Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

October 6, x789.

Around three months have passed since Yoruichi met with Alfonzo and his girls in Crocus after the conclusion of the Grand magic Games. And two days after that, they met again at the banquet held by Fiore's Royal Family. However, while Yoruichi found herself not knowing how to proceed, Alfonzo and Elicia made it a point to talk to her. Though, the same could not be said about the rest of Alfonzo's wives and girlfriends.

But at least Alfonzo made it clear that he truly held no grudges over what happened. So, Yoruichi allowed herself to relax a little wit that information. Sui-Feng, on the other hand, actually confronted Alfonzo and all but ordered him to take Yoruichi as a wife so that she would be allowed to come and go from her home as she pleased. An order that Alfonzo ignored.

The day after the banquet, everyone returned to their guild halls and got back to wizarding as usual.

A little more than a month later, Amar'e's second birthday came and went. And like they did the previous year, they had a party for the toddler. However, unlike last year, it was a more private affair, with only family and guild mates invited. There were even a few visitors from other worlds that showed up. But that happened when there were no other members of the guild around.

Alfonzo and Elicia also took the opportunity to finally tell everyone about the miraculous messages they received a little more than a year ago that led them to become multiversal travelers. They still did not let the secret of their reincarnations slip, though.

Other than those two things, not much of note happened. Though, there were a few things on the horizon to look forward to.

First, Shizuka was due to give birth any day now. And she was absolutely glowing at the thought of having her baby. Like Elicia and Mirajane, she also forewent learning the baby's gender before the baby was born. So, she was happy to know that there was a surprise on the way.

The next thing everyone was looking forward to was the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, which for the first time since x785, Team Steel Threads would be participating. Of course, that did not completely overshadow the rest of the Harvest Festival, as the Fantasia Parade is, and always will be, the day's main event.

As for the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, though. Everyone had one question on their mind. Who would be Team Steel Threads' fifth member. Because, the rules of the tournament have changed from a four on four tournament to a five on five tournament.

In fact, even the members of Team Steel Threads, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Sun were having the same issue. And they were currently seated in Elicia's room and playing Uno while talking about that exact problem.

"Seriously, what are we gonna do about the fifth member of our team?' Marin asked in an annoyed tone. "I mean, just about everyone is already on a team. Maybe we could poach someone?"

"But if we did that, then the team we take someone from wouldn't be able to participate. And that would be sad, wouldn't it?"

"Skip." Alfonzo said as he grinned at Elicia, who only had two cards left in her hand. He then turned to look at Sun, raising his free hand to comb his fingers through her hair as he continued. "It would be sad for them. But what else are we supposed to do?"

"I dunno." Sun replied while leaning into Alfonzo's hand with a contented smile on her face.

"Well, let's take a look at the teams." Elicia said while lightly glaring at Alfonzo. "Then, we can pick from who's left."

"I guess that's the best idea." Marin said as she drew a card from the deck. "first, is the Thunder God Tribe. They're made up of Laxus, Saya, Fried, Bickslow, and Evergreen." Then, there's Team Strauss. Mira, Lisanna, Elfman, Juvia, and Saeko."

"There's Team Old Guys, too." Sun added as she placed a card on the discard pile. "That's my dad, Maes, Macao, Wakaba, and Gildarts."

"I'm actually still amazed at how well Maes is keeping up with those wizards and a merfolk. Oh, and draw two." Alfonzo said, grinning at Elicia once again. "There's team Ultear, too. And that's Tear, Meredy, Cana, Laki, and, I don't' know how they got Gozaburo to agree, but Masa, as well."

"Yeah, my dad was strangely agreeable to that." Sun added while nodding her head.

In actuality, Gozaburo had tasked Masa with throwing a match in a believable way if the two teams were to ever face each other in the tournament. However, that has not happened yet. So, the ruse has not been seen through, yet.

"Fonzie, are you picking on me?" Elicia asked after drawing her second card from the deck.

"Me? Never?" Alfonzo replied as his grin widened.

In response, Elicia did the most mature thing she could think of and blew a raspberry, which made everyone else laugh.

"Reverse." Marin said as she placed a "Reverse" card on top of the discard pile. "Next is team Natsu. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Wendy. There always gonna be a strong team."

"Yeah, and so is Team Alzack." Elicia said, happy to finally be able to play a card for the first time in three turns. She then played a "Wild Card" as she continued. "Red. Alzack and Bisca are both S-Class in strength and skill. Then, there's Max, Rika, and Kota. There a little long range heavy, though."

"That's true." Alfonzo replied as he played a card. "But they make it work. Plus, both Alzack and Rika can fight in close range. So, it's not so bad."

"Who's left?" Sun asked as she drew a card from the deck.

"Let's see…" Marin said as she dropped a '"Skip card on the discard pile, causing Elicia to start pouting. "It's Team Shadow Gear. Levy, Jet, Droy, Gajeel, and Lily."

"Man, I'd love to see Lily show up in the GMG." Alfonzo said with a smile as he played a "Draw Two". "Just imagine what everyone's faces would look like when the cute little black and white cat turns into his battle form and starts swinging his sword around at blinding speeds."

"I think some people will straight up faint." Elicia said while watching Sun draw two cards.

"And it would be hilarious." Alfonzo said in a clearly amused tone.

"Uno." Marin said excitedly with only one card remaining in her hand. "And I think that's everyone. There have only been seven teams for the last few years. No one else was confident enough to compete with the strongest members of the other guilds."

"Yeah, someone got a bye every year In the first round." Elicia said as she dropped a "Reverse" card.

Seeing that, Marin pouted, as her last card was blue, instead of red.

"The question is, who do we pick?" Sun asked as she dropped another "Reverse" card.

"Seriously?" Marin asked in an exasperated tone as she drew another card before putting it on the discard pile immediately.

"You're lucky." Elicia grumbled as she reached out to draw two cards.

"Hmm…. I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied as he played a yellow "Draw Two." "I mean, the only person I can think of would kind of make this over kill. But it might be fun, though."

"Who's that?" Sun asked as she drew two more cards while tilting her head in curiosity.

"Fonzie, you're not serious, are you?" Elicia asked with wide open eyes as she figured out who Alfonzo was talking about.

""Who is it?" Marin asked as she dropped a card. "Oh, and Uno again."

"Irene." Alfonzo said while watching Marin start to pout as Elicia dropped another "Reverse " card.

"Yeah, that would be overkill." Marin said as she drew a card before dropping a "Draw Four. "Blue. But I like it."

This time it was Sun's turn to pout as she still had the most cards of the four players. Still, she drew her cards without complaint.

"I think it's a good idea." Sun said. She then smiled as she continued. "I like Irene. I learn so much about magic every time we talk."

"But will she agree?" Elicia asked as she watched Alfonzo drop a card before drawing one of her own. "Draw Four. Green."

"You gotta be kidding me." Marin groaned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head as Marin drew her cards. "but it doesn't hurt to ask. The worst she could say is no."

"that's true." Elicia replied as Sun played a "Skip." She then played a "Draw Two" as she continued. "Uno. And if that doesn't work, we could ask Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya. They're all at least B-Class in strength, now."

"We could ask Brandish, too." Marin suggested.

"Those are good ideas." Sun said with a smile.

"Well, we'll see." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "I'll ask Irene later. We can think about the rest after she says yes or no."

"Okay~." X 3

Like that, the game of Uno continued. And in the end, despite having the most cards when the conversation about who they would invite to their team ended, Sun won. And with her win, she got to decide what they would be having for dinner tonight. And Alfonzo would naturally be the one to cook it.

October 7, x789.

Just as Alfonzo said he would the day before, he intended to ask Irene if she would join their team in the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament. So, he called her up. However, before he could ask his question, Irene invited him over to her house to help her come up with a new sigil sentence to add to her house's defenses. And since he had nothing else to do, Alfonzo wasted no time heading over to Irene's house.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

About twenty minutes after the phone call with Irene ended, Alfonzo was standing outside the front door of Irene's house and had just knocked. And it did not take long for someone to answer the door.

"Good afternoon, how can I help--- Oh, it's you." Heine said, her cordial tone dropping after recognizing Alfonzo.

"It's good to see you, too, Heine." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I'm here to see Irene. Is she available."

"Yes, she's in her office." Heine replied. She then stepped aside and bowed slightly while gesturing for Alfonzo to enter. "Please, come in, I'll show you there."

"Thanks." Alfonzo replied as he stepped into the house.

A moment later, Heine closed the door. Then, she led Alfonzo througt the house, climbing stairs, as Irene decided she did not want any elevators in her home. Then, after a couple of minutes, the two reached the door leading to Iren's office.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

"Lady Irene, Master Alfonzo has arrived." Heine said in her usual tone.

"Let him enter." Irene replied from the other side of the door.

Nodding in response, Heine then opened the door before gesturing for Alfonzo to enter,. Then, once he was inside, she left to tell Juliet that she should prepare tea for Irene and Alfonzo.

"Hey, Irene." Alfonzo said as he made his way over to Irene's desk, where she was sitting and looking over the schematics for her home's defensives.

"Good, you're here." Irene said as she raised her head and smiled at her much younger lover. "I hate to bother you with this, but as much as I hate to admit it, you're better at arranging sigils than I am."

"Don't mention it." Alfonzo said with a smile as he arrived next to Irene, leaned down, gave her a kiss, and turned his head to look at the schematics. "So, what do you wanna do ?"

"Well, I wanna add a function that will teleport any intruders outside… No, to the torture chamber I'm going to build… if they try to access something they're not supposed to." Irene said, a sadistic grin spreading across her face.

"*Sigh* You can take the dog out the fight but you can't take the fight out of the dog, huh?" Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "but sure, I can do that."

Alfonzo then opened an [Archive Magic] screen before bringing up the blueprint of Iren's house.

"Just tell me which room you're gonna turn into your torture room." Alfonzo said whilelooking at the sigil matrix that was already present.

Irene then pointed out a room in the basement of her house before the two started rearranging and adding sigils to the defensive matrix of the house.

A couple hours later, Alfonzo and Irene were sitting across from each other while drinking tea, having completed the changes to the defensive matrix.

"So, why did you call me, Alfonzo?" Irene asked after taking a sip of her tea. "I didn't exactly give you the chance to say when we were on the phone. Though, it would be nice if you called just to say hello because you were thinking about me."

"Well, it's true I was thinking about you." Alfonzo said with a smile while lightly shaking his head. "But it wasn't so romantic as to just say hi. I wanted to ask you something"

"Oh, then what was it?" Irene asked in an interested tone.

"Well, you see, Lici, Marin, Sun, and I will be participating in the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament this year, and…" Alfonzo said, but when he reached that point, he saw all the interest in Irene's expression basically evaporate. "That's about the reaction I expected when I brought it up."

"Sorry, Dear." Irene said while shaking her head. "But I'm simply not interested in participating in those games for the entertainment of others."

"I figured." Alfonzo replied with a shrug before taking a sip of his tea. "But the worst you could have said was no…. Which you did. So, I asked anyway."

Irene could not help but giggle at that, raising a hand to her mouth to cover it as she did so.

"I think you should ask Brandish." Irene suggested. "although she has never come out and said it, she is quite interested in participating in the Grand Magic Games."

"Really?" Alfonzo asked in a slightly surprised tone. "She's kind of hard to read with that perpetually bored expression she's always got on."

"Yes, I'm certain." Irene replied. "But you can think about that later. "

With that, Irene stood up, walked around the coffee table, and stood in front of Alfonzo. She then slipped off her left boot, and raised her foot before placing it on Alfonzo's crotch and rubbing gently.

"It's been awhile since the last time you came over." Irene said with a seductive smile on her face. "So, why don't we have a---"

*Ring!* *Ring!*

Before Irene could finish, Alfonzo's lPhone started ringing. Then, after giving Irene an apologetic smile, he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

"Hmm? Mey-Rin?" Alfonzo asked himself as he pressed the answer button. "Hey, Mey-Rin, what's going on?"

{"Master Alfonzo, Madam Shizuka's water just broke!"} Mey-Rin shouted in a somewhat panicked tone.

Immediately, Alfonzo tried to shoot up to his feet. However, at the last second, he realized that Irene's foot was still rubbing his crotch. So, he calmly moved it to the side before shooting up like he originally intended.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Alfonzo said in an excited tone.

Alfonzo then hung up the phone, pulled Irene into a hug and gave her a kiss.

"Go." Irene said with a smile after Alfonzo broke the kiss. "She needs you more than I do right now."

"Okay, I'll make it up to you later." Alfonzo said as he kissed Irene once more.

After that, Alfonzo walked over to the nearest window, opened it, and flew away before using his [Metal Magic] to close the window behind him.

Meanwhile, Irene sat back on the chair she had just been sitting in, and fell into deep thought.

"Maybe having another child wouldn't be so bad." Irene said as she slowly rubbed her abdomen. "But if I have one with Alfonzo, what would the baby call Erza? Sister or Auntie? Hehehe. That might be fun to see."