Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads Chapter 708: In the Domus Flau Infirmary

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

July 6, x790.

"It's finally over, huh?" Brandish said as she arrived next to Alfonzo and Elicia, who were standing in the area where they eliminated Bacchus, Yoruichi, Genma, Rufus, and Orga. "Well, I guess I'm glad it's over. I don't know if I wanna do it again next year, though.'

"Really?" Elicia asked while leaning her back against Alfonzo's chest. "She then continued while grabbing Alfonzo's arms and wrapping them around her waist. "You an, you didn't have fun?"

"Not really." Brandish replied. "It was too much work."

In response, both Alfonzo and Elicia rolled their eyes while smiling at Brandish's usual behavior. A mont later, all three turned their gazes in a particular direction. At the ends of their lines of sight, a blonde woman with pink hair tips could be seen approaching. However, it was clear to see that she was not at her best.

"I'm so tired." Marin said in an exhausted tone after getting within speaking distance. "And these burns still hurt. Brandi even shrunk them down real small."

"Well, just because they're smaller doesn't an they aren't there." Alfonzo said as he unwrapped his left arm from around Elicia's waist and beckoned Marin to his side. "Just co here and take it easy. We'll get Shizuka and Wendy to look at you when we get back to the hotel."

Nodding in response, Marin stumbled over to Alfonzo. Then, she rested her body against him while leaning her head on his chest. At the sa ti, Elicia started ejecting threads from her fingertips. She then started weaving them together, creating a beautiful hooded cloak with intricate embroidery.

"Here, put this on." Elicia said as she finished her work. "It will definitely be more comfortable than whatever you're wearing right now."

"Thanks, Lici." Marin replied with an awkward smile.

*Thud!* *Shatter!*

A mont later, Marin threw the hooded cloak Elicia made over the one she [Transford] from rubble. Then, she released the [Transformation], and a piece of rubble fell from the bottom of the cloak she was now wearing and shattered on the ground.

"Alright, the projection is about to disappear." Alfonzo said as he started combing his fingers through Elicia's and Marin's hair. "We can go see Sun after that, okay?"

"Okay~!" Elicia and Marin replied in unison.

At the sa ti, Brandish nodded her head, as well. Then, after a few monts, the quartet's surroundings began to glow brightly. While that happened, all the buildings began to break down from their highest points while dispersing into motes of [Light Magic].

"By the way, just how much did the kingdom pay to use the [Hard Light Projection] magic items you made?" Marin asked curiously.

"Well, let's just say..." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I won the Grand Magic Gas about eighty tis from that deal alone."

Hearing that, Marin could only blink at Alfonzo in confusion for a few monts while her mind processed what she just heard. It should be known that the winning team at the Grand Magic Gas received thirty million Jewels as prize money. And Alfonzo just said that he won the Grand Magic Gas eighty tis during the sale of the [Hard Light Projection] magic items he sold to the Kingdom of Fiore. {A/N: 1 Jewel is approximately equal to 0.01 USD.}

"Wait! Are you saying you just made 2.4 billion Jewels?" Marin scread at the top of her lungs.

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

However, Marin did not co to her senses before the town finished breaking down. So, her scream was overwheld by the cheering from the crowd, and no one heard her.

"Don't think about it for now." Elicia said while pulling Marin into a hug. "It just ans that we can relax more in the future, right?"

Marin was unable to respond, unfortunately. She was still dumbfounded by the amount of money Alfonzo ntioned in a joking tone.

{"Ladies and Gentlen!"} Loli shouted, his voice carrying over the Domus Flau's broadcast system. {"Give it up for Team Fairy Tail! X790's Grand Magic Gas' Champions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

Alfonzo, Elicia, and Marin started waving to the crowd with all the cheering. Brandish, on the other hand, looked just as bored as she usually did. All the while they were making their way towards the arena's exit.

"Yeah... I'm definitely not doing this again next year." Brandish muttered, causing the other three to start laughing good-naturedly.

The cheers continued for a while after that. anwhile, the four Fairy Tail wizards were on their way to see Sun, who should have been transported into the infirmary. And just as they expected, before they even opened the door to the room where Sun should have been resting, they could hear her voice chirping away cheerfully.

"Well, I guess you're all good after the event, huh?" Alfonzo asked as he and the others stepped into the room.

At the sa ti, Alfonzo gazed around the room, as well. When he did, he saw Sun sitting on the side of her sick bed with Lunar sitting next to her. anwhile, Ren was sitting in front of the two rmaids while Masa stood behind her. However, he was continuously glancing at a corner of the room, where Gozaburo was lying unconscious in a heap.

Also, there was a young man, about the sa age as Sun and Luner, aning he was about twenty-three years old, sitting in a chair next to Ren. He had spiky black hair, blue eyes, as well as average height and build. And by the way he was looking at Lunar, it was easy to guess who he was.

Naturally, Alfonzo's voice drew everyone's attention, other than Gozaburo, for obvious reasons. And when Sun saw Alfonzo and the girls, her eyes lit up.

"Alfonzo!" Sun shouted as she stood up and jumped over Ren, Masa, and the young man sitting next to them, without sohow hitting her head on the ceiling, and clung to Alfonzo with her arms and legs wrapping around him.

"I guess you're feeling okay, then." Alfonzo said with a smile as he reached up to comb his fingers through Sun's hair.

"Uh huh!" Sun replied while nodding her head. "I had a lot of fun, too. Fighting Kagura again was really fun."

"But you could have really gotten hurt this ti." Marin said in a scolding tone. "What made you think to fight her Shikai like that?"

"Really?" Sun asked while tilting her head cutely.

"*Sigh* Just what should we do with you?" Marin asked in an exasperated tone while reaching up to pat Sun's head.

In response, Sun only smiled brightly. anwhile, Ren wore her usual fond smile while Lunar looked at Sun in exasperation like Marin had. Masa, on the other hand, looked at Sun proudly. She learned swordsmanship from him, after all.

However, there was one person who was not staring at Sun like the other people who were already in the room. And that was the young man sitting in front of Lunar. Unlike the others, he was staring at Alfonzo with a starstruck expression on his face.

"Looks like you got another fan, Fonzie." Elicia said with a grin while shifting her glance between Alfonzo and the black-haired young man.

"Looks that way." Alfonzo said as his eyes fell on the young man, as well. "So, what's your na?"

"I-Uh-I-Uh-I-Uh..." The young man tried to introduce himself.

"*Sigh* Co on, Nagasumi." Lunar said, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Stop embarrassing yourself. You weren't like this when you introduced yourself to . And I'm famous, too."

"Well, by then you had shattered all my fantasies." The young man, Nagasumi Michishio, whispered while looking away from Lunar.

"What was that?" Lunar asked in a threatening tone.

"Huh? What do you an, Honey?" Nagasumi asked as he straightened his back while looking at Lunar with the most loving gaze he could muster. "I didn't say anything."

"Hmph! That's what I thought." Lunar said imperiously. She then turned to look at Alfonzo. "Anyway, this is my fiancé, Nagasumi Michishio. And he's a fan of yours. Especially after seeing how much you've done for the common people with your inventions."

'So, the Nagasumi in this world is just as kind as the one from the source material, huh?' Elicia thought to herself while looking Nagasumi up and down.

'I guess he's gotta have a kind heart.' Alfonzo thought to himself while smiling and nodding at Nagasumi. He then glanced at Lunar briefly. 'Because you have to be a saint to put up with the way she used to be, right? I an, shit, I was ready to leave her ass in the rain the first ti I t her in x785. And she had supposedly already changed by then.'

"It's nice to et you, Nagasumi." Alfonzo said as he lowered Sun to the floor. He then stepped forward with his right hand extended. "Even though I can tell you already know who I am, I'll still introduce myself. I'm Alfonzo Marcus."

While Nagasumi accepted Alfonzo's handshake, Alfonzo found himself a little weirded out. Because Nagasumi was wearing that expression he wore whenever he was captivated by Masa in the ani.

["You know, this is a lot creepier when he's looking at you like that."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world, his tone making it clear he was a bit uncomfortable.

"Congratulations on eting your hero, Nagasumi." Masa said in a smooth tone while shooting a thumbs up in Nagasumi's direction. "And I gotta say, you picked a good one."

In the next instant, Alfonzo was dumbfounded when Nagasumi turned towards Masa with the expression growing more intense. At the sa ti, both Alfonzo and Elicia would have sworn that they heard Nagasumi's inner thoughts at that very mont.

'Masa~~!' Alfonzo and Elicia seed to hear from Nagasumi while he stared at Masa passionately.

"Seriously, can you stop bringing Masa around when I'm with Nagasumi." Lunar whispered to Ren. "I'm afraid he's gonna co out of the closet and break my heart into tiny little pieces every ti I see him look like that."

In response, Ren only smiled at Lunar. She then turned to look at Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Brandish.

"By the way, I already said this to Sun." Ren said while smiling proudly. "But let congratulate you on your victory."

Hearing that, Alfonzo released Nagasumi's hand and turned to smile at Ren along with the rest of Team Fairy Tail. Even Brandish allowed a small smile to cross her face, too.

*Boom!*

A mont later, the door to the infirmary room was slamd open with force. Then, before anyone could look towards the door...

"Congratulations! We're the champions again!"

... a course of voices shouted passionately. And to no one's surprise, when Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, Sun, Ren, Masa, Lunar, Brandish, and Nagasumi looked towards the door, they saw the mbers of Fairy Tail gathered outside the door with excited smiles on their faces.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

However, before that could go on for too long, those sa excited mbers could be seen kneeling down in the infirmary's hall way while covering quickly growing bumps on their heads. anwhile, the culprit behind this particular epidemic, Ur, was glaring at everyone covering their heads.

"Be quiet you morons!" Ur shouted in a stern, intense tone. "This is a hospital wing. Stop interrupting everyone else."

'She's louder than we were, though.' Everyone who had been hit in the head thought to themselves.

anwhile, in another room on the sa hallway, Minerva had just regained consciousness. And when she did, she stared at the ceiling blankly for a while, while listening to the excitent in the hallway.

"We really lost, didn't we?" Minerva asked herself.

"You did." A deep, male voice replied to Minerva's muttering. "And I am not happy. You have seriously disappointed , Minerva. And you know what happens when you disappoint ."

Hearing that familiar voice, Minerva could not help shuddering in fear. However, she eventually managed to turn her head in the voice's direction. And just as she expected, her father was sitting in the corner of the room and staring at her with clear anger in his expression.

Usually if Minerva found herself in a situation like this, she would only lower her head and hope for her father's anger to pass. Yet, after her last conversation with Irene, her thoughts had changed slightly.

"I know, Father." Minerva replied, still lowering her head. "And I'm sorry for disappointing you. Unfortunately, we were unable to match up with them."

With Minerva's apology and subsequent explanation of why she and her team failed to attain victory, the room fell into a tense silence. And judging from the feeling in the room, Minerva knew that her father was not happy with what she said.

"I did not ask for your excuses." Jiemma said sternly. "The fact that you lost... That Sabertooth lost... is a humiliation to . And for that, you and those four useless boys will be punished severely. Now, get up. We're returning."

With that, Jiemma stood up and turned towards the door. However, when he reached the door, he did not hear the sound of footsteps behind him. And that caused him to stop with his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"I gave you an order." Jiemma said without turning around.

"But Father... My injuries." Minerva said softly.

And with how deeply she was cut by Kagura, moving at this point would be bad for Minerva. However, to Jiemma, this sounded like another excuse.

"I don't have ti for your excuses." Jiemma said. "I said get up and follow along."

Despite Jiemma's tone, Minerva, who was physically unable to follow his order, only remained lying in bed while looking away from her father. She already knew that there was nothing she could say to make him understand, as his words were law. But there were just so things she was unable to do.

Eventually, with anger blazing in his eyes, Jiemma turned around. He then took a few large steps towards Minerva. Then, when he was next to the sick bed, he raised his hand, preparing to slap his daughter for her supposed disobedience.

In response, though it was clear she was terrified, thanks to years of abuse at her father's hands, Minerva managed to turn her head in her father's direction and make eye contact.

And when Jiemma saw the look in his daughter's eyes, he was taken aback. However, that only lasted for a mont, as the slight confusion he felt was quickly replaced by anger.

Currently, the look in Minerva's eyes was filled with sothing Jiemma thought he had erased from her mind... Defiance. And Minerva's next words, though shaky as they were, caused that anger to grow exponentially.

"Father... you asked us to do sothing that you, yourself, are incapable of." Minerva said as her heart rate increased with every word. "Yet, when we fail at our assigned task, we are punished. I don't understand. It's quite obvious... Sabertooth is not, nor has it ever been the strongest."

By now, Jiemma's anger had reached its peak and his hand, that was raised, was now covered in the light of his magic power, giving the room a purple tint.

"Insolent child!" Jiemma roared angrily.

"It looks like you'll finally kill with your punishnts, Father." Minerva, after seeing the anger in her father's eyes, sohow cald down as she stared back into his eyes. "Well, at least that ans I won't have to put up with this anymore. I'll be able to see Mother on the other side, too. Since I'll probably end up where she did. You killed her, too, after all. My only regret is that I did not accept her offer. If I had, maybe I would grow strong enough to defeat you myself. Now, I can only wait until soone else learns of what happened here and makes you pay for your actions."

After hearing what Minerva had to say, the magic power coting Jiemma's hand began producing small explosions, as his magic power intensified due t his growing anger.

"Not only insolence." Jiemma said with anger roiling under the surface. "But you also admit to breeding thoughts of treason. Unforgiveable!"

With Jiemma's roar, he brought his hand down, intending to cripple, if not outright kill, his daughter. anwhile, Minerva only closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

*Clap!*

"Did you really an that, Girl?" A female voice asked in a playful tone.

"Who are you?" Jiemma asked, sounding even angrier than before.

After hearing the woman's voice, Minerva knew exactly who had spoken. And after hearing her father's angry, yet confused, return question, Minerva finally opened her eyes. And when she did, she blinked in confusion at what she saw.

At the mont, Irene was holding Jiemma's wrist with one hand, having stopped him from slapping Minerva with his [Blast Magic] coated hand. anwhile, Jiemma, with all his might, was trying, and failing to pry Ireen's grip from around his wrist. ON top of that, with Irene's exquisite magic power control, she was suppressing Jiemma's magic power, forcing it back inside of the Sabertooth guild master's body.

"I'll ask you once again, Minerva Orland." Irene said, her tone turning more serious. "Did you truly an what you said? If so, I will lend you my aid."

Still surprised by what she was seeing, Minerva could only nod her head dumbly in response to Irene's much firr question. In response, Irene also nodded her head. Then, with little effort, while continuing to suppress Jiemma, she dragged him out of the room, weaving through the mbers of Fairy Tail who were still in the hallway, while not drawing attention to herself from anyone aside from Mavis. And Mavis, as curious a person as she was, decided to follow Irene to see what was happening.

anwhile, Minerva remained lying in her hospital bed wondering if everything that happened was real.

"I'm gonnna have to get Rufus to check my mories to see if all that really happened." Minerva said as tears started to pool in her eyes. Then, as they fell, she continued. "I finally did it... I finally managed to get away from his tyranny."

With that, the room fell into a near silent state. The only sounds that could be heard were the quiet, yet relieved, sobs of a young woman with a new lease on life.