After successfully escaping from the Dark Guild, Jura and I left the mountain range where we were being held, defeating some mages along the way while returning to Rose Garden; thankfully, we weren't too far away, though, given our extensive injuries we were forced to take a few breaks as we traversed through the forest while also being chased by mages. However, considering the forest was where I'd lived for seven years, it wasn't that hard to avoid detection while hiding and occasionally killing the Dark Mages that were unlucky enough to get a bit too close to us.
It took us some time, but after about two days, we finally arrived in Rose Garden, earning various suspicious looks since chains still bound our limbs, though we had more things to worry about than removing these chains for the past few days.
"That was-" "If you say that was FUN, I might choke you with these chains, Cooper." Glancing at Jura, who glared at me in frustration, I flashed him a smile while opting not to finish my sentence since I had a strong feeling there was a chance he'd follow through with his words. "So, regarding the mission, would we count that as completed or failed?" Although I asked a genuine question, Jura just heaved a deep sigh while rubbing his temples, not even bothering to respond, prompting me to shrug. "Considering it was a trap, and we didn't die. I'd say completed."
Nodding to myself, Jura and I continued through the streets of Rose Garden, only for me to raise an eyebrow when I heard a loud grumble, prompting me to glance at Jura, who was holding his stomach. "You should've just accepted the food I offered you, and you wouldn't be hungry." "I'm not eating raw food, that's disgusting, and I'd get sick. I'm shocked you're not rolling on the ground in pain right now, actually." Chuckling at his words, I patted my stomach while faintly smirking. "Hehe, you get used to the taste." All I got was a look of disgust, causing me to roll my eyes while we approached a random food stand, which was floating a few inches off the ground thanks to some magic items.
After Jura and I practically ordered their whole inventory, costing nearly a thousand jewels, we sat on a nearby bench and ate; well, he stuffed his face, given that he hadn't eaten in over two days. However, when we finished, we first headed to the train station so we could return home, with our first stop being Margaret Town, as it was sort of on the way to Magnolia. "8 hours until we arrive at Margaret Town? W-Wake me up when we get there; I'm going to sleep." Yawning, I stretched my arms and lay in our cabin on our seats while grabbing a pillow to rest my head on.
Jura rolled his eyes at my remark and copied me since he also hadn't slept. "The train attendants will wake us up if anything." Dismissively waving my hand at Jura, I closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, and I could only assume Jura would follow soon after.
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Looking out the window, I watched as the train pulled into the station at Magnolia, slowing down until it eventually stopped. "We've arrived at Magnolia." Hearing the conductor through the intercom, I scratched my head and exited the cabin before disembarking from the train. It's only been a few hours since Jura returned to Margaret Town, as it wasn't too far away from Magnolia; he was rather happy, too.
"Ahh, it's nice to always have a place to call home." Muttering quietly, I walked through the street, my four chains dragging behind me while heading toward Fairy Tail in the distance. Of course, like tradition, I grabbed a few kebabs from my favorite spot along the way before eventually arriving at Fairy Tail, which was the exact same as I remember, though I was only gone for less than a week, so it's not like I expected the building to change at all.
Dropping several kebab sticks on the ground, I cracked my knuckles and kicked open the door. "Haha, I'm back!" Yelling loudly, the guild went quiet as everyone briefly looked at me, only for them to casually greet me before returning to whatever they were doing, which slightly took me aback. 'Eh. They're not going to question why I've got chains on my limbs?' Scratching my head in confusion, some of my enthusiasm died as I entered the guild, approaching Gramps, who spoke with a curious Levy.
Sneaking up on Levy, who was oblivious to my presence, I swiftly grabbed underneath her arms and tossed her into the air, causing her to scream while I laughed in amusement. "Haha, look how high you are, Levy!" "AHHHH!!" Gazing at Levy, who nearly hit the ceiling, I was smacked in the head by Gramps, causing me to hiss in pain as I glared at him before snorting. "Not cool, Gramps!" Outstretching my arms, I caught Levy and gently set her on the ground while affectionately rubbing her head, causing her to awkwardly squirm before running away. 'Huh, wonder what's up with her.' Rubbing my head in confusion, I leaped onto the seat while slamming the job onto the bar beside Gramps, who raised his eyebrow.
"Given the chains and the blood, I'm assuming the trap was partially successful?" Seeing how nonchalant Gramps was, I lightly nodded while explaining to him what happened with Jura and I, though by the end of it, he still only seemed marginally surprised, which wasn't what I was expecting. "You don't seem all that surprised or worried, Gramps." "Oh, I'm always a little worried when one of my children takes a mission, but surprised? You've given me enough surprises the past year that I'm all out; the only thing you could do to surprise me now would be to bring a dragon's head." Flashing a grin at Gramps, I rubbed my hands, imagining myself face-to-face with a dragon, only for him to hit my head, causing my excitement to be replaced with annoyance.
"Get rid of that expression right now; you ain't fighting a dragon any time soon, kid. That little Wyvern nearly killed you, and you dare think to fight a Dragon? That's not even arrogance, just plain stupid." Grunting at Gramps as he calmly sipped his tea while reminding me of my one failed mission, I rubbed my head, though I had no way to rebuke him, as he wasn't wrong. I read about Wyverns after that encounter Gray, Cana, and I had, and from what I learned, they're said to only hold a fraction of a Dragon's might; I wasn't even worthy enough to be killed by a Wyvern, let alone a Dragon. "Hmph, it'll happen one of these days! Laxus won't be the only Dragon Slayer!" "Oi, the hell you say about me?"
Glancing at Laxus, sitting with Fried at a table, drinking, I grinned while leaping onto the bar. "I said you're a weak bastard and a fake Dragon Slayer!" Watching Laxus's face contort into irritation while lightning arced across his body, I felt my grin twist into something a bit more feral as I filled my body with magic. "Fake Dragon Slayer!? Maybe so, but I'm definitely a 'Beast' Slayer!" With lightning coiling around his fist, Laxus punched at me, launching a thick bolt of lightning, which I blocked by outstretching my hand, though I was still forced to take a step back, and it left behind a burn mark on my palm. "Hehe, you'll have to do better than that!"
Leaping off the bar, I landed directly in front of Laxus and punched him in the stomach, lifting him off the ground and flinging him through the wall. "Oh dear. Here we go again." Hearing Gramps resign to the inevitable fate, my legs were suddenly encased within a block of ice, followed by a punch to the back of my head, though I wasn't the one who got hurt. "Ouch! H-How thick is your skull!?" Laughing at Gray as he rubbed his hand, I grabbed him by the shoulders before tossing him through several tables, prompting Cana to stand on a random table and shout. "GUILD FIGHT!"
Almost immediately after those words were spoken, everyone stopped what they were doing and erupted into a fight; chairs and tables could be seen thrown through the air, along with faint traces of magic. However, before I could enjoy myself, there was a flash of lightning, followed by Laxus punching me in the face, knocking me out of the block of ice, and sending me crashing into the bar. "Heh, don't tell me the 'Beast' is already down; what a disappointment."
Wiping my mouth, I freed myself from the bar while shaking my head before dashing towards Laxus, who launched lightning bolts at me, though I deflected every single one with my fists. "Hahaha, come see for yourself how much of a disappointment I am!" Dodging Laxus's fist, I grabbed his arm and kneed him in the stomach, only for him to hold my head, shocking my entire body with excessive amounts of lightning, though I powered through it and headbutted him, knocking him backward. 'T-That hurt.' Coughing out smoke, I shifted my gaze back to Laxus before lunging at him.