Laxus had taken Emi back to her inn before telling her to meet him in front of the 8-Island restaurant.
"We leave at noon."
"Wait. Where are we going?"
"Listen brat, I'm not staying here for more than a couple days. I already did what I had to here. We're leaving for Clover Town."
The next day had come around and Emi made her way to the meeting point. Laxus was leaning against the wall of the restaurant as he impatiently waited for the girl.
"You're late."
Emi glanced away sheepishly before admitting that she needed to ask for directions because she couldn't remember where 8-Island was. Laxus rolled his eyes before grabbing her by the back of her shirt and dragging her to the train.
"Hey!"
"I'm not going any later because you don't know how to move," Laxus grunted.
Emi couldn't help but start giggling, which made Laxus turn around and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled brightly as she was dragged through the town.
"It's just," Emi started, "you put on this tough facade when you really care about people."
Laxus stopped walking, causing Emi to be pushed back slightly. He turned away from her.
"And what the hell would you know about that?"
Emi smiled and spoke, "I might not know a lot, but I can tell when someone is hiding something. Besides, it's pretty easy to tell when someone is trying to deny who they truly are."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You've lost something, and you're trying your hardest to compensate for that. It seems like it's something you don't think you'll ever get back. Am I right?"
"Wow, I never knew you could read someone that easily," Lucy admitted.
"That's really cool. Read me next!" Natsu shouted.
Emi laughed at the dragon slayer before the memory continued to play.
"Let's just get to the next town."
"Why are we walking away from the train?"
"It's close enough to walk."
"But the map says that it's a four hour walk and an hour train ride. Shouldn't we go on the tra--"
"If you're going to be traveling with me then you're going to do things my way."
"You just didn't want her to see you with motion sickness," Gajeel snickered.
Laxus turned to him and gave him a deadly stare.
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"So this is Clover Town? It looks really pretty."
"We're not here to sight see, brat. Let's go."
"Can we at least stop somewhere to eat?" Emi complained. "It's been hours."
Laxus groaned, "You've got to be kidding me."
Laxus had pushed her into a nearby diner and demanded for her to hurry up and eat. Emi happily ate her food before looking over at him.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Laxus scoffed before he began to pick at his food. Emi hummed in approval before she turned back to her food. She smelt something on Laxus's plate and intently stared at it. Laxus seemed to notice and pushed her for an answer as to why she was looking at his food like that.
"Um, can I try some of that?" Emi questioned shyly as she pointed to a small piece of apple pie.
"You've never had apple pie before? Really?"
"I don't remember ever having it, but it smells good. I was just wondering if I could have a little piece."
The lightning wizard sighed before pushing the pie towards her. Emi's eyes lit up as she happily took a bite of the pie.
"Your name is Emi right?"
Emi nodded as she continued to eat the pie.
"Well Emi, you're very unusual."
She looked at him confused before humming and taking another bite of the pie.
"Hey! I said you could have a piece, not the whole thing!"
---------------------------------------------
"So what're we doing?"
"There's a meeting between guild masters taking place here in a couple of hours. I'm here to make sure it goes smoothly."
"Guarding guild masters? Wow, you must be really strong for that. Which guild asked you to help?" Emi asked curiously.
"Nobody did."
Makarov questioned, "Laxus, you're telling me you've been doing these things on your own accord?"
He simply nodded.
Emi hummed before she looked up at the building where the masters would meet. She felt a sudden wave of sadness as she looked at the building, but she couldn't tell why. Emi quickly shook it off and continued walking with Laxus.
"So do we go into the meeting with them or--"
"We stay outside and watch from afar. It's the best way to detect danger."
Laxus and Emi had sat outside of the building for two hours before the meeting ended and the guild masters exited. Laxus pulled Emi into the shadows as the masters started to walk away.
"Why are we--"
"Shut up."
Emi stopped talking and watched the masters file out of the building before heading towards the train station.
"Why do we have to hide? Wouldn't they want to know that you were able to guard them?"
"Stop asking so many questions."
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"Era? Isn't that where the Magic Council is?"
Laxus nodded before telling her to gather her things so they could leave. Emi shrugged and packed what little she had and followed Laxus into the woods.
"Can't we just take the tr--"
"It's not a far walk," Laxus insisted as he didn't look back.
Emi rolled her eyes before catching up to him.
"We're taking the train next time," Emi sternly stated.
"We don't need the train."
"But it would be helpful."
"We don't need it."
Emi sighed, knowing the conversation was going nowhere. They had continued walking for two hours before they arrived in Era. Emi looked around in wonder as she observed the town. Laxus and Emi made their way to the Magic Council's headquarters and waited outside for someone to approach them. Emi didn't know why, but she felt nervous as she stood there. Eventually two men exited the building and walked over to the pair.
"Laxus, it's nice to see you--"
The soldier looked at Emi for a second before looking back to Laxus.
"Who is this?"
Emi smiled brightly before introducing herself. The soldier looked at her intently before his eyes widened. Laxus and Emi looked at him concerned before the soldier cleared his throat.
"I would like for you to help out with a simple transport request. It's to guard a caravan that's been attacked three times already."
Laxus nodded and grabbed Emi by the back of her shirt and dragged her away. Emi waved goodbye to the soldier before walking at Laxus's pace.
"What was up with him? He seemed strange."
"All Magic Council members are strange."
Emi laughed softly as they continued to walk away.