"We're back!"
The guild's heavy oak doors swung open with a bang, admitting the sunlight and the boisterous Team Natsu.
Erza Scarlet led the charge, dragging a monstrous pile of luggage, her armor gleaming and her smile radiant.
Behind her, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy stumbled in, looking exhausted but relieved to be home.
"Good work, Erza!" Wakaba puffed on his pipe, leaning back in his chair with a grin. "It must've been tough rounding these idiots up."
His drinking buddy Macao, sporting his usual slicked-back purple hair and a mischievous glint in his eye, chimed in gleefully.
"So, they're finally back? The punishment this time is 'That One', right? Oh, how wonderful! I've got my camera ready!"
Natsu and Gray, who had been enjoying the sensation of solid ground, froze.
They shouted in unison, their faces twisting in dread, "Shut up, you old geezers!"
Erza frowned, scanning the bustling guild hall.
She ignored the hecklers and looked for the ultimate authority.
"Where's the Master? He needs to deal with Natsu and the others regarding the rule violations."
Mirajane, wiping a glass behind the bar, smiled that terrifyingly sweet smile of hers.
"The Master was called away to a regular meeting with the local branch heads yesterday. He's not here right now."
"Not here?" Erza scratched her head, the metal gauntlet clinking against her crimson hair.
Then, her sharp eyes spotted a familiar robed figure sitting at a nearby table, nursing a cold drink.
Her eyes lit up. "Brother? You're back too?"
Ankh lowered his glass, the ice clinking softly.
"A bit earlier than you," he chuckled, his voice smooth.
He then turned his crimson gaze to Natsu, Gray, and Lucy.
His tone shifted from brotherly warmth to something more... official.
"Before the Master left, he entrusted me with handling your punishment."
The atmosphere in the guild instantly grew heavy.
Natsu and Gray had initially looked relieved that Makarov was gone, but their expressions soured immediately.
'The Old Man's punishment is heartbreaking and humiliating,' Gray thought, sweating.
'But Ankh? Ankh's punishment is bone-breaking.'
'If Ankh does it, we might end up as gravity-crushed pancakes,' Natsu thought, gulping.
To their surprise, however, Ankh remained calm.
He didn't summon gravity. He didn't conjure black lightning. He just took another sip of his iced tea.
"So, Ankh..." Lucy asked timidly, hiding behind Happy. "How... how are you going to punish us?"
Ankh gave a peculiar, unreadable smile.
"Don't worry. The Master and I discussed it. Considering you did resolve the Galuna Island issue and stopped the demon, we decided not to be too harsh. A verbal warning will suffice."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Go ahead and get back to work. Don't overthink it."
There was a beat of silence.
"Eh?" Lucy blinked, then jumped up joyfully. "Really?! That's great! We're saved!"
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
However, Erza and Mirajane—the two women who knew Ankh best—narrowed their eyes simultaneously.
They exchanged a look of deep skepticism.
'Given Ankh's usual style, would he really let this slide?' Erza thought.
'He believes in consequences.'
'Impossible,' Mirajane thought. 'Absolutely impossible. He's planning something.'
But Ankh offered no further explanation.
He simply sat quietly, watching Natsu and Gray wander over to the quest board with the predatory patience of a spider watching flies approach a web.
A sly, almost invisible smile crept onto his face.
Natsu and Gray stood before the quest board, looking for a job to fill their empty bellies.
Just then, a man in a green suit with orange glasses walked over.
It was Loke, the guild's playboy, whom they hadn't seen in a while.
"Natsu, so you're back?" Loke greeted him casually, hands in his pockets.
"Hey, Loke," Natsu replied, scratching his head as he examined a piece of paper. "We're broke. This mission looks pretty good, but I can't read half of it."
"These words are so weird..." Happy muttered, floating closer.
"What is it?" Lucy asked curiously, leaning in to see what they were looking at.
Hearing Lucy's voice, Loke's face went pale.
He jumped three feet in the air, shouting in panic, "Lucy! You're back too?!"
Lucy gave him a puzzled look, hands on her hips. "Of course. I'm part of the team. Why do you always act like I'm a ghost?"
Loke backed away hurriedly, sweat beading on his forehead.
"N-nothing! I've just... got things to do! Urgent things! I'll be going!"
With that, Loke turned and bolted, sprinting away as if his life depended on it.
Unfortunately, in his panic, he ran straight into a wall of armor.
CLANG!
"Oof!"
Loke bounced off Erza's chest plate and went tumbling head over heels, landing sprawled unluckily on the floor.
Erza looked down, dusting off her armor. "Don't overreact like that, Loke. Watch where you're going."
Lucy sighed, looking down at the prone mage. "He really is weird... and kind of weak."
Ignoring the drama, Natsu pulled the quest notice Ankh had planted from the board.
He squinted at it.
"Listen to this!" Natsu read aloud. "It says: 'Please decipher the meaning of these ancient texts. Solving this word puzzle will reward you with 500,000 Jewels.'"
Happy's eyes turned into jewel symbols. "Aye! That's 500,000J! We can buy so much fish!"
"Deciphering a word? What a strange quest for a mage guild," Gray said doubtfully, peering over Natsu's shoulder.
Lucy nodded in amazement. "And just for solving a word puzzle? That's equivalent to seven months of my rent! We have to try it!"
Natsu spread the mission notice on the table.
Gray examined it carefully, his brow furrowing. "Isn't this ancient script? Who can understand this stuff? It looks like scribbles."
Ankh stood up and strolled over to the group.
He pointed a gloved finger at the bottom of the parchment.
"Look closely. Isn't there a translation attached next to it? You just have to read it aloud to unlock the puzzle."
Erza, standing beside Ankh, crossed her arms cautiously.
"I don't know... I always feel like the reward for this kind of mission doesn't match its difficulty. High rewards usually mean high danger."
Ankh smiled without speaking.
Quietly, casually, he draped his arm around Erza's shoulder, pulling her slightly closer.
It was a gesture of familiarity, one he often used with his sister.
"Relax, Erza," Ankh murmured. "It's just words."
Lucy glanced strangely at the siblings but didn't pay much attention to it.
Having been in the guild for so long, she had grown accustomed to Ankh's protective, sometimes possessive, gestures toward Erza.
Ankh maintained a calm expression, but internally, he was chuckling.
'Just to be safe... I should make a slight adjustment to the flow of magic. Let's make this interesting.'
At this moment, Natsu took a deep breath and read the translation with full enthusiasm:
"Ug, Diru, Raschi, Borokaneo..."
The words hung in the air.
After a string of bizarre gibberish, everyone fell into silence again.
Nothing happened.
Natsu held his head and complained, "I don't understand it at all! What kind of language is 'Borokaneo'?!"
"Maybe it's a menu?" Happy suggested.
Just as everyone was about to give up, the strange mission notice suddenly burst into blinding Rainbow Light!
VWOOOM!
"What the—?!" Gray yelled.
The peculiar texts on the paper glowed with shifting, colorful hues, illuminating the entire guild hall.
A strange sensation, like being pulled through a straw, washed over the group surrounding the table.
Ankh, whose eyes glowed crimson, subtly manipulated the chaotic mana field with a flick of his finger.
As the colors faded, the light gradually receded.
After the light disappeared, the guild was silent.
Ankh stood quietly among the group, his arm having dropped from Erza shoulder.
He took a step back, discreetly observing his handiwork with the appreciation of an artist.
"Ugh... my head," a voice groaned from the floor.
Loke sat up, rubbing his temples.
But he didn't adjust his glasses.
Instead, he looked at his hands with wide eyes. "Strange... why am I lying on the ground? And why do I feel the urge to eat a fish?"
On the table, the blue cat stood up.
But instead of saying 'Aye', Happy placed one paw on his forehead and the other on his hip, striking a dashing, playboy pose.
"Something's not right, babies," the cat said in a smooth, suave voice. "Why have I become so small? And why am I standing on a table? This is hardly dignified for a lady-killer like myself."
Lisanna, seeing this, tilted her head. "Happy? Why are you talking like... Loke?"
Meanwhile, across the table.
"Wait! Why am I so cold?!"
The speaker was Gray—or rather, someone in Gray's body.
He was shivering violently, wrapping his arms around himself. "It feels like I'm made of ice! I hate the cold!"
"And why do I feel so hot all over?!"
Natsu's body was sweating profusely, tugging at his scarf.
"It's like I'm sitting in a furnace! I need to strip!" He immediately started trying to take off Natsu's vest.
And then, there was the red-haired knight.
"Erza" seemed to notice something wrong too.
She looked down at her hands—which were currently encased in gauntlets—and then felt the weight of the armor.
"Wait... my hair..." she whispered, her voice sounding oddly high-pitched and terrified.
Then, she noticed Ankh standing close to her.
"KYAAA! Ankh! Why are you holding me?!"
"Erza" shoved Ankh away with hysterical strength, her face flushing bright red.
"Don't touch me so casually! It's embarrassing!"
Ankh stumbled back slightly, feigning surprise. "Erza? You're unusually shy today."
Beside them, the blonde Celestial Spirit Mage was doing something equally uncharacteristic.
"Lucy" stood with her feet planted firmly apart, a warrior's stance.
She looked down, confusedly rubbing her own chest with a critical expression.
"This doesn't feel right," "Lucy" muttered, her voice deep and authoritative. "My center of gravity is off. And why am I wearing such flimsy clothing? Where is my armor?"
Ankh watched the scene, fighting the urge to laugh out loud.
'Verification method: Rubbing the chest. Classic Erza,' Ankh noted.
"Lucy" (who was clearly carrying Erza's soul) looked at "Erza" (who was acting like a frightened rabbit) with shock and suspicion.
"Erza" (Lucy) stared back at her own body in disbelief. "Why... why am I looking at myself?!"
The noisy group completely lost their composure.
"I'm a cat!" Loke screamed from Happy's body.
"I'm a playboy!" Happy cheered from Loke's body.
"I'm stripping!" Gray (Natsu) yelled.
"I'm freezing!" Natsu (Gray) chattered.
Suddenly, "Lucy" slammed her hand onto the table, cracking the wood.
"QUIET!" she commanded, her aura radiating the terrifying pressure of the Titania, despite wearing a miniskirt.
Everyone froze.
"Lucy" narrowed her eyes, looking at the group.
"Haven't you idiots realized yet? Look at yourselves! Look at who is speaking!"
She pointed at the glowing request paper.
"This was a spell! Our original bodies and souls have all been swapped!"
The panicked crowd, hearing this, processed the information for one second.
Then, they immediately screamed in horror in unison.
"WHAAAAAAAT?!"
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FT anime episode 19