Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 10, x791.
In the hotel's dining room, despite the fact that they had already eaten food Alfonzo prepared, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, and Sun were sitting at a table and enjoying cups of coffee, snacks, and, in Cana's case, desserts.
"It's a little early for dessert, isn't it?" Ultear asked curiously while looking at the double-chocolate brownies Cana had just ordered.
"Talk to me when your favorite thing in the world has been taken away." Cana shot back without even looking in Ultear's direction. "These are stress relief. Kinda makes me understand why Erza is willing to eat so much strawberry shortcake."
"You know Erza doesn't eat it because she's stressed, though." Elicia pointed out.
"Yeah, strawberry shortcake is to Erza as Alcohol his to you, Cana." Alfonzo added.
*Bang!*
"Then why!?" Cana shouted as she slammed a hand on the table, drawing shocked glances from the other diners. "Why haven't you ever punished her by taking away her strawberry shortcake!? She destroys just as much, if not more than I do when she takes quests!"
That question actually drew curious glances from both Ultear and Sun. Because now that Cana brought it up, she was right. Erza, and Lucy by extension, had never been punished for excessive property damage.
"I think I can answer that for you, Cana." Elicia said as she threw an arm over Cana's shoulders. "In fact, it's really simple."
"Oh, is it?" Cana asked sharply with an eyebrow raised.
"Yup!" Elicia replied while popping the "p" and nodding vigorously.
While Alfonzo only shook his head with an exasperated smile on his face, both Ultear and Sun joined Cana in staring at Elicia with expressions that were much more than curious on their faces.
"It's because when Erza takes quests with Fonzie, she never destroys anything." Elicia continued with the index finger of her free hand raised. "As a result, Fonzie's record for never causing collateral damage has lasted until now."
Cana, Ultear, and Sun could not help but gape at Elicia's explanation. Erza not destroying everything she comes in contact with, is a foreign concept to the three of them. And neither Alfonzo nor Elicia could blame them for thinking that way.
In fact, the only reason that Erza has never destroyed anything when working with Alfonzo was quite simple.
Alfonzo makes all of her armor and weapons. So, as long as she is within the range of his [Magic Power Detection], Alfonzo can use both his [Metal Magic] and [Electromagnetism Magic] to keep collateral damage to a minimum, even if he's not right next to his red-headed wrecking ball throughout the entire quest.
Shortly after the conversation reached that point, Bickslow, Elfman, and Evergreen stepped into the dining room, storage scrolls in hand. However, when they got close to the table where Alfonzo and his wives were sitting, they felt as if something was wrong. The atmosphere was not as cheerful as they expected.
And when they saw that, despite the quest being over, Cana did not have some kind of alcoholic beverage in front of her, that feeling of wrongness only grew in scale. Then, when Alfonzo turned towards them with a friendly smile on his face that did not reach his eyes, the trio wanted to run away and get back to Magnolia on their own.
"Oh, you're here." Alfonzo said, his tone a touch too friendly for Bickslow's, Evergreen's, and Elfman's tastes. "I actually expected the three of you to be the last ones here. Are those the bodies of the Spiders in those scrolls?"
"Uh huh." Evergreen said while hugging Elfman's arm tightly. "Yeah, we handled our assignments perfectly. None of them escaped."
"Yeah, Me and my babies handled our opponent without any trouble." Bickslow said, his usual manic tone nowhere to be found.
"Alfonzo, all though you're my brother-in-law, the way you're smiling at us isn't the way a real man would smile at his companions." Elfman said, though his boisterous tone had been brought down by quite a bit.
"Oh, you think so?" Alfonzo asked while tilting his head in a slightly eerie way. "Then, it looks like you're observation skills have improved significantly, Elfman. Mira and Lisanna are gonna be so proud. AT least something good came out of the first quest where I'll be held responsible for so much property damage."
'Shit!' x 3
The expressions on the three new arrivals faces practically made their thoughts audible. It also made them look as if they were about to run away. But something told them that if they tried, things would only get worse for them.
"Anyway, sit down." Alfonzo said while enjoying the expressions Bickslow, Evergreen, and Elfman were wearing. "I made some stuff to eat. If you've already eaten, that's fine. But I'd suggest you eat something since it will probably be a while before you get to taste my cooking again."
"I'm gonna eat like a real man!" Elfman said before rushing to the table Alfonzo gestured to while he was talking.
"Come on, it's not that big a deal, right?" Evergreen said as she shot a glare at Elfman. However, when she saw how fast he was eating, her eye brows shot up before she ran to the table, as well. "Hey, don't eat it all you big lug! Leave some for me!"
Instead of running to the table like Evergreen and Elfman, Bickslow scratched the side of his head before turning his attention back to Alfonzo.
"Why do I get the feeling that this is more like a last meal than the way you made it sound?" Bickslow asked in an apprehensive tone.
"Because you've always been smarter than you look." Alfonzo said as his smile turned devious. "Well, other than those times you used to try and take Lici from me, that is."
Bickslow could only put on a hollow smile after hearing that. Yet, that did not stop him from trying to fight over food with Evergreen and Elfman.
"Now, we only have to wait for Ur and my dad." Cana said while sipping from a cup of black coffee.
"Cana, how can you drink it like that?" Sun asked, a mortified expression making it onto her face.
"It's the only thing that can match the bitterness of not being able to drink for a month." Cana replied nonchalantly. She then shot a glance at the almost white coffee in Sun's cup. "Besides, I actually like drinking coffee. Not the sugar and cream with a dash of coffee you drink."
"Are you sure it's not because it's bitter like something else?" Ultear asked while shooting a quick glance at Alfonzo's crotch.
"Not at the table, Tear." Elicia said with a giggle. "At least, not in public, anyway."
"It always amazes me how girl talk can get so much raunchier than the talks guys have in public." Alfonzo said while shaking his head.
At that moment, the last group walked into the dining room. And when Ultear saw her mother coming towards the table, she blushed in embarrassment.
"*Sigh* Lady in the streets, freak in the sheets, Tear." Ur said as she, Gildarts, and levy approached the table. "You're old enough to know that already."
Ultear, the picture of maturity, only stuck out her tongue at her mother's half-hearted reprimand.
"Anyway, now that we're all here, when's the Blackbird supposed to get here?" Ur asked as she sat at the table with Alfonzo and his wives. She then continued as she placed her team's [Storage Scrolls] on the table. "And who's gonna be flying it? From what I know, all the members of the guild who can pilot an airship are already here."
As she spoke, Ur gestured to herself, Alfonzo and Ultear, signaling that they were the only ones in Fairy Tail who knew how to fly the Blackbird and the Fairy's Tail.
"Why does it have to be someone from the guild?" Alfonzo asked with a raised eyebrow. "I have two maids who know how to pilot them, as well."
"I'd bet one of them is Grayfia." Gildarts said as he, too, took a seat. "But who's the other one?"
"It's probably maria." Levy said as she walked towards the table with food. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Miyuki, either."
"Ai would be a good choice, too." Ur added. "I mean, she's so into tech stuff that it wouldn't surprise me if she knew how to fly one, too."
"Actually, Ai is only interested in building them." Alfonzo said. "She's just fine with only driving… for now, anyway."
"So, who's the other one?" Gildarts asked while leaning forward in curiosity.
"Oh, it's actually Ikaruga." Elicia said, answering in Alfonzo's stead. "It's just in case I need to use the Blackbird to do a surprise inspection in a store outside of Fiore."
"I guess that makes sense." Ur replied. "But why didn't you just learn how to do it? Wouldn't that make even more sense?"
"It's probably so she could work on her collections during the flight." Cana pointed out after swallowing a bite of a pastry. "You know Lici only truly cares about three things."
"Clothes." Sun cheered happily.
"Alfonzo." Ultear added casually with a smirk.
"And the Children." Levy added with a nod.
*Snap!*
"Exactly." Cana concluded while snapping her fingers.
"You're so smart, Sweetie." Gildarts said in a doting tone.
"Ugh! Please stop, Dad." Cana's smug smile evaporated as she spoke. "You're so embarrassing."
Even while Cana was speaking, Sun closed the distance between them and gave her an empathetic hug.
"Actually, you forgot one." Elicia said with a smile. "Two, actually."
"Oh, and what are they?" Ur asked with a curious smile. Though, her tone hinted that she already knew the answer.
"First is you girls and the others at home." Elicia said with a smile while pointing at Cana, Ultear, and Sun. She then pointed at Bickslow, Evergreen, Gildarts, Levy, Ur, and Elfman as she continued. "And Fairy Tail, my second… Or is it third? Eh, whatever. My family."
Hearing that, everyone in the room, even those fighting over the spread Alfonzo laid out on the other table, stopped what they were doing. Then, they all smiled in varying ways. Though, Evergreen did snort dismissively while doing so.
"Anyway, you guys can all finish eating. There's more than enough for all of you." Alfonzo said with a smile of his own. "I'll go hand over the Spider corpses to the client. Along the way, I'll send you the LZ coordinates. Then, we can get the fuck outta here and go home."
"Got it." Ur replied with a nod.
With that, Alfonzo wasted no time standing up, putting away all the [Storage Scrolls], and made his way out of the dining room.
"Hey, can I come with you, Fonzie?" Elicia asked just before Alfonzo reached the dining room door.
"If you come with me, who's gonna get THAT outta the city?" Alfonzo asked over his shoulder.
In response, Elicia crossed her arms in front of her chest, slouched in her chair, and blew a raspberry, a clear sign of her discontent. Alfonzo only smiled at her pout and blew a kiss over his shoulder before walking out of the dining room to leave the rest to eat.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
Not long later, Alfonzo arrived at the inn where Kurapika was staying. Then, after greeting the overly suspicious receptionist, he made his way up to Kurapika's room before knocking on the door.
"Just a moment." Kurapika said from the other side of the door. A moment later, he opened the door and recognized Alfonzo almost immediately. "Oh, Mr. Marcus… Is there anything else I can help you with? I did not expect to see you again until you completed the quest."
"Did you hear about the commotion that happened yesterday?" Alfonzo asked with a smile. "It should have been hard to miss."
"Yes, I did." Kurapika replied with a nod. He then stepped aside and made room for Alfonzo to enter. "Anyway, please come in. The hallway is no place to converse."
Nodding in response, Alfonzo stepped into the room. Then, without a word, he made his way over to the small table and began laying out the [Storage Scrolls] that [Sealed] the corpses of the Phantom Troupe.
"Well, the commotion you heard was from the battles the members of my guild had with the Phantom Troupe." Alfonzo said while turning to address Kurapika, who had just closed the door. He then pointed at the [Storage Scrolls] marked with the names Feitan, Franklin, Phinks, Shalnark, Bonolenov, and Hisoka before he continued. "And the corpses of the Spiders who lost those fights are in there."
Alfonzo then pointed towards the [Storage Scrolls] labeled Uvogin, Nobunaga, Shizuku, and Pakunoda.
"And those are the ones killed outside of the city by other members of my team." Alfonzo continued before pointing at the [Storage Scrolls] labeled Machi, Kortopi, and Chrollo. "And those are the ones I killed myself. And unless I can't count, which I'm pretty good at, actually, that makes thirteen. In other words, all of the Spiders are accounted for. Even better, there were no casualties on our side."
The skepticism in Kurapika's eyes was hard to miss. In his mind, the Phantom Troupe were the things of nightmares. So, to hear Alfonzo say that they were all taken care of in less than two days was more than a little unbelievable.
And when Alfonzo noticed Kurapika's disbelief, he rolled his eyes. Then, he picked up the [Storage Scroll] containing Chrollo Lucilfer's body, spread it out on the floor near the table, and injected his magic power into it.
*Poof!*
A moment later, Chrollo's lifeless body appeared on top of the scroll. And when Kurapika saw it, he was completely dumbfounded.
"This is their leader, Chrollo Lucilfer." Alfonzo said bluntly. "He had the ability to steal spells from the people he defeated. Though, I don't' really know the details. Anyway, the other twelve members of the Phantom Troupe are also stored in these scrolls. I can take them out if you want… They might be kinda hard to look at, though."
"No, I don't' think that's necessary." Kurapika replied. "I just… don't know what to think right now. I mean… I honestly thought that whoever accepted this quest would fail, leaving me to find a way to grow stronger and take revenge for my clan by myself."
*Poof!*
"Yeah, I kinda noticed the last time we met." Alfonzo replied as he [Sealed] Chrollo's body back into the [Storage Scroll]. "But we're Fairy Tail. And Fairy Tail doesn't fail quests. You should keep that in mind for the future."
After speaking his piece, Alfonzo rolled up the scroll and left it on the table. Then, he looked at Kurapika with narrowed eyes as he pulled out the request sheet. He then began tapping the reward amount with his free index finger.
"I just hope you have the reward ready." Alfonzo said, his tone not quite as friendly as before. "Because… It wouldn't surprise me if you haven't prepared the Jewels after thinking that anyone who took the quest would fail."
On top of sounding less friendly, Alfonzo's magic power started to flare, putting pressure on Kurapika, and Kurapika alone.
"No… That's not the case." Kurapika said while waving his hands frantically. "Although I didn't think that anyone would succeed. I knew how bad the consequences would be if I didn't have the payment ready. Believe me."
"Good." Alfonzo said with a nod as he retracted his pressure. "Because… Although I wouldn't have done anything to you… You know, since I'm an upstanding Legal Guild wizard, I don't' now how long you would have to wait to get your clan's eyes back."
Alfonzo then reached into his bag and pulled out another scroll labeled "Curta Clan Eyes" before he started tossing it lightly in his hand. He then made a little space and unrolled the scroll on the table before injecting his magic power into it.
*Poof!*
And just like last time, with Alfonzo's magic power, the scroll's contents were [Unsealed], revealing small glass jars, each filled with a pair of crimson red eyes and a fluid that would keep them from decaying.
"So, let's finish this transaction." Alfonzo said as he handed the request sheet to Kurapika." "I'll even let you have those [Storage Scrolls] with the bodies in them. But I'll keep the one for the eyes. Opening them up without any magic power would probably be a hassle. However, if you take these scrolls to the Magic Council, they should be able to open them if you think I'm tricking you. Or… You could just burn them if you wanna get rid of the bodies yourself. Either way, I don't care. Just so long as I get my money and your signature, I can finally go back home to see my kids."
While Alfonzo monologued, Kurapika walked over to a closet, which he opened swiftly. Then, he pulled out a large metal suitcase and placed it on the floor in front of Alfonzo. Finally, he signed the request sheet before handing it back.
"I trust you." Kurapika said. "Though, I will still find someone to open the scrolls. I still wanna see the looks on those bastards' faces when they lost their lives."
"Whatever." Alfonzo replied with a shrug before crouching to open the metal case. Then, after seeing the stacks of cash lined up in the case, he picked one up and quickly counted it before putting it back in the case. "Oh, this looks about right. Well then, it was a pleasure doing business with you."
Then, without another word, Alfonzo closed the case, took the request sheet, and started walking towards the door.
Just before reaching the door, Alfonzo stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, and if you have any other requests you need a bit of magical help with, Fairy Tail is always available to help you solve them." Alfonzo said as he pulled the door open, waved at Kurapika, and closed the door behind him as he left.
*Click!*
And with that, the quest to eliminate the Phantom Troupe came to an official end. Meanwhile, Kurapika was left standing in his room at the inn with tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at the one hundred and twenty-two pairs of eyes on and around the table in his room.
"You've all been avenged." Kurapika muttered as he stroked one of the jars on the table. "Now, you can all finally rest in peace."