431 A Quick Get Away

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

October, x785.

After Macao, Ur, and Wakaba returned from the impromptu training session, the party continued without issue. Though, Ur asked Alfonzo and Elicia to return to her office to give their report on the emergency quest at some point.

After the report was complete, the party continued until well past midnight. And most of the Fairy Tail wizards ended up passing out in the guild hall. And like always Alfonzo was the first of the people he usually associated with to wake up.

"*Sigh* I really have to stop waking up like this." Alfonzo muttered to himself as he slowly opened his eyes. "I didn't even drink that much last night, but I feel like I got drunk off my ass."

["Sleep deprivation will do that to you, you know." Bedlam replied. ["I mean, you were scheduled for four hours of sleep each night you were in Takanosu. But we both know it was more like an hour and a half."]

'Yeah, I guess." Alfonzo replied as he tried to sit up and stretch. However, he noticed that he was spooning with someone, so the arms wrapped around his waist stopped that. 'Hmm… Who's hugging me? With tits like these, it could only be Erza. But why am I the little spoon?'

With that thought, Alfonzo looked down so that he could remove the arms around his waist. However, before he could touch the aforementioned arms, he realized something.

'Wait, this isn't Erza.' Alfonzo thought with some confusion. 'One, the boobs are a little too small. Two, there's no chest plate trying to rearrange my spine. And three, Erza doesn't pay this much attention to her nails. She always ruins them while training, anyway.'

And although he did not notice it immediately, Alfonzo could feel a pair of clasped hands on the small of his back, as well.

'And now that I think about it, where the hell am I?' Alfonzo asked himself. 'Usually when I fall asleep at the guild hall, I end up on a bench with my head on someone's lap. But now, I'm somewhere big enough to hold at least three people.'

With that thought, Alfonzo scanned his surroundings.

"Why the fuck am I on top of a table?" Alfonzo muttered. Shaking his head to knock the rest of the sleep off,

Alfonzo eventually removed the arms wrapped around him and sat up. Then, he looked over his shoulder to see who he was sleeping with. And he was not all that surprised when he saw who had been hugging him.

With her hair spread out above her head, Shizuka was now patting the table in front of her to find the warmth that left her embrace. And looking a little further back, he could see a purple head of hair and a tan-skinned pair of hands wrapped around Shizuka's waist, too.

"Shizuka and Rika, huh?" Alfonzo muttered while shaking his head. "I'm not all that surprised. Shizuka gets really touchy feely when she's been drinking. And Rika was probably just trying to make sure no one took advantage of her."

With the mystery of who made him the little spoon solved, Alfonzo let his eyes scan over the rest of the guild hall. Surprisingly, everyone who was at the party was there, other than those under the age of fifteen, that is. Meaning, excluding the exceeds, Wendy, Romeo, and little Elicia were gone. Every other member of the guild who was present was still there, though.

"Oh well, I guess I should wake everyone up." Alfonzo muttered as he found his girls sitting at the table around the one he was sleeping on top of. "I'm hungry and I don't wanna get stuck cooking for the entire guild."

*Growl!* x 2

As soon as the words "hungry" and "cook" left Alfonzo's mouth, the sound of stomach growling could be heard while he could hear/feel a couple of people starting to move.

'Shit! I fucked up.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he scanned the movement those words elicited.

Breathing a sigh of relief a moment later, Alfonzo relaxed when the only ones to move were Elicia and Shizuka. But instead of testing fate any further, Alfonzo quickly woke up Elicia by whispering in her ear.

"Come on, let's get ready to go home, Lici." Alfonzo said in a hushed tone. "I'm hungry and am thinking about making breakfast for us."

In the next instant, Elicia sat up straight, any sleepiness completely blown away. However, before she could start exclaiming excitedly, Alfonzo placed his right hand over her mouth.

"Let's do this quietly, okay?" Alfonzo asked in the same hushed tone. "I don't wanna be stuck in the guild's kitchen for the breakfast rush."

Nodding repeatedly with Alfonzo's hand still covering her mouth, Elicia quickly stood up after Alfonzo took his hand away.

"Good, let's wake up the others, too." Alfonzo said with a nod. "And we'll take the ones from Takanosu with us, too. I mean, we told them they could stay at our place until they find their own places to live, after all."

With Elicia nodding once again, she and Alfonzo carefully woke their group, making sure not to make too much noise as they did so. Then, although they were complaining, they all made their way out of the guild hall with Rika supporting Shizuka, who was still half asleep.

Eventually, after about fifteen minutes, the group arrived at the Marcus Estate in the middle of Sciliora. And while Shizuka's brain still was not functioning properly, Saeko, Saya, Kohta, and Rika looked on at the mansion in blank amazement.

A few minutes later, after Alfonzo and Rika parked the Escalade and the Humvee in the garage, everyone gathered in the mansion's kitchen.

"Alright, I'll make breakfast. Any requests?" Alfonzo asked as he looked through the refrigerator.

"I'm fine with anything." Saeko said politely. "Also, I would like to offer my assistance. As a way to thank you for letting me stay here until I' am able to get on my feet."

"Damn, another one who can cook?" Cana asked after taking a swig from her flask. "Why is it that every girl that comes here has more girl power than the rest of us?"

"You really don't set that bar too high, Cana." Ultear jabbed playfully.

"*Burp!* What are you talking about, Tear?" Cana shot back in a similar tone. "I'm a perfect fuckin' lady."

Then, after winking, Cana chugged the rest of the contents of her flask.

"Oh yeah, you epitomize the word." Ultear said monotonously.

With that, the whole group burst into laughter. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, who had not received an answer to his question, decided that everyone would be having what he was in the mood for this morning.

About an hour later, after everyone was satisfied with breakfast, they all decided they would skip training for today. Although most of them were not too tired to train after last night's party, Saeko, Saya, and Kohta were. ON top of that, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Rika really wanted some more rest after an incident like that. Meanwhile, Shizuka would not be training the same way as the others, so, it was never an issue for her in the first place.

"Hey, Lici, can you show me around?" Shizuka, now completely awake after having breakfast, asked excitedly. "Your house is so big, and really nice."

"Sure." Elicia replied happily. "I like giving the tour."

"Ooh! I'll come, too." Sun said energetically.

Nodding in response, Elicia smiled at Sun while dragging her into a hug.

"Then, let's go." Elicia said. "Are the rest of you coming?"

While Saeko, Saya, Kohta, and Rika were all interested in the tour, Alfonzo, and the other ladies decided Elicia and Sun would be enough to handle it.

"Nah, I'm gonna go talk to my [Armament Spirit]." Cana said, declining the offer. "I think I'm really close to learning her name."

"Me, too." Ultear added. "Then, when everyone is done with training, I'm gonna take a quest with Meredy."

"I think I'll practice cooking." Mirajane said, gaining a shudder and a horrified gaze from Alfonzo and Sun. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I've been tasting my own food when I practice after the wedding. So, if there are any more accidents like the last time, it will be me who ends up unconscious."

"Unconscious?" Saya asked, clearly not understanding what she just heard.

"I'll tell you about it while we're on the tour." Elicia said. A moment later, she turned her attention to Sun. "Maybe you should sit this one out, Sun. I don't wanna aggravate your trauma."

"No, I'll be okay." Sun said, looking a bit sick from just thinking about the last time she tried Mirajane's cooking. She then continued in a tone filled with grim determination. "I have to get over this eventually. I won't let this hold me down forever, ya see?"

"You know, I'm not sure I wanna know what happened, anymore." Kohta said sounding a bit scared.

"It's really not that bad." Mirajane said with a pout while resting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, as long as you've never eaten Mira's cooking." Marin said with a giggle. "I mean, Fonzie already ran away."

Hearing that, everyone looked for Alfonzo, to no avail. Then, the residents of the mansion, other than Mirajane, started laughing, Mirajane, on the other hand, pouted even harder while instead of resting her hands on er hips, she was now crossing her arms under her chest while looking away from the group.

"Anyway, what about you, Marin?" Elicia asked with a smile while shaking her head gently. "Are you coming with us?"

"Nah." Marin replied while waving her hand. "I'm gonna finish my new book. I'm almost done."

"As am I." Erza added. "Perhaps we could discuss it after we are both finished?"

"Of course." Marin said excitedly.

Nodding in response, Erza then turned her attention to Saeko.

"After that, if you've recovered enough stamina, I would like to have a spar with you, Miss Busujima." Erza said politely, though a competitive glint could be seen in her eyes.

"If it's pure swordsmanship only, I would like that." Saeko replied, her eyes glinting competitively, as well. "Unfortunately, I have not been aware that I have magic power for more than a few days. So, I'm not very proficient in its usage."

"Oh, now that you mention it, she doesn't know any magic, either." Elicia said. "And I'm pretty sure she would be a perfect match for [Sword Magic]. So, Erza, Sun, would you mind helping her with that?"

"Of course not." Erza replied with a shake of her while placing her left fist on her chest plate. "I'm always happy to help my guild mates improve."

"I don't mind either, it should be fun." Sun added.

"Thank you." Saeko replied with a polite bow.

"Speaking of learning magic, you and Alfonzo said you had a teacher that would be perfect for me, right?" Saya asked with her arms crossed while tapping her right index finger on her left forearm. "So, who is it?"

"Oh, you actually met her last night." Elicia replied with a smile. Then, she turned to Lucy. "Hey, Lucy, could you take her to see Levy later?"

"Sure." Lucy replied with a smile. "I think Levy would make a good teacher."

Hearing the name Levy, the image of a petite, blue-haired girl around the same age as her popped into her head.

"Really, she's no older than I am, though." Saya said with a frown.

"Just like you proclaim you're a genius, when it comes to her magic, Levy is a genius, too. Plus, she's probably no less intelligent than you are, either." Elicia said. Then, her voice took on a sterner tone. "And unless you want to be isolated from the rest of the guild, I suggest you learn not to judge a book by its cover. Everyone in our guild is a genius when it comes to their own type of magic. How else do you think Fairy Tail got to be the strongest guild in Fiore."

["Wow! You actually said something good despite the fact that you didn't think about it at all."] Scylla said in a shocked tone. ["Then again, even a broken clock is right two times a day, huh?"]

'Scylla, you're ruining my moment.' Elicia whined internally.

["Hmph! When you do that with conscious effort, I'll let you have your moment."] Scylla replied.

In response, Elicia started pouting, surprising the guests with her sudden change in mood.

"Anyway, I think I'll head to my room to talk to my [Armament Spirit], too." Lucy said, changing the awkward atmosphere. "Although I don't' feel like I'm close to hearing her name yet, I'm making progress."

"Okay, see you later, then." Sun replied.

With everyone's next actions decided, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, and Lucy left to do their own things. Meanwhile, Elicia and Sun began showing the group of five around the mansion.

"By the way, what is an [Armament Spirit]?" Rika asked curiously.

With that question, Elicia and Sun took turns explaining the concept of [Soul Armaments] as they led the tour. ON top of that, Elicia told the guests about Mirajane's murder attempts that resulted from the last two times she tried to feed someone.