"Well now that that's over, we have to actually complete the request that we took."
"What? No way. We just fought--"
Emi looked at him blankly.
"Okay, you just fought a super high rank demon. Why would you have to do this request as well? We can just say that--"
"We took the request, so now we complete it. Besides, it's a D-rank."
Sting sighed before asking what it was.
"It's located in Magnolia. And before you say anything about Fairy Tail, the request clearly states that the item be returned 'without any damage.' Anyway, some famous artist's violin was stolen and the thieves have been camping out in the forest surrounding the town. She just wants us to retrieve the violin and return it to her."
"Well, let's go. I guess."
Emi slipped her hood back on and followed Sting to the train station.
"Hey, you're not gonna knock me out again...are you?"
Emi nervously smiled as she apologized and assured him that she wouldn't. She motioned for him to lay on her lap, and five minutes later Sting was asleep. They arrived in Magnolia just as the sun was rising.
"So do we just go straight for the forest?"
"We have to check in with the woman first. She's located in the center of Magnolia. I can do that. Why don't you check in with the inn? I'll tell her that we will start the job in the evening."
"You sure she'll be okay with that?"
"The best time to ambush a group of thieves in the woods is when it's dark, so I'm sure she'll understand. Go get some rest."
"Shouldn't you be the one resting? Just how much magic power did you use?"
Emi ignored him and walked towards the center of Magnolia. She noted that the streets were no way near as crowded as the streets in Crocus. She had bumped into someone on the way by which knocked her over to the ground.
"My apologies. I should be more careful in the streets."
"No way!" Natsu shouted. "Erza?!"
"My, my. It seems we have also met before," Erza observed as she looked towards Emi.
"Seems so," Emi returned with a smile.
"I never noticed before, but you two kind of talk the same, especially back then."
Erza and Emi both turned to Lucy before giving her a weird look and responded in perfect unison, "I don't believe so. Our manners of speaking are quite different."
Everyone sweatdropped.
"Oh no, it's fine. I was too focused on the surroundings that I forgot to look around."
"Where are you headed? I may be able to assist you there."
"Do you know where Melody Sanctum resides?"
Erza nodded, "I do indeed. Let me take you there."
Erza and Emi started walking through the streets when she was approached by a blue cat.
"It's me again!"
"Natsu and the others are fighting again, Erza! You have to help us break them up."
"Happy, I am busy at the moment. I have to escort this child somewhere."
Emi's eyes twitched.
"...Child?"
"Oh okay! I'll get Laxus to help then."
Happy floated away, leaving Emi and Erza to continue their walk.
"I don't recall ever seeing you around here."
"I'm just visiting for a job request with my partner."
"I see. What's your name?"
Emi stayed quiet for a few seconds before saying, "I'm Po, and my partner is...Pugly."
"Seriously?" Sting chided. "You couldn't come up with better names?"
"I'm not good under pressure!"
"Very well, Po. Here is Miss Sanctum's house. I'll be taking my leave now. Good luck."
-----------------------------------------------------
"Took you long enough," Sting complained.
"I had to ask for directions, and then she was eating so she made me sit down with her to have tea."
"All with your hood on?"
Emi nodded before flopping on the bed and moaning, "I'm so tired."
"Well yeah. You used up a huge amount of mana. It's a wonder that you can even walk on your own."
"I'm...used to working past...exhaustion. Cain always made me...train until I passed out."
"He sounds super harsh."
Emi smiled and added, "He was, but he was the best teacher I could've had."
"Well isn't that so nice of you, kid."
Emi gave a lopsided grin to Cain before laughing.
Emi got up and flung the covers down before jumping back into bed and holding her arms out.
"Come take a nap with me," Emi whined.
Sting let out a loud laugh before slowly laying on the bed. Emi fell asleep before he could even pull the covers up.
-------------------------------------------------
Emi led the way through the forest as they looked for the camp. After a while, Sting's nose picked up a scent. They followed it right to the camp, where five men were sitting around a fire.
"So?"
"What?"
"How do you want to do this? Should we take them by surprise of maybe--"
"Hey assholes, give us back the violin!"
Emi rolled her eyes at Sting before following him to the camp. They all glared at the dragon slayer before rushing towards him.
"Earthworm!"
All five thieves were knocked to the ground. The first one to get up started throwing swords at Emi, which she quickly dodged. She grabbed one of the swords in midair and whipped it back at him.
'"Uh, Emi, we're not supposed to ki--"
"I didn't. He's just pinned to the tree. It's not my fault he passed out."
"Listen here, you cloaked freak. You're gonna pay for what you did to Kodama!"
The remaining four thieves rushed at Emi, causing her to sigh and ask, "Why does everyone always aim at me?"
"Probably because you instigated the whole thing."
Emi completely ignored the thieves as they ran towards her to turn to Sting and defend herself.
"But it wasn't me this time. You were the one who started yelling at them."
"Uh, Emi--"
"Besides, I only try to complete the job as quickly as possible. It's not my fault that they don't like being beat up. Maybe they should think about that before."
"Emi--"
Three of the thieves had made their way right next to Emi while she wasn't paying attention. Emi side glanced at them before holding her hand out and shooting a ball of lightning out of her palms, successfully knocking three of them back. She then kicked the fourth one in the shins and threw him back as well.
"Don't you all have any manners?" Emi smugly asked. "You would think someone would teach you not to interrupt a girl when she's having a conversation."
"You gotta stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
Sting sighed before going over to the thieves. He crouched down and looked to see that all of them were unconscious.
"Way to go, Emi. They'll all out. Now they won't be able to tell us where--"
"But it's right here," Emi said bluntly as she held up the violin.
Emi walked past Sting and started walking through the woods and back to Magnolia.
"Hey, wait up!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh my! I can't even begin to thank you enough. Please name whatever you want and I'll be happy to give it to you."
"That's not necessary, Miss Sanctum. We will just take the reward you placed. There is no need to further thank us."
"You're a very nice child. And strong too!" Melody exclaimed as she handed over the reward.
Before Emi could say anything back to her about not being a child, Sting grabbed the cloak near the neck area and picked Emi up and carried her out of the house.
"Am I a child, Sting? She ate with me and spoke with me for an hour and she still thinks I'm a child! Why would a child wear a cloak?"
"Emi, you can't get worked up like this every time it happens. You'll explode."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"We're back!" Sting shouted as they walked into Phoenix Wing's guildhall.
Master Rue walked over to them and motioned for them to follow him to his office.
"Are they getting in trouble?" Yuuki asked hesitantly.
"He's probably gonna yell at them for getting some extra 'alone time' with each other," Kira slyly commented.
Mich agreed, "They were gone for three days. That request should've been done in a couple hours."
"Ew," Rin choked. "I don't wanna know."
"We can hear you!" Sting yelled from the upper level as he blushed.
The three of them had stood in the master's office. Master Rue invited them to sit by his desk as he started to interrogate them.
"Everything went smoothly," Emi explained. "We eliminated the issue without any serious injury and then we went to Magnolia to complete the request."
"Why would you run away in the dark of night to rush out of the city and then afterward head to Magnolia to do the job? How much danger were you faced with?"
"It was just five thieves. Nothing serious at all. We--"
"That's not what I meant!" Master Rue harshly put.
Emi's eyes grew cold as she replied, "It was taken care of without serious injury, as I have told you. I needed to do what I had to in order to protect Fiore, and then we completed the job to fulfill the responsibilities of the guild."
"Child, you can't keep putting yourself in danger."
"I do this to protect the people. I do this to prevent destruction. I do this to fulfill my mission given to me by the one that trained me for this very purpose."
"Sting, you shouldn't let her--"
"WIth all due respect, Master," Emi replied harshly, "Sting has nothing to do with this. He should be allowed to leave if you wish to question me further."
"You really spoke to your master like that?" Cana slurred. "You got some balls on you."
"I do what I have to. This was necessary."
Master Rue sighed before telling Sting he could leave. Sting looked towards Emi one more time before gently touching her shoulder on his way out. Emi and the master looked to each other with determined eyes.
"Tell me exactly what you were running from."
"I've already briefed you on my situation. I had sensed that one of them was nearing the city, so I left in order to lure them to a place where they wouldn't be a threat to anyone other than me."
"And Sting? Was he in harm's way?"
"I asked him to stay out of the fight and go to a place where the attacker could not find him."
"Yes. I have no doubts that you asked. But did he actually listen?"
Emi stayed silent for a moment before shaking her head. She then explained that she was able to stop the attacks from hurting the dragon slayer.
"Child--"
"If you wish to kick me out of this guild, I understand. I have put one of your members in harm's way directly, and I also pose a threat to the others as long as I am being pursued."