With two real Fairy Tail mages backing them up, Elfman and Lisanna's resolve only grew firmer.
Even Mira's own heart loosened, just a little.
In the end, Lisanna and Elfman spoke together.
"Mira, say yes. We will always be with you."
Under the repeated persuasion of her younger siblings, and the encouragement from Kabe and Cana, Mira finally relented.
"The demon's power is something I never wanted.
But if it is for my family, then I am willing to try."
Kabe's lips curled in satisfaction. He lifted his juice, took a small sip, and smugly thought to himself:
Done. In the end she is just a little girl. Easy to handle.
He had not even enjoyed that feeling for two seconds before Mira turned, and all three Strauss siblings fixed their eyes on him. Then they bowed together.
"Then we will be in your care, Teacher Kabe. Please teach us Take Over magic!"
"Pff!"
The juice in Kabe's mouth exploded out in a spray and splashed all over Mira's cloak.
Slamming the wooden cup back onto the table, he grumbled loudly.
"What kind of joke is that, why should I be the one teaching you?
My time is very precious, I do not have the spare energy to tutor three little brats.
Besides, I do not even know Take Over magic. How am I supposed to teach you?"
Mira pulled back the juice-soaked hood and stood up, revealing her now-unhidden beautiful face and snow white hair.
With the weight on her heart lifted, her delinquent big sister side immediately came back online.
She planted one boot on the table, reached out and grabbed Kabe, who had just turned to slip away, by the wrist. Mira's expression was sour as she snarled.
"Huh? You bastard run your mouth with a whole bunch of stuff no one understands, and then you want to run off?
Since those words came out of your own mouth, you can take responsibility for them."
Kabe's face twisted like he had just swallowed a bug.
He really should not have tried to imitate that damn old man and started doing inspirational counseling for people.
He turned around, suddenly putting on a delighted expression as he waved over Mira's shoulder.
"Oh, Master, you are back. There are three problem children here, I will leave them to you."
The moment she heard that, Mira whipped her head around. Behind her was nothing but empty air, not even Makarov's shadow.
A second later, her hand felt light.
By the time she snapped back and turned around again, Kabe was already gone without a trace.
Mira clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath.
"Tch, I just wanted to mess with him a little. I did not think he would actually take it seriously."
With the person gone, there was nothing more she could do. The thanks she had not had the chance to say could only be tucked away in her heart for now. She would have to find another chance to thank him properly some other time.
Cana tugged at the corner of her mouth, staring at this Mira whose personality was completely different from the silent, gloomy girl from before.
Clicking her tongue in secret amazement, she took the initiative to lead the three siblings into the guild's library.
That place held all the magic collections that the guild masters of each generation had gathered. It was one of Fairy Tail's most precious treasures.
From that day on, the Strauss siblings officially began studying magic and took their very first step on the road to becoming mages.
....
At the same time, Kabe's figure had already appeared above an uninhabited little island more than ten kilometers from Magnolia.
Without relying on any external force, his body floated in midair over the island.
This was the Air Dance Technique he had figured out on his own over the past two years, continuously refined until it became proper flight.
He had not come this far just to hide from Mira and wait for her temper to pass though.
Tonight, the moon hung in the sky like a silver plate. A rare, perfect full moon.
After taking off his clothes and carefully hiding them at the edge of the island, he rose into the air again, lifted his head, and stared straight at the moon.
When Kabe's eyes received over seventeen million units of Blitz waves, his tail suddenly twitched.
The next second, his body began to swell at a terrifying speed. Thick black fur burst out and wrapped his entire body.
At the same time, power started surging from deep within, flooding outward without end.
"Rooooar!"
In no more than twenty seconds, a Great Ape nearly twenty meters tall took Kabe's place and crashed down onto the deserted island.
"ROAR!"
With one furious bellow, the Great Ape swung its arm. The wind from that casual motion snapped a whole swath of trees in front of it, and a lazy stomp of its foot shattered the ground into jagged cracks.
The violent aura pouring off its body scared away who-knew-how-many feral beasts and monsters. Those rulers of the food chain bolted in every direction, running for their lives.
Yet aside from the initial rampage that flattened a chunk of the forest, the Great Ape gradually calmed down.
That was Kabe's own consciousness, brutally suppressing the Great Ape's instinct to destroy everything.
He had guessed this a long time ago.
Saiyans, even low class warriors, once they received a certain amount of training should be able to restrain the berserk instincts that came with the Great Ape transformation.
Otherwise, back when the Saiyans were sent out to wipe planets, there is no way they would have used the Great Ape tactic at all. If every Great Ape could not tell friend from foe and only knew how to wreck things, they would have torn each other apart before they ever finished off the enemy.
In reality, after two years of running off to transform every full moon, all that practice had paid off.
He really could, to some extent, keep himself from turning into a mindless war machine.
"Huff, huff, this much is good enough for now.
Transforming into a Great Ape is without question my biggest trump card at the moment, and now this card is finally usable."
Controlling that massive body, Kabe dropped down on his rear. His whole frame was tense as he sat cross-legged, quietly waiting for the moon to sink.
Once everything quieted down, his mind could not help wandering to another question.
I have barely managed to control the Great Ape form. I wonder if I can recreate an artificial moon.
Kabe was very jealous of Vegeta's little party trick, crumpling up a ball of light in his hand and throwing out his own moon.
If he could master that move, then he would be able to transform anytime, anywhere.
The move looked simple enough. Just make a ball and toss it into the sky.
Actually doing it though, he had not the faintest clue where to start.
He racked his brain for a long time and finally recalled that when Vegeta used that move, he had mentioned the word "oxygen."
So how does this actually work? Do I mix my ki with the oxygen in the air?
No, it probably is not that simple. There must be something else added in.
After turning it over in his mind for ages, Kabe did manage to come up with a few ideas.
But right now, just keeping himself from losing control was already his limit. He had no spare focus left to test out any new techniques.
Forget it. I will take my time and study it after I turn back.
With that thought, Kabe settled on the ground, patiently waiting for sunrise while wrestling with the Great Ape's raging instincts.