So you're saying Ed-Natsu should be fine right now.
Erza tapped her chin, already back in her usual armor. Behind her, Natsu lay sprawled on the floor, face swollen like a pig's head, wisps of white smoke curling up from the bumps.
"That's right…" With great effort, Natsu turned his bruised face toward her, trembling as he raised his hand to answer.
"If he's fine, then I won't hold it against you any further. The urgent matter now is finding Ed-Natsu." Erza finally let out a sigh of relief, speaking magnanimously. As the guild's big sister, she had shouldered far too much responsibility thanks to this problem child.
The thoroughly beaten Natsu and the completely terrified Happy: "…"
"Any clues?" Erza asked Natsu directly.
The "embarrassing incident" culprit sat up with both hands on the floor and shook his head.
"Ed-Natsu should still be in Magnolia, but the rain washed away the scent. I can't smell anything. At first, Happy and I thought about asking Master for help."
Erza glanced at him in surprise. She had assumed Natsu would stubbornly refuse to admit his mistake—or just take all the blame on himself and go searching alone. But it seemed she had misjudged him. He wasn't completely reckless after all.
At that thought, Erza's eyes softened slightly, as though looking at a child slowly growing up.
But from Natsu's perspective, chills shot down his spine. Behind Erza, he saw endless black aura erupting, hundreds of monstrous tendrils writhing about, the pressure crashing down on him like mountains and tsunamis.
"Not bad. But now there's no need to bother Master. Let's ask Lisanna instead."
Natsu, who had been about to bow his head and beg forgiveness, froze when Erza suddenly spoke. In an instant, the whole world seemed flooded with light—the blazing sun tearing apart the hellish gloom, even the rain around them fading into irrelevance.
"Uh… o-okay…" Natsu mumbled in a daze, not even hearing what Erza said after that.
"Juvia is so heartbroken…"
"My Juvia!"
Inside Fairy Tail's guild hall, Earthland Gray and Edolas Juvia sat together, one hand covering their faces as they desperately avoided the two resentful glares boring into their backs.
Not far away, Earthland Juvia and Edolas Gray (Solju) were peeking from behind a pillar, their combined aura of resentment dark enough to drown the entire world.
Both sighed the same thought at the same time.
And when their eyes met, they shared a moment of mutual sympathy.
The irony was almost cruel—though the pursuit dynamics in each world were reversed (Earthland Juvia chasing Gray, while in Edolas Gray chased Juvia), in theory, this should've been the perfect setup for new couples. Switch the targets, and maybe you'd get not one, but two pairs of lovers.
But reality was different. Earthland Juvia had no feelings whatsoever for Solju—she despised his cowardly, cold-averse personality. Meanwhile, Solju disliked Juvia's clingy devotion—if anything, he seemed more like a… masochist.
As for Earthland Gray and Edolas Juvia, though they admired each other a bit, it was nothing more than shared sympathy for being pursued. There was no spark, no attraction.
"A nightmare! *x2"
Gray and Edolas Juvia exchanged another glance, both seeing the same weary frustration mirrored in each other's eyes.
"You two can't keep this up. The rain outside has been falling for too long—it's going to cause flooding in the city." Mira scolded gently as she approached.
Indeed, most of the torrential rain was thanks to Juvia's jealousy. Her vast magical power had turned into vapor, sending humidity soaring and disrupting normal weather circulation.
"And you too, Gray. Go have an honest talk with Juvia. You're all young—there's nothing you can't sort out." Mira beckoned Gray over.
Gray's face twisted in agony. It wasn't that he hated Juvia, but liking her wasn't the case either. Not long ago, they'd been enemies—how could feelings change so quickly? Mira's request was a headache he didn't want to deal with.
"What a pain…" he muttered bitterly.
"Gray-sama!" The moment Gray walked over, Juvia's heart pounded wildly, her face turning bright red as she stepped out from behind the pillar.
At the same time, Solju, as though encouraged, also started to move from behind the pillar. But Edolas Juvia shot him a frosty glare.
"Hmph."
He froze instantly, not daring to move—but judging from his flushed yet oddly content expression, maybe… he was happy about it?
Mira exchanged a troubled look with Mirajane, who simply smiled in return, unconcerned.
Creeeak—
The guild's front door swung open. Erza walked in, dragging Natsu behind her.
"Natsu, did you get on Erza's bad side again?" At first, nobody paid them much attention, but the sight of Natsu's swollen, black-and-blue face was impossible to ignore. A few members immediately grinned and teased.
But neither Erza nor Natsu had the heart to reply. Erza's sharp gaze swept the guild, locking onto the new waitress.
"Lisanna."
"Eh? Yes!" Lisanna blinked in surprise at suddenly being called. She hurried over to Erza. "Did you need something, Erza?"
"I'd like to speak with you alone." Erza smiled politely toward the two Miras as a gesture of greeting, then pulled Lisanna aside into a quiet corner.
"Lisanna, you know Edolas best. Where would the Natsu from that world most likely go?" Erza asked bluntly.
Lisanna froze, startled that Erza would treat this so seriously. Could it be that the two Natsus didn't get along, and Erza was stepping in to help?
After a moment's thought, she quickly answered:
"If it's Natsu from that world, he'd usually be at some kind of machinery shop."
"A machinery shop?"
"Mm. That Natsu is completely different from ours. The only time he feels confident is when he's in vehicles. He's obsessed with magical machines, especially magi-motorbikes. That got him interested in other kinds of magitech as well." Lisanna explained, sneaking a subtle glance at Earthland Natsu.
"I see. That makes sense. I understand now." Without further explanation, Erza immediately pulled Natsu and Happy out of the guild again.
"One million J! A monthly salary of one million J! Please, I beg you to work here!"
While Erza and Natsu were frantically searching, the other party involved in the "embarrassing incident"—Dorachyon (Edolas Natsu)—was in quite a predicament. A shopkeeper clung desperately to his leg.
The whole thing had happened rather simply. After fleeing the forest in fear, Dorachyon had decided to wander around on his own and explore Magnolia's machine shops, curious about Earthland's magical technology.
But Earthland's magitech turned out to be far behind Edolas's, especially in terms of energy efficiency. With magic so abundant here, there was no need to conserve. Energy usage just wasn't considered important.
Earthland's magic cars, for instance, could only run on either the vast reserves of powerful wizards or expensive, specially refined lacrima. The consumption was huge.
Unable to resist, Dorachyon had shown off a little. Paying for the materials, he asked the store's magicians to help with a few modifications and, by hand, assembled an Edolas-style magic engine.
Then he sold it to the shopkeeper.
Compared to Earthland's best engines, the Edolas design was decades ahead. It drastically extended a vehicle's range while lowering the fuel requirements. Even inferior lacrima, once unusable, could now be used as energy.
The shopkeeper had looked at him like he was a genius from the heavens. And ever since, Dorachyon hadn't been able to leave the shop.
"I can't stay. I can't." Dorachyon refused again. He wasn't lying—he'd be going back to Edolas soon.
"One-point-two million J! I'll raise it to one-point-two million! Plus profit sharing—you'll get thirty percent of all future sales! And I'll even introduce you to my daughter! You'll be my successor!" The shopkeeper was practically in tears.
"I said no! I'm not interested." For one brief moment, Dorachyon had wavered, but in the end, he firmly refused.
The tug-of-war raged on inside the shop.
Outside, Natsu and Erza watched the scene unfold through the window. Both were struck by the sheer absurdity of it.
Erza sighed, finally saying,
Well… it looks like he's safe.