{Bitter-Sweet Revenge}: A Promise Made

As they walked back out into the main hall, all three now proudly wore the Fairy Tail tattoo. Sorana chose her stomach as the proper position for it, while Richard imitated Micah and also had it placed on his right pectoral muscle.

As soon as they walked out, Natsu came sprinting at Micah and got in really close. "Sorry about before, I thought you were the ones that attacked Levy." He looked at Erza who nodded approvingly. "Okay, so I apologized! Let's fight! You're strong, right?" He wanted to grab Micah's shoulders but he phased through and stumbled to the ground.

"You don't approach a stranger like that. You first go for an introduction and a handshake. After pleasantries are out of the way, you may speak freely and request a spar. This is a basic formality!" Micah said with a stern tone. He used his powers to test his mastery of them. He could almost perfectly phase through objects and use turn himself into light in daily life. Fighting was still a rough area since concentration was lowered in combat.

"Woah! I-I fell through you? How did you do that?"

"Yeah, teach me that, that would be damn useful to know." Another boy walked up from behind. It was the shirtless on.

"Firstly. Introduce yourselves." Richard said in Micah's stead.

"Right, I'm Natsu." The pink-haired boy said. He then started pointing at random people throughout the room. "That's Cana, that's Elfman. Over there is Lucy, that's Gray, he's an idiot. Way over there is Happy, he is my partner. And, yeah, I'm Natsu."

"You already introduced yourself, Flame-brain!" Gray said. He looked Micah up and down with interest. "So, are you like an S-class mage or something? And what's your magic. I've never seen anything like that before."

"I would be happy to answer your questions if we take it one at a time. I don't feel comfortable with all of you staring at me." Micah tried to hide behind Richard. Sorana stood behind him just swaying back and forth with a dead look in her eyes. She was a few minutes away from collapsing.

"Then come and drink with us!" Gray grabbed him from behind and pushed him towards a table. Richard and Sorana each got pulled in separate directions by various guild members.

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A few hours into the welcoming party held in their honour, Mirajane approached Micah with careful steps. "Micah, Levy has woken up and Master asked if you wanted to see her."

"Of course, I will arrive shortly." He quickly shook hands with everyone at the table as a means to say goodbye and give thanks for the good conversations. Most of them were drunk off their ass, and Micah had to act a little so people wouldn't figure out that he couldn't get drunk.

Quickly following Mirajane they arrived in the back in the medical wing where various beds were set up with countless medicinal herbs stashed around the room. Levy, Droy and Jett all sat in their beds' with pained expressions. The physical pain had gone away, but the mental torture of having to relive that beating, again and again, was eating away at them.

"Levy, Droy, Jett. How nice to see you all again."Micah said as he entered. Levy's face lit up right away and he felt that something heavy weighing her down had just left her. 'She must have been worried about me.'

"Micah! You're okay! I was so... I mean, we were so worried about you, right, guys!?" She looked to her two partners to save her from her embarrassing mistake.

"Yeah, glad to see you're safe," Jett said with mild sarcasm. Droy just observed Micah for a second before going back to looking sad and depressed. The air inside the room couldn't exactly be described as party-friendly.

"I am. There were some hiccups on the way here but I made it eventually. I just came to say hi and let you know I have arrived. You should try and rest up so we can talk at length later this evening. Be sure I have a story to tell." He tried his best to look mysterious, which made the girl giggle a little, enchanting the lovable mood between the two further.

"I will make sure to do just that. I can't wait to hear about your adventures." Levy was beside herself with joy. She had been really looking forward to him joining, and after weeks of not hearing a peep, she had been beyond worried that the bandits had come back for more. She was worried about him potentially sitting in a cell somewhere starving to death so she had gone on a few missions in the area to try and find him, but it was all for nought.

"Great, I'll see you later tonight." He didn't wanna interrupt their recovery too much. It was true that he only wanted to let her know that he was safe so that it could potentially ease her worries. He imagined it did, as he felt she was happier and more peaceful now than when he first entered.

****Later That Evening****

Upon the second-floor balcony, where you would have the absolutely perfect view of the sunset, Micah stood leaning on the railing. He was compartmentalizing his memories and his thoughts. He had created a miles-long library in his mind where he kept his memories, perfectly intact. He could bring forth any one of them and project them inside someone's mind for visual aid. If he wanted to, he would never have to explain anything again as he could just show his memories of someone explaining it to him.

"You've changed since I saw you last." A sweet and innocent voice came from the door-way. He didn't need to guess, he had perfectly memorized her voice.

"A lot happened in these seven weeks." He said calmly.

"I heard. So, you got a girlfriend, huh?" Her voice increased in pitch and he could hear on her tone that a smile had formed on her lips.

"What? Why would you say that?" He turned around finally and faced Levy. He looked genuinely confused, and he was. She had no idea what she was referring to.

"Sorana? She's not your girlfriend then?"

"Oh no, oh god no! Nothing like that! Concept's honour!" He said, not really thinking about what that meant.

"Oh, well, lucky me," Levy said happily. He was glad that she had not lost that cheerful attitude of hers. It had just slightly altered, it was a hint of maturity to it now. Blue had said at one point that coming face to face with death or danger could open someone's eyes and make them act differently. Some would shy away from others, while most would leap at opportunities that they coward from in the past.

"That sounds a little ominous, you won't kidnap me too, will you?"

"No, I wo... Wait, too? Were you taken by the bandits? I knew something must have happened." She took a step closer to him trying to disguise her advances as worry. Her heart was beating fast, she had never done anything like this before.

"No, I had fainted after overusing my powers and I was picked up by a dark guild. I'm okay now though." He smiled. His calming aura worked wonders with slowing down and calming her beating heart."

She stopped approaching and asked seriously. "Sorana and Richard? Were they also like you? Are they from the village as well?" She didn't want to remind him but she couldn't help herself from asking.

"No, they formerly belonged to the guild that kidnapped me. They are good now though so don't worry!"

"What!? Wait till I get my hands on them!" Levy was about to storm back into the guild with steely-eyed resolve. But, Micah grabbed her arm and stopped her with a look of pleading.

"Don't do that. They are good and they are my friends now, my best friends. I can vouch that they are good, you don't have to be suspicious about them. They wanna start doing good in the world and I'm trying to provide a way to do that. So, I thought bringing them here would be the right move."

Levy subtly placed a few of her slender fingers over his hand. "I was right, you know." She said with a smile. "When you left I told Droy and Jett that you were a good person, a really good person. They didn't believe me but I knew. You are special." She started leaning in, but when Micah caught on to what was happening, he backed away quickly.

"Levy, I-"

"No, I...I didn't mean to, I'm sorry! I got caught up in the moment." Her face flushed red and her hands dove into her pockets as she stood staring straight at the ground. 'Idiot!' She berated herself. 'He's the gentleman-type, of course, he is not gonna kiss randomly like that, stupid!' She didn't wanna leave and create an unfixable awkwardness between them, but she couldn't find what to say to remedy what she had done. Had she just screwed herself over?

"I'm sorry, Levy. I'm afraid I am the kind of person that can't leap into things like that right away. And, right now I still think I'm being searched for by that dark guild and I don't wanna put you in unnecessary harm's way." She saw in her peripherals him walking up slowly. Her heart was beating and she felt like breaking down, and she didn't entirely understand why. She wasn't impulsive like that either, what had gotten into her?

"Y...You don't understand, I'm not like that either, I don't know what came over me, I just don't. Please forgive me!"

"No! Stop apologizing! No one should apologize for expressing themselves with so much honesty and purity. There is just so much that you do not know about me. My life is a lot more dangerous than you realize and I truly don't want anyone to suffer from what is chasing me." He was contemplating telling her. He was, of course, attracted to her, right now he wasn't looking at her as someone to jump into bed with. No, he found her personality so pure and genuine that it really resonated with him. They were of equal mindset and that's what attracted him.

"You don't need to say more, please don't. I understand. Just, tell me this." She pushed the embarrassment to the back of her mind and looked up to face his gaze directly. "If ever in the future we both are in a good place, and we are both single. Would it be okay if I asked you out to a date?" She said without studdering and without dropping eye contact. Her steely-eyes resolve was back in full.

With a toothy-grin, he smiled and said in a powerful tone. "Yes! When I gain more control over my life, I would love nothing more than to have dinner with you. Just the two of us." He embraced her in a hug, to make sure that she understood he did not and would not hold this against her. He also wanted to show that he was fully committed but that this was not the time for this to start.

They separated and she started backing away into the building. "I can't wait! But, in spite of that, I'll wait for as long as it takes." She turned around and walked inside. Micah was left standing alone when the sun finally descended beyond the horizon and the world embraced the darkness of the night.

'I hope to not make you wait for too long, for you look to be the ideal woman for me.' Micah said with a seasoned smile blossoming on his face.

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End