"Cassandra Alba, how very nice to see someone new come into our fray." A particularly smarmy man said as he saw the doors open up and Cana was standing with Takeda beside her. "I must admit that it is surprising that you've chosen to take up business with our merchantry."
"Well, I have heard that your band of merchants had a very profitable turnaround when it comes to the people who work for you…Perhaps we can come to a business understanding." Cana said as she put on her airs as the supposed "Baroness of Cards" that she had set up for herself; It had taken a back payment from the client which needed a lot of convincing from both Cana and Takeda that they'll get it back plus what was stolen from them. "But I've also heard that you're also…Very successful in expanding businesses, I want in on that~"
The man who had been introduced as as Aloysius Gram smirked a little as he looked her over; "Eager, I like seeing that in clients but I must warn you that the art of business is more cutthroat than you can imagine…It's no place for a youngling who's got her first millions." He drawled condescendingly as he looked her over and attempted to stroke her cheek; "You have to walk before you can run, little darling~"
There was a brief moment of silence before Takeda grabbed the man's wrist and pulled away; "Off." He growled as he kept a tight hold as a warning.
"C-Cassandra dear, please tell your guard to let me go." Gram said nervously as he tried to keep his dignified expression while stifling down the pain of having his wrist clamped down by a masked man.
"Oh, I'm sorry~ But because I'm still a little young for a baroness, my bodyguard gets rather defensive when people get too friendly or handsy." Cana said in a mockingly innocent voice before turning serious. "Besides, I would rather you not look down on me. I may be new…But I'm still a business owner so how about you show me your respect just as I show you mine." She said before looking to her masked guard and gestured to him to let go. "You'll find that even a young viper has poison."
After Takeda let his arm go, Gram winced a little and rubbed his sore forearm. "R-Right this way…" He said stiffly as he recognised the hidden passphrase and gestured for Cana to follow. "However if you wish to follow through, I will need you to fill out the appropriate details."
Cana and Takeda followed the shaken man through the halls; Noticing all of the portraits of other famous merchants, locations and statues of monsters that had been purchased on auction. "You certainly have a lovely home, Mr. Gram."
"This manor is home and base to many merchants who enter our circle of employ; We take on their burdens and aid them with expanding their businesses, find them reasonable people to work with." Gram said as he then stopped at a blank piece of wall and pressed at one of the stones; Causing a door sized hole to open up. "Right this way."
Takeda followed behind Cana as they dipped into the darkened stairway; Keeping an eye out for any would be dangers while watching Gram for any more passes made towards his "mistress".
"I never did thank you for getting the passphrase earlier, Yoshi."
Takeda grimaced behind the mask as he heard Cana's voice in his head but he also grew annoyed at her nickname for him. "Call it doing my part on this mission…And don't make that name a thing, it's bad enough that Happy's started calling me that." He mentally said to her as they past brazier after brazier on the walk down deeper.
"Aw, come on~ You need to lighten up a little…Even Erza smiles once in a while, Mister Sourpuss~"
"I'll lighten up once we're out of the jaws of a poacher's den for the upper class! Now keep focus, we don't know what these people are hiding." Takeda mentally argued back as he was determined to stay on target more than Cana seemed to be, that quickly changed once they exited into an enormous antechamber that was seated deep underground.
This large chamber was the size of a ballroom in a castle and looked just as furnished; It had couches for lounging and a bar that was tended to by servants clad in black ballroom masks, a large open area in the middle that was surrounded by guard rails and several chairs for observation.
"This certainly is the surprise that keeps on giving." Cana mentioned out loud but then stopped when a woman handed her a white mask that had cat ears sticking on top. "What is this for?"
"A modesty, my dear lady." Gram said as he had now been wearing a checkered mask that had a cross on top that looked like a King chess piece. "When Midnight gathers here for a "Revelry" then we don these masks to show our true selves."
"Forgive me for sounding rude, but that sounds more like a cult than a Merchant party." Cana said, playing up her innocence but donned the mask; "Though the mask does look cute~"
"Now, we have a special occasion lined up but if you choose to join our inner circle once you've proven it, you can find yourself without wanting for anything~" Gram said as he walked her over to the bar; "Now come…Take a drink and relax until our other friends arrive~"
"Go relax, honeybunch~" Cana waved at her bodyguard as she didn't need much convincing to drink her weight in a fancy setting. "I'll find out what I can from him, you just play the part of bodyguard." She mentally let him know as she took a seat on one of the bar chairs.
Takeda took a seat on a plush cushion as he kept a distant but still focused watch on Cana and Gram. "Just be careful…I don't trust that guy at all."
"With the way you nearly dislocated his wrist earlier, I wouldn't have guessed." Cana practically had her sarcasm on display. "Though I do have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to take to my bodyguard role so seriously."
"Old habits, I guess…But still we've already uncovered a lot by getting shown this little creepshow of a party in his basement."
Cana let out a loud laugh from the bar as she pretended to be amused by one of Gram's jokes. "You still never told me how you got that passphrase for this whole thing anyway, the guy who paid us didn't even know about this."
"Some people can sing, some can dance…I just happen to be very persuasive when I have something that I want to know about." Takeda remarked cryptically.
A Few Hours Earlier…
After the Merchant who commissioned them has explained the situation; Cana went shopping to go find appropriate disguises to get them through the door, Takeda on the other hand went for a more practical approach to getting his info.
One particular part of town proved to be very effective for a "private chat" without the risk of being disturbed, a part that benefited both Takeda and a shopworker who was a little too trigger happy when the notorious Flame Mage asked questions. "I swear! I don't know anything!"
Takeda remained cloaked in the dark like the shopworker was but he had a small indigo flame dancing on his ring, illuminating his face in a rather intimidating looking light; "That's a shame…Because with the way you attacked me and ran, hearing that really doesn't have me convinced."
"I told you I don't!" The shopworker yelped as he sounded choked from the ground. "Just let me go…I promise I won't turn you into the police, Mr. Yoshida!" He begged and struggled but was only warned back down again by a rather intimidating growl. "I don't even know the group you're trying to find!"
"Why do you have to lie to me? I really don't like it when people lie to me…" Takeda complained as he let out a sigh; "Besides, only an idiot would have Midnight's seal imprinted on their brass knuckles…Was that some way to send a message or did you just get too cocky?"
"I…They'll kill me if they find out I blabbed to th-ack!" The shopworker whimpered before choking again as another growl rumbled on his windpipe.
"If you don't tell me then I'LL be the one to kill you…You're already making me lose patience and I don't think you want me to." Takeda said calmly before cracking his neck and moving toward the man.
"F-Fine! The guy's name is Aloysius Gram, he told me to keep the merchants pressured and out of business until they accept his offer to join him!" The shopworker finally broke under the pressure; There wasn't a single person in Fiore who didn't know about Takeda Yoshida as the VGM of Hellhound Claw, on top of the fact that many of the rumours about crooked Guilds, mobsters and other underground forces who crossed him or their guild…weren't stories to publish in magazines if they were proven true.
"Good boy." Takeda remarked as he finally dispelled the illusionary wall that hid them, bathing the back alley in the sun's light and leaving the gasping Shopworker on the ground. "Your help is greatly appreciated…Though one last thing." He added as he gave the shopkeeper one last look.
Present time...
"Yoshida, please tell me that I don't have to worry about body counts with you on missions…Because beating the hell out of someone is one thing but-"
Takeda stopped her before she could continue; "Don't worry…I just told the guy to go straight…Underground work can be very stressful for someone and I just gave him a little advise."
"Wow…And here I thought that talk of you being the hardcore mobster was just Laxus trying to overexaggerate." Cana mentally teased him though she did still feel a little better that he wasn't entirely that cutthroat to go that far. "I'd still keep that method under wraps… Knowing the Master or even Erza, they really wouldn't look too kindly on it."
"I'm Mafia, remember? I'm not exactly what most people would call a good person." Takeda pointed out before glancing to the other would-be "Guests" as they entered, watching them change from the faces that they had in public to the brazen ones that were as loud and proud as their masks.
"Hey…You've been nice enough to be civil with everyone at the Guild, no one would go through that kind of effort without meaning it." Cana added before she saw Gram excuse himself to go towards a podium. "Heads up…Gram's gonna talk."
The masked Gram cleared his throat as he looked to the sea of masks; "Thank you all for coming to this newest revelry!" He said to the sound of applause and then waved his hand towards Cana. "But before we start off our fun, I'd like to welcome our newest little duckling into the fray: Cassandra Alba of the Alba Card company."
The group looked at her with confusion, suspicion and in the case of most of the men and some of the women: Some rather seedy looks at this supposed fledgeling.
Cana was no stranger to getting ogled and leered at due to her being one of the mainstays on magazines for Fairy Tail, so she merely waved at them with a hint of smugness when she knew what card she could play. "A pleasure, though I would warn most of you that I am spoken for…Isn't that right, honey~?" She chirped innocently as the attention changed from her to her "Bodyguard".
Takeda wordlessly glared at them but the message for the gawkers was made almost painfully clear. "You touch, you hurt."
"In any case!" Gram turned the attention back to him as he gestured to the opened ring beneath them as it had metal bars covering the opening gates. "As celebration for Miss Alba offering herself to join our inner Circle, we need to test and make sure that her underling is capable of protecting an important new asset."
"I can vouch for my bodyguard, you don't need to test him!" Cana argued as she was surprised to see them turn this quickly.
"It's all well and good to have faith, Miss Alba…But our group prides itself of having minions who are capable of detaining our little friends as well as being able to kill them when it's time to make our luxury items." Gram said as he finally revealed what they do. "Now then, my violent brute." He sneered as he turned to Takeda. "Your task is to fight our latest imports."
"I'm here to guard Miss Cassandra, nothing more." Takeda plainly stated as he then got up to stare down Gram.
"All well and good, my friend…But you must understand that you're being paid to do as your betters command, not to think." Gram said condescendingly as he opened up the stairs leading down into the open circle. "And I'm certain you don't want to ruin things when your dear Miss Cassandra has come so far~"
Takeda looked to Cana and nodded when he got the mental message back, he decided to play along and wandered down the steps into the pseudo arena.
"Now then…Our first offer on the lineup comes all the way from the darkened forests of Oak Town, we have…" Gram announced as the gates opened up for Takeda to face his opponent. "Oh my…It looks like we start off strong with a Goblin mob."
Out of the gate came several snarling creatures; Each one boasted green skin, horns on their heads and mouths full of sharp teeth, these Goblins began to watch Takeda with malice in their eyes as they had spears and clubs in hand.
"Now for those who don't already know~ Goblins are little mischief makers and if you point them in the right direction, they can be a good little deterrent if you want to keep your territory free of rival businesses AND they can also be good attack dogs for any would-be complainers." Gram explained like he was selling a piece of furniture. "Ooh and as a last minute entry from our little associate who got these little darlings…They'll throw in a Lord just for the added bonus."
Takeda could feel the tension rise as he saw a lumbering mass of green stomp it's way out into the light.
The Goblin Lord was towering to the point that the tip of it's horn reached the lip of the arena; This particular Goblin was clutching onto a pillar that it "borrowed" from the hallway like a club, wearing only a loincloth and roaring when it noticed Takeda glaring up at it.
"BEGIN!" Gram yelled to the sound of a gong as everyone cheered when the Goblins started to rush at Takeda who changed his gloves into their battle form.
"Throwing a bodyguard into a fight against multiple monsters…Either this guy is petty enough after what happened or he is just that psychotic." Cana thought as she watched Takeda swinging punches and kicks at the smaller goblins, each strike lighting up in different shades of colour.
Goblins coated in orange flames were sent flying into the stone walls, one that was coated in blue flames had collapsed to the ground while a bizarre red flame managed to melt their weapons into charred mess.
The Goblin Lord on the other hand roared as it started to violently swing it's weapon back and forth in an attempt to squash Takeda like a bug under it's improvised weapon.
Cana had to chew the inside of her cheek as she watched the others cheer and taunt while watching her bodyguard do nothing but evade each one. "I knew that these people were up to shady shit but this is insane…"
The cheers almost suddenly turned to shock as there was faint glimmer of purple from Takeda and then the pillar in the Goblin Lord's hands had shattered like glass into solid chunks.
The Goblin Lord looked at the smashed stump of what remained for it's club and then saw Takeda get into a boxer's stance and looking drastically different to how he normally was.
Takeda was now standing at least a head taller than he did before and his muscles were now bulkier to the point that he looked like he would rip his suit in the process, though it had stretched with him like it was nothing. "My turn." He said and then got into a crouching stance; He then hopped up into the air to reach the Goblin Lord's head, grabbed onto it's horn and then drove his knee between it's eyes.
The group watched in shocked silence as the monster screeched in pain and fell backwards onto his back in a limp heap. "That…That was a Goblin Lord…"
"That's not possible, normally it takes a hunting party just to sedate the damn thing!"
"And what was that Magic?!"
Cana felt her mind waver at the sight of the hulking man but then smirked as she watched Takeda deflate like a balloon and returned to his normal physique. "I definitely need to ask him about that later."
"Good enough?" Takeda said up to Gram who was still looking like he was having a stroke and that alone was enough for him to smirk behind his mask. "Hopefully good enough to pin stuff."
"I…You…" Gram stammered as Cana then tapped his shoulder.
"If I recall, you said that he needed to prove himself to work in your group…I'd say that was good enough for my darling bodyguard to pass." Cana said as she decided to both rub it in and brag about his dumbfoundedness.
"On the contrary…I said that he was starting on the first of many on a lineup, who wants to see who bleeds first?" Gram called out to his cohorts who then cheered at the prospect of more.
"Hold on a-" Cana said as she realised that he had basically changed the rules after getting duped, however when she protested: She was then encased in a solid light pyramid.
"And you can just sit there for a little while." Gram sneered as he tapped the front where Cana was now staring him down with a glare. "At least until we can figure out how much we can get for you, Little Miss Alba."
From the moment that Cana was sealed inside of the pyramid, it had cut her off from gaining access to her magic; From her Card Magic to her telepathic link with Takeda, she couldn't even so much as warn him while Gram and the Mage who case the Muted Space Magic started taking her away.
Noticing that Cana's voice suddenly stopped in his mind, Takeda then turned to the other animals that had been let loose in Gram's fervour to put him down.
There were Vulcan Apes from the mountains, Lizardmen and more Goblins along with Harpies that were eyeing him with the intent to kill him, each one was properly armed with weapons or in the Harpies's cases: They had blades attached to their clawed feet.
Takeda would pull a dark purple and silver box from his waist, holding it up with his finger poised; Igniting that same purple flame from before, pressing it into the opening and then aimed it toward the mob of animals. "You guys want to see how I can hunt…Then alright." Takeda said out loud as he then pressed the ring into the hole on the box to make it open. "Let's hunt."
What emerged from the opening was a vibrant purple wind that shot out of the box with a powerful gust, then started to grow and grow until it was a full blown tornado big enough to reach the lip of the arena, slowly whirling it's way to the mob of monsters as it lifted them off the ground and tossed them like ragdolls.
Gram saw this and felt a chill go down his spine; The fact that he saw wild monsters get thrown around like leaves in the wind, ones that often needed entire squads of hunters just to corral were being treated like mere annoyances.
Takeda watched as each monster got stunned and knocked out, whether it was by hitting the wall or debris smacking into them as the metal doors were ripped off the hinges, the slowly dwindling tornado starting to wear off and thankfully left him a path to escape from.
Gram realised that and made a wordless gesture to his cohort, making them start to move Cana away from the party room and towards a more isolated part of the underground hideout. "You all…You have magic, don't you? Earn your keep in this establishment and stop that brute from taking away our next investment!" He snapped at the others as they started to grab anything they could from magic guns to candlesticks and knives.
By the time that Cana realised what the actual plan was, she started to get unnerved; Back at the Guild, she had always joked that she was too cute to be left alone and she had dozens of magazine covers to back that up. However this now breached that next step into her becoming an unwilling servant for some scummy noble or worse if they found out who she really was, if they gave her an opening in the prison then she could use her cards to put up a fight but this time there was no escape.
No cards…No special magic…
Nothing…The only hope that she had was that Takeda could live up to his rep more and help get her free. "Yoshida…I'm really putting my trust in you on this…So please hurry." Her thoughts punctuated the radio silence in her mind as she was taken away.
Takeda on the other hand was finding himself surrounded by the numerous members of the party who armed themselves and were ready to put him down. "You can either drop those and run or you can double down and take the hard way…Your choice."
The others looked to each other and back to the masked man who was threatening them without even a weapon in his hand. "You can't think that you have the upper hand…We are smarter than those beasts and you are just a one trick pony…Those little flames won't do anything to our superior magic!" A portly looking man with a square looking mask blustered as he clutched onto a rifle like a safety blanket.
Takeda sighed before cracking his neck and then grabbed a nearby club that was dropped by a goblin, his expression had changed at the sight of these masked people who had not long ago brayed for his blood to spill on the floor. "You're crowding my way…And I don't like being crowded by herbivores." He muttered with a long forgotten tic as he stared them down, his eyes were sharpened with focus like a predator staring at it's next target.
The room that Cana had been taken to was a combination of a slaver's prep gallery and a nearby port leading out to the open water; It had a table made for getting new "product" marked and detained while the port was to help load up for any would be traffickers. "Now that we're alone, Miss Alberona…Let's get you ready for a different kind of showcase…"
"So you know who I am?" Cana asked as she tried to keep her guard up in the face of someone who clearly had his own plans for her despite the deception on her part.
"Of course I do…How could I not recognise you when one of the most popular faces in Fairy Tail that sits on the front pages of magazines is staring right at me." Gram admitted as he removed his mask to stare directly at her. "All that talk and no one had even heard of Alba Card Company before today…I do my research and no company can rise that fast even with my influence."
"Then you should probably be aware that trying to hostage me is a very, very big mistake." Cana warned him as she glared from behind her barrier, it might have stopped her from using her magic but it was far from enough to shake her.
"You think that brute you call your boyfriend will come to save you?" Gram asked with a sneer as he tapped the barrier. "Because that masked neanderthal is nothing compare to the security I have set up…plus with the amount of people who will go down if I get taken out? They'll fight for tooth and nail to keep their power."
"If you think that those people will have the balls to stand up to a guy like that, you're the idiot." Cana retorted as she crossed her arms while maintaining her confidence.
"Men like that are all the same…He's only hanging around you because you're just a bimbo with a prestigious name behind you." Gram smirked as he then walked over to the nearby table and placed what looked like a metal rod into an open brazier. "Bora may have been a bottomfeeding parasite but he had the right idea about this particular line of business."
"You mean selling women off to seedy rich guys?"
"Not just them…Men, children and other people who don't have the money to fund their lives." Gram remarked as he then turned the iron in the glowing coals. "At first I thought he was just desperate for money while devising this kind of plan…But now I think that catching someone like you and auctioning will earn me hundreds of thousands in Jewels, just to bargain with Fairy Tail for your safe return." He said as he then turned to look at Cana as he held up a red hot branding iron that had a slave's mark on it. "Though if I can find the right person that knows who you are, I can probably squeeze them for millions."
Cana started to struggle frantically when she realized that the barrier had been literally closing in; Ever since they entered the room, the Barrier that stopped her from using her Magic had now compressed itself, right down to the point where it formed around her like a rigid film with one spot that remained open to the air, a spot that filled her with dread because she could feel the ever growing heat as the iron inched closer: Her forearm.
Gram however smirked as he watched her squirm and struggle when she realized that she had nowhere to run to. "You can struggle as much as you can but I'm getting what I want." He said smugly as he readied the iron to press down but then stopped when he heard a noise from behind him.
Cana's mind and heart were already running at hundreds of miles a minute with the prospect of her body getting burned and getting sold off so in that moment of panic, she hadn't registered an orange blur that dashed across her line of vision with a feral growl and by the time that she blinked, she was free and now her legs had collapsed from under her when the adrenaline and gravity came back to her.
The scrawny man who held the barrier around her was now on the floor but what was pinning him down had been shrouded by the dark, the only thing visible was the orange flames dancing like a bonfire and a set of jaws clamped around his throat to pin him down, the man squealing like a trapped rabbit as he squirmed and his begs for release came out as choked gagging before eventually blacking out.
"What th-WHO THE HELL IS THERE?!" Gram yelled with his voice cracking out of shock and frustration as he turned towards the doorway, the only response to him was the sound of footsteps slowly getting louder. "I'm warning you!" He barked as he gripped the branding iron in one hand and reached to grab something nearby to use as a weapon but found himself getting knocked to the floor.
Cana saw Gram get distracted while she got the feeling back in her body; With a now angry yell, she kicked Gram in the back to send him to the ground and then knocked the iron away from his hand. "You're not getting a second chance!" She snarled as she punched her former captor in the face hard enough to knock him out when his head bounced off of the hard floor.
"Looks like you beat me to it." Takeda remarked as he walked through the door, the masked man looked like he had come out of a rough looking fight, even for him; His jacket was missing, his shirt had been dotted with burn marks, scuffs from melee and splotches of blood that made for a pattern that resembled flower petals. "I lost contact with you right after you were taken away, how are you holding up?"
"Gram here had someone mute me with Magic so that cut off my link to you, though I also couldn't wait for you to show up~" Cana said to tease him as she got to her feet; "I'm guessing you handled our friends in the lobby?"
"They won't be getting up any time soon…Though I still have a bone to pick with this guy." Takeda admitted as he held up an open box and then the orange flame that had saved Cana zipped back into it's opening before shutting itself. "And I say we start with who he was trying to traffick for."
Cana nodded as she watched Takeda step over the unconscious man who used his magic to shackle her and then place his mask on the table. "He said something about a guy named Bora…You have any idea who that is?"
"News to me…But right now let's finish off that mission." Takeda said as Gram came to after he tied the man's wrists and ankles together so he couldn't run. "Okay, buddy…You're gonna start by signing off on this merchant control, let actual shopkeepers make money and then you're gonna give each of them a nice chunk of your profits as an apology gift."
"And what makes you think that I'll agree to any of that lunacy?" Gram said with a disdainful sneer, even when he was staring face to face with Takeda. "Filthy dog…"
"I'm gonna let that one slide...You're gonna do it and at worst, you'll be sitting in a jail cell with all your friends when you end up caught by the guards." Takeda warned him as he then held up a piece of parchment. "Specially made to auto-write when you speak so I say start talking."
Seeing that his choices at that point were either prison or being made to start over in business, he chose the better option that kept him in an earning position: He started to speak out his words and as he talked, the parchment then populated itself with his words and filled itself out like a contract. "There…I've said what you wanted, now will you let me out of this or do you intend on letting me sit with a bleeding mouth and a rotten headache?"
"Honestly, I could've given him a lot more." Cana snarked as she narrowed her eyes at Gram. "Especially after you tried to turn me into a branded slave…"
Takeda looked to Cana before glancing back to Gram and igniting his ring with the Yellow Flame of Activation. "I would feel bad about just letting you simmer like this." He said as the Flames washed over Gram and slowly began to heal up his wounds like nothing had happened, though at the cost of the masked merchant's nails getting longer and his hair growing outward. "There, now I won't feel bad about beating the everloving shit out of you for your condescension and for what you were planning with Cana."
Cana was confused at first when she saw Takeda using fire to heal her former would-be captor but then after hearing his last sentence, it became clear what his intentions were. "I don't normally go with the whole payback thing..." She said with a growing smirk that matched Takeda's as the two cracked their knuckles. "But I think I'll make an exception this time."
Later…
Cana and Takeda were now at a bar as a celebratory thanks from the person who hired them after they gave him the news. "So how about you tell me what that was all about?" Cana asked as she put another bottle of booze down after draining it. "That yellow fire you had, that one's new to me."
"You know it's bad enough when Natsu won't stop bugging me about it, you have to join in too?" Takeda grumbled as he settled with drinking soda, something that Cana laughed at him for when he said that he'd rather stay sober. "I'm still not saying it."
"Aw, come on!" Cana groaned as she leaned against the bar lazily; "I was upfront with you about MY magic back at the hotel room, surely you can spill the beans on this much? I mean, besides that purple one…"
Takeda sighed as he knew that she had a point, so he decided to at least humour her. "Alright…If you promise to leave me alone about it for the night, I'll tell you about either one."
"That's boring…How about we kill two birds with one stone?" Cana asked as she nudged a bottle of booze towards Takeda. "Let's make a game, see who finishes their bottle first: You finish your's first then I'll share something about me, if I finish mine first then you answer a question of mine."
Suffice to say that Takeda had confidence in himself was partially founded as he managed to finish the drink in his hand before Cana did on her's, He smirked in victory that cut off with a heavy cough that came with the burn of alcohol in his throat. "Alright, Cana…You first."
"Alright…I'll start off simple: Despite what people believe of me, I can actually read accurate fortunes with my cards." Cana stated as she finished off her bottle. "Even for people with credible Magic, Fortune Telling is considered a crock used by scam artists…But I can make it work." She said before pushing another bottle towards Takeda and grabbed one for herself. "Round two, Yoshi~"
With a dull buzz from the booze bolstering his confidence, Takeda took off the top and started drinking again with Cana starting to take this more seriously until finally…
"YES!" Cana cheered as she slammed the empty bottle down on the bar and managed to beat Takeda this time. "Alright, chuckles…Start by explaining the Purple stuff." She said with a smug grin on her face.
Takeda sighed as he placed the bottle to the side. "Alright: If I tell you this then you are not to tell anyone else! Only the Master and Mirajane know about this." He said with a resigned tone as he then made that same purple flame light up on his ring.
"Promise…" Cana said as she watched the flame flicker and dance on Takeda's finger. "Right now, we're drinking buddies and I'm not going to spill any secrets of anyone else to you, just like I won't tell anyone else about your's."
Takeda then picked up a napkin and used the flame to etch a symbol onto it, taking the shape of a cloud. "This power has a purpose and an ability, just like the others that I use both here and before that." He explained as he then made that napkin become covered by that purple fire and then duplicated into a second one. "This one has the powers of Propagation…The ability to increase or multiply anything in size and numbers when it is caught by it's Flame."
Cana nodded along as she saw the fire disperse but the two napkins remain. "And this carries over with however many others that you have?"
Takeda shook his head. "I might be good enough to use all seven flames at full strength while my friends could not…I can only use one at a time while some of them could use more than one." He explained as he tapped at the bar with his finger as he remembered Systema CAI from his past. "This Flame is known as a Cloud Flame…It's meant for someone who is a drifting Cloud, whom cannot be bound. Protecting their Group or family from an independent standpoint."
"I see…" Cana then looked to him; "And how exactly does that match with that big muscular form that you used in the arena?" She asked as she decided to get all of her questions out while she could.
"I used the Flames to multiply the muscle fibers in my body and strengthen myself for a short time." Takeda explained as he then watched Cana grab another bottle. "I think if you want more then start up another game…Can't have you be getting ALL the answers."
Cana laughed a little as she placed two larger bottles between them, now her competitiveness was starting to accelerate now that she was having fun. "For someone who kicked up a stink about drinking and messing around, you sure changed your mind fast."
"The mission's technically done…I supposed it'd be okay for a while." Takeda admitted since the drinking and the atmosphere was starting to get him to relax a little. "Besides, you're not trying to fight me or call me crap so I can at least relax."
"Alright then, we'll live it up tonight and go back to the Guild with the reward and no reasons to complain." Cana agreed as she popped off the cap of her bottle and grinned; "Just make sure you can keep up, I don't like my partners to be lightweights!"
The next morning...
Takeda groaned to himself as he woke up and found himself back in the hotel room that he and Cana were sharing; His body was sprawled out on a couch and his shirt was partially undone with the tie missing, though his eyes stung with the lights as he could hear the sounds of a shower running and Cana's voice from behind a door. "What the hell happened?"
As Takeda sat himself back up, he felt everything ache with his body having molded into the couch to sleep, on top of the lingering effects of how much drinking that he had done was making him feel nauseous. "How the hell does she do this so easily?"
The door unlocked as Cana stepped out in nothing but a towel while drying her hair. "Oh, look who's returned from the land of the dead! How are you holding up~?" She said in a singsong voice that came from a good night's rest and no signs of a hangover.
"Well…I feel like I got hit by a car…" Takeda said as his voice came out dry and scratchy, each moment that he spoke spiked another throbbing pain through his head. "You mind filling me in on what happened?"
Cana laughed a little as she sat on the bed and then crossed one leg over the other. "Well, we continued our drinking game and even though you technically lost, you were holding out a lot better than I thought you would've."
"You sound surprised." Takeda snarked as he lumbered towards the sink to get a drink of water. "Though I guess keeping up with you is a tall order, even for a seasoned drinker."
"There aren't really that many in the guild who can, so don't feel bad about it." Cana admitted as she listed off what happened and continued; "After a while, there were some guys who tried to hit on me but didn't take no for an answer."
Takeda thought on that then looked down at his knuckles; Seeing that both of his hands were bandaged up seemed to prove that she was telling the truth. "I guess that's why my hands were stinging something awful…What happened?"
"Well, you intervened but then one of the guy's buddies hit you from behind with a bottle and…Let's just say I've had to pay more than just the bar tab." Cana said and sighed as she scratched her head. "Honestly, I've really only seen that level of a bar fight back in the Guild when Natsu got mouthy…There's no need to apologise by the way, I ended up jumping in to help."
"Uh huh…We should probably make tracks after I…urp!" Takeda started to nod along but then felt something in his stomach that he and Cana knew were coming, without so much as a warning, the man made a mad dash for the bathroom and shut it behind him.
Cana chuckled a little as she used her new moment of privacy to start getting changed for their trip back to Fairy Tail, having been unbothered by the sounds of retching that came from the bathroom thanks to her own experience with being hungover for the first and last time. "Well, he's not completely hopeless…And oddly enough, he's nicer than what I had expected from someone who was a part of Hellhound Claw…Though I think I can help fix him up to be a better drinking buddy, I could do with someone who's my age and doesn't immediately stare below eye level."
Takeda hopped into the shower once he had finished his business that ruined his stomach and let the warm water wash over him; Thoughts about the missions that had run him ragged, the constant apprehension that people looked at him with and the bittersweet nostalgia that came about with the ones who did treat him nicely. "All this time I spent thinking that they were a bunch of excitable jerks…I mean they are but I guess it makes sense that I like them, considering who I used to hang around with." He thought as the drops of water splashed on his body before his mind turned to other thoughts.
"No…They're okay but I don't think I can ever replace them…No matter how much my mind and my heart keep telling me to…" The thoughts continued to spiral; "They aren't friends…Just colleagues until I can walk away without an arrest, that's all this is…" A bitter thought cemented itself in his head before turning off the shower after he got cleaned up.
By the time that the two were ready and on their way, Cana and Takeda both had the feeling of eyes on them for numerous reasons, Cana was no stranger to being leered at or watched and most of the time it was for obvious reasons like her photo panels or just her looks in general.
Takeda on the other hand was more than used to the unnerved stares from people who either knew, suspected they knew or recognised who he was. Though the recent missions and Loke's constant pointing out that there were in fact some people who did find his particular demeanour to be attractive, he just found it odd in all honesty. "Though that still doesn't explain why they're staring at me like there's something on me…" He mumbled to himself and checked his clothes to make sure he didn't have any stains or marks from the night before.
"What's up with you? You've been a little antsy." Cana quipped as she walked along with him, though she did keep a little closer than she did before. "Not used to being seen or are you worried about the night before?"
"People keep staring at me…If they were anxious or annoyed at me being here then I'd understand but they're just staring at me rather…Weirdly." Takeda admitted as they rounded a corner towards the train station. "You don't see anything on me, do you?"
Cana gazed up at him like she did before the mission and to anyone else, Takeda looked like the average surly guy in a suit; His hair was hung in a lower ponytail than before since he was travelling, the fact that his expression looked less stern than before due to his hangover but there was something that made her titter to herself...
On the side of Takeda's neck was the fading remnant of a bruise, a mark that made both men and women look to his travelling companion as to whether it was her or whether he had simply gotten caught in a barfight. Though for Takeda himself when he found out, it was an unseen oddity that made others stare uncomfortably at him and any attempt to question Cana was met with shrugs or vague answers.
After what felt like a calm trip to Cana and an uncomfortable one to Takeda, the two managed to make it back to Fiore and to the Fairy Tail Guild without much fuss. "See? How hard was that for a mission?" Cana teased as she walked alongside the boy who still seemed to be nursing a dull headache at this point.
"Uh huh…Let's just report back to Mirajane and we ca-" Takeda grumbled but then felt his mood threaten to worsen itself when he heard the Guild's raucous ambience even before he got to the doors, though it gave way to confusion when he saw a cart outside that had a very familiar name on it. "Sorcerer's Weekly?"
Cana saw it as well but then grinned widely as she knew that this could make for something entertaining. "Say, Yoshida…How would you like to get in the pages of a magazine~?"