Chapter 22

I sat at the bar of Fairy Tail, alone this time since Levy wanted to do some studying. The day after our mission, we'd done some training together. She'd worked on her Rune Eyes, while I'd put my efforts into my efforts into nurturing my God's Eye, Heavenly Body Magic, and Gravity Magic.

Increasing the Gravity on my own body had been… Interesting, to put it mildly. It made my work out significantly harder, but being under the continuous pressure of my own Gravity also helped me come to a better understanding of the magic at an accelerated rate.

The morning after our training day, Levy decided to get some studying in on some more languages, while I decided to spend a day relaxing at the guild.

"So," Mavis hummed, "Any missions catch your eye?"

"I haven't really looked," I admitted. "I'm also not really in need of money, so I haven't really been looking too hard either… I would take more jobs to try and get a promotion to A-Class, but I also think I need to get a bit stronger before I can take on A-Class Missions."

She hummed and nodded. "That's understandable, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be sure about your strength before you move up a Class. It's a shame you joined after the S-Class Trials, but with all your hard work, you should be eligible to participate in the next 6 months!"

"Then I hope to be strong enough for it," I smiled at her. "Speaking of S-Class, Mira just got back from a mission yesterday, right? I heard her some people mentioning she was back on my way home."

"Yes," she smiled and nodded over to a table, where Mira was seated with Elfman and Lisanna, the three smiling and enjoying a meal together.

"Cool," I gave a nod at her words. "Erza's still out, right?"

"Yes" she hummed. "It is a little strange for Erza, she's been gone a few more days than we expected… I wonder if something happened. I'm sure she'll be fine though; we don't call her 'Titania' for nothing."

"Can you tell me more about the S-Class mages in the guild, since we're on the topic?" I prodded, deciding now was a good time to get some information that I hadn't yet solidified.

She smiled and nodded. "Sure! We'll exclude the Master for obvious reasons. Besides him, Fairy Tail has Five S-Class Mages. First, there's Levina Dreyar. She's Master's Granddaughter and is an expert in using Lightning Magic."

So, Laxus was a girl in this world… I had heard it mentioned once, but I hadn't been quite sure until now… Fucking hell, BB was really changing things for fun, wasn't she?

"I haven't seen her around," I noted.

"She's usually on the Second Floor when she's around," Mavis explained. "She doesn't really like interacting with the other guild members… That being said, she does lead her own Team- the Thunder God Tribe. It consists of herself and three other A-Class Mages, they're considered as a pretty strong team in Fairy Tail."

I hummed and nodded at her words… At least that hadn't changed…

"Then, there's Gildarts, Fairy Tail's Ace," Mavis hummed. "He's the strongest member of the Guild, who is usually taking Decade Quests- quests that were posted over a decade ago but still haven't been cleared. He uses an incredibly powerful magic called Crash Magic and is strong enough that he was even offered a position as one of the 10 Wizard Saints."

"He didn't accept?" I asked her, pretending not to know.

"No," Mavis shook her head. "There are some rules that Wizard Saints have to follow on top of the regular standards for Mages. Gildarts barely follows rules as is, and the idea of being restricted even more as a Wizard Saint? No, he wanted nothing to do with it, so he declined the position. They kept pestering him for a while, but when he pointed out how destructive he was by accident, they decided it wasn't worth 'tarnishing' the image of the Wizard Saints with such a 'violent brute.'"

"Sounds like a bunch of people who don't know how to have fun," I told her.

She giggled. "Yeah," she nodded in agreement. "They do sound like that, don't they?"

"Who's next?" I asked.

"Well, then there's Erza, as you know her," she smiled. "She uses Re-Quip and Telekinesis Magic. Specifically, her variant of Re-Quip is called 'The Knight.' It allows her to change her armours and weapons within split seconds, with each of her armours and weapons having different effects, such as enhancing strength, speed, or providing resistance to attacks. Her swords generally allow her to wield elemental magic, or others have special abilities related to them. She uses Telekinesis as a supplementary magic, controlling her swords to attack from different angles."

Ah yes… Telekinesis, one of the more powerful abilities. Simple, yet elegant. Erza sadly neglected his magic in favour of Re-Quip, but I couldn't blame her for doing so. Unlike Re-Quip, Telekinesis didn't seem as inherently useful beyond moving things with your mind. I imagined it must take a lot of magic power and fine control to be able to use it properly against enemies.

"You mentioned Mira?" I prodded.

"Ah yes," she smiled. "Mira wields Take-Over Magic, specifically a Demon Soul version- which she refers to as Satan Soul. It allows her to take over and absorb demons into her body, subjugating them and taking their power for her own to wield as she pleases. She's very picky with the demons she takes over, but she has quite a few powerful ones at her beck and call."

I nodded as I listened to her words…

"Wait…" I frowned. "You mentioned five. Who's the last one?"

Was it Mystogan? But Lisanna was here, so what was going on? Was Mystogan still around anyway?

"Oh, that would be Brandish Mu," Mavis smiled. "Her nickname is 'Mab.'"

My eyes widened… Brandish Mu!? As in, member of the Spriggan 12, Brandish Mu!? She was a member here!? What!?

"Mab?" I asked, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice. "What does that mean?"

She hummed. "In old stories, there are said to be two queens among the faeries. The Summer Court is ruled by Queen Titania. And the Winter Court is ruled by Queen Mab. Mira was very bitter that Brandish got that nickname instead of her," she giggled in amusement.

This was… Holy crap, this really did change a lot… Did Grimoire Heart even stand a chance with Command-T on Fairy Tail's side?

"How come I've not seen her around?" I asked Mavis.

"Brandish likes to travel a lot," Mavis admitted. "She'll travel to places like exotic resorts, do photo shoots for some extra jewels, and so on. But don't let that confuse you, Brandish is strong. Her Magic is called Command-T, which lets her alter the size and mass of whatever she wants. She can become as tall as the sky or turn someone to be as small as an ant. Master even referred to her magic as a 'Nation Destroyer,' and he doesn't say such things lightly."

Right… So, Brandish was someone who liked to travel then… Good to know… But what the fuck? Brandish was here… Who had replaced her as a Spriggan? What else was different if a change this major had occurred!?

So many questions!

Suddenly, the doors were slammed open and Loke yelled. "Guys, Erza's back!"

Instantly, the guild became a flurry of panic- save for Mira and her siblings- as everyone launched into clearing up the guild. Lucy sat around bewildered as Nozomi- who she'd gone on a mission with- looked so panicked that she began to frantically help clean up, with Gray actually co-operating with her for once.

"I swear, it's always like this when Erza comes back," I chuckled, amused.

"You don't seem worried," Mavis giggled.

"Because I don't cause messes on my missions," I smirked in amusement. "And when I do, I clean it up using my Time Magic. I am a good boy."

Mavis couldn't stop herself from giggling, covering her mouth to hold back her laugh. "Y- Yeah… You're a- pft… A good boy…" She smiled. "You want a treat?"

I just huffed… Walked right into that one… "Juice please."

She nodded and slid over a glass of juice for me, which I picked up and took a sip from.

The doors suddenly opened as Erza made her way inside, carrying the massive horn with her.

Everyone tensed up save a few as she made her way over to the counter. "Hello Mavis, Ash."

"Erza," I nodded at her. "Lovely to see you, did you do something with your hair?"

Her eyes lit up. "I did, actually, I had the sides cut a few millimetres since it got burned a bit during my last job."

"It looks good," I told her, not believing a word I said but saying it anyway.

"Thank you," she smiled kindly, glad that the little 'issue' on the mission hadn't detracted and had instead added. "And Mavis, it's good to see you. Is the master in?"

"Welcome back," Mavis smiled. "And no, the Master is away at the annual Guild Master's meeting."

"I see… That makes things a bit difficult," she sighed, looking a bit frustrated.

"What's with the horn?" I asked her. "It looks great, by the way."

She smiled. "I thought so too! It's the horn of the beast I hunted during my last quest. The villager's helped decorate it for me as thanks, I thought it would be a nice piece to put in front of a house whenever I get around to buying some land, it will be a good conversation starter."

"Moving on, why did you say that things are a bit difficult without Master here?" I asked her.

"Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me…" She turned to the guild and opened her mouth before she closed it. "… I would scold all of you, but I truly do not have the time for it, so I'll do it once I come back later… For now! Nozomi, Gray…" She sighed. "Mira, I need your help with a mission."

Ah, here it was… I heard everyone gasp, even Mavis herself looked surprised by Erza's words. After all, Erza usually worked alone. For her to ask for help, especially from Mira? That just wasn't normal, and it left many curious on just what mission she was talking about.

"Would you like me to come on this mission too?" I asked Erza, a look of seriousness put on my face.

She looked at my curiously. "Why?" She tilted her head.

I just pointed. "Nozomi, Gray, and Mira? How much property damage do you want to pay for?"

She paused at my words… And then nodded. "Your assistance would be greatly appreciated, thank you."

"What kind of mission do you have in mind?" Mira grinned slowly as she stood up, cocking her hips and placing a hand on them.

… Fuck, that was hot.

"I'll explain later," she said. "We'll meet tomorrow at the train station… I trust you'll come. After all, you know I wouldn't ask for assistance if it wasn't serious."

Mira stared at her before she nodded. "Alright, I'm in," she agreed. "What time tomorrow?"

"When the first trains start leaving, at around 10," Erza told her.

"I'll be there," she nodded. "Lisanna, Elfman, let's go, I'll need your help to prepare."

"Yes, Mira-nee," Lisanna smiled as she stood up together with Elfman, the siblings leaving.

… Fuck, those shorts did so much for Mira's ass…

"Right then," I downed my juice and set some jewels on the table. "I'll need to go and tell Levy about going on this mission."

"Oh?" Erza tilted her head. "Why tell Levy?"

"We're teammates now," I told Erza. "The big blow up finally happened."

"Oh my," she looked surprised. "Well, I'm happy for her."

Indeed, I was too… I hadn't spotted Jet or Droy around the Guild the last couple of days, they were probably avoiding it out of shame or perhaps anger? It was hard to say.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I waved at her and gave Mavis a quick nod before I left the guild, making a b-line for the library.

I had some last minute training to get in.