Crimson Illusion || Fairy Tail [✔️]

🍃Chapter Seventeen🍃Reunited🍃

The journey back through the city was much easier than before. We were able to take out remaining monsters and Viper Strike wizards with ease, and the only real problem we all faced was the rubble. Several times, we had to stop to move debris out of the way, or to help devastated civilians.

Once we reached the Main Entrance to Crocus, we found that bonfires had been lit, despite it being the middle of the afternoon. Countless tents had also been erected, each sporting a different sign. The first half of the camp seemed to be refugee tents for the surviving civilians, along with several medical tents.

Princess Hisui was standing at the gates, awaiting our arrival.

"Please head to the tent with your guild's name on it," she said, "Any Guild Masters, please head to the Guild Master tent for a quick briefing."

I bayed good bye to Owan and Cindy, then followed Sting over to the closest tent, which was labelled; "Guild Masters". We pushed through the heavy canvas flaps. Masters Makarov, Mavis, Bob and Ooba were already sitting around a small table. Sting and I exchanged uneasy glances as we sat down. A moment later, the door flapped open once more, revealing the King himself.

"First of all, I would like to thank you all for lending us support in this battle," he began.

There was a brief silence, in which all eyes stayed locked on the King.

"Secondly, I believe it should come as no surprise to any of you that the rest of the Grand Magic Games for this year have been called off," he continued, clasping his hands in front of him. We all murmured in agreement. The King gave us all a weary smile.

"I'll be in contact with you all shortly about the city's condition, but I think you all deserve a short break. Now go see your Guild," He told us. I practically ran out the door. All the Guild tents were at the very back of the makeshift camp. They were aligned in a semi-circle fashion. The tent labelled 'Crimson Illusion' was at the very end of the row on the left. I walked over to the lowered tent flap and paused, hand resting on the rough canvas. There was talking and short bursts of laughter resonating from inside. Smiling, I pushed inside. There was a shriek, and Mikami tackled me in a hug.

"Mikami~san! You're squashing me!" I yelped, laughing.

"I don't care!" The purple-haired mage yelled back, hugging me tighter.

"Let her breathe, Mikami, geez!" Kasai snorted. Eventually, Mikami let go and stepped back, sniffling.

"Holy Celestial King, how are you all? I was so scared you'd seriously hurt yourselves... Or worse..." I mumbled, tottering over to collapse into a seat beside Cindy.

"Put a little faith in us!" Aren said indignantly.

"Yeah, we're all fine!" Gryfin fist-pumped.

"Is that why you're covered in bandages?" Cindy muttered sassily. I snorted.

There was a long silence, but it was a comfortable one.

"So... What now?" Cindy raised the question that the others were no doubt thinking.

"The remainder of the Grand Magic Games for this year has been cancelled, for obvious reasons..." I sighed, "And the King's probably going to ask for all the wizards' help in clearing away debris and fixing buildings. He did mention something to do with the city, earlier."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Kasai murmured.

"Yeah," Owan agreed, "It's the least we can do, I guess."

"I NEED SLEEP."

"Shut up, Mikami."