"So, uh, we should probably head back."
Emi turned to Sting before nodding and gently waking Lector.
"How come you're nice with him but you whip pillows at me?" Sting complained.
"Because you don't get up."
The three of them took the train back to Crocus, Sting almost puking several times. They had arrived and were immediately greeted by Kira.
"I can't believe you went on a job with those two when you could've gone with me."
"I didn't realize you had recovered from your hype day."
"She hasn't," Ayame groaned. "She's been unbearably hyper the past few days and she's dragging me on a job."
Emi looked between the two before stating that she would like to go as well. Ayame and Kira beamed and dragged her back on the train. They explained the job to Emi: they were to find a special crystal in the caves by Tuly Village.
Once they had arrived, Kira sprinted off the train and started jumping, gaining attention from the townspeople.
"Kira," Ayame hissed, "please calm down. People are staring."
"But it's such a beautiful day!"
Emi and Ayame looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and heading in the direction of the caves. They quickly found the crystal thanks to Ayame's tracker gas.
"Woah," Ayame breathed, "look at all the crystals. They're all so pretty."
Emi and Kira agreed before Kira went to cut down the crystal they needed. Suddenly, a monster appeared, standing as tall as the thirty foot cave. It whipped its spiked tail at the three, causing a huge rumble to shake the cave and make a few crystals fall.
"Rushing Waters!"
Kira knocked the monster off its front feet, but it quickly recovered and swiped at them. Ayame handed the crystal over to Emi and helped Kira.
"Gas Summon: Poison."
A purple gas surrounded the monster and brought it down so that it was laying on the ground. Kira and Ayame cheered and started walking towards the monster to get to the exit of the cave. Emi screamed for them to stop and they looked up to see that the monster was back on its feet and ready to aim another attack at them.
"Kira, use the pressure spell!"
"Pressure Sphere!"
The monster was once again forced to the ground. The three wizards quickly exited the cave while the monster was still subdued and ran through the forest and headed back to the village. They handed the crystal over to the merchant and stopped at the Kotoko Inn.
"We should stay here for the night. The trains probably stopped running by now."
"Who would've known that we would spend so long in a cave," Emi commented.
"That thing was super gross," Ayame continued.
The three had stayed in the only room left that had two beds, so Kira and Emi shared a bed.
"Look at us, Emi. We're like, super sisters now."
Emi giggled and wrapped the blankets around her.
"You don't take off your cloak to sleep?" Ayame asked.
Emi stayed silent, so Kira lied for her and said that she doesn't like sleeping without it. Emi looked at Kira and silently thanked her before quickly falling asleep.
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"Why are you guys training again? Haven't you done enough this week?"
"Shut it, dragon boy. If anything, you should be training with her too."
Sting groaned and continued to lay under his usual tree as he watched Kira and Emi spar. Emi exhausted Kira and turned to Sting to say that it was his turn.
"No way. I don't feel like getting my ass--"
"If you want me to accompany you on our date tonight, I would suggest that you do as I say and spar with me."
"That's so not fair."
"I thought you were the strongest dragon slayer ever. From what I can tell, that Fairy Tail dragon slayer seems to be able to destroy a whole town. Can you do that, Sting?"
"Of course I can. I'm just not stupid enough to actually do that."
"Hey!" Natsu shouted.
"I mean," Lucy started, "he's not wrong."
"Well if you can do that then you should have no problem sparring with me."
Sting huffed before walking over to her and getting ready to fight.
"Holy Nova."
"Shadow Rocket."
Sting's spell was swallowed by the shadows just as they were before. Sting huffed as he prepared his White Dragon Roar. Emi quickly cast her Iron Wall spell and blocked the attack from reaching her. Emi suddenly looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to peek out of the clouds. She waited a few more seconds, waiting for the sun to fully emerge. She held her hands in the air and shouted.
"Solar Spike!"
Sun rays came flying down to Sting, causing him to hiss as he started to burn. He used his Holy Ray to try to fight against the spell, but it didn't work. He held his hands up and admitted defeat, asking her to release her spell. Emi smiled before running over to him and healing him.
"Sorry about that," Emi sheepishly apologized. "I forgot that it actually burns."
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Emi and Sting were walking through the royal gardens, as they were open for a short time. Emi pulled the dragon slayer over to a patch of chives and started telling him about them. Another patch caught his eye. He led the white haired woman over toward the blue flowers and asked her what they were.
"Those are called Corydalis. It's actually a pretty hard flower to maintain. It's very picky about when it will bloom and what it needs in the soil to grow."
"What one do you recommend for indoors? Lector's been asking me to get him a plant because he's been reading that book of yours."
Emi giggled before pulling him over to a group of purple flowers.
"I know this seems pretty cliche, but the crocus flower is a pretty great indoor plant."
"A crocus flower in Crocus? Well, we better get going then."
"Huh? Why? We just got here."
"I have to go to the flower shop, don't you wanna come?"
Emi's eyes lit up as she quickly stood up.
"I've been meaning to get another plant for my room. This will be so great!"
Sting chuckled as he followed her through the crowds.
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A/N: Hey y'all! Just a short filler chapter while I finish up the next one. I'll be posting them both tonight. Hope you're enjoying!