Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Forty-Two: Back at Magnolia

"So, Minerva, have you decided to place a bet yet?"

Mira leaned over the bar counter to smile hopefully at Minerva. Minerva took a sip of her drink and answered simply, "no."

Mira frowned. "Why not? Even Rogue is betting."

Minerva shook her head. "It's stupid. You're betting on who Lucy will end up dating. Don't you think she has other things to worry about? The last thing the poor girl needs is for her love life to become a source of entertainment."

Mira leaned away and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know that's not what it is. If anything, we're using Freed's, Rufus', and Midnight's love lives as a source of entertainment."

Minerva scoffed. "It's still stupid. It's none of our business either."

Mira simply shrugged her shoulders. "You can't deny that watching Rufus be in love with Lucy was fun." When Minerva rolled her eyes, but had a slight upward quirk to her lips, Mira continued, "when Freed first realized that he had feelings for Lucy, he was a blushing mess for a long time."

Minerva looked up at her, interest in her eyes. "Really? I wouldn't have imagined."

Mira giggled. "I wouldn't have either. I still remember it very well. Laxus, Evergreen, and Bixlow knew before the rest of us that something was up. Not long after Freed and Lucy started hanging out more after a job they had taken together, he had always blushed when around her, he frequently fussed over whether he looked nice or not before hanging out with her, and he would often take her somewhere like a cafe or quaint restaurant. Eventually, Laxus, Evergreen, and Bixlow got tired of watching him pine for Lucy without realizing it, so they had a pretty long talk with him. When he finally realized that he was in love, the poor guy couldn't look at Lucy without blushing like crazy. He had to take a long job by himself to process his feelings. When he came back, he started trying to get closer to her in an attempt at wooing her." Mira ended her little story with a light laugh. She enjoyed remembering this, always finding it amusing to think about.

Minerva gave a slight chuckle and a small smile. "Rufus realized it on his own, I believe. He put it together pretty quickly. If I remember correctly, he realized his feelings when he overheard Yukino and Sorano talking about who they should try to set Lucy up with. He didn't like hearing other men's names being mentioned, but he did like that he was being considered as a possibility."

Mira laughed a little. "So, it was jealousy that helped him realize?"

Minerva shrugged. "I suppose so. He and Lucy developed a good relationship after she started visiting Sabortooth fairly frequently. Turned out, they had quite a bit in common. After he realized that he was in love, his approach was similar to Freed's, get closer to her in hopes of winning her heart. He was very close to asking her on a date once, but she was dragged away for a shopping trip before he could actually ask."

There was a hint of sadness in her voice and eyes when she mentioned her deceased guildmates, but she decided to not say anything about it. Instead, she was glad that Minerva was able to talk about them, if indirectly.

Mira then brought a hand to her mouth a laughed. "Poor guy. That must have been frustrating." Minerva laughed along with her.

Once their laughter died, Mira wondered, "I wonder if Midnight has realized his feelings yet."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of, I've been curious about something for a while." Mira gave a short hum, telling Minerva to continue, which she did, "you and everyone else call the former Oracion Sies by their real names, except for Midnight. Why is that?"

Mira looked down at the bar counter and drummed the fingers of her right hand on the surface. She hadn't expected Minerva to ask that question. It was a genuine question, so she didn't have much of a reason to deny answering it. She sighed and looked back at Minerva. "Well, we kinda collectively agreed in silence that we would call the former Oracion Sies by their code names until they told us themselves to call them otherwise. None of us really knew what names they were comfortable with. Erik, Sorano, Richard, and Sawyer all did so eventually, telling us to use their real names instead. I'm pretty sure they knew what we were doing. However, Midnight never did. He just let us continue calling him by his code name, and whenever someone would call him by his real name, they'd get stared down intensely. We all just guessed that he preferred his code name, or he wasn't ready to be addressed by his real name."

Minerva nodded, understanding clear on her face. "You said that you wonder if he's realized his feelings, yes?"

Mira nodded, a smile returning to her face. When she was told by Erik that Midnight was still in the dark about his own feelings, she was excited to help him out, however, he left to join Lucy and the others before she could even make an attempt. To her dismay, all she could do now was hope that he would realize his feelings for Lucy before it was too late.

"Yes, I did. Erik told me about it." Mira looked over at Erik, who was nearby and doing a poor job of pretending that he wasn't listening to their conversation. "Erik!" she called out to him. Erik turned around and looked at her. When Mira gestured for him to come over, he did so, sitting at the bar counter beside Minerva.

"What do ya need?" Erik propped his arm up on the counter and rested his chin in his open palm.

Mira questioned with a smile, "do you think Midnight has realized his feelings yet?"

Erik gave a rather loud laugh as he shook his head. "Doubt it. That guy's in deep denial. I've been trying for a while to get him to see that he's got a thing for Blondie, but he just keeps on denying it."

Minerva chuckled. "Really?"

Erik nodded. "Yeah, really. Makes me wonder how he's usually really smart. He's clearly in love with the woman, but he can't seem to see it! It's frustrating as all hell."

Mira and Minerva laughed at that. Minerva then asked, "do you think he'll ever realize his feelings?"

Erik chuckled. "It'll take a while. Like I said, he's pretty damn deep in denial."

"What did the rest of Crime Sorciere think about Midnight leaving to help Lucy, Freed, and Rufus?" Mira poured a mug of an alcoholic drink and offered it to Erik, knowing that he was going to ask for one eventually.

Erik took a long sip of the beverage before answering, "we were hoping that it meant he had finally realized that he was in love with Blondie, but when I talked to him through a communication lacrima not long after, he was still in the dark about his own feelings." He sighed. "I swear, I'm this close to going to wherever he is and smacking some damn sense into him." He raised up his hand and showed that his thumb and index finger were dangerously close together.

Mira and Minerva both laughed. Minerva commented, "that might actually do the trick. The man seems to be about as dense as Natsu when it comes to his feelings."

Erik chuckled. "He'll realize eventually. When he does, he'll definitely get Blondie to go out with him."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Rufus has already tried to make a move, the fact that he was interrupted aside. I doubt that Midnight would be able to ask her out before Rufus. I think Freed would be a more likely opponent." She leans against the bar's counter, arms folded on top of it. "Besides, I think that Rufus or Freed has the highest chances with her."

Mira watched an amused smile on her face as Erik began explaining to the Sabertooth mage all of the ways that Midnight does, in fact, have a chance with Lucy. All of his points were met with reasons for why Rufus had a better chance.

She found it wonderful, how these two former enemies of Fairy Tail, Lucy in particular, could sit comfortably in Fairy Tail guildhall and discuss which of their friends had the better chance with the blonde mage. She laughed to herself before joining the debate, presenting Freed as a contender and defending her case with growing enthusiasm and match-making passion.

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I just wanted this chapter to be short and nice with little to no angst. Just to kinda break up the heavy angst that's been going on with Lucy and the guys. I hope you enjoyed it.