1 | Ascent [DISCONTINUED]

32 | NEW DELIVERY: INTERRUPTED

         ELVIRA NEVER LIKED BACKING down from a challenge, especially one she knew for a fact she could handle. She knew her limits, as did she know what she was possible of, so she always had specific expectations of how things she tried were going to go. Whether what she tried was something she believed it or not, she always tried to keep a positive outlook.

          Even though she knew deep down how things were going to go. Elvira always had a habit of trying to stay hopeful, as well as realistic, even if often the two got blurred together. So when she accepted the job from Yoro to deliver party supplies to Fairy Tail, she had faith that everything would be fine, but she quickly learned her trip was going to be everything but that.

          "Please," she begged. "Don't do this, I'm begging you."

          "I'm sorry, but I have to," the man tells her, "or else I won't be able to fix the wagon. I need to replace the wood, especially this side. I mean, look at it! It's rotting!"

          "I understand that," she admits, "but my boss will be very upset if I returned with the wagon and it doesn't have his face on it."

          The moment Elvira looked at the wagon that Yoro presented to her, she had a feeling it wouldn't last very long. And much like she expected, it didn't, as it began to break the moment she got outside of Oak Town. At first, it was just the front two wheels, which was manageable, especially seeing she still had the last two. However, upon arriving in Magnolia, the wood had collapsed, making the wagon no longer usable.

Luckily for her, it broke not too far away from a wainwright, who was more than willing to reassemble the wagon. However, unluckily for her, they needed to replace the wood, which meant Yoro's face nor shop name would no longer be on it. Had she not promised Yoro that she would take good care of the wagon, she would have no issue with it, but a promise was a promise, and she didn't want to break it. Upon arriving at the shop, the man explained to her that he could get it fixed within the next few hours, which left her with more than enough time to get the supplies to Fairy Tail before the festival.

Originally, she was going to use her magic as a mode of transporting the supplies, but after thinking it through, she decided against it. The last she wanted was to walk around with a giant floating box of supplies, especially seeing how busy the city was. She could've also rented a wagon from the wainwright, but none of the available wagons he had were fit to move the supplies. So, she was stuck waiting for the man to fix it, which also meant arguing over the original wood of the wagon.

          "Is your boss that self-absorbed?" the man wonders.

          "No, but I mean-," she starts to say before she's suddenly cut off by the sound of explosions, causing her to look towards the window in response. "What was that?"

          "No clue," the man admitted following her gaze.

          Hearing yet another explosion, this time, instead of staring out the window, the two decided to take their curiosity outside. Arriving outside, the first thing the two noticed was a fight between two mages. Elvira didn't recognize the mages, and neither did the Wainwright, but both knew they had to be from Fairy Tail. While Elvira looked at the fight in confusion, the man with her, however, looked at them in annoyance.

          She could tell that he seemed used to this type of behavior, yet Elvira couldn't help but notice how odd it was. As far as she knew the guild was preparing for the parade, something that she was under the belief they took seriously. So the fact that two of them members were in the middle of the street fighting, baffled her.

          "I don't get it," Elvira says, keeping her eyes on the fight. "Why are they fighting? Shouldn't they preparing for the parade?"

          "Don't ask me," he replies, letting out a sigh. "Those fools are always fighting, always making a ruckus and damaging city property."

          "But it doesn't strike you as odd that they're fighting during such an important day?" she asks him. "I mean, I've heard how destructive Fairy Tail can be, but never could I imagine them letting their tendencies get the best of them during such an important day."

          "Well, now that I think about it, they've never caused such a ruckus during past festivals," the man reveals. "And now that I look at it, this fight seems different than previous ones I've seen from them."

          "Different how?"

          "Usually when those mages fight they have this look on their face," he explains. "It's a look that reminds me of when I would watch my two older brother's fight. They weren't mad at each other but they were just doing what brothers did, fight. But this time, I don't see that, I see determination, anger even, as though they need to win this fight."

          Looking at the two mages, she focused her attention on their faces, as well as the way they moved. The looks on their faces were serious, and just like the man said, determined. It didn't look like two friends play fighting, it looked like they were fighting for something. The way they moved also reminded her of whenever she and Gajeel would take down dangerous mages. The moves were calculated, well thought out.

          Based on what the man told her and based on what she was seeing, she could tell they weren't playing around. And had she hadn't seen nor heard more explosions coming from other parts of Magnolia, she would think it was a one-time thing between two mages. Something was going on, Elvira could tell, and if the fallen ruins that came down upon one of the mages winning wasn't proof enough, she didn't know what was.

          "Runes," she mutters, watching them fall before the mage ran, leaving his fellow guildmate unconscious on the ground. "I wonder if that's what's forcing them to fight? Even then, who would do such a thing?"

          "You think this is another war between guilds?" the man wonders, hearing her mutter her thoughts out loud.

          "I doubt it," she answers. "War between guilds is strictly illegal, Fairy Tail wouldn't be stupid enough to get themselves involved in another one. Besides, this is to strategic to be a war between guilds, if anything it's a battle between guildmates"

          "But why?" he asks. "Why of all times?"

          "I don't know," she admits, "but I'm gonna find out."

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