July 7, x777; Part 4

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

July 7, x777.

"No, I'm not fighting you, Natsu." Alfonzo said while shaking his head.

"Me neither." Elicia added.

"What? Why?" Natsu asked, surprised at the quick refusals to his challenge. A moment later, he opened his eyes wide. Then, he slapped his right fist into his upturned left palm. "I get it, you're scared. Well, I can understand that. I am a Dragon Slayer, after all."

As soon as Natsu finished speaking, Elicia face palmed.

'Great, now you're gonna get the fight you want, Natsu.' Elicia thought to herself while her hand still overed her face. 'There's no way Fonzie will let that go.'

And just as Elicia was thinking, Alfonzo had lowered his head, letting his dreads fall forward and cover his eyes. While Natsu was feeling proud of himself for figuring out why his challenge was refused.

"Hehehe." Alfonzo chuckled. However, unlike his usual chuckling that usually sounded either mischievous or playful, this chuckle had a rather dark undertone.

This new tone naturally drew Makarov's attention. When he looked over to Alfonzo, his eyes widened.

'What the hell?' Makarov asked himself. 'I can practically see the pride rolling off of the boy. Over the years, I knew he was prideful, but this is a lot more than I ever expected.'

"Hehehe." Alfonzo continued to chuckle. "Would you care to repeat that, Pinky?"

Alfonzo's low, threatening tone shook Natsu out of his thoughts. When he looked at Alfonzo, he subconsciously took a step back. From Natsu's position, all he could see was a wide smile plastered onto Alfonzo's face while his eyes were only slightly visible from between his hair.

"You said you wanted to fight me, right?" Alfonzo asked in the same tone. "Then, you'll get your fight."

Hearing that, Natsu's eyes lit up. He had no idea why Alfonzo changed his mind, but he was happy to get a chance to fight. So him, without hesitation, Natsu lunged forward with his fist reeled back. A moment t later, when he was close enough, he threw his fist forward, aiming at Alfonzo's chin.

However, just before his fist could connect, Alfonzo tilted his head just enough for the punch to sail right past his face. At the same time, Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. But before he could draw his hand back, Alfonzo grabbed him by the wrist with his left hand. Then, he threw a right hook into Natsu's ribs.

"Gah!" Natsu groaned in pain as his feet were lifted off the floor due to the force behind Alfonzo's punch.

Following up that punch, Alfonzo leaned in and landed an elbow strike with his right arm into the same spot. Meanwhile, he lifted Natsu's arm up over his head with his left hand. Then, he began raining down punches, elbow strikes, and shoulder checks onto Natsu's torso.

After half a minute, or so, of the onslaught, Alfonzo let go of Natsu's wrist, allowing the younger boy to fall to the floor as he cradled his torso with his arms. And although there would be quite a few nasty bruises on Natsu's chest and abdomen, Alfonzo held back enough that there would be no serious injuries.

"That… was… a… good… fight." Natsu managed to say between pain filled groans. "But… I'll… win… next… time."

"*Sigh* I knew that was going to happen." Elicia said as she looked down at Natsu with a measure of pity in her eyes. A moment later, however, she smiled again and looked at Makarov before she spoke once again. "So, Gramps, has there been any word from the builders you said you knew?"

Makarov had been looking at Natsu, who was so easily dismantled by Alfonzo, in dumbfounded amazement when he heard Elicia's question. Then, after thinking about it for a few moments, he remembered what she was asking about.

Shortly after Alfonzo and Elicia came back from their first B-Class quest, they asked Makarov to help them buy a piece of land by the lake north of Magnolia. At first, Makarov was surprised by the request, thinking that it would be impossible for two eleven year old kids to buy land like that. However, he then remembered that aside from questing, both Alfonzo and Elicia had a way of making money outside of guild work.

So, he agreed to their request and helped them buy the land, since they were below the age of adulthood, which was fifteen. Then, a few weeks later, Alfonzo and Elicia were co-owners of one of the best lakeside properties in Magnolia.

He expected them to start building a house or something immediately after purchasing the property. However, they never brought it up to him again was the property was theirs. Instead, they continued to complete quests and do their side jobs.

That trend continued until they turned twelve, a day short of two months ago. They finally asked Makarov to get them in touch with someone who could build a house for them based on the blueprints Alfonzo and Elicia presented to him.

"Yes, they finally got back to me." Makarov said in response to Elicia's question. "It seems they were on another job, that's why they were unable to meet the two of you."

"Does that mean their done with their work?" Elicia asked, excitement glowing in her eyes.

"That's right." Makarov replied with a smile. "After they take a break for a few days, they'll be more than willing to meet with you."

"Yay!" Elicia cheered. Then, she wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's arm, who was standing next to her exuding happiness. "Fonzie, that means we'll get to have our own house!"

In response, Alfonzo smiled back at Elicia. Then, he began combing his fingers through her hair, causing her to squint her eyes in pleasure.

"That's right, Lici." Alfonzo said in a cheerful tone. Then, he drew closer to Elicia, stopping with his mouth right next to her ear and began to whisper. "Last time, we couldn't see our house get completed, but this time there's nothing that can stop us."

Knowing that Alfonzo was talking about the house they were having built in their past lives, before they met their untimely end, Elicia smiled brightly as she let go of Alfonzo's arm and hugged him tightly while resting her head on his chest. Quickly, Alfonzo returned the hug.

"Whoo~~~~!" Macao cheered after seeing Alfonzo and Elicia hugging. "When's the wedding you two? You better not forget my invitation!"

With that, most of the guild began to laugh at Alfonzo and Elicia. While Elicia was embarrassed and hid her face in Alfonzo's embrace, Alfonzo glared at Macao.

"Shut the hell up, Macao!" Alfonzo shouted. "If you don't, I'll tell Enno that you've been picking on a couple of kids. Then, she'll make your ass sleep on the couch for a couple of weeks."

"Oooooooh!" Most of the guild members around Macao exclaimed with amusement.

Macao, on the other hand, paled immediately. The reason for that was simple, one time, when Macao's wife, Enno, came to visit Macao in the guild hall, she walked in on Macao teasing Alfonzo about how close he was to Elicia and Cana. Naturally, she was not happy to see her grown up husband picking on a bunch of kids. So, she rushed over to him, much faster than most A-Class wizards could move, grabbed him by his ear, and gave him a lecture about acting his age while dragging him out of the guild hall.

The next day, when Macao showed up at the guild, he was holding his lower back. At first, the other members of the guild thought he had quite the wild night with his new wife. However, it came to light that his back was in pain from sleeping on the less than comfortable couch in their living room.

"Damned brat." Macao muttered. "Always going straight for the jugular."

Seeing how quickly Macao backed down, Alfonzo smile victoriously. Then, he looked around the guild hall.

"Alright, everyone, I'm in a really good mood today!" Alfonzo shouted, getting everyone's attention. "So, I'll take an extra shift in the kitchen. And I won't even charge extra this time!"

Hearing Alfonzo's announcement, the brawl Gray started, stopped immediately. Then, everyone in the hall cheered loudly. Meanwhile, Natsu, who was new to the guild looked on in confusion as the pain from Alfonzo's beating began to fade.

"What's going on?" Natsu asked, not understanding why everyone would be so happy about Alfonzo going into the kitchen.

"You're in for quite the treat, Natsu." Makarov said with a greedy smile on his face. "I've lived for a long time, and I have only met a handful of chefs who can cook better than Alfonzo. I thought you would have to wait until breakfast tomorrow to get a taste of his cooking, but it looks like you have quite the luck."

Hearing that, Natsu showed a shocked expression on his face. To think that a kid around his age that was so strong could cook too. He was inclined to not believe the claim. However, when he saw how excited everyone in the hall was at the announcement, he found himself curious to know what the hype was about.

As everyone rushed towards the bar to put in their orders, Natsu was near the front of the line, since his fight with Alfonzo happened right next to the bar. On top of that, since he had not become an official wizard yet, Makarov would pay for his food.

Placing an order for fried fish and French fries, Natsu did not have to wait very long for his food to come out. Taking it to a nearby table, he wasted no time digging in. As his eyes widened and his mouth formed a smile, Natsu was completely captivated by the taste.

At the same time, the doors to the guild hall were pushed open. Standing in the doorway was a scarlet-haired girl pulling a cart full of luggage.

"Erza's back!" Elicia shouted as she rushed over to Erza, pulling her to sit down with her at their usual table. "How was the quest?"

The moment Elicia announced that Erza was back, Alfonzo began preparing the ingredients for a strawberry shortcake. Without being told, everyone in the guild knew that would be the first thing she ordered when she returned.

Meanwhile, as Erza told Elicia about the quest she took, she looked over her friends at the table with a smile. However, she quickly noticed that Alfonzo was absent, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Elicia, where is Alfonzo?" Erza asked curiously. "He's usually with you at this time."

"Oh, because we got some good news after we came back from the orphanage, he decided to take a shift in the kitchen." Elicia replied.

Hearing that, Erza's eyes lit up like a pair of torch lights. Then, she broke away from Elicia and rushed toward the bar.

"Alfonzo I would like a strawberry shortcake!" Erza said, placing her order in a loud voice.

"On it!" Came Alfonzo's reply from the kitchen.

Nodding in both satisfaction and anticipation, Erza turned around and returned to the table. As she did, a pink-haired boy she did not recognize caught her attention. So, she made a detour to the table he was sitting at.

"Good evening." Erza said when she arrived at Natsu's table. "Are you new to the guild?"

"Uh huh…" Natsu muttered while stuffing his food into his mouth.

"Then, it's nice to meet you, I'm Erza Scarlet." Erza said, extending her hand for a handshake.

Hurriedly finishing the mouthful of food he was chewing, Natsu then turned toward Erza and examined her.

"Hi, I'm Natsu Dragneel." Natsu said, introducing himself. Then, he slapped Erza's outstretched hand, thinking that she was challenging him to a fight. "And I accept your challenge!"

Immediately after that, Natsu lunged at Erza, similar to how he lunged at Alfonzo. However, before he could even throw his punch, Erza, who was still wearing g a chest plate and a pair of gauntlets, smashed her fist into the top of Natsu's head.

"The guild hall is no place for a spar." Erza said, not noticing that Natsu had been knocked unconscious by her hammer fist. "If you would like to challenge me, I will accept any time. But we'll have our spar on the practice grounds in the back of the guild."

"Um… I don't think he can hear you, Erza." Wakaba said with a wry smile.

Surprised by the statement, Erza quickly looked don at the floor where the unconscious Natsu lay.

"Oh no!" Erza exclaimed in in panic. Then, she knelt down and began shaking Natsu, violently. "Are you okay? Come on, answer me!"

Everyone in the guild watched Natsu with pity while thinking the same thing.

'If he was alright, he won't be for long.'