah, can appreciate a man that wants to get started soon as possible,” Wadina complimented as she glanced at the nearby clock. “Gimme… two hours.”

“That long?” Ragna demanded irately.

“I still gotta get myself decent, get some food in my stomach, and then get to my ship and get her ready to launch,” she informed. “I can take you as fast as you want once we get out on the water. In fact, I’ll probably get you to the Island by night fall at the latest.”

“But I need you on the damn ship first,” Ragna summarized as he glanced around the kitchen. “…Let’s say I’m able to scrounge up something edible from this place and turn it into a decent to-go meal. How much time is that gonna take off?”

“Half an hour, but I’ll warn you I’m a picky eater. Especially when I’m hung over,” she muttered as before turning to head out the kitchen. “It’s either you make something I like or I’m eating out before we leave. So let’s see what a chef able to work alongside Mira can do.”

This additional task might’ve been a pain if Ragna didn’t enjoy cooking so much already. What it presented to him now was something he could physically contribute to instead of just sitting around trapped with his thoughts. Grabbing what cookware he could easily find in the mess, he was relieved that it was of fair quality even if he needed to give it a little scrubbing before he started using it… that just left the issue of ingredients.

‘Here we go…’ Ragna fearfully sighed to himself as he threw open the cabinets. He was right to worry; there was hardly a thing inside that wasn’t expired and some of the things in the back seemed downright rotten. Throwing open the refrigerator left him with even less options as it seemed to be mainly filled with half-emptied beer bottles. “…Not going to make things easy for me, eh?”

Back at the Island

“…Still can’t believe how lucky she got off,” Natsu groaned as his team made their way through the dense jungle. Lucy had taken a different approach to their jaunt through the wild lands and was riding in style.

…If being in style meant traveling inside of a bipedal grandfather clock. This was Horologium, one of her spirits and an effectively mobile method of keeping her safe. It came with a few downsides, such as not being able to communicate through its glass, but the clock was able to speak on its master’s behalf. (Odd that whoever was inside had no problem hearing those outside though).

Either way, the clock wouldn’t have anything to say to Natsu’s group unless it insisted on repeating Lucy’s snoring as she caught up on last night’s sleep.

“Come on! We’re supposed to be looking for clues here and she’s asleep at the wheel!” he complained yet again.

“To be fair, if she’s gonna rest she might as well do it before we get to the top of the mountain,” Gray argued, though it was clear he wasn’t any more of a fan than Natsu was. “Still, jungle’s been pretty quiet since we’ve come out here. Could something have scared the wild life away?”

“Could be the Demons,” Happy reasoned.

“But those guys seemed really nice at least and they’d still smell the same as when they were human,” Natsu reminded with a better nose for these things than even Happy. “I mean unless they had one with an odor-based ability, but I didn’t see anyone raising a stink back there.”

“Maybe your obnoxious voice is getting everything to run off,” Gray taunted.

“Oh bite me,” Natsu growled, before taking a whiff. “Hey… something does smell now.”

“Are just leading me into another insult?” His rival’s suspicions were quickly dismissed as the scent finally hit his nose. “Gah! That’s foul! Where’s it-!?” He was momentarily distracted as he realized Happy had snuck into Lucy’s summon to avoid the stink. “…Clever cat.”

“The Blue Cat sitting atop my summoner says Aye,” Horologium informed.

“What else?” Natsu wheezed out as the smell was only getting worse, then the ground started to rumble, and it only seemed to intensify. “Something’s coming!”

“NO! YOU THINK!?” Gray shouted sarcastically. It was then he saw a massive shadow of something furry rising above the treeline as it glared down at them. “A giant rat!?”

So it was. A horrific creature that stood at least 30 feet tall with thick light blue fur and sharpened yellow eyes. Weirdly enough, it was dressed in an apron and a maid cap not unlike Argo. It seemed to be snickering evilly down at the group as it took a large breath, whisps of discolored air gathering around its mouth.

“IT’S GONNA BLAST US WITH GAS!” Natsu shouted. “GRAY! HIT IT!”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! ICE MAKE: KNUCKLE!”

Instead of his usual barrage of smaller knuckles striking rapidly, Gray instead formed one giant fist around his arm and sent it straight into the rat’s gut. His target gave a pathetic wheeze as the wind was literally knocked out of it (thankfully none of it going towards their group) before it fell forward unconscious.

“Why the hell did I have to do all the work?” Gray growled at Natsu. “Why couldn’t you have gotten in close!?”

“Because I don’t know if that gas is flammable; there’s a chance I’d have trigged an explosion big enough to cook all of you and set the whole island on fire.”

“…You know what, fair enough Natsu.”

A very rare instance of agreement. The was a sudden glowing of magic as Lucy’s ride was unsummoned and the blonde gently hit the ground with Happy still atop her. The sudden jolt caused her to stir before grimacing harshly.

“Ugh… what smells so bad?” she groaned before slowly cracking her eyes open… and looking right at the creepy knocked out rat. “WHAT THE %&*$# IS THAT THING!?”

“…Did Ragna teach her that one?” Gray asked with well-deserved concern.

“I don’t think he did,” Natsu denied.

“I’ve never heard him say anything half that bad.” Even the cat knew how vulgar that word was.

Leaving the unconscious rat where it was (no one wanted to get close enough to finish it off or find out if the thing smelled even worse on the inside), the group then headed further into the jungle until they found what appeared to be a set of long abandoned ruins.

“The villagers never told us about this place,” Lucy noted as they got closer. “It’s even got a moon on it.”

“Makes sense; Galuna was called the Moon Island a long time ago, I think,” Gray recounted.

“Weird, then why didn’t they think to have us check this place out?” Natsu had to ask. “Or better yet, look into it themselves?”

“Maybe it’s sacred to them so they don’t want us here,” Happy tried. “That or they wanted the quick approach.”

“And the cataclysmic one,” Lucy added.

“I would have had nothing to with it.”

“That’s not what that word means, Happy,” she corrected patiently. “Either way, definitely seems like we’re on the right track. Let’s head inside.”

The group did so, but the ruins looked just as unkept inside as they did on the exterior. Maybe it had been disturbed, but they couldn’t tell it was by anything other than wandering wildlife.

“Yeah, this place definitely seems suspicious,” Gray stated the obvious as the tried to head further in, only to hear a slight rumble. “Huh?”

“Ready yourself!” Natsu shouted as he pointed upward. “That ceiling sounds like it might cave in on us.” Everyone else followed his point and gaze upward nervously…

Right as the floor beneath them gave way and sent them all tumbling down.

“WRONG DIRECTION IDIOT!”

“THAT SMELL CLOGGED MY EARS!”

“THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!”

Somehow they’d all survived the plummet, but looking up the distance they’d fallen made it clear it wasn’t going to be easy making it back out.

“Well, that’s great,” Gray groaned. “Happy?”

“No good with that kind of distance, even if I took you all one at a time.”

“We’d just be burning up time anyways,” Natsu reasoned.

“Looks like there’s a path leading somewhere at least,” Lucy noted as she gestured towards the opening. “Maybe there’s a way up from there?”

“Good a chance as any,” Gray agreed as the group started head that way. He noticed Lucy starting to shiver all of a sudden as it turned cold. “…Weird.”

“That it’s so cold?” Natsu asked for clarification as his breath started to give off vapor.

“That and this chill feels weirdly… familiar.” Gray couldn’t say another word after that, as once the group had rounded the corner his eyes went wide and focused on the horrors they were witnessing.

The underground cavern that they now found themselves in was three times the size of their guild back home. Below the rocky foothold they found themselves on, the lowest ground was covered in deep water. In the center of that water was a massive crystal of ice that took up half of the room.

And inside that crystal… frozen in place for as long as the ice would keep it there… was a demon.

“D…Deliora,” Gray could barely get out. Lucy, Happy and Natsu were equally frozen in place at just the sight of the monster. “What the hell… WHAT THE HELL IS IT DOING HERE!?”