Phoenix

Job With Sting

Sting grumbled and put his head on the table.

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Sting stood in front of Emi, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, uh Emi, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go on a da--"

"Emi! We need to go food shopping. We have like no food left."

Sting glared at Kira as she stood beside him. Emi agreed and said goodbye to Sting before following Kira in the direction of the food shops.

"What were you two talking about? He seemed super uncomfortable."

"I have no idea. He was asking me something but he never finished."

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"Lady Emiko, will you come on a job with Sting and me?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Sting spoke up from behind her, scaring her, "It's a detail. Some guy was caught robbing different magic shops and they need us to escort the guy to the Magic Council."

Emi looked uneasy at the mention of the Magic Council.

"Actually, I don't think that--"

"Please Lady Emiko. We haven't been on a job with you in forever."

Emi finally agreed and they set up a meeting place for the next day. When morning came, Emi made her way over to the guildhall where Sting and Lector were waiting. She waved to them before leading the way to the train station. Sting groaned as soon as he saw the train.

"Do you know why you have such severe motion sickness?"

"It's because I'm a dragon slayer."

Emi nodded before Lector pushed Sting onto the train. He had immediately slinked onto the floor when the train started to move. Emi waved Sting to sit next to her. The dragon slayer forced himself off the floor and sat next to her, leaning on her side to stay upright.

"Lie down."

Sting fell on Emi's lap as he continued to groan. Emi felt Sting's breathing to slow down, signalling that he was falling asleep. The white haired woman sighed before turning to Lector and shrugging.

"Lady Emiko, can you tell me a story? I'm bored."

Emi softly smiled before sharing with him the history of the different types of lost magic. Lector carefully listened as the scenery passed by the windows.

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"I'm Emi, what's your name?"

"Emi, I don't really think that we're supposed to be friends with this guy."

Emi looked to Sting before telling him that she was trying to be nice so that the prisoner would be less likely to try to hurt them.

"Lady Emiko, I don't think that's how bad guys work."

Emi mumbled, "You guys always tell me to be nicer and the moment I try I get yelled at."

The three of them sat in the carriage across from the prisoner and made idle conversation. While battling his motion sickness, Sting kept talking about a new technique combo that he and Lector had discovered. Emi was half listening while she kept an eye on the prisoner. Suddenly the prisoner punched Sting in the stomach, causing the dragon slayer to bend over in pain. He had escaped the carriage and started running towards the forest.

"Are you going to go after him or not?" Sting groaned as he tried to catch his breath.

Emi looked out the window before sighing and jumping out of the carriage to pursue the prisoner. She quickly caught up to him and stood in front of him before cracking her knuckles.

"So how do you want to do this?"

The prisoner had made one swift movement and grabbed the sleeve of Emi's cloak. The cloak had been torn off her, revealing her face and body. Emi gasped and kicked him in the gut. Sting and Lector had caught up the pair and detained the prisoner again. Once they had tightened the cuffs, they had looked towards Emi.

"Hey are you o--"

Sting's eye went wide as he looked at Emi without her cloak. He couldn't speak, too shocked to find words. Emi glared at the dragon slayer as she picked her cloak up off the ground. She fastened the buttons before violently dragging the prisoner to the carriage and throwing him in. She looked at him and sneered.

"Pathetic."

"Hey little lady, I never would've guessed that there was a hot woman underneath that cloak."

Emi growled and kicked the man in the shins as she sat down, causing him to scream in pain.

"They never said we needed to deliver you in good health. They just said to make sure you didn't escape or die."

Sting had finally reached the carriage and climbed in to see the prisoner cowering in fear as he looked at Emi with wide eyes and a face full of sweat. Sting sighed as he sat next to Emi.

"Man you sure screwed up, buddy. There was no chance of you getting away from her."

Lector flew into the carriage and sat on Emi's lap.

"That was so cool, Lady Emiko. You totally took him down with one shot. And you didn't even use magic!"

Emi stayed silent for the rest of the ride to the Magic Council. Sting couldn't see her face, but he saw the tension in her shoulders as she sat stiffly. He looked at her with worry. Once they got to the Magic Council, Emi threw the prisoner down on the ground in front of the soldiers. She then turned and walked into the town of Era.

"Emi, wait!"

Emi ignored Sting's calls and disappeared into the town. She had made her way to the town's edge and approached a small cliff. She let out a breath when she saw who she was looking for.

"So what's the problem, Emiko?"

"Can't I just call my friend to talk while I'm in town, Mystogan?"

The cloaked man laughed as Emi walked to be beside him.

"You seem troubled."

Emi looked forward as she spoke, "My cloak was ripped off by that prisoner. Three people saw what I looked like, and who knows who else was following."

"Two of them were close friends of yours and--"

"I don't even take off my hood around them, much less my entire cloak. The only one who's seen me is Kira."

"Had to happen at some point."

Emi groaned, "You're not helping."

Mystogan laughed before reminding her that they were her friends and that she shouldn't be so worried about it. She sighed and sat down.

"You should've seen that look on their faces," Emi joked.

"I'm sure they were just shocked."

"Shocked is an understatement. Their mouths hung open and it took them a few minutes to even move."

"You must be very pretty then."

"Jellal! Knock it off!"

"Wait, you knew that Mystogan's real name was Jellal?" Lucy questioned.

Emi smiled before telling the group that she spoke to him often and that they had grown close.

"That's so unfair!" Natsu complained. "We totally should've known before you."