As train continued its journey towards Magnolia, the atmosphere among Fairy Tail mages was quickly changing. Relieved from no longer having to worry about their injured comrade, everyone quickly became much more cheerful.
Erza relaxed in a seat next to the black haired mage and no longer looked battle ready (as Elrion would have described her until now), Lucy looked more energetic and cat creature was all over the place. Even the shirtless mage, who had been suspiciously watching everything with crossed arms, ever so slightly changed his body posture from aggressive-standby to casual-standby and leaned further into the train seat.
At this moment train arrived to one of the smaller stops. After a few seconds of blinking his eyes, Natsu jumped back on his feet, miraculously and instantly cured of his nausea.
"I am aliiiiive!" - he yelled with his hands raised high into the air, a small stream of a flame escaping his mouth as if he is a flamethrower. "Damn this thing. Next time I am walking and that is final!" Then he focused his attention to Elrion. "So you are Elrion Sradavara huh? Thanks for patching up Lucy, man. We appreciate it." He said this as he enthusiastically gave Elrion a thumbs handshake which he accepted.
"No problem. And it's Sravadar..."
"Right right. We can talk once we are off this cursed thing. Let's go! I am never stepping foot on another train again!"
The shirtless guy finally had enough of now revived Natsu and told him off: "Pipe down flamebrain. It is just a small stop. We have another hour before we reach Magnolia."
With inhuman speed, Natsu turned around and got into his face. "WHAT DID YOU CA - wait, we are not there yet!?"
As if on signal, the train made a sound and slowly started to move again. Natsu's reaction was instant, his face changing colors rapidly. The black haired mage lowered his center of gravity in the seat, ready to jump away in the split of a second should the situation call for it. Luckily for everyone, Natsu managed to collapse back into his seat, his lunch still within him. But he was obviously once again back in his nauseous state. Nobody reacted too much, so Elrion concluded this whole thing must be reoccurring and by now, usual event for them.
Once more returning to his task of fanning Natsu, the talking cat turned its head to Elrion and actually said something constructive for a change: "Come to think of it, we have never gotten to introduce ourselves to you, have we?"
Erza nodded and continued, "With Lucy being injured, we had other priorities. With that taken care of, now is a good time to properly introduce ourselves."
"Then I'll be the first! My name is Happy. Aye!" The talking cat, now identified as Happy, eagerly introduced itself. He also introduced his incapacitated friend. "And the knocked out guy is Natsu Dragneel. Pleased to meet you!" he said, fanning his partner through the introduction process.
"Likewise. Uuum, before we continue - Happy? What are you exactly?" Elrion asked in hope to shed some light on the mysterious creature.
Happy answered innocently. "Can't you see? I am a cat."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Elrion was not sure if the 'cat' is messing with him or not, but concluded he is unlikely to get a better response. "I see. Moving on."
The black haired mage was next, and he gave an almost friendly nod. "Gray Fullbuster. Thanks for the assist."
"Glad I could help. If I may ask, why are you without - wait! Dude, where are your pants!?"
In addition to his missing shirt, Fullbuster was now only in his boxers, his pants gone without a trace. Worse, Elrion did not even realize when he took them off. He was sure he had them on a moment ago before he turned to Happy.
"Ah crap, when did that happen?" In what was seemingly uncharacteristic display of emotion for someone who had been silently brooding all this time, Gray jumped on his feet and went to search for his clothes. Elrion watched with open mouth as a mage in boxers dropped to his knees and started to rummage below their seats in search of his clothes.
Lucy put a hand on Elrion's shoulder and dismissively waved hand at Gray - now delighted he found his pants. "You get used to it. Happens all the time." Then she smiled warmly and introduced herself. "As you already know, my name is Lucy. I know I keep thanking you over and over again, but I really appreciate your help. That bruise really hurt."
Elrion accepted her outstretched hand and shook it, doing his best not to let his eyes wonder around the attractive girl's ruined clothes. He opened his mouth and already took a breath to ask her a question, but swallowed it back at the last second. Despite being exhausted and far from his best, he somehow managed to catch on the fact that she must have omitted her surname on purpose. Glad that he realized it on time before he asked about it and potentially made things awkward, he smiled back at her: "Pleasure to meet you Lucy."
Sitting next to the now once again fully clothed Gray, redheaded knight smiled and extended her hand within the armored glove. "That leaves just me. Erza Scarlet. It is a pleasure to meet a mage adept in healing magic."
Elrion's purple eyes closed in amused smile as he shook her hand and started to talk. "Miss Erza, I must confess that I already knew who you are when you approached me. Just moments before you entered my carriage I was reading about you in a local magazine. It was an odd experience, learning of someone's existence and then suddenly having them approach you a few minutes later."
Erza was slightly taken aback with this and raised her eyebrow, but recovered quickly. "Well, I have encountered similar unusual events through my career, the world sometimes works in mysterious ways. I am a bit surprised you have managed to instantly recognize me after seeing what I assume is just one of my pictures from the article."
Lucy giggled, "It can't be helped Erza, you truly stand out in the crowd. Scarlet hair, silver armor, intense glare. You are difficult to forget."
"Lucy, what do you mean intense glare? You make it sound as if I am glaring at people all the time." Erza questioned as she glared at Lucy.
"Uuuh, right. My bad. Let's, just leave it at that." Lucy answered as she backpedaled from her description, despite being spot on.
Unrolling the magazine from his pocket, Elrion easily found the article again and gave it to Erza, who took it with some curiosity.
"Hmph. Surely they had a nicer picture of me to select from. They keep taking them without my permission all the time, and this is the one that has been picked? I appear as if I will assault the camera." Erza commented, scowling at the magazine in her hands. Elrion smiled in amusement, noticing how she is having identical frown on her face as on the said picture. While entertained, he decided not to comment on it, just in case he gets the same treatment as Lucy had earlier.
Happy had no such reservations though. "Maybe they just didn't have enough time to get a picture where you look nice and kind. We have remained in the city for only two days after all."
With annoyed and forced smile, the S ranked girl casually threatened her teammate. "Just because we have a guest, does not mean I will refrain from hitting you. 💢".
"I'm sorry! Lucy said it!" - he countered in panic.
Despite silly accusation, Lucy jumped in her seat. "Hey!? Ouch... I really shouldn't move around too much. Ignore the cat Erza. Say, is there anything written about me?" Lucy asked hopefully with a big smile, her eyes wide open in expectation.
"Not a word." Erza answered briskly, still reading the article.
"I see... Still nothing." Lucy sulked a bit and started to draw circles on the window with her finger. "I thought helping to defeat a Zeref's demon would count. What does a girl have to do for some recognition here? Stupid reporters."
After reading through most of the article, Erza finally remembered the interview in question, and got slightly upset. "Ah, I remember now! This happened immediately after we took down the council building - I mean, the Lullaby. Not even half an hour passed and they had already pressed me into answering their pointless questions. I just wanted to reward myself with a slice of cake or two for my hard work, and they kept getting in my way and pestered me with their microphones and notepads. Even today I get upset remembering that."
Happy saw his chance and took it. "Pfff. A slice or two she says!" *smack* "UGHWA?"
Before he or anyone else could even react, he has been swiftly smacked into the head with an armored glove and ended up kissing the floor.
"Heh. Finally said too much. Serves you right." Lucy commented with a grin, not at all sorry for Happy, given that she happens to be the most common target of his remarks.
"Idiot." - was everything that Gray had to add, looking at Happy twitching on the floor.
Accepting the magazine back from Erza and placing it back into his pocket, Elrion thought back to its content and realized that everyone here has been mentioned within it. He even saw (now separating himself from the floor) Happy on the picture with Natsu Dragneel, yet Lucy has not even been mentioned. After a brief hesitation, he decided to probe the matter. After all, he felt a sizeable magic power originating from the blonde, so it was most likely she is unknown due to being a newer member of the guild.
"Could it be that you are one of the newer members of the guild Lucy-san?" he asked with some caution, but decided to follow his curiosity.
Wincing a bit, Lucy answered with a heavily forced smile. "Y-yeah. I have joined some three months ago, so I am still learning. At the moment I am just at C rank, but I am working hard for my B rank exam. So I am sure I will get a higher rank one of these days, but I want to make sure I am ready for it before attempting it, so I am taking my time to prepare. But soon, for sure!" Lucy hastily explained herself while waving her arms around and panicking. If the blush on her face was anything to judge by, she was quite embarrassed with her current rank.
Not expecting he would actually trigger such a negative reaction, Elrion sighed. "I see some things do not change no matter where you go. For some reason, B rank is considered as a benchmark for an average mage by the civilians, even though less than 20% of mages are within B rank or above. Not to mention that people of such rank often had to work hard for decades to achieve it. C rank is nothing to sneeze at, so don't put yourself down by saying you are 'just at C rank'. With that rank alone, you are already head and shoulders above at least half of the magic community."
"Oh? You really think so?" Lucy asked unsure of herself, poking the tips of her fingers together.
Crossing her arms, Erza continued before he could respond: "Elrion speaks the truth Lucy. While having the ambition to climb through ranks is something I wholeheartedly approve of, make sure not to get discouraged by comparing yourself with me, Natsu and Gray. The three of us have been blessed with extraordinary talent, and while we do work hard and deserve our rankings, we cannot deny we were also very lucky at the same time. None of us question your talent, but we have been training magic and fighting among ourselves since we were little kids, while you have started to train more seriously just earlier this year. Keep working hard, but give yourself needed time to achieve results. There is no need to rush things."
Not used to praise, from more than a single person no less, Lucy was at a loss what to do. So she decided to take the opportunity and tell her teammates her honest feelings. "Thanks Erza. It's just that, we have started to go on missions together quite often, the five of us. (At the side Happy pumped his fist with a smile because he was included into the math). And you are an S rank, while Natsu and Gray are at A rank. I am afraid other guild members will start to think I am just using you guys to collect share in rewards for better paying jobs."
In visible honest confusion, Erza washed away Lucy's worries, not even realizing how effectively she had done it: "But we go on missions together because we are friends. Ranks and rewards have nothing to do with it."
Lucy blinked a few times, still processing Erza's words. Given how straightforward the knight girl is at all times, she knew there was no deception or attempts of consolation in her words and that these were her true thoughts on the matter. For a moment she thought that she saw Elrion frowning, but it might have been her imagination. Her sight was not the best while she was trying to blink away the tears threatening to spill out after Erza called her a friend for the first time. "Thank you Erza... It means a lot for me to hear you say that."
Gray decided to contribute as well: "What a stupid thing to worry about. With how much stuff we break, the largest portions of our rewards go to damage reparations, and everyone in the guild knows about it. If you had been after the money as your objective, you would have left our team a long time ago. So you have no reason to be concerned, we know that you are not abusing our friendship, even though you are constantly broke."
Elrion smiled in amusement, learning that the magazine was correct about the collateral damage and that even aloof mage liked to occasionally tease Lucy. The girl in question blushed a bit and glanced at Elrion. Despite her now elated mood, she slightly frowned and decided to playfully protest at Gray for revealing her mini-secret to their guest. "Hey, that last part was uncalled for. But thanks for everything before that. And your pants are gone."
"Damn it, again?" Gray exclaimed and the next second he was already beneath the seats once more.
Getting somewhat used to the group's antics, Elrion had another question that bothered him.
"So an S-rank, two A-ranks, and a C-rank. All of you are a force to be reckoned with. If Lucy-san got injured like this despite being among such powerful mages, I can't help to wonder what were you up against on your mission?"
Erza sighed and took it upon herself to explain. "We were up against a dozen of Clubbers, C rank ape-like monsters that are similar to well known monster Vulcan. Unlike Vulcans, who try to possess their victims and usually fight unarmed, Clubbers, as their name would suggest, prefer to use huge wooden clubs."
Elrion tried to imagine the four mages (and Happy) standing up against ten C rank monsters. He knew that a single C rank monster could level entire house within a minute. Fighting against so many of them at once was a testament to just how powerful these teens around him truly are.
Erza continued with a frown: "In battle - Natsu and me are front row fighters, Gray switches between close and middle range, while Lucy provides support from the rear with her summons. It was supposed to be a routine monster extermination mission, but due to my carelessness and focus on the front, we did not notice one of the Clubbers coming up from behind. It managed to land a surprise attack on Lucy, and connect a hit strong enough to lift her off the ground and toss her into some thorn filled bushes at the side."
Elrion still remembered Erza's outburst with the doors earlier and that she considers herself responsible for not preventing Lucy's injury.
Blonde quickly tried to calm down her guilt-ridden friend. "Nobody blames you Erza, and you shouldn't blame yourself either. It sneaked past all of us, and that forest was quite thick. If anything, I should have remembered how sneaky and tricky Vulcans and similar monster tend to be and warn everyone. When Natsu and me were trying to rescue Macao from Mount Hakobe, Vulcan tricked Natsu into looking over the edge and then pushed him off. It was a good thing Happy was there to catch him."
Happy pushed his chest out in pride, while Gray gave slumbering Natsu unimpressed look, 'how dumb can he be to get tricked by a Vulcan' written on his face. However, Natsu was not in a state where he could be provoked by his rival's smirk, still heavily nauseated and fanned by Happy.
Despite Lucy's efforts, Erza remained stubborn and angry at herself. "I appreciate your concern Lucy, but as the strongest person in the team, your well-being was my responsibility, and I failed at keeping you safe." She crossed her arms and continued to berate herself. "An S rank mage allowing her friend to be injured by a mere C rank monster is inexcusable failure which cannot be justified. There is nothing else to do but raise my training pace once again. Next time, I shall be prepared."
While Lucy and Erza were going back and forth like this, Elrion asked Gray and Happy for more details how serious was the hit Lucy had received.
Happy answered in inappropriate excitement. "She flew rather nicely! Like, ten meters at least."
Elrion widened his eyes when he heard this. Taking another look at Lucy with newfound respect, he gave her his honest thoughts. "If Happy is not exaggerating the distance, forget surviving, an average human would be lucky to stay in one piece after taking a hit from such force. It is amazing you got only a cracked rib after that. I guess you are tougher than you look."
Lucy smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. "Haha. Thanks, I am doing my best to keep up with others."
Remembering the scratches on her now raised arm, with emergency and introductions out of the way, Elrion concluded now would be a good time to offer his help with removing those as well. "It was mentioned you got those from thorns where you ended up landing? If you want me to, I can heal those as well."
"You would do that as well? At this point I feel like I am taking advantage of your kindness." Lucy's voice held a mixture of surprise and appreciation at the offer.
"It is not a problem." Elrion assured her. " While it is true that we mages heal quickly and those minor scratches are something your body will easily deal with on its own, healing magic will also ensure there are no scars once the scratches are healed."
At the mention of scars Lucy bit her lip. She has always been conscious of her appearance, and the idea of scars forming across her arm was not appealing in the least. After Elrion has already proved his skill by healing her rib, she began trusting his abilities and trustworthiness.
"Then, please." After few seconds of hesitation, Lucy sheepishly raised her injured arm towards Elrion. With his left hand, he held her arm steady by holding it at the wrist, while he used his right hand to gently but precisely heal the cuts. Golden-white light beamed from his finger and he used it like an eraser, removing the cuts from existence. First his fingertip would glide just above the cut and make a thin layer of skin below the clotted blood, then in the second run he would glide the fingertip across the crust, removing it and any signs of previous injury. His touch was delicate, yet determined, and Lucy started to once again relax from tingling sensation of rejuvenation on her skin. One by one, cuts would fade and finally completely disappear, leaving nothing but unblemished skin.
Few minutes later, the process was finished. "There we go. Good as new." Elrion said with a hint of pride as he let go of her arm.
Even though she was hoping for this result Lucy was still mildly surprised. "This is amazing! I can't even tell where the cuts used to be anymore."
"Glad I could be of assistance." Elrion said with a tired smile. He has wasted most of his magic over the past week, and after this healing session, his already meager mana reserves were running on fumes. He decided that the moment he managed to find a place to stay he would sleep like a log for a day. Or two.
While smiling in approval of Elrion's actions, the scarlet mage noticed a peculiar detail about his spell. "Forgive my rudeness, but I couldn't help but notice that your healing spells cast a golden white mixture of light. This confuses me, as I have visited the healer in my hometown quite a few times, but her healing magic was clad in green lights instead. Could there be a reason for the difference?"
Not surprised by the question, Elrion nodded with a knowing smile. "Then your healer must be a regenerator type."
Gray raised the eyebrow at the unknown terminology, Lucy was intrigued, while Erza kept a stoic face. "Would you be so kind to clarify? I am not familiar with such term." She asked seriously.
After a few seconds of visible pondering from the mage across her, she received her answer. "The easiest was to explain it would be to group healing mages into two types. One would be a regenerator type, such as your healer. As a matter of fact, most healers use this type of healing magic, which gives off a green light. It works by giving a body strong temporary boost in its ability to handle the injury or sickness. The reason for its popularity is that it is relatively easy to master compared to the other type, it does not require a special talent, and the spells themselves work quite quickly, making them suitable to heal even critically injured patients."
The scarlet mage nodded. "I follow. And the second type?"
"The second type is called anomaly-type. Unlike regeneration, this magic does not help the body to heal the injury itself, but rather tries to alter the body to how it is supposed to look like according to the DNA. Disadvantages are that it takes a lot more time to learn how to use anomaly type healing, especially on mages which have a naturally strong magic resistance. It is also slow acting, so it is not suitable for treatment of patients in critical state. Finally, in order to use this type, a special talent is required, which only one in five healers have."
Gray looked up and thought out loud: "Those are significant drawbacks. I assume the 'advantages' make this type worth it?"
Elrion smiled knowingly. "Definitively. Unlike regeneration type of magic, anomaly-type can heal injuries that human body itself cannot. For example broken nerves, old scars, burn mar-"
"WAIT!" Elrion was suddenly interrupted by Erza's exclamation and palm she directed towards him. "You can heal scars!?" She asked while leaning forward a bit, clenching her fists in excitement in front of her shoulders.
Quite surprised, Elrion quickly recovered: "Uuum, it depends on how old and deep they are, but yes. I can at least make them less noticeable."
After hearing this, Erza's eyes had stars in them and a big smile spread across her face. Then with a surprisingly quick movement she was right in Elrion's face, her long hair following behind her. "I request your assistance!"