Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Magnolia. A Port near the Village Hidden in the Mist.
January 7, x792.
A week has passed since the calendar switched over to x792. During that time, nothing of note took place. Though, Wendy did take her first, solo, S-Class quest. Though, calling it a "solo quest" would be a bit misleading in her case, as Carla came along with her. However,, she did not go on this quest with anyone from Team Natsu.
Though, that was not to say that Natsu did not try to force himself into Wendy's quest. Yet, with some stern punishment from Erza and the promise of a fight with Alfonzo when here turned from his own quest, Natsu was eventually pacified.
In fact, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana were on their way to meet the client for their quest at this very moment. Pulling up to a port on the coast of the Kingdom of Caelum, Alfonzo was in the process of docking his ship, the Sixth Sense.
"I didn't get to come with them last time Fonzie came here." Elicia said while looking at the port town with excitement. "But this town is pretty. I think we should bring Mar'e and the other kids here some time for a vacation."
"Yeah, it's pretty..." Cana mumbled from next to Elicia. "But the real question is... Does Caelum have any specialty booze? If not, it would feel like a waste of a trip."
Hearing that, Elicia rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. She then reached over and wrapped her left arm around Cana's waist.
"Come on, Cana~." Elicia cooed. "There's more to choosing a vacation site than just how good the booze is. I mean, what about the scenery? The food? The clothes? Do none of those mean anything to you?"
This time it was Cana's turn to roll her eyes as she bumped Elicia with her hip.
"Let's tackle those one at a time." Cana said while raising her own left hand and counting with her fingers. "First, we've been all over the world. So, I've seen my share of beautiful scenery. Second, when it comes to food, Fonzie is probably the best chef in the world. So, everything else is kind of a step down. And as for clothes, I've got you. So, I'm more than satisfied."
Reaching that point, Cana pulled Elicia into a hug with a smile on her face. And the compliment made Elicia's smile widen, as well, as she returned the hug.
"Well, I guess I can't really argue with those points." Elicia said with a giggle. "Still, there's more to a location than the alcohol. You should try to enjoy more than just that."
"Yeah, yeah." Cana said noncommittally.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo listened to the conversation from the ship's wheel house. At the same time, he had his [Magic Power Detection] stretched over the port. According to the request sheet, an acquaintance was supposed to meet them at the port.
And sure enough, it did not take Alfonzo long to find who he was looking for. However, he did not immediately turn to look in the contact's direction as he had to concentrate on docking the ship.
Shortly afterwards, Alfonzo dropped anker and cut the ship's engine. Then, he focused on tying the ship to the dock. After that, he joined Elicia and Cana at the ship's railing to look over the port town.
"Hey, Fonzie, are we ready to go?" Elicia asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Alfonzo replied casually as he slipped between Elicia and Cana before wrapping an arm around each of their waists. "And our contact is on his way here right now."
"Oh, you're talking about that old guy with the blue hair and the eyepatch, right?" Cana asked while looking in a certain direction. "I remember him from when Mei came to visit the guild. Can't remember his name, though."
"It's Ao." Elicia said. "I don't really like him much, though. He's way too uptight."
"Eh... He's not that bad." Alfonzo said as he used his [Metal Magic] to lower the ship's gangplank. "Seeing him and Mei go back and forth is pretty funny, though. He somehow always manages to piss her off. Though, it's never intentional."
"By the way, I'm actually surprised it took Mei so long to hire you to upgrade their training grounds." Elicia said. "I mean, you handled the Leaf's almost four years ago."
"They probably had to make sure their money was right." Alfonzo replied with a shrug while watching Ao approach the gangplank. "I mean, last time I was here, they were going through a civil war. They're treasury was probably hit pretty hard. And having to pay me, Laxus, Marin, and Shizuka damn sure didn't help."
"Yeah, hiring three S-Class wizards and a top class healing wizard couldn't have been cheap." Cana added with a nod.
"Of course, it wasn't." Alfonzo said with a grin. "I don't work for free. Even if the one who hires me is someone I know."
"Or if she's trying to join our family." Elicia said with a grin of her own. "Speaking of that, how is that going?"
"Hasn't really been much progress, honestly." Alfonzo said nonchalantly. "I mean, it's been hard for us to contact each other since Caelum doesn't have an lPhone network. And letters just take too long to go back and forth."
"It's not like you can't just pop over here whenever you want, though." Cana pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess I could." Alfonzo replied. "But this year has been pretty busy. I mean, we had to deal with the Akatsuki attack, the Grand Magic Games, the Harvest Festival, Tartaros, the Acnologia attack... *Sigh* There's just been so much."
"When you list everything like that, we really have been busy in the last year, haven't we?" Cana asked with a surprised expression on her face.
"Greetings, wizards of Fairy Tail." Ao said from halfway up the gangplank, interrupting the conversation. "It's an honor to have you visit the Kingdom of Caelum. And allow me to be the first to welcome you on behalf of the Village Hidden in the Mist."
"Yo, what's up, Ao?" Alfonzo asked as he led Elicia and Cana down the gangplank. "Sorry, we got caught up in a conversation. We actually planned to meet you before you reached the pier."
"Don't worry about it." Ao replied in his usual professional tone. "Though, I'd rather not keep Lady Mizukage waiting. So, if you wouldn't mind, let us be on our way to the village."
Receiving nods in response, Ao turned and began walking towards the magic vehicle he used to travel from the village to the port town. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana let him take a few steps before following behind.
"Yeah, I can see how he would manage to unintentionally piss off Mei." Cana whispered into Alfonzo's ear. "I mean, when someone's that stiff all the time, they probably say a lot of things that sound worse than they actually are."
"Exactly." Alfonzo replied with a nod.
'Oh, now that I think about it, I remember wanting to pluck out Ao's stolen [Byakugan] when I was on that date with Grayfia in Crocus.' Alfonzo thought to himself while he followed Ao with Elicia and Cana. 'Should I ask Mei if it's okay for me to have it? Then again, if Ao lost that [Byakugan], a lot of his value would disappear right along with it. I mean, sure, he's supposedly an Elite Jōnin, but I don't remember him being much of anything in a fight. Well, whatever... I guess I won't put the guy out of a job just because I wanna be able to see my girls' embarrassed faces whenever I want.'
While that thought ran through Alfonzo's head, Ao's instincts kicked into overdrive. As a result, he froze up momentarily. Then, he began looking around frantically. A moment later, he remembered his [Byakugan] and activated it, looking for the threat he sensed.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana looked at Ao strangely when he started acting like that. And while Elicia and Cana had no idea what was going on, Alfonzo's expression turned even stranger.
'Hmm... Maybe he's more than I gave him credit for.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I mean, he felt something was off when I was thinking about plucking his eye out of his head. Not bad. Not bad at all.'
"Um... Ao, are you okay?" Elicia asked cautiously.
"Ah! Yes, I'm fine." Ao replied in a surprised tone. "I was just making sure there was no danger nearby. It would not do if our guests were attacked shortly after arriving in the Kingdom, you see?"
Hearing that, Elicia and Cana, each standing on either side of Alfonzo, exchanged glances. However, when they looked past Alfonzo, they both noticed his twitching upper lip, which they knew meant he was trying to hold back laughter. And because of that, they had a sneaking suspicion that Alfonzo had something to do with Ao's strange actions. But since they did not feel his magic power fluctuate, they had no idea what he could have done.
"I'll tell you later." Alfonzo whispered after noticing the looks he was receiving from his wives.
Not long after that, Ao led the trio to a magic vehicle, a recreation of the Mercedes Benz S 600. He then got in the driver's seat while Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana climbed into the backseat. Then, once everyone was strapped in, Ao began driving towards the Village Hidden in the Mist.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, the Village Hidden in the Mist.
About half an hour later, Ao drove the magic vehicle into a thick mist. In fact, the mist was so thick that the mountains the group saw on their way here were completely obscured. And when they saw that, they had no doubts behind the name of the village, as they were all sure that without a large enough [Magic Power Detection] range, none of them would be able to find the village without a guide.
Twenty minutes after that, the tall walls surrounding the Village Hidden in the Mist came into view. When they did, both Elicia and Cana, having never been to the village before, were somewhat excited to see another Hidden Village.
Stopping at the gate, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, and Ao got out of the magic vehicle. Ao then handed the keys to one of the Chunin on guard at the gate, allowing him to take the magic vehicle to the garage. Meanwhile, the group of four walked through the gate, officially entering the Village Hidden in the Mist.
Seeing the village's architecture, which was composed of cylindrical buildings, something that none of those present had ever seen in such numbers, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana found themselves captivated.
And when Cana saw Alfonzo looking around with just as much curiosity as she and Elicia were, she could not help asking about it.
"Hey, this isn't your first time here, right, Fonzie?" Cana asked curiously.
"Right." Alfonzo replied casually.
"Then why are you looking around like that?" Cana pointed out. "It almost looks like this is your first time getting a look at it."
"Because it technically is." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Remember, there was a civil war going on the last time I was here. And even though Laxus, Marin, and I ended the conflict..."
"Because of the aftermath, you didn't get to take a look around, right?" Elicia said, finishing Alfonzo's sentence.
"Exactly." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "So, this is, more or less, the first time I'm getting a chance to take a good look at it."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Cana replied absent-mindedly as she happened to look through the window of a tavern. "Hey, do you think we could make a quick stop over there?"
Seeing where Cana was looking, Alfonzo and Elicia both rolled their eyes. Alfonzo then grabbed Cana by the arm and dragged her along as they continued to follow Ao.
"Later." Alfonzo said. "We'll be here for a couple of weeks. There will be all the time in the world to check out the taverns and liquor stores."
"But Fonzie~." Cana whined.
Elicia could not help giggling at Cana's childlike whining. Meanwhile, Alfonzo only rolled his eyes again. Ao, on the other hand, turned back to look at Alfonzo with shock in his visible eye.
"Only a few weeks?" Ao asked dumbfoundedly. "But we have nearly as many training grounds as the Hidden Leaf Village. And from what I've heard, it took you several years to complete the work for them."
"Well, I'm a lot stronger than I was back then." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Plus, I've already done the work before. So, there's no way it will take as long as it did the first time."
"I... See..." Ao replied in a tone mixed with confusion, disbelief, and slight terror.
'If what he says is true, was it really a good idea to invite him into our village?' Ao asked himself as he turned his head to the front again. 'If one of our Shinobi were to cross him, it's possible that he might destroy the village in his rage. I should report this to the Mizukage. Her courtship of this man could be a disaster. I should advise her to give up on the idea of marrying him in the future.'
Once again, Ao felt a shiver, a feeling of terror creeping up his spine. And just like he had done earlier, he activated his [Byakugan] to see who or what was targeting him. However, just like the last time, he found nothing.
And this time, Alfonzo looked just as confused as Elicia and Cana when they saw Ao's strange actions. So, the ladies figured that Alfonzo had nothing to do with it... This time, anyway.
On a side note, when Ao was thinking about telling Mei that she should give up on marrying Alfonzo, Mei shivered for a moment, as well. She then grew extremely angry. And on reflex, she shouted something that was quickly becoming her catch phrase.
"Ao, do you want me to melt you!?"