Chapter 73 - A Meeting of the Minds

---Stardust Garden---

Telling the women I saved from Shang Tsung about the trip the next day, I asked if any of them were interested in going. Surprisingly all of them were enthusiastic about going...especially Shera.

"Of course!! I have always wanted to go on Adventures with friends!!", Shera cheered, "Let's get going!!"

Grabbing her before she ran out the door, I told her we were leaving tomorrow...not now. Hearing Ryuu sigh and shake her head, she volunteered to come with us to make sure Shera didn't get herself killed. Refuting that comment, Shera said she wasn't going to be in any danger because she always watched her surroundings.

"Except all the times you can't see your feet.", Merlin teased her.

"Haha!", Shion laughed.

"You shouldn't be laughing...you always knock stuff over with those useless mounds of fat.", Tatsumaki stated.

Surprised to hear her speaking, I noticed that Kushina seemed to be doing better as well as she was laughing at Shion too. Confirming that the others were onboard with the plan as well, Bella and Lily asked if they could go too. Tossing her a bag of money, I told Lily, Bella, and Ryuu to make sure they were fully equipped for this trip. Eagerly accepting my request, Bella told them that they should head out now before the evening rush started. Leaving them to get their shopping done, I headed over to the Traveler's Inn to see Sirzechs.

"You ever going to tell her?", Ristarte asked, "I mean tell Bella about what happened to Violet? She is going to notice that she went missing all of a sudden."

"No...if I did she'd know what Violet did to her. I'd rather she keep that bright smile on her face than let that bitch ruin it.", I replied.

Walking up to the Traveler's Inn, I found Sirzechs behind the bar acting like a bartender. Looking around as we stepped inside, there were a lot more women here than I remembered. Seeing a lot of newbie Adventurers drooling all over him, I just smirked when he looked over at me.

"He's quite the lady magnet.", Hermes stated as he got up from his seat.

"Unlike you.", Hestia remarked, "You scare them away."

"That hurts Hestia!", Hermes replied acting like he was really hurt, "Why would you say that?"

Not answering his stupid question, Hermes changed gears and asked why we were here. Telling him about the trip tomorrow, I said I wanted to see if he was interested in joining. Walking over to ask him for me, Sirzechs gave me a thumbs up and a relieved look. It was pretty clear Hermes guilt tripped the poor guy into bartending just to line his own pockets. Deciding that I should probably find him better accommodations, I added it to my list of things to do.

---Next Day, Earthland---

Waking up at around 8am, I headed over to see Levy and Hermione. I wanted to make sure the device was ready when I got back from the Dungeon trip. Once I got back, I want to go find Grimoire Heart and Tartaros to destroy them before they caused anyone harm. After that, it was time for some Slime Hunting.

Knocking on their door, I waited for a few moments before hearing a "Come In" from Hermione. Opening the door, I heard Levy scream that she wasn't ready. When the door was open completely, I saw Levy in the middle of putting a shirt on.

"Close the door you idiot!", she shouted hurling a book at me.

Closing the door before it hit me, I watched the corner of it pierce the door. After a few more moments, Levy gave the all clear to comeback in. Re-entering the room, I pulled the book out and fixed the door with my magic. Handing it back to her with a smile, she looked away in embarrassment.

"Morning.", I said as I greeted them, "Just wanted to check in on your progress."

"We said two weeks...", Hermione stated in a grumpy tone, "We are working with the Magic Council, and working on your project. You can't rush perfection."

"I am not rushing perfection, I am rushing you.", I teased her.

Giving me a blank stare, she let out out a sigh and returned to her books. Holding back her laughter, Levy looked like she was going to pee herself. Taking a few minutes to collect herself, eventually she managed to tell me that the device should be ready in a week as promised. Noticing that their room was once again a mess, I quickly got it sorted for them.

"Jeez, you ladies are probably the smartest women I know but you are also the most disorganized women too.", I chuckled.

"Every genius has a few quirks.", they replied.

Agreeing with them on that, the three of us laughed it off. Thanking Hermione and her for their hard work, Levy looked like she wanted to say something. Since she looked really hesitant to ask what she wanted, I decided to ask first.

"Is there something else?", I asked.

"Well...do you think you could maybe take some time to help us train?", she inquired with a nervous look, "Hermione and I did terrible in the Ranking Trials, and I want to do better next year. Both of us are book smarts...not really trained fighters."

"Hey!", Hermione refuted.

"I am not saying we don't know how to, but we were really outclassed by the other teams.", Levy reminded her, "Evergreen trounced us before we could react, and that...that is still a sore spot for me."

Understanding where she was coming from, I was happy they trusted me enough to help them with this. Telling them that I was happy to help, I heard their front doo open. Poking their heads in Charmy, Vanessa, and Noelle also wanted in on the training. They weren't happy that they were badly beaten this year, and wanted to get tougher.

"Charmy...just so we are clear, you won't be able to carry your bag of food with us...", I stated.

"I bought Magic Bags for that reason.", Charmy replied showing off her small bag, "This is my personal snack bag, I have one for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert."

"...seriously?", Noelle asked.

"Uh yes, and none of you can have any.", Charmy remarked, "Well maybe Mael since he is going to train us."

"How big are the bags?", Vanessa inquired.

Telling them that it had a five foot cubed space in side, the women just looked at her wondering where she put it all away. She was curvy, but not unhealthily so which made them upset. I mean who wouldn't want to be able to eat all you wanted without gaining any weight.

"Anyways, yes all of you can join if you want. Just remember that it won't be easy, getting strong takes time and effort. If it was easy, everyone would do it.", I said to make sure their expectations were reasonable.

Thanking Hermione and Levy again, I headed back home to collect the women for our trip.

---3rd Person POV---

Closing the door after Mael and the others left, Levy let out a sigh of frustration.

"You didn't ask him...", Hermione stated.

"I didn't hear you say anything either.", Levy replied.

Scratching her head, she nodded in agreement. Both women had secretly been watching Mael from afar for a long time. Unlike the other boys, which treated them like weirdos, Mael was the only one that took an interest in their work. During his many visits he'd clean their apartment, talk to them about their personal research, and had cooked them dinner on more than one occasion.

Several months back they had intended to ask him out, but stopped when he asked the women he was living with to be his girlfriends. Now though, both of them had a new chance to win him over during training and that is exactly what they intended to do. One way or another, they would tell them how they feel regardless of what may happen.

"We are going to need new training clothes.", Hermione said, "Ours are kind of bland."

"Yeah, and perfume too.", Levy stated, "Men don't like smelly women."

"Should we maybe try keeping the apartment clean?", Hermione suggested, "Maybe he likes organized women too."

"...that is a big task...", Levy said looking at the clean room, "I give us a week before it's back to the way it was."

---Mael POV, Orario---

Teleporting us outside of Babel, the women were taken aback by the giant tower that was Babel. Seeing many different races walking the courtyard, they were excited to have this new experience.

"So how many groups are going down into the Dungeon?", Erza asked.

"If I remember correctly it should be six in total.", I told her.

Before they could ask me anything else, I heard a voice calling out to me. Glancing over towards where it was coming from, I saw Bella and the others running over with breakfast in hand.

"Mael!!", Bella shouted running over with a bagel sandwich, "Who are these people?"

"Bella, these are my girlfriends.", I said, "Ladies, these are my adopted sisters Bella and Lily. The others are friends of ours that are coming along with us."

"Nice to meet nya!", Millianna stated with a smile as she reached out her hand towards Bella and Lily.

Shaking hands with everyone, Bella seemed very excited to meet all of them. Before I knew it, she was already telling them about our childhood and Juvia was writing it all down. Leaving them be, since there wasn't anything really embarrassing, I waited for the Goddesses and Sirzechs to arrive.

Arriving earlier than expected Hestia, Ristarte, and a drowse Aqua showed up ready to go. Seeing the bags under her eyes, I asked Aqua why she looked so tired. Explaining that she had trouble deciding what liquor to bring in with us. She didn't want the cheap wine or water that Adventurers usually brought which was ironic...as she was the Goddess of Water. Before I could introduce them to Erza and company, Freya and Ishtar arrived.

"Zeus and Hera backed out.", Freya stated with a smile.

"What happened?", I asked, "He seemed really excited about this trip."

"Let's just say Hermes is in Intensive Care.", Ishtar laughed with an angry smile.

Knowing that Hermes was involved, I came to the conclusion they did some peeping and got caught. Saying hello to Aisha and Ottar, all we were waiting for now was Sirzechs and Loki's group. Coming over to sit with me, I could tell Juvia and Minerva weren't happy about it.

"Juvia thinks those are some revealing clothes...", Juvia said looking at Ishtar, Freya, and the Amazonian women with Ishtar.

"This is what I usually wear. Mortals and Gods have different tastes in style.", Ishtar stated.

"Besides, we dressed casually for our lover.", Freya added glancing at me, "Men like admiring their lovers."

Knowing she wanted an explanation, I planned on waiting for Loki to arrive so I didn't have to explain this again. Before anyone got to ask any questions, I saw Sirzechs walking over with a relieved look.

"Long night bartending?", I asked.

"You have no idea...", he sighed.

Talking with him up till the meeting time, we watched Ais and Riveria carrying Loki over towards us. Hearing her groans of pain, both of them looked annoyed with her antics.

"Good Morning Loki!", Hestia said louder than needed.

"MY HEAD!!", Loki complained, "Mael, help me!!"

"You are hungover...aren't you?", I asked.

Confirming that she was, I used Ark to heal her so we could go. Thanking me with a grin on her face, she gave me a kiss on the lips as a thanks.

"Thank ya darlin.", she snickered.

Feeling ten pairs of eyes stare at me, I knew this was going to be a long trip.