Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
October 10, x791.
"It feels like we've been coming here a lot lately." Cana said as she stepped off the Blackbird. "I mean, it hasn't even been three months since the Grand Magic Games ended, and I've already been here twice."
"Both of those times were to stock up on alcohol, though." Ultear pointed out. "You haven't been here for any real reason since the GMG."
"Hmph! Alcohol is a real reason." Cana scoffed. "In fact, I should stock up on some of the good stuff while I'm here."
"No alcohol." Alfonzo said after stepping off the Blackbird, as well. "You're on punishment until November 9th, remember?"
Alfonzo had to hold back from smiling after seeing Cana's pout. But he had no intention of going easy on anyone's punishments after they ruined his no collateral damage record.
After taking off from Altair, instead of returning to Magnolia, Alfonzo ordered Grayfia to take the group to Crocus. The reason? To hand over Zash. He needed to answer for his coup attempt and the theft of the staff Elicia found in his underground facility.
"Let's go, Fonzie!" Elicia said as she, with a large bag slung over her shoulder and dragging a bundle of her threads, said excitedly as she skipped off the Blackbird. "We need to take this thing to the castle. Plus, I have some new stuff to show Hisui. I bet she'll love my new designs."
"*Sigh* Yeah, let's go." Alfonzo replied as he stepped towards the edge of the Sixth Sense Hotel's roof. He then turned around to look at the rest of the group before continuing. "We shouldn't be gone for too long. But feel free to do your own things around the city."
As Alfonzo spoke, Elicia made her way over to his side. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and waved at everyone.
"We'll head back to Magnolia after we drop off the garbage." Alfonzo said while gesturing towards the bundle of Elicia's [Thread Magic]. "Don't fuck anything up before we get back."
With Alfonzo's last sentence, he glared at Bickslow, Evergreen, Cana, Ultear, Elfman, and Sun, all of whom looked away with slightly ashamed and/or scared expressions on their faces.
*Zap!*
Nodding at their expressions, Alfonzo let his [Electromagnetism Magic] engulf himself, Elicia, and Zash, whom Elicia had bundled up nicely, and shot off in the direction of Mercurius, the Flower Light Palace.
"Well, now that he's gone..." Gildarts said with a smile, turning towards Cana as he spoke. "Wanna come with Daddy to see if Magical Liquors has some new stock? I'll even buy you something from the top shelf."
"I'm not supposed to drink." Cana said in a downcast tone.
"You don't have to drink it right away." Gildarts said soothingly. "You can keep it to celebrate after your punishment is over."
Hearing that, Cana's eyes lit up for a moment. However, they dimmed shortly after while she shook her head with a pout on her face.
"Are you trying to torture me to death, Dad?" Cana asked, almost in tears. "You want to buy me something I can only stare at for a month?"
*Smack!*
"What are you complaining about, Girl?" Ultear asked while slapping Cana on the shoulder good-naturedly. "If this idiot is willing to pay, then don't hesitate to spend all of his money."
Hearing that, Cana's eyes lit up once again. She then turned to look at Gildarts with the sweetest smile he had ever seen since he came into her life as a child. And although he still managed to smile at her dotingly, the cold sweat sliding down his back let him know that his wallet was about to take a major hit.
"How much is my cut from the job we just finished?" Gildarts asked himself quietly while mentally calculating his available funds. "*Sigh* I guess I'm gonna have to take another quest as soon as we get back. Otherwise, I'm gonna have trouble paying the mortgage this month."
On a side note, ever since Gildarts and Ur got together, he's been living in Alfonzo's and Elicia's old mansion with her. And the two of them have been splitting the mortgage together since then.
"If it would please you, I can hold onto anything you may purchase." Grayfia said, cutting into the conversation in her usual professional tone.
"Oh, that's right." Cana said as if she just remembered. "Since Grayfia and Ikaruga are the ones keeping me from drinking this month, I'll never even get the chance to see the booze. So, it won't be such torture, after all. In that case, I can get Dad to buy all the stuff I've been wanting to try for a while now."
And the back of Gildarts' clothes showed visible signs of his cold sweat after hearing that.
"Okay, let's go, Dad!" Cana cheered excitedly as she grabbed Gildarts by the arm and started pulling him towards the rooftop access door.
With Cana and Gildarts leaving, the others left to do their own things, as well. And they did not worry about being late to meet back up at the hotel, as they all knew that Alfonzo would message them when it was time to leave.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Elicia were standing outside Mercurius, waiting for permission to enter.
"So, do you think Hisui is gonna come running out like she did last time the two of us visited?" Elicia asked with a grin. "It was really cute seeing her so excited to see us… Or rather a certain someone last time."
"Probably not." Alfonzo replied. "That time, we were just here to bring Amar'e to visit. Plus, you had clothes to show her, too. But this time…"
"I have clothes to shower her this time, too." Elicia said while shaking the bag hanging from her shoulder.
"… we're here for serious business." Alfonzo continued, completely ignoring Elicia's interruption.
"Serious business, huh?" Elicia asked, her grin turning a bit more playful. "I remember the serious business from last night. Is that what we're here for today?"
As she asked her question, Elicia made a point of nudging him with her elbow. Meanwhile, Alfonzo only sighed in fond exasperation. However, before the conversation could continue, the two were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching the castle gate from the other side.
On top of that, there was not just one set of footsteps coming from the other side of the gate. Instead, the two experienced wizards could count more than fifty sets of footsteps approaching. Meaning, there was at least a platoon's worth of people approaching the gate.
"Well, I kinda expected this." Alfonzo said as he put on a serious expression.
"*sigh* Me, too." Elicia replied as she wore a serious expression, as well. "I was kinda hoping that Hisui would come running out to see us and step on this thing without noticing it, though."
"Is that why you put him in front of us like that?" Alfonzo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup!" Elicia replied, popping the "p" as she landed a kick on Zash to punctuate her sentence. "And if we were lucky, her heels would have landed on that disgusting thing between his legs. Would have helped clean up the gene pool."
"You're scary when you're pissed off." Alfonzo muttered. "I hope Amar'e isn't half as bad as I was growing up. Otherwise, he's not gonna like the punishments."
Elicia only shot Alfonzo a side-eye in response as she smiled brightly.
Shortly afterwards, the castles gates swung open slowly. As they did, neat rows of soldiers were revealed. Then, just as the gate opened fully, the soldiers took several steps away from the center, creating a path for two people, a short, elderly man and a young woman, to walk along.
"Presenting, His Majesty, King Toma E. Fiore and Her Highness, Princess Hisui E. Fiore." A Herold said sonorously from beside the gate.
Naturally, the two people were Toma and Hisui, Fiore's Royal Family, just as the Herold announced.
Slowly, the two royals, both with dignified expressions on their faces, made their way past the standing soldiers. As they did, each row of soldiers lowered their heads in respect.
Eventually, Toma and Hisui arrived in front of Alfonzo and Elicia, casting brief glances at the thread cocoon laying at their feet. At the same time, Alfonzo and Elicia glanced at each other briefly, mischief shining in each of their eyes. Then, the two each dropped to one knee as they lowered their heads.
"We greet His Majestyand Her Highness." Alfonzo and Elicia said in unison, causing Toma's eyebrows to begin twitching in annoyance.
At the same time, Hisui struggled to maintain her dignified expression as she was trying hard to not laugh at her father's annoyance.
In fact, in Fiore, it was not common for wizards to bow to royalty. Even less for members of Fairy Tail. On top of that, thanks to Alfonzo's magic items and their improvement to the lives of his citizens, Toma had made it official that Alfonzo no longer needed to kneel in his presence. And the same courtesy was extended to members of his family.
However, whenever they found themselves in situations such as this, Alfonzo and Elicia took it upon themselves to kneel, just because they knew it bothered Toma and there was nothing he could do about it as they were acting with perfect etiquette.
"Well met, wizards of Fairy Tail." Toma said in a tone that was clearly restraining his exasperation. "Raise your heads and rise. We have received your report about the traitor, Zash Caine and his capture. I assume the... package on the ground is the traitor."
"Indeed." Alfonzo said as he and Elicia stood up. "We've retrieved the traitor. And we're happy to say, we've brought him back alive. Though, just barely. My wife got a little... overzealous when she found out what kind of things he did out of the sight of others."
"Hmph!" Elicia snorted while holding back from kicking Zash again. "Yeah, disgusting doesn't even begin to cover what kind of human filth he is... No, even calling him human is an insult to every other human I've ever seen. And I've hunted down all kinds of Dark Guilds and Wizards."
"Was it truly that bad?" Hisui asked, surprised at the disgust in Elicia's tone.
"It was." Elicia said with astern nod. "I don't even wanna report what I found again."
Hearing that, Toma frowned as he looked down at the thread cocoon. A moment later, he sighed as he looked up at Elicia with pity in his eyes.
"Unfortunately, I will have to ask you to inform us of his wrong doings during his time abroad." Toma said reluctantly. "Not only will it help us in his sentencing... Though, I'm not sure how necessary that will be, as the price for treachery is well documented. But we will also need to know for when Stella inevitably finds out what happened to their minister."
"*Sigh* I know..." Elicia said as her shoulders drooped slightly.
Reaching out with an arm, Alfonzo pulled Elicia into his side with a comforting hug, causing a flicker of envy to flash through Hisui's eyes. Yet, the princess did not dwell on those feelings for long. Instead, her eyes fell onto the bag hanging from Elicia's shoulder, causing her eyes to light up with a more positive light.
"Well, then, shall we move on with the official duties?" Hisui asked, trying to keep her desire for new clothing in check. "I would assume Alfonzo and Elicia are fatigued after such a daunting task. A rest would more than likely do them some good."
No one missed Hisui's glance at Elicia's bag. However, to humor her, everyone decided to just move on in the direction she was trying to steer the conversation.
"Yes, I believe they do deserve a rest." Toma said, a knowing smirk on his face. "My med will take custody of the prisoner and begin questioning. I will also have the servants retrieve refreshments for you to partake in before you must return to Magnolia."
"We appreciate it." Alfonzo replied with a smile. He then reached into a small pouch fastened to his waist and pulled out a [Storage Scroll]. "But before we end things, Lici found something else that may interest you. Though, I ask that you allow me to study it."
As he spoke, Alfonzo unrolled the [Storage Scroll] before laying it on the ground. He then injected magic power into it.
*Poof!*
A moment later, the staff with the dragon motif that Elicia found in Zash's underground facility appeared, floating over the scroll.
"This is what was stolen during the coup attempt, right?" Alfonzo asked as he looked up at Toma.
"The Dragon Cry." Toma muttered breathlessly as he staggered backwards thanks to the overwhelming aura coming from the staff.
Toma was not the only one to take a step away from the staff, as everyone below a certain level of power felt a level of suppression coming from the staff, as well.
"Is that what it's called?" Elicia asked while tilting her head in curiosity. "Well, I guess I can see that. It does have this really angry feeling to it."
"Yes." Toma replied after getting his footing together. "It was said that it was created from the resentment of hundreds of dragons that were killed during the Dragon King Festival."
"Interesting." Alfonzo said as he looked at the staff with curiosity. He then turned to look at Toma once again as he continued. "So, mind letting me study it?"
"*Sigh* As the world's best magic item craftsman, I doubt there is anyone better suited to its study than you, Alfonzo." Toma replied with a somewhat strained smile. He then lowered his voice to a whisper that no one was supposed to hear. "Not that our own researchers were able to understand it before it was stolen."
*Poof!*
"Nice." Alfonzo said as the Dragon Cry disappeared into the [Storage Scroll] again while ignoring the king's whisper that he overheard. He then stood up with a smile on his face. "In that case, I wouldn't mind sitting down for a cup of tea while Lici and the Princess have their girl time. Perhaps, we could even play a game of chess, Your Majesty. Our last game was rather close, after all."
While Elicia and Hisui nearly began squealing in excitement over the chance to show off/see Elicia's new clothing, Toma grumbled in annoyance while gesturing to his soldiers to take Zash into custody.
"Close my ass." Toma muttered while turning around towards the castle. "The last game we played, you were beating me so badly that I had to make up an excuse about fulfilling my duties as king to get out of such an embarrassing defeat."