166 The Calm Before the Storm

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

August, x784.

A few days have passed since the war with Phantom Lord started. Even though the victories Fairy Tail achieved were impressive, as well as decisive, Makarov had no illusions that was enough to dissuade Jose from attacking once again. Especially since as one of the two strongest guild's in Fiore, Jose would never accept the fact that his guild failed a quest.

Because of that, despite the seemingly peaceful atmosphere in Magnolia, the guild was still on high alert. On top of that, there was another issue that was bothering Makarov even more than the imminent attack from Phantom Lord.

"Mira, have you had any luck getting in contact with Laxus or Mystogan?" Makarov asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"I've received a response from Mystogan." Mirajane replied while sitting in Alfonzo's lap and feeding him a piece of fruit. "He said he would be back as soon as he could. But Laxus hasn't replied yet."

Naturally, Mirajane's position in Alfonzo's lap was the reason for Makarov's twitching eyebrow. Meanwhile, the other members of the guild were tearing down what was left of the destroyed guild hall. Two days ago, Alfonzo had given up on creating a new design for the new guild hall, opting to go with the second design from the anime while adding enough defensive sigils that Gildarts would have to use at least seventy percent of his magic power to damage it.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, with Mirajane in his lap, was examining the [Iron Clubs] Gajeel used to destroy the guild hall in the first place. At the same time, he was experimenting with somehow adding the Dragon Slayer property into his own metals.

Ever since he had that idea when he first saw the destroyed guild hall, it had occupied the majority of his thoughts. In fact, it was the main reason why Alfonzo was unable to come up with an original design for the new guild hall.

"*Sigh* What is that boy doing?" Makarov grumbled. "His guild... His home was attacked, and he hasn't even sent a letter to check on it."

"Hmph! And that son of a bitch thinks he's gonna be the next guild master." Alfonzo said in reply to Makarov's grumbling. Then, he remembered that Laxus was Makarov's grandson. "Ah... No offense, Gramps."

"*Sigh* Are you two ever gonna get along?" Makarov asked while shaking his head in exasperation.

"You should ask me that question again when Laxus manages to get his head out of his ass." Alfonzo replied uncaringly. "But as long as he's still a self-centered wannabe dictator, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

"*Sigh* I wanna defend him, but I don't even know how at this point." Makarov muttered while turning his head towards the ongoing deconstruction.

"*Hiccup* Why do you guys look so gloomy?" Cana asked, walking away from the rest of the guild, who were working, with a barrel of ale wrapped in her arms.

"Cana, shouldn't you be helping the others?" Mirajane asked with a smile.

"Says the girl that's leisurely sitting in the most desirable seat in the mansion." Cana replied while rolling her eyes.

In response, Mirajane's smile widened while a light dusting of red colored her cheeks.

Ever since Mirajane spent that night talking with Alfonzo, she's tried her best to be attached to him as much as possible. At the same time, she tried to do it in a way that would not be annoying and make him feel as if she were too clingy.

"But seriously, weren't you supposed to be helping, Cana?" Alfonzo asked with a smile as he looked away from the [Iron Clubs].

"I tried." Cana replied with a shrug as she raised the barrel in her arms. "But they said my hands weren't steady enough and I was making more work for everyone else. Some crap about me drinking too much... Hmph! As if."

With that, Cana raised the barrel even higher and put the opening to her mouth before gulping down its contents.

Seeing that, Alfonzo, Makarov, and Mirajane could only shake their heads at the completely unaware girl in front of them.

"*Burp~~~~~!*" When she was done drinking from the barrel, Cana unleashed a belch that echoed around the entire plot of land. "Ah~~~! That's the good stuff."

Seriously, I have no idea why they would ever say that you drink too much." Mirajane said with a deadpan expression.

"I know, right?" Cana replied with a bewildered expression.

'Wow! Cana really is getting powerful.' Alfonzo mused to himself. 'She's even developed an immunity skill. And it's one of the more powerful ones in the omniverse, sarcasm immunity.'

"By the way, where is Elicia?" Makarov asked curiously after deciding to ignore Fairy Tail's resident alcoholic. "I thought she would be helping, too. Her threads would be great for moving away rubble and unusable materials."

"Oh, she's at the house working on the new flags for the guild hall." Alfonzo replied. "Actually, she should be done by now. She's probably on her way here as we speak."

Just as Alfonzo said, Elicia was currently walking up the path that led from the guild hall to the rest of Magnolia. However, before she could arrive where the rest of the guild was working, she noticed someone standing behind a tree and spying on the work progress.

'Hmm... Who's that?' Elicia wondered as she approached the tree in question. "A black fur-lined hat, a black shawl, and long blue hair... That's Juvia, right? Well, I knew she was in the area thanks to the [Magic Power detection], but since she can turn into water, I expected her to be in the form of a puddle, or something less obvious.'

"Hey, you're Juvia, right?" Elicia asked as she managed to get right behind the blue-haired girl without being noticed.

"Kya~~~!" Juvia screamed in surprise before turning around. "Who's sneaking up on Juvia?"

"Hi, I'm Elicia... Elicia Taylor. It's nice to meet you." Elicia said with a cheerful smile.

In response, Juvia stared at Elicia warily while subtly tensing her muscles, ready to defend herself if needed.

"Easy now." Elicia said, raising her hands disarmingly. "I was only curious why you were here?"

"Juvia has no need to tell you." Juvia replied, still ready for a sudden attack.

'*Sigh* She's so prickly.' Elicia muttered internally. 'I really hope she doesn't start a fight. Although I'm sure I could beat her if I had to, fighting someone who can turn into water with threads would be a real pain.'

In an attempt to deescalate the situation, Elicia decided to continue smiling while putting her meta knowledge to use.

"Well, if I were to take a guess, I would say that you were watching someone." Elicia said while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Maybe someone with black hair?"

In response, Juvia's face reddened immediately.

"O-o-of course not!" Juvia denied frantically. "Th-the-there's no way Juvia would be interested in someone from Fairy Tail. And there is no way that Juvia would think that Gray Fullbuster and the Milkovich mother and daughter were her soul mates."

That's right, in the few days that Juvia had been stalking... gathering intel about Gray and Ultear, she had the chance to feel Ur's aura on several occasions. And the fact that it felt a lot like Gray and Ultear's mixed with the fact that she was so similar in appearance to Ultear, Juvia found herself head over heels for Ur as well.

In response to Juvia unintentionally admitting to the fact that she was in to not only Gray, but Ur and Ultear, as well, Elicia somehow maintained her smile. Though her twitching upper lips was more than enough proof of her total bafflement.

'Seriously?' Elicia wondered. 'I get why she would be into Gray. Objectively speaking, he's pretty good looking, he defeated her in battle, and ever since she lost to him and Ultear, the rain that usually follows her around has yet to return. For the same reasons, I can understand why she would be into Ultear, even if I never expected it. But Ur was nowhere near that battlefield.'

A moment later, Elicia remembered Lyon.

'And why did she never get all googly-eyed over Lyon?' Elicia asked herself. 'I mean, he's basically just a white-haired Gray clone, right? Maybe it's because she had enough time to let her feelings settle? That's the only explanation I can come up with.'

While Elicia was thinking, Juvia was panicking even more. She had just realized that she all but admitted to having a thing for the three Fairy Tail ice wizards. And right now, all sorts of ideas to talk her way out of this situation were quickly being created and, just as quickly, discarded in her head. Before she could figure out how to save herself from this predicament, Elicia spoke once again.

"Well, good luck, I guess." Elicia replied while scratching her left cheek with her index finger. "But I'd give up on Ultear if I were you. She's already taken. Gray and Ur are still on the market, though."

Elicia's statement caused Juvia's thought processes to grind to a sudden halt. With a look of disbelief in her eyes, she stared at Elicia for a few seconds, completely unmoving. Then, her disbelief slowly transformed into rage. With that transformation, Juvia's body began to shudder while the sound of bubbling water could be heard.

"Juvia will not allow this." Juvia said in a frosty tone. "Tell Juvia who dares to steal away one of her soul mates."

'Oh, it looks like she's going into her [Sierra] mode.' Elicia thought as she noticed the temperature was rising due to Juvia's emotions going out of control. 'I always wondered, if her [Water Body] reaches the boiling point, how does she keep herself from starting to evaporate?'

"Sure, I can do that." Elicia replied with a shrug, still not losing her smile. "But just out of curiosity, what will you do when you find out?"

"Juvia will get rid of them." Juvia replied without hesitation.

As soon as she finished speaking, Juvia felt the atmosphere around her change. And despite the rage she was feeling, she could feel it being overtaken by an uncontrollable fear.

"And how exactly do you intend to 'get rid of them?" Elicia asked with a friendly smile on her face. Even so, the look in her eyes was anything but friendly. "Although I'm sure you had no idea about this, but Ultear and I share the same man. So, if you 'get rid of him' the way I'm thinking you will, that would be a problem."

At the moment, Juvia's instincts were telling her to run as far away as she could. Unfortunately, she was unable to follow her instincts. Due to fear, she was rooted in place, unable to move her legs in the slightest. And since she could not move, her instincts quickly gave her another way to possibly survive the situation.

"O-o-of course I didn't mean it like that."  Juvia said, so scared that she forgot to speak in third person. "What I mean was, I would find him and have a conversation about the situation. And hopefully, we would be able to come to a conclusion that would satisfy all parties involved."

Immediately the dangerous atmosphere dissipated after Juvia's quick save.

'*Sigh* I need to get these emotional outbursts in check.' Elicia thought to herself. 'I mean, seriously, Juvia doesn't have a chance of even hurting Alfonzo. On top of that, I'm pretty sure Juvia is weak to lightning or electricity based magic. So, Fonzie is kind of a hard counter to her. And even if that didn't work, he could just trap her in a metal box and be done with her, too.'

"Well, if all you want to do is talk, then wee---" Elicia said before her head snapped in the direction of the river that flows through Magnolia.

Not only Elicia, but everyone capable of using [Magic Power Detection] turned their heads towards the outskirts of the town where the river entered. At the end of their lines of sight, there was an extremely large stone structure standing on six mechanical, spider-like legs walking into the town through the river. And at the top of the structure was a purple flag with a black Phantom Lord emblem in its center.

"So, they've come." Makarov said, turning towards the moving Phantom Lord building.

"Hey Gramps, can you let me have their guild master?" Alfonzo asked with a sinister smile on his face. "He made the mistake of threatening my Lici. And he's gotta pay for that."

Makarov's first thought was to immediately deny Alfonzo's request. Jose is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, after all. However, after seeing Alfonzo's smile, he decided that it would be a good experience for Alfonzo to get some experience against a wizard of Jose's caliber. He could always jump into save him whenever something went completely awry, right?

"Sure." Makarov replied while turning his attention back to the moving building. "But I won't help you get to him. If you're too exhausted when you arrive, I'll handle him myself."

'Oh, yeah, that was perfect.' Makarov cheered for himself internally. 'Since Alfonzo will definitely be a high-priority target, He'll definitely expend too much magic power by the time he reaches Jose. Then, I can just get him to safety and take care of Jose myself.'

"Got it." Alfonzo said with his smile widening. "This will be fun."