Azra'il - POV
A few days had passed since Lucy Heartfilia, a seventeen-year-old girl with more courage than common sense, had shouted at the Celestial Spirit King until he gave in.
I was still processing that.
Not the fact that she had succeeded; I knew she would, one way or another. It was the fact that she had done it without hesitation. Without calculating the risks. Without considering that she was challenging an entity that had existed for millennia.
She just… did it.
Humans were fascinating creatures. Such short lives, such limited powers, and yet capable of things that would make gods pause.
I was in my usual corner of the guild, a cup of tea in front of me, the third of the morning, made with the herbs from my personal stash that I had left with Mira. She had been curious about the blend at first, something about "never having seen these leaves before," and I had vaguely replied that they were "from far away."
Technically true. Some of those herbs didn't exist in this world.
Details.
The guild door opened, and Lucy finally appeared.
She looked as though she had slept for approximately three days straight, which was probably true. Deep dark circles, hair tied up haphazardly, clothes that had clearly been the first things she found in her wardrobe. Summoning three golden spirits simultaneously and then making a new contract was the kind of thing that drained even experienced mages. For someone of her level, it was a miracle she was still standing.
"LUCY!"
Natsu was the first to react, because of course he was. He jumped from his chair with such force that he knocked it over, crossed the hall in two seconds, and skidded to a halt in front of her. Happy flew right behind, his little wings flapping frantically.
"You've been gone for THREE DAYS! Where were you?! Why didn't you answer when I came to your house?!"
"Did you break down my door again?!"
"It was locked!"
"THAT'S THE POINT OF A LOCKED DOOR, NATSU!"
Ah, the sweet sound of normality.
Gray approached more calmly, his hands in his pockets, and his shirt miraculously still on his body, at least for now. He leaned against a nearby table, his arms crossed, his expression wavering between relief and irritation.
"Seriously, Lucy. We were worried. You ran out of the guild that day and no one's seen you since."
"It's a long story," Lucy sighed, letting herself fall into a chair. Her legs looked like they were about to give way. "A very long story."
"We have time," Erza said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, a skill I respected, with a plate of strawberry cake balanced in one hand. She pulled up a chair and sat down with the grace of a queen taking her throne, even if the throne was a splintered wooden chair and the kingdom was a noisy guild.
I watched the scene from a distance, the tea warming my hands. I knew what was coming next. The revelation about Loke. The questions. The inevitable chaos.
(This is going to be interesting.)
--------(*)-------
"LOKE IS A CELESTIAL SPIRIT?!"
Natsu's shout was probably heard in Crocus. A few crows flew off the guild's roof, startled. Wakaba dropped his pipe. Macao spat out his drink.
"Shh!" Lucy looked around nervously, but it was too late. Half the guild was already leaning in their direction, their ears practically growing to catch the gossip.
"Wait, wait, wait." Gray held up his hands, uncrossing his arms, his face a mask of confusion so deep it looked painful. "Loke. OUR Loke. The bloke who flirts with anything that moves. He's a celestial spirit?"
"Leo," Lucy corrected, massaging her temples as if she could already feel the headache forming. "Leo the Lion. Leader of the twelve golden zodiac spirits."
Natsu frowned so hard it looked painful, the cogs clearly turning at maximum speed inside that pink head of his. Gray had stopped with his hand in the air, halfway to scratching the back of his neck. Happy let the fish he was eating fall to the floor with a wet 'plop'. Even Erza had paused her fork inches from her mouth, the forgotten piece of cake dripping icing onto the table.
Then Natsu opened his mouth:
"…Does that mean he's like… a key now?"
Lucy buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking slightly. I couldn't tell if it was laughter or despair. Probably both.
"That's not how it works, Natsu."
"But you have keys!" He pointed to her belt, where the golden keys were shining.
"Yes, but—"
"And he's your spirit now!"
"Yes, but—"
"So he's a key!"
"HE'S NOT A KEY, HE'S A SPIRIT THAT I SUMMON WITH A KEY!"
"What's the difference?"
Lucy made a sound that was half a groan, half a scream of frustration, her hands tightening in her blonde hair as if she wanted to pull it out.
I brought the cup to my lips to hide the corner of my mouth that was threatening to curve upwards. Almost a smile. Almost.
Happy floated over to Lucy, his head tilted at an angle he probably thought was adorable. "But if Loke is a spirit… is he made of fish?"
"What?" Lucy lifted her head, her expression that of someone who had just heard the most absurd thing in their life. Which, considering she lived with Natsu, was an achievement. "No! Why would he be made of fish?!"
"Aquarius is a mermaid." Happy counted on his little blue fingers. "Mermaids eat fish. Maybe spirits are made of fish."
"That is the most absurd logic I have ever heard."
"But it makes sense!"
"NO, IT DOESN'T!"
"Yes, it does! Fish is good! Spirits are good! Therefore—"
"HAPPY, FOR THE LOVE OF—"
Erza slammed her fork on the table with a CLANG that made everyone jump. The piece of cake finally fell from the fork, but she didn't even notice, her brown eyes fixed on Lucy with the intensity of a general about to receive a battle report.
"Lucy. Explain from the beginning. Calmly."
There was something in Erza's tone that made people obey. It wasn't a threat, exactly. It was more like… a very strong suggestion that disobeying would be a bad idea. The kind of suggestion that came with memories of people being thrown through walls.
Lucy took a deep breath, her shoulders lowering as she composed herself.
"Loke was a celestial spirit who was banished from the celestial world three years ago. He was slowly dying here in the human world because spirits can't survive for long away from their world. I found out, confronted the Celestial Spirit King, and managed to reverse the banishment."
Gray blinked. Blinked again. He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture I had come to associate with "processing information too absurd for the human brain."
"You confronted the Celestial Spirit King," he repeated slowly, as if testing the words to see if they made more sense out of loud. They didn't. "The bloke who rules all the celestial spirits. The bloke who is basically a god."
"Yes."
"And he just… let it happen?"
Lucy hesitated, her fingers drumming on her knee. Her eyes briefly darted in my direction, a quick, almost imperceptible glance that lasted less than a second.
I held her gaze over the rim of my cup, my expression perfectly neutral.
(Don't mention me.)
She seemed to understand. Her eyes returned to the group, her face recomposing.
"I was… persuasive," she said finally, choosing her words carefully. "And the King recognised that Leo's punishment had been unjust."
"Unjust how?" Erza asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. She had fished up the fallen piece of cake and put it back on her plate, but she wasn't eating, a sign that the conversation had her full attention.
"Leo was banished because his former master died. But she died because she mistreated her spirits, and Leo refused to be an accomplice. He was protecting another spirit, Aries, from constant abuse. When he confronted his master, she tried to prove she could survive without him and…" Lucy swallowed hard. "She couldn't. And Leo was blamed for her death."
Gray uncrossed his arms, his jaw tensing. Erza slowly lowered her fork, placing it on the plate with a care that contrasted with her hardened expression. Natsu had stopped moving completely, a rarity that only happened when something really affected him. Even Happy had stopped floating, landing on the table with his ears down and his big eyes fixed on Lucy.
It was Natsu who broke the tension, his voice coming out deeper than usual:
"That's messed up."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?" He crossed his arms, his face serious in a way rarely seen on him. "It is! The bloke was protecting a friend and got punished for it? That's totally messed up! What kind of stupid law is that?!"
"Language, Natsu," Erza said automatically, but without real conviction. She was too busy silently agreeing.
"He's right," Gray admitted, and from the grimace he made as he spoke, the words clearly cost him. Agreeing with Natsu was apparently physically painful for him. "Loke… Leo… whatever. He did the right thing. He shouldn't have been punished for it."
"And now he's my spirit," Lucy completed, a small smile finally appearing. "But he's still a member of Fairy Tail. That hasn't changed and it never will. He's in the celestial world recovering, but when he comes back…"
"He's still nakama," Natsu said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He punched his own palm, his characteristic grin returning. "Doesn't matter what world he comes from. If he's from Fairy Tail, he's from Fairy Tail. Simple as that."
(Sometimes, Natsu Dragneel can be surprisingly profound.)
(And then he opens his mouth again and you forget.)
"Oi, Lucy!" Natsu suddenly broke into a huge grin, his eyes shining with that manic energy that usually preceded property destruction. "Does that mean you can summon Loke to fight now?! I WANT TO FIGHT HIM! I bet he got stronger!"
(Case in point.)
"Did he say anything about when he'll be back?" Mira asked from the bar, leaning over the counter with her chin resting on her hands. She had that sweet smile that hid a sharp curiosity, I had already learned to recognise it.
Lucy shook her head, a strand of hair escaping from her loose ponytail. "I don't know exactly how long he needs to recover completely. But he did mention that when he comes back, he wants to give the group a gift. As a thank you for being his friends all these years even without knowing who he really was."
"A gift?" Natsu's eyes shone like a child's on Christmas morning. He was practically vibrating with anticipation. "What kind of gift?"
"He didn't say."
"I hope it's food! Like a feast! With meat! Lots of meat!"
"Natsu, not everything is about food."
"The best things are!" He slapped the table to emphasise his point. "Food, fights, and fire! In that order!"
"You forgot fish," Happy commented, clearly offended. "Fish is the best thing that exists."
"Fish is food, Happy."
"Fish is FISH. It's its own category." The cat crossed his little arms, his cheeks puffed out. "Food, fish, and fights. In that order."
"You just put food AND fish. That's redundant."
"No, it's not! Fish deserves special recognition!"
"Alright, alright! Food, fish, fights, and fire!"
"Aye!"
I took another sip of my tea, watching the chaos unfold around me. It was… comforting, in a strange way. The noise of overlapping voices, the nonsensical arguments that escalated and de-escalated in seconds, the chaotic energy that pulsed in the air like a living thing.
I had lived entire lives in silence. In solitude. In empty palaces where every footstep echoed as a reminder of absence. On abandoned battlefields where only the wind kept the dead company.
This was different.
It was noisy. Irritating. Completely unpredictable.
And I didn't hate it.
(When did that happen?)
Across the hall, my eyes met Lucy's. She was smiling now, not the forced smile from before, but something genuine, small, full of silent gratitude. A message that only the two of us understood.
I just tilted my head slightly, an almost imperceptible movement.
She understood.
(You're welcome.)
The peace lasted for approximately fifteen minutes.
Which, for Fairy Tail, was practically a record worthy of celebration.
"OI, EVERYONE!"
Natsu came running back from the mission board at the back of the guild, a crumpled flyer in his hand, his feet pounding on the wooden floor with enough force to make the tankards on the tables tremble. His face was lit up with that wide grin that usually meant one of two things: either he had found someone to fight, or he had found something that was going to cause trouble.
Considering he was coming from the mission board, it was probably both.
"Look at this mission! It looks fun!"
He threw the paper on the table with enough enthusiasm to create a small gust of wind, nearly knocking over Erza's plate of cake. She grabbed the plate with combat reflexes, shooting him a death glare that would have made any sane person reconsider their life choices.
Natsu was not a sane person.
He didn't even notice.
Typical.
I leaned forward slightly to read the flyer, curiosity winning over my carefully cultivated indifference:
_____________
URGENT!!! MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES!
Travellers are vanishing on the road to Hosenka Village!
Witnesses report: strange shadows, screams in the night,
and a "horrible monster with glowing eyes"
Reward: 500,000 Jewels
(Please help. We are desperate.)
_____________
The red ink was smudged in a way that was clearly trying to be dramatic but only managed to look like someone had sneezed ketchup on the paper. "URGENT" had three exclamation marks and was underlined twice. The quotation marks around "horrible monster" were particularly suspicious.
(This looks like it was written by a twelve-year-old trying to be scary. Or an adult with the literary skills of a twelve-year-old. Both equally likely.)
"Hosenka Village," Lucy murmured, her eyes suddenly shining with an interest that had nothing to do with mysterious monsters. "Isn't that the hot springs village?"
"It is!" Natsu confirmed, pointing at the flyer as if he had discovered gold. "And look at the reward! 500,000 Jewels!"
"Divided by how many people?" Gray asked, already shirtless.
I blinked.
(When did he take that off? I was literally looking at him two seconds ago. The shirt was THERE.)
It was almost impressive. Almost.
"Details!" Natsu dismissed with an impatient wave. "The important thing is that it looks FUN! Mysterious monster! Sinister disappearances! Action!"
"It could be dangerous," Lucy pondered, but her voice lacked conviction. She was still clearly thinking about the hot springs.
"Even better!"
Erza took the mission request, analysing it with the seriousness of someone studying a high-stakes strategic battle plan. Her eyes scanned every line, every word, probably memorising it all for future reference.
"The description is vague," she observed, frowning. "'Glowing eyes' could be anything. A nocturnal animal. Illusion magic. A reflection of light. We need more information."
"That's why we'll go and investigate!" Natsu was practically bouncing on the spot, unable to contain his energy. "Come on, it'll be cool! And afterwards we can enjoy the hot springs! Two things in one!"
(Hot springs. Hot water. Relaxation. Silence.)
It sounded… pleasant, actually.
Not that I would ever admit it out loud. Never.
"I'm in," Gray said, leaning against the table with his arms crossed. His very bare arms. "It's been a while since I've had a decent mission. I'm getting rusty."
"You're getting naked, you mean," Natsu muttered.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, FLAME-BRAIN?!"
"WHAT YOU HEARD, STRIPPER!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING—" Gray looked down. Paused. "…When did I take my shirt off?"
"About two minutes ago," I offered helpfully.
He shot me a betrayed look, as if I were the one to blame for his inability to keep clothes on his body.
"Lucy?" Erza ignored the two boys completely, a skill developed over years of practice, and looked at the blonde.
"Well…" Lucy stretched in her chair, her muscles clearly still sore from the recent events. "I REALLY could use a hot spring bath after the last few days. My whole body aches." She sighed, already giving in. "Alright. I'll go."
"Happy?" Natsu called, abandoning his fight with Gray as quickly as he had started it.
"AYE SIR!" The blue cat gave a dramatic salute, his fish forgotten.
Then all eyes turned to me.
(Oh, no.)
I knew that look. It was the look of people about to drag me into something I hadn't agreed to. The look of "you have no choice, but we'll pretend we're asking."
"Azra'il," Erza said, and there was something in her tone that made me pause. It wasn't a question. It wasn't even a suggestion. It was a statement of fact awaiting confirmation. "You're coming."
"I have—"
"You're coming."
"Erza, I really don't—"
She stood up from her chair in a fluid movement, crossed the distance between us in three determined strides, and stopped in front of me. Close. Close enough for me to smell the faint scent of strawberries that always seemed to follow her.
Her brown eyes met mine. Determined. Unwavering. Absolutely inflexible.
"We." She punctuated each word as if hammering nails. "Are going."
I held her gaze for a long moment.
Erza didn't blink.
I knew this look. It was the same look generals used before impossible battles, when retreat was not an option. The same look kings used when they decreed laws that would change nations. The same look gods used when they decided the fate of mortals and would not accept argument.
It was the look of someone who simply could not conceive of hearing "no" as an answer.
(I have faced armies that covered horizons. Demons that devoured souls. Gods that shaped realities. And now I'm here, being intimidated by a pretty redhead with an obsession for strawberry cake and an absurd collection of armours.)
(The universe has a very strange sense of humour.)
I sighed. The sound came out heavier than I intended.
"…Fine."
The smile that lit up Erza's face was subtle, just a slight curve of her lips, an almost imperceptible softening of her expression, but it was there. And it was… beautiful, in a way I refused to examine too closely.
"Brilliant." She turned to the others, Titania back in full form. "We leave in one hour. Prepare your things. Bring supplies for three days. We don't know how long the investigation will take."
"AYE SIR!" Natsu and Happy shouted in unison, already running for the door.
Gray muttered something about "first I need to find my clothes" while looking around in genuine confusion.
Lucy was already on her feet, making a mental list out loud, "extra clothes, keys, emergency money, first-aid kit because it's our team and someone ALWAYS gets hurt…"
And I stood there, my teacup cooling in my hands, wondering at what exact moment I had lost control of my own life.
(Probably when I decided to join this guild.)
[Technically, you lost control when you let Erza use The Look on you and gave in in less than ten seconds.]
(I didn't give in in ten seconds.)
[Seven. I counted.]
(…)
[Seven seconds. The entity who has faced gods. Defeated by a redhead with a sugar problem.]
(I wasn't defeated. I made a strategic choice.)
[The strategic choice to completely yield at the first sign of resistance?]
(Eos.)
[Yes?]
(Shut up.)
[As you wish. But for the record, your heart rate increased by 12% when she got close.]
(That's a lie.)
[I monitor your vital signs. I literally cannot lie about data.]
(Then your sensors are faulty.)
[My sensors are perfectly calibrated. You are the one in denial.]
I ignored Eos with the dignity of someone who was absolutely, definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, NOT in denial about anything.
(A fundamental strategic error.)
(The first of many, apparently.)
[The first was letting her call you by your name like that. The second was liking it.]
(I DO NOT—)
[12%, Azra'il. The numbers don't lie.]
I sighed in defeat after arguing with Eos.
"You didn't have to intimidate me," I said quietly when Erza came back to get the rest of the cake she had abandoned.
She paused, the fork halfway to her mouth, an eyebrow raising slightly. "I didn't intimidate you."
"You used The Look."
"What look?"
"The Look. With capital letters. The one that makes people reconsider their life choices."
Erza blinked, genuinely confused. The fork lowered slowly as she stared at me. "I don't have a Look."
"You do. It's terrifying. Natsu and Gray tremble when you use it on them."
"That's…" she paused, considering. "That's different. They deserve it."
"And do I?"
"You were being stubborn."
"I was exercising my right to choose."
"The wrong choice." She shrugged, going back to eating her cake as if the matter were closed.
I almost laughed. Almost.
"…Is that a compliment?" she asked suddenly, the fork pausing again. "The Look being terrifying. Is that a good thing?"
"It's an observation."
"But a good or a bad observation?"
I considered the question. Erza was looking at me with a genuine curiosity, her head tilted slightly, waiting for an answer as if it really mattered.
"Neutral," I decided. "With positive tendencies in combat contexts."
She nodded, apparently satisfied with the analysis.
We were silent for a moment, not uncomfortable, just… quiet. Erza was eating her cake with an almost religious dedication. I was finishing my tea, now cold, but still aromatic.
"I just wanted you to come," she said suddenly, her voice softer than before. She wasn't looking at me, her eyes fixed on her plate, on her fork, anywhere but me.
Something in her voice made me pause. It was… different. Less Titania, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail who made enemies tremble. More… Erza. Just Erza.
"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she cut another piece of cake with surgical precision, the cuts perfectly uniform, every movement deliberate. She put it in her mouth. Chewed thoughtfully.
It was a stalling tactic. I recognised it because I often used it myself.
"Because missions are better when you're there," she said finally, still not looking at me. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, from the heat of the guild, probably. Just that. "You're… calm. Stable. When everything turns to chaos around us, and it always does with Natsu, you're like an anchor. It's…" she searched for the right word, "…reassuring."
(Oh.)
Something moved in my chest. Something I couldn't name and wasn't sure I wanted to.
"I'm reassuring," I repeated, my tone carefully neutral.
"Yes."
"I, who threatened to drown Happy yesterday because he wouldn't stop singing that irritating song."
"He deserved it. The song WAS irritating."
"I, who tried to pet a stray cat last week and it played dead until I left."
"…Played dead?"
"Fell on the ground, stopped breathing, the whole thing. Very convincing. The moment I turned my back, it ran off."
"Maybe it just—"
"I heard it meowing happily at the next pedestrian thirty seconds later. Erza. Thirty seconds."
Erza was silent for a moment, clearly not knowing how to respond to that.
"Animals usually like me," I added thoughtfully. "That one was particularly rude."
"Maybe… it had trauma?"
"From what? I was trying to be nice."
"Maybe that's the problem."
I shot her a look. Erza held it with a trace of a smile.
(She's laughing at me. Why doesn't that irritate me as much as it should?)
Erza finally looked at me properly, and there was something in her eyes I couldn't decipher. Something warm. Something that made the air between us seem denser.
"Exactly." Her voice was firm, convicted. "You are the most dangerous person I know, Azra'il. I feel it every time I'm near you, this… weight. This presence. As if the air gets heavier." She frowned slightly, as if she were confused by her own words, trying to articulate something she didn't have the vocabulary to express. "But at the same time… I feel safe. Safer than I feel with anyone else."
She stopped, the blush on her cheeks definitely more intense now.
"It's… strange," she concluded, almost defensively. "I know it's strange. It doesn't make sense."
I had no answer for that.
(What do I say to that?)
(What does one SAY to that?)
[You could say that you also feel—]
(No.)
[Or that—]
(No.)
[At least—]
(Eos, I swear by all that is holy—)
[Fine, fine. But your heart rate is at 18% now. Just for the record.]
"The train leaves in an hour," Erza said abruptly, getting up so quickly the chair scraped against the floor. She grabbed her now-empty plate as if it were a life raft. "Don't be late."
And then she was gone, practically marching towards the bar to return the plate, her back stiff and her ears visibly red.
I stood there, the empty teacup in my hands, watching her walk away.
(Definitely a strategic error to join this guild. An error I kept making every single day. And, for some incomprehensible reason that I refused to examine…)
My eyes followed Erza as she talked to Mira, her gestures still slightly agitated, the blush still visible on her cheeks.
(…I didn't regret it.)
_____________
💬 Author's Note
_____________
Before anyone starts theorising that I've gone mad and made up filler out of thin air… calm down.
We are officially entering a transition arc.
Hosenka Village does exist in the Fairy Tail universe (yes, I did my research), but it only appears briefly in the original material. So yes, this arc is entirely my own. With love. And a slight touch of chaos.
This is not an arc to be taken super seriously.
It's a breather.
After the recent events… and before what's to come.
Because just on the horizon is something that many of you already know.
The Tower of Heaven.
And before entering a storm of that level… we deserve a bit of:
Comedy
A suspicious mission
Hot springs
Characters with slightly less dignity
And maybe… just maybe… a certain level of fanservice 👀🔥
Nothing excessive. Nothing that breaks the story.
But yes, readers who enjoy a bit of light Ecchi and… awkward… situations…
You will probably have some fun 😈
Consider this the last quiet breath before the chaos that comes after.
Enjoy it. Because after this… I promise no mercy.