After sleeping it off, Emi had seemed to recover from the incident from yesterday. Laxus and Emi ended up staying in an inn for the night in Magnolia instead of rushing to catch the last train. Emi was getting dressed in the room when Laxus came in from taking a shower in the bathroom. He saw that Emi was looking at her back in the mirror again. On Emi's back, five scars were present, all resembling whip marks. Emi saw Laxus looking and turned to him.
"This is one thing I don't want to remember. Seems like it shouldn't be remembered at all."
Laxus hummed as he made his way over to his shirt that was on the bed and put it on.
"Are we going back to Fairy Tail?"
Laxus thought for a moment before deciding to ask her about the offer Makarov made: "About that...the old man said--"
"Good morning, Emi! If you need a place to cook you can come to my place and use my kitchen! I made sure to buy extra fish."
Laxus looked at Natsu hovering outside the window with the help of Happy and sent a bolt of lightning at the dragon slayer, causing him to crash into the ground. Natsu could be heard shouting at Laxus from the road below them. Emi rushed down to Natsu and checked to make sure he wasn't too injured. Natsu jumped right up and started to drag her back to his apartment before she planted her feet into the ground.
"Actually Natsu, I don't really feel like cooking this morning. I'm still recovering from yesterday," Emi apologized, trying to hint to the private conversation they had had in the alleyway, "but I would be more than happy to treat you to breakfast from somewhere in Magnolia!"
Natsu grinned and grabbed Happy before dragging her to his favorite restaurant in Magnolia.
"You'll love this one. It has the best fish."
"Aye sir!"
Emi turned around and called Laxus to follow them, which the mage reluctantly did.
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"Hey Natsu, do all dragon slayers have a good sense of smell? You were able to detect the pie from across town, and Gajeel could find Wendy when she was behind the bar. Laxus doesn't use his nose much," Emi asked, making sure to tease Laxus at the same time.
"Oh yeah! Dragon slayers have heightened senses. We're able to track scents of all kinds."
"I could smell ya, duh."
"Do either of you know any other dragon slayers that aren't in Fairy Tail?"
"Well there's that Cobra guy from the Oracion Seis, but that's about all I know."
Laxus decided to speak up, "Why are you so interested in dragon slayers all of a sudden?"
Emi quickly covered her tracks by explaining, "Well when we went to the library Levy and I found this cool book about dragons and I wanted to know how dragon slayers were. I know a bit from what you've told me and I've learned more from talking to Fairy Tail and I wanted to know more."
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"We're here!"
Natsu barged through the doors to the guild, loudly announcing his presence. He walked over to Team Natsu and started to convince them that he had the best meal before he arrived. Laxus and Emi made their way over to the bar where Master Makarov was sitting.
"Master Grampa! It's very nice to see you this morning."
"Please child, 'Gramps' is fine."
Makarov looked towards his grandson and gave a questioning look towards him, silently asking if he had asked her yet. Laxus shook his head and mouthed "Natsu" to the master. Makarov rolled his eyes and glared at Natsu's back as he continued to ramble about his breakfast. Makarov turned to Emi, ready to ask her himself.
"Emi!" Levy rushed over to her. "I found something more about the other demons from the Book of Zeref. I thought you might want to see it."
Emi left the bar and followed Levy over to a small table in the corner where she had a bunch of books stacked near the wall. Laxus and Makarov both sighed in defeat.
"As you can see," Laxus grumbled, "it's been difficult to catch her long enough to ask."
"Yes, that does seem to be the case."
Levy quickly pulled out a very old book from the stack and turned to a page, pointing to highlighted sections: "Apparently there are a lot of demons from the Book of Zeref. I found a vague outline of power levels in this journal. The thing is..."
"...It looks like Deliora is at the very bottom," Emi gloomily finished. "Here I thought that Deliora would be near the top, considering how much damage he had done."
Emi looked at the outline in the book before her head started to spin. She dropped to the floor suddenly, causing Levy to panic.
"Emi, are you alright?"
"Do you see what I'm saying, kid? Delorca is at the bottom. She's the very least of your worries. Only Deliora is below her."
"Why are they so similar?"
"They're related. Kin."
"What about the others? You said there were more demons."
"The Book of Zeref is a very dangerous thing. Monsters of all kinds. I'll go over the others quickly."
"Right!"
"You have Deliora at the bottom, followed by his sister Delorca. That's the one that attacked your village. Then you have the Four Beast Elements. They are fairly weak alone, but very dangerous if they're all together. After that you have Assassin."
"Who's that?"
"He's a demon that lurks in the shadows and possesses you. He can make your body do almost anything."
"He sounds scary. I don't like him."
"Next is the Blue Demon. And after that is the Sins."
"The Sins?"
"Wrath, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Pride and Gluttony. They are all very powerful demons on their own, but they are nearly unstoppable when together."
Emi started whimpering. She held onto the man, but her small figure only reached up to his waist.
"I don't want to see them ever!"
"Hopefully there never comes a time where you would have to. Let's put it this way - the Sins make destroying Acnologia look like someone defeating Deliora. They are that powerful."
"Emi!"
Emi stopped shaking and looked back up to Levy. She sat up and took Levy's hand to help her up.
"Sorry about that, but I think I understand the power structure now."
"Are you sure? I didn't even get to explain it to you very much before you collapsed."
"A memory came back, and it explained it there. It seems like there's a lot more to the Book of Zeref than we thought."
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"How often does this happen to her, Laxus?"
"It's been more frequent lately, but bits and pieces will resurface at random times."
"It does not seem to be random at all," Erza joined in, "In fact, it rather seems that certain things trigger the memories. This is taking this last one into consideration. Why else would she remember something like that right after they began to talk about it?"
Laxus got up from the bar and strolled to where Emi and Levy were seated. He whispered something to Emi and they both returned to the bar. Emi looked at the master expectantly.
"Yes child?"
"Laxus said that you have something to talk to me about."
Makarov looked towards Laxus who smirked and walked away. Makarov rolled his eyes at his grandson's retreating figure. Guess it's me who's asking. Honestly, what a pain.
"Look, child. I have an offer for you."
Emi nodded to show that she was listening. The master took in a deep breath before continuing, smirking at Laxus.
"I think that you and Laxus should get married."
Everyone in the guildhall exclaimed, "WHAT?!"
Laxus spit out the drink that he was holding. Emi's face turned a bright crimson. They both made eye contact with each other before looking in opposite directions. Laxus's face started to turn red as well.
"Um, Master Grampa, that is very kind of you, but, well the thing is," Emi started.
"We're absolutely not getting married," Laxus spoke sternly once he recovered.
Mira looked at Laxus in disappointment: "Laxus, you can't expect her to wait forever you know."
"What?" Emi and Laxus questioned her at the same time.
Everyone sweatdropped at the couple before Makarov started laughing.
"Relax kids. I was just kidding. It was very entertaining watching your reactions though."
"Stop fooling around old man!"
"Right," Makarov coughed into his hand to regain his serious composure, "I want you, Emi, to be a part of our family. It might not be through marrying Laxus, but I would love it if you joined Fairy Tail."
Emi looked at the master in confusion. "But I'm not a wizard."
Natsu was the next one to speak up, commenting, "So? You don't have to be a wizard to have a family, right?"
Emi looked shocked before she started to tear up. Everyone started to panic at the sight of Emi crying.
"Family? You really mean it?"
"Of course child. Everyone in Fairy Tail is a part of one big family. And we would love it if you joined our rather rambunctious group."
Emi turned to Laxus, asking, "Wait, does that mean that you're--"
"Well I mean if you join then I guess I just have to join back as well. Can't break a promise, right?"
All the tears that were being built up came rushing in at once. She had to sit down to calm herself. She was finally going to be part of a family. For three years, she didn't know who she was, and for a year she was completely alone. It was only when she began to speak with Laxus that she felt like she belonged somewhere. She considered her and Laxus a kind of family, but to hear that all of Fairy Tail would be her family pushed her happiness to a point past what she could ever dream.
Suddenly, her happiness turned to immense pain and she ended up passing out due to the sudden nausea.
"It's small, but it's perfect for a family. You'll love it."
"No."
"Come on, Em. Don't be so serious all the time."
It was that guy again. The teen she was cloud watching with. They were currently arguing about something. It seemed that they were a younger version of themselves compared to last time. Emi held a cold expression on her face as she pulled up her hood on her cloak.
"I guess I'll just have to convince you then," the unknown teen stated, grinning at the challenge.
"I'm fine. Sorry."
"Are you sure? You fainted."
"Yeah. It was probably something that I ate. No biggie."
Makarov, after Emi convinced him and everyone else that she was okay, guided the woman and Laxus over to Mira, who held the Fairy Tail crest stamp in her hands.
"Do you want yours the same place and color as before, Laxus?"
Laxus grunted in agreement.
"What about you, Emi? What color do you want and where do you want it?"
Emi thought for a minute before she said that she wanted a white crest on his left shoulder. Both stamps were placed on their respective person. Emi beamed and wouldn't stop poking her new crest. Laxus looked at her and watched as she continued to play with her shoulder.
"So?"
"You have to promise me one thing, Laxus."
"Hm?"
"I'm not allowing you to leave Fairy Tail ever again!" Emi exclaimed while pointing a finger at him.
Everyone in the guild started laughing, which caused Emi to start giggling. She walked over to the corner of books and started researching the demons more. She was overly happy, but also distracted by her latest memory. What family did I have? And why was I acting so cold?