New Home Exploration

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

September 18, x785.

Shortly after Sun chanted her release command, the light surrounding her shirasaya faded. However, instead of a shirasaya, Sun held something resembling a traditional katana.

Like most katana, the sword had a hilt covered in a bright blue wrapping and a handguard. However, instead of a single blade, it had a pair of blades extending parallel to each other from the handguard.

"That kinda looks like a tuning fork, doesn't it?" Elicia asked while looking at Sun's [Soul Armament] with curiosity.

"Yeah, but I think it makes sense." Mirajane said. "You heard her release command, right? Sing."

"Yeah, but now I wanna know what it can do." Marin said excitedly.

"Well, I think we're about to find out." Alfonzo said as he pointed at Sun, who was currently taking a deep breath.

"[Voice Magic: Howling Voice]." Sun chanted quietly.

In the next instant, Sun unleashed a scream. However, the sound did not spread. Instead, it seemed as if it were sucked into her [Soul Armament], Kanade. Then, once the last of the soundwaves were absorbed, she raised her sword over her head.

*Scream!*

In the next instant, Sun swung her sword at Kagura, releasing the entirety of her [Howling Voice] spell in a compressed slash.

Though she was surprised by the new form of attack, Kagura was quick to swing Archenemy in retaliation. As a result, a wave of black and purple magic power was fired from Kagura's blade.

A moment later, the two attacks met in the center of the two swordswomen's positions. And to everyone's surprise, there was no sound of collision. And the reason for that was simple. While the two attacks cancelled each other out, the gravity from Kagura's attack drew in Sun's soundwaves before it was dispersed.

However, before anyone could comment on the phenomenon, Kagura was forced to raise her sword in a defensive posture.

"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin]." Sun chanted as she fell from near the ceiling of the training room.

As soon as Sun released her sound attack, she had already followed up by jumping high into the air, bypassing the two clashing attacks. Then while falling towards Kagura, she coated her double-bladed sword in a dense layer of [Water Magic].

Sun's next action was able to surprise Kagura once again, however.

Instead of simply allowing their blades to clash, Sun forced the water coating her sword to expand, attempting to engulf Kagura with a sphere of water.

'This isn't good.' Kagura thought.

"[Repulse]." Kagura chanted as she was covered in a film of [Gravity Magic] originating from Archenemy.

*Clang~~~~~~~~~!*

In the next instant, the two swords collided. As a result, the sound the collision created echoed around the training room. And had it not been for the barrier that kept the attacks in the ring, everyone, without exception, would have had to defend against the soundwaves.

"Damn, that's brutal." Alfonzo muttered as he watched the sphere of [Water Magic] engulfing Kagura ripple violently.

"What do you mean?" Risley asked curiously.

"Well, sound travels five times faster through water." Alfonzo explained. "On top of that, Sun uses sound as an attack. Meaning, that amplifies the power of her attacks, usually. However, it seems like her [Soul Armament], Kanade, can amplify the power of soundwaves even further. Though, until I hear about it from Sun, that's only a guess."

"Then, will Kagura be okay, meow?" Millianna asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Tsunade replied. "She got up some kind of defensive barrier before their swords collided."

Just as Tsunade's words fell, the sphere of [Water Magic] exploded outwards. On top of that, Sun was forced backwards, as well.

Then, just as Sun landed on the floor, Kagura was already in front of her with Archenemy reeled back and ready to thrust.

"[Strong Form]." Kagura chanted as she thrust her sword forward.

Reacting quickly, Sun turned her sword upwards. Then, she raised it quickly.

*Screech~~~~~!*

Once again, the sound of the collision between the two weapons was amplified greatly. However, instead of parrying Kagura's attack, Sun caught Kagura's blade between the two blades of her sword and forced it upwards, causing Kagura's blade to just miss piercing her left shoulder. On top of that, Kagura was slightly disoriented by the close-range sound explosion.

"Damn it..." Kagura muttered as she saw Sun taking another deep breath.

"[Voice Magic: Howling Voice]." Sun chanted.

At the same time, Kagura released Archenemy's hilt with her right hand. Then, she coated it with a layer of [Gravity Magic] as she threw a punch at Sun's abdomen.

"[Gravity Magic: Saturn]." Kagura chanted.

"I think that's enough." Ritsu said, appearing next to Sun and Kagura with the use of the [Flash Step]. Then, in one motion, she thrust her Zanpakuto, Minazuki, in front of Sun's [Howling Voice] spell while catching Kagura's [Gravity Magic] enhanced punch with her left hand.

*Clang!*

*Smack!*

At the same time, both Alfonzo and Elicia also released the tension in their bodies. Like Ritsu, they had also determined that both Sun and Kagura would have ended up seriously injured had that exchange not been interrupted. So, while Alfonzo was planning to intervene in a manner similar to Ritsu, Elicia was ready to pull Kagura away with her threads before either attack could land.

"I guess we can call this one a draw." Alfonzo said as he deactivated the barrier around the sparring ring.

"Yes." Ritsu replied with a nod and a smile. "You both fought very well."

With that, Sun and kagura reverted their swords back to their sealed states before sheathing them.

"Thank you Master." Kagura said while bowing politely.

"That was so fun!" Sun exclaimed happily. Then, she stepped forward with her eyes shining. "I would have never thought your sword was like mine. What was it called again? Um..."

"It's a Zanpakuto." Kagura replied. "Master gave me an asauchi after she accepted me as a disciple."

Meanwhile, the rest of the spectators approached the three standing in the ring.

"I guess I should find a way to hide the aura of the [Soul Armaments], too." Alfonzo muttered once he was standing next to Sun and Kagura. "I mean, it's not hard to feel the aura from our [Soul Armaments]. But I can't feel anything other than a normal sword when your Zanpakuto is sealed."

"I doubt that would be necessary." Ritsu replied. "The only ones who would be able to sense the power hidden in those weapons would be people who own similar weapons."

"I guess that makes sense." Alfonzo muttered.

With that, the group continued to chat about the match and the weapons. Then, while continuing to chat, they all made their way out of the training room before heading back downstairs.

Eventually, Alfonzo and the residents of the mansion decided it was time to go back home. And as soon as Alfonzo arrived, he said good night to all the ladies before heading up to his room and going to sleep.

Meanwhile, the ladies, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy decided to explore the new mansion, as they had not had time to do so, yet. And to make a long story short, they liked what they saw.

As previously mentioned, each of the ladies had their own bedroom. Surprisingly, however, they all only had one closet. Something that Elicia and Erza, the two with the most clothing, found disappointing.

However, when they stepped into the closets, all the complaints that were on the tips of their tongues disappeared at once. Considering Elicia and Erza's love for clothing, all the closets were packed with space expansion seals. Meaning, all the girls would be able to store an enormous amount of whatever they wanted to in their closets.

There was even a work station in Elicia's closet. Meanwhile, Cana's closet had a whole wine cellar. Then there were Erza and Marin's closets which had huge bookshelves for them to store all their reading material.

There were also six more bedrooms, which would be used as guest rooms. However, unlike the rest of the bedrooms, these rooms did not have any space expansion in the closets. There were even two halls of rooms that were specifically set aside for any future children Alfonzo may have with his future wives.

Then, there were the expected rooms. For example, the kitchen, living room, and bathrooms. There was also a large room that could be used as both a basketball court and a tennis court, with a magic device that could set up and take down the net from the tennis court.

And the last thing of note for the above ground floors was the grotto, an indoor/outdoor pool area with a retractable roof, an artificial waterfall, and a pool of varying depths that acted as the basin to the waterfall.

"How did he even come up with an idea like this mansion?" Cana, with a bottle of tequila in hand, asked while she and the other ladies piled into the elevator to explore the floors below ground.

"I don't know, but now I can see why he wanted to keep it a surprise." Ultear said with a sweet smile. "This place is incredible."

"Yeah, but I still don't like the fact that he kept secrets from us." Marin said with a pout.

"You're just mad that he ignored your seduction attempt, Marin." Lucy said in a teasing tone.

"Shut up, Lucy!" Marin shouted while her cheeks reddened. "You couldn't seduce him into telling you, either."

"Yeah, but I'm not salty about it, though." Lucy shot back.

With that, all the girls laughed happily. Everyone except for Elicia, that is.

'At first I thought Fonzie came up with an amazing plan for a mansion on his own.' Elicia thought to herself. 'But after seeing the grotto, I know exactly where he got the idea from.'

["Yeah, that was kind of a dead giveaway."] Scylla replied.

'And that makes me wonder, why was he looking at Playboy?' Elicia asked.

["Maybe it was just a coincidence."] Scylla replied. ["I mean, we both know he didn't have any of their magazines in your apartment."]

'Yeah, I know.' Elicia replied. 'But still, I wanna know why he was looking at it in the first place.'

["He probably wasn't."] Scylla replied. ["I mean, there were shows about the most beautiful mansions in the world on TV all the time, right? And the Playboy Mansion was always on it. So, that's probably where he got the idea."]

'Yeah, you're probably right.' Elicia said, internally nodding in agreement.

In actuality, Alfonzo had looked up quite a few mansion's floor plans. They were all in preparation for the house he and Elicia had commissioned in their past life. Honestly, he just wanted some inspiration for when they discussed their new house with the builders and architects. Though, he never thought it necessary to discuss his research with Elicia.

Before her conversation with Scylla could continue any further, however, Elicia was pulled out of her thoughts when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Elicia, is something wrong?" Erza asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, you look like you don't like something about our new house." Sun added.

"No, that's not it." Elicia said while smiling wryly. Then, after shaking her head to get rid of her thoughts, she told a partial truth. "I'm just a little sad I didn't have a part in designing our new house, that's all."

"I guess that makes sense." Ultear said. "You and Alfonzo designed the first mansion together, right?"

"Yeah." Elicia said with a nod. "And it was a lot of fun. But this time, I didn't get to help."

To that, no one knew how to console Elicia. On one hand, they could understand how she felt. But on the other hand, they thought she should just be happy about what she got.

A moment later, the elevator opened for the second underground floor. The ladies decided to skip the first underground floor because they already knew it was the underground parking garage.

"That reminds me, we need to move all our stuff over to the... new..." Marinn, the first to step through the elevator doors said, though she trailed off not long after seeing the room. "What the...? There's nothing here."

Hearing that exclamation, the other ladies hurried out of the elevator as well.

"Wow! there really is nothing here." Cana said in an amazed tone.

"I wonder what Alfonzo added this room for." Erza asked as she scanned the room. Then, she pointed towards the part of the room opposite the elevator. "And why does that part of the room slope upward?"

With that, the other ladies focused their gazes in the direction Erza was pointing. And like Erza, they also noticed the slope on the opposite end of the room.

"You all remember that Fonzie wanted to build his own airship after taking Grimoire Heart's, right?" Elicia said after thinking for a few seconds.

In response, all the others nodded.

"Well, I think this might be the hangar." Elicia said, continuing after seeing everyone's nods. "And if I'm not mistaken, that slope leads to the surface."

"Really?" Lucy asked curiously. "But this room is huge. Just how big will his airship be?"

'Well, it's huge in comparison to Grimoire Heart's airship.' Elicia thought. 'But it's not that big when compared to Christina, Blue Pegasus' airship. Still, I wonder what Fonzie's airship will look like when he's done with it.'

"Anyway, there really isn't much to see here." Cana said with a shrug. "There are still two more floors to check out. So, why don't we check them out."

With that, the ladies filed back into the elevator once again. Then, they went down another floor. And what they found was a short corridor. On one side of the corridor was a training room like those in the guild. And on the other side was a large bath with many shower heads lining the walls.

"Damn, I don't think I'm ever gonna train at the guild hall ever again." Cana said happily after seeing the bath.

"I know what you mean." Mirajane added. "And look, there are [Water Magic Jets], too. This is a giant hot tub."

"Does that mean we're not gonna train with everyone else anymore?" Sun asked while tilting her head cutely. "But I like training with everyone."

"No, we'll definitely still train at the guild." Erza said sternly. "If not, some of us would never leave the house."

"Yeah, Cana would just go upstairs and start drinking after she got out of the bath." Marin said playfully.

"Is that any different than what she does now?" Ultear asked with a smile. "I mean, she starts drinking as soon as she gets cleaned up after training anyway, right?"

"Hmm... Now that you mention it..." Marin muttered while cupping her chin in contemplation.

"Are you two done yet?" Cana asked as she rested her left hand on her hip.

"No, there would be a difference." Elicia chipped in.

"You, too, Lici?" Cana asked while rolling her eyes before taking a sip from her flask.

"She'd start drinking in the bath before heading upstairs." Elicia continued, completely ignoring Cana's question.

"That's true." x 6

Once again, Cana rolled her eyes in response, causing the others to laugh.

"Anyway, let's check out the last floor." Mirajane suggested.

Not long later, the ladies finished exploring the last underground level. And they were somewhat expecting what they saw. There were two large empty rooms. Rooms they expected to be storage rooms. However, they were only half right. Alfonzo just had not created the magic items he wanted to put in one of the rooms.

"Well, after seeing all this, it's no wonder Alfonzo is exhausted." Ultear said.

"Yeah, and he built it in, like, four months." Marin added. "Still, I wonder where he could have built something like this without anyone ever finding out."

"That's a good question." Mirajane said.

"Indeed." Erza chipped in. "I would like to know the answer, as well."

"Well, now that it's no longer a surprise, I bet Fonzie will tell us." Elicia said with a smile. "All we have to do is ask."

In response, the other seven ladies nodded their heads.

"Anyway, I think I'm gonna go back upstairs and get some rest." Sun said. "I'm a little tired after sparring with Kagura."

"Yeah, we should probably all get some sleep." Lucy said. "We need to move all our stuff over soon, anyway. And it sounded like Alfonzo wanted to sell the old mansion to Master Ur. So, we should probably do it sooner rather than later."

Once again, all the ladies nodded. Then, with their exploration complete, the girls decided to head upstairs. However, instead of splitting up and heading to their own bedrooms, they all headed for Alfonzo's to sleep with him,