In the Middle of the Night

Earth Land, Ishgar, kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

June 4, x785.

Shortly after the clock struck midnight, The homunculi were once again gathered in the cavern under Crocus.

"What's taking Lust so long?" Envy said impatiently with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I don't know why you're complaining like that, Envy." Greed said in a nonchalant tone. "It's not like Shirotsume is a short walk away from the capital."

"That doesn't matter." Envy replied snappily. "She should have been here by now."

"Lust, where are you?" Gluttony asked with a lost expression on his face while looking around fearfully.

"See, that's why I want her back here." Envy said in an annoyed tone. "Without Lust, no one can stop his incessant whining."

"I guess you're right." Greed replied while shrugging uncaringly.

"There is no need to wait for Lust." Father said from atop his throne. "She won't be joining us tonight… Or ever again."

Hearing that, the three homunculi standing below the dragon's skeleton widened their eyes in shock.

"Lust has failed her mission." Father continued, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he lost another one of his homunculi. "And lost her life in the process."

"How is that possible?" Envy questioned angrily. "There should be no way that Lust was unable to run away before it was too late."

"As of now, I have no answer to that question." Father replied.

"Did that Alfonzo brat show up and send her into space like he did with Wrath?" Greed asked with a contemplative expression on his face.

"That is a distinct possibility." Father replied with a nod.

"Lust… is dead?" Gluttony asked, sounding as if he was unable to believe what he just heard.

A moment later, Gluttony's expression turned wrathful. Then, he opened his mouth wide. After that, however, nothing happened. Though it was clear that he was trying to open his torso like he did when he and Lust sneak attacked Elicia. Unfortunately, the stitching Elicia left behind to seal his [False Gate of Truth] was still in place.

"That is truly a remarkable ability." Father said while watching Gluttony rage. "Unfortunately, it is paramount that we find a way to dispel it."

'Yeah, I don't see this working out.' Greed thought to himself. 'It seems to me that they have a way to defeat our kind rather quickly. Unfortunately, we have no idea what it is. Either way, I think it's time to get off this sinking ship. I'll wait for "Dear Old Dad" to send me on a task. And when he does, I'm never coming back.'

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Mermaid Heel HQ.

At around the same time, in the spare bedroom I the Fairy Tail wizards lodging, the bed was occupied by two unconscious women. And at that time, the first of the two women, Marin began to stir. To her surprise, she was no longer feeling much pain from her injured arm. Instead, the intense pain she was feeling before she lost consciousness was replaced with a dull ache.

'I'm still alive?' Marin asked herself as she moved her right arm gingerly. 'But how? There was no one around to help me.'

["You forgot, huh?"] Nova asked from Marin's inner world. ["You set off your emergency beacon before you started fighting that homunculus, remember?"]

Stopping for a moment to recollect the events before she lost consciousness, Marin eventually remembered the beacon. Then, she exhaled a sigh of relief.

'I guess that means someone rushed over to save me.' Marin said internally. 'But I wonder who it was.'

["There's only one person who has the receiver of the beacon, and is fast enough to make it in time, you know."] Nova replied while rolling her eyes. ["I don't know why you even have to think about it. Who else could it be other than Fonzie."]

'*Sigh* I guess you're right.' Marin replied with a smile creeping on to her face. 'I guess I'm really lucky he's my boyfriend, huh?'

["Damn right, you are."] Nova replied proudly.

With that, Marin finally let herself relax completely. And when she did, she noticed her face was being pressed into something both large and soft.

'What is this?' Marin asked herself while trying to lift her arms to touch the thing… or rather, things her face was pressed into.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be something wrapped around her arms and torso, preventing Marin from moving her arms.

'And what is this wrapped around me?' Marin asked herself yet again.

["Honestly, I'm not sure."] Nova replied in an unsure tone. ["When you're unconscious, I can't see the outside world. But You should probably spread your [Magic Power Detection] and take a look."]

Agreeing with Nova, Marin did just that and spread her [Magic Power Detection].

'So, I'm in the Mermaid Heel HQ.' Marin thought to herself. 'More importantly, the one holding me in place, is this… Erza?'

["It would seem so."] Nova replied.

'But why is she here?' Marin asked in a confused tone. 'And why is she hugging me like this?'

["If I had to guess, she probably followed the emergency signal."] Nova replied. ["But why she's hugging you to her chest like that, I have no clue."]

As it turns out, after bringing Marin and Erza to the house, Alfonzo laid them down in the same bed. Then, he went to take care of dinner for the other people staying in the house. And since neither of them woke up after he finished with dinner, he decided to let them sleep.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo told Lucy all about what happened to day. Especially since she was quite unhappy that he did not keep his promise of coming to see her during his lunch break. However, when she heard the whole story of what happened, she did not stay angry for long.

'I guess that makes sense.' Marin thought to herself as she tried to gently remove Erza's arms from around her.

Unfortunately, Marin's movements managed to rouse Erza from her sleep, as well.

"Huh?" Erza muttered groggily. "Where am I?"

"Oh, did I wake you?" Marin asked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"Hmm? Marin?" Erza asked, clearly still half-asleep. "Oh, it's just you…"

With that, Erza closed her eyes, ready to go back to sleep. At the same time, she tightened her hold on Marin, who could only smile wryly because of that.

A moment later, however, Erza's eyes shot open, and she looked down towards her bosom. Then, she tightened her hug even further.

"Marin, thank goodness you're all right!" Erza shouted loud enough to be heard by everyone on the second floor of the house.

*Pat* *Pat*

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Marin said weakly as she patted Erza's arms while the air was being pressed out of her lungs. "But if you don't let go, I won't be for long…"

Hearing the struggle in Marin's voice, Erza loosened her hold. Though, she did not release Marin completely. Instead, she tried to look her over for any more injuries. Unfortunately, since the lights in the room were off, that was much harder than it would have usually been.

Then, just when Erza realized she needed more light, the door to the bedroom was opened before the lights were turned on. Looking in the direction of the, now, open door, Erza and Marin saw Lucy, Wendy, and Carla standing in the doorway.

"Oh, good." Lucy said in a relieved tone. "You two are awake."

"Are you guys, okay?" Wendy asked in a worried tone.

"You two should be more careful." Carla added. "You really made Wendy worry."

Though Carla spoke dismissively, it was clear to anyone who looked at her that she was just as, if not more, worried than Wendy. And naturally for her, the three older girls all noticed. As a result, they all smiled at her gently.

"What are those looks for?" Carla asked with a huff as she turned her head away to hide her embarrassment.

"By the way…" Marin said while craning her neck to look behind Lucy, Wendy, and Carla. "Where is Fonzie?"

"Now that you mention it…" Erza added as she loosened her grip on Marin. "I can't feel his magic power signature."

Hearing Erza and Marin ask about Alfonzo, a pout appeared on Lucy's face. Meanwhile, Wendy and Carla looked up at her with curious gazes, as well.

"He left to work on something secret." Lucy said in a clearly discontented tone. "Apparently, he's been leaving in the middle of the night to work on it every night since you all first got here."

"Really?" Marin asked with her eyes widening in surprise. "But he always went to bed and woke up with me in the morning."

"Yeah, he told me about that." Lucy said, her pout deepening as she spoke. "He snuck out after you fell asleep and always made sure to be back before you woke up."

Once again, Marin was shocked. And the expression on her face showed that emotion perfectly.

"Uh… Anyway, we should probably talk about that later." Marin said, regaining her composure quickly. "For now, Wendy, Carla, I think the two of you should get back to bed. You have to train with Master Tsunade in the morning, after all."

With out a fuss, Wendy nodded her head with a wry smile on her face. She was clearly interested in the gossip that would definitely follow. Unfortunately, after learning under Tsunade, which consisted of avoiding attacks for the majority of the morning and trying out the medical techniques she learned in practical training in the afternoon, she was exhausted. So, she followed Marin's advice obediently.

"Good night." Wendy said as she turned around to return to her room. "And I'm glad you two are okay."

"Hmph! I knew he was just a playboy." Carla muttered quietly, though not quiet enough to escape the ears of everyone else, while she followed Wendy back to their room.

Meanwhile, Erza, Marin, and Lucy smiled at Wendy's concern. However, when they heard what Carla muttered, their smiles turned wry rather quickly. Eventually, they heard the sound of Wendy and Carla's bedroom door closing. Then, Erza and Marin's gazes fell on Lucy.

"So, what has Fonzie been sneaking out to do?" Marin asked in a tone mixed with sternness and curiosity.

"If I knew, I'd tell you." Lucy said, her tone a little dejected. "But he's keeping it a secret, for now."

"Could he be seeing someone behind our backs?" Erza asked in a contemplative tone. "According to the novels I read, for someone of his stature, it's not unthinkable."

"No." Marin and Lucy replied simultaneously.

"Fonzie would never do something like that." Marin said with conviction.

"He promised me that wasn't the case." Lucy added. " He even swore on his magic that he wasn't sneaking around with another woman."

Hearing that, both Erza and Marin sighed in relief.

"Then, where do you think he's going?" Marin asked in a curious tone. "Wait, more important than that, how did you find out? If he was sneaking out, I'm sure he would wait until everyone was asleep, right?"

Not only Marin, but Erza also looked at Lucy with curiosity after Marin asked her question.

At the same time, Lucy began to blush.

"Oh, there must be a story behind this." Marin said as she stood from the bed. Then, she continued as she reached Lucy's side. "Why don't you tell us about it."

A moment later, Erza appeared on Lucy's other side.

"Indeed, I'm curious to know, as well." Erza added with a smile.

Then, both Erza and Marin threw an arm around Lucy's shoulders as they walked her over to the bed.

"*Sigh* You two aren't gonna let me go until I tell you everything, are you?" Lucy asked in a resigned tone.

"Nope!" Marin replied excitedly.

"Is it something you can't tell us?" Erza asked curiously.

"No, not really." Lucy replied with her blush deepening. "It's just embarrassing."

"Oh, now I definitely have to know." Marin replied, her excitement rising.

"Okay, fine." Lucy said as she got comfortable on the bed between Erza and Marin. "It started after dinner, the night before last. After washing the dishes, I went and took a shower. Then, I put on the sexiest lingerie I owned and made my way to Alfonzo's room…"

Like that, Lucy told Erza and Marin the story of how she lost her virginity. And although the part about how she noticed that Alfonzo was completely dressed after taking a shower was in there, as well, the girls decided they could talk about that later. Instead, they were more interested in getting Lucy to spill all the details of her first time with Alfonzo.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, with Riot and Bedlam released, was floating above the island where he was building the venue for his and Elicia's wedding, which would also serve as his and the girl's new residence after the wedding.

["Was it really a good idea to leave and work on this tonight?"] Bedlam asked. ["I mean, won't it make it harder to keep the fact that you're leaving in the middle of the night a secret?"]

"Don't worry about it, Bedlam." Alfonzo replied while molding the outer walls of the structure. "I'm sure Lucy will tell them about it, eventually. So, it's better to just get the job done."

["Besides, they'll thank him for it later."] Riot added. ["Though, I'm amazed you decided to make a recreation of the Playboy Mansion."]

"Well, I happened to see it on the internet in my past life." Alfonzo replied. "And regardless of its original intent, it was an impressive floor plan. So, I thought, why the fuck not."

Like that, while Marin, Erza, and Lucy continued to chat about their night lives, Alfonzo continued to chat with his [Armament Spirits] while he continued building his side project. And thanks to the fact that he slowed down while working on the Mermaid Heel training facilities, after bringing Marin back, he had more than enough magic power to work at his usual pace.

Then, when he eventually returned to the house in the Mermaid Heel HQ, Alfonzo noticed that Erza, Marin, and Lucy were sleeping together in the other room. So, instead of bothering them, he just went to bed, intending to get a couple hours of sleep before he had to start working again.