Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August 14, x790.
While Alfonzo, Elicia, mavis, and Irene were at Porlyusica's house, the rest of the guild were relaxing in the guild hall. And in one corner of the guild hall's first floor, Lucy and Brandish were sitting together and chatting quietly.
"Are you still hesitating, Brandish?" Lucy asked in an exasperated tone. "Didn't you say as soon as you joined Team Steel Threads, you were gonnna confess to him? Well, that was almost a year ago, and things haven't changed at all."
"It's not that easy, Lucy." Brandish said while avoiding eye contact. "I've never done anything like this before. And it makes me nervous. I mean, what if he rejects me?"
"Then he does." Lucy replied. "But at least you'll be past this awkward situation where you're unsure of what comes next, right?"
"That's easy for you to say." Brandish said as she finally looked back to Lucy with a bit of annoyance in her eyes. "I mean, you're the only one of the girls in his harem who he pursued on his own, right?"
Taken aback at how quickly Brandish's mood changed, Lucy recoiled slightly. However, that did not last long, as her face blossomed into a smile with a slight blush on her face. Then, she reached up, lightly grabbed a lock of her blonde hair, and started twirling it around her finger.
"Hehe… I guess you're right." Lucy said with a silly grin on her face. "I guess I'm not the best one to give you advice, am I?"
Seeing Lucy's bashful smiled that pretty much screamed: "I guess I'm special, huh?" it took all of Brandish's self-control to not lung across the table they were sitting at and punch her in the face.
'Wait! Why am I even holding back?' Brandish asked herself. 'This is Fairy Tail, right? Guild-wide brawls happen all the time, don't they?'
["Exactly."] Hecatoncheires replied from Brandish's inner world. ["There will be no consequences. Just look at Cana and Ultear or Mira and Erza, they fight all the time. Yet, they're still friends."]
'Huh? Hecatoncheires, you're encouraging this?' Brandish asked in a dumbfounded tone. 'But aren't you always telling me to be more modest in my actions and behavior? What's the deal?'
["Because Lucy needs that smug grin knocked off her face."] Hecatoncheires replied nonchalantly. ["And as her friend, it's your duty to make sure she doesn't get too arrogant, right?"]
Hearing that, Brandish's expression turned to one of enlightenment. Then, she looked at Lucy intently.
Lucy, on the other hand, was too busy praising her own beauty that captivated Alfonzo so much that he pursued her relentlessly to notice.
*Bang!*
So, when Brandish finally lunged across the table and punched her in the cheek, lucy was completely caught off guard.
"Kya~~~~!" Lucy screamed as Brandish's punch sent her flying. "Brandish, why~~~~~~~~~~!"
Unfortunately, that was not the end of Lucy's misfortune. Instead, it only got worse.
*Bang!*
*Clatter!* *Shatter!* *Shatter!* *Splat!*
"Ahh~~~~~! Damn it, Lucy!" Cana shouted angrily after Lucy slammed into the table she was sitting at with Ultear and Erza, the collision knocking her glass of liquor to the floor and shattering it. "I'll make you pay for that!"
"No, Cana, wait!" Lucy screamed in terror. "It wasn't my fault. Brandish! Brandish, she…"
"Lucy…" Erza said in a dark tone with her head lowered and her bangs covering her eyes. "You've committed a grave offense on this day. Now, tell me, how would you like to be punished?"
Just when she did not think that things could get any worse after being punched, sent flying, and knocking over Cana's drink, Lucy heard Erza's ominous words. She then slowly turned her head to look at the scarlet-haired swordswoman. And when she saw the dark expression on her face, she knew exactly what happened. And when she quickly swept her gaze around the area, the shattered plate she saw lying on the floor and the splattered piece of strawberry shortcake among the pieces, all the color drained from her face.
"Wow! You're really in trouble this time, Lucy." Ultear said while shaking her head with a grin on her face. "Well, good luck. They won't kill you, at least."
"No~~~~~~~~~~!" Lucy screamed desperately as Cana and Erza slowly closed in. "Brandish! I'll get you for this~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"
Meanwhile, Brandish, the reason for Lucy's current suffering, looked away from Lucy, who was about to be lynched by Cana and Erza, with an embarrassed expression on her face.
"Oops…" Brandish muttered. "I didn't mean to hit her that hard. I just wanted to make her fall off her chair."
["You can think about strength control later."] Hecatoncheires said in an urgent tone. ["You should get out of here first. As much as Lucy is yelling your name, Cana and Erza are bound to put two and two together sooner or later. And when they do, they'll come after you if you're still here."]
Hearing Hecatoncheires' advice, the light of realization flashed through Brandish's eyes. She then looked towards the Cana and Erza, who were jointly beating up Lucy. Then, without hesitation, she used [Command T] and cast [Reduction] on herself before slipping out of the guild hall.
"*Sigh* That could have been dangerous." Brandish muttered as she turned to look back at the closed doors of the guild hall. "Thanks for reminding me, Hecatoncheires."
["Naturally."] Hecatoncheires replied. ["Although I like Lucy as much as you do, she's let the fact that she's the only one who Alfonzo pursued on his own go to her head. She needed to be brought down a peg. Mostly for her own good."]
Though she said that, Brandish was certain that Hecatoncheires was jealous, on her behalf, of course, when she urged Brandish to punch Lucy. Still, that was because Brandish herself was jealous, as well.
"Even so, I can't go back to the guild hall." Brandish muttered after walking down the path leading away from the guild hall. She then restored her normal size before she reached a crossroad, one side leading to Magnolia while the other lead to Lake Sciliora. More specifically, the mansion on the Lake. "But what should I do? Lucy's probably gonna wanna fight when she sees me. I should probably avoid her, huh?"
*Growl!*
"Plus, I'm hungry." Brandish added while patting her flat stomach. "I guess I'll go to the town. I'm sure I can find a restaurant with something I want to eat."
["Or you could use [Magic Power Detection] and see if Alfonzo is home." Hecatoncheires suggested. ["If he is, he's probably cooking lunch right now. I'm sure he wouldn't mind feeding you."
Hearing that, Brandish's eyes lit up. Like everyone else, she had not been able to eat Alfonzo's cooking since Mavis became the guild master. Though, it seemed that both she and Hecatoncheires forgot that Alfonzo mentioned that he would not be cooking at home during that time, either.
Blissfully, and perhaps willfully, ignorant, Brandish thinly spread her magic power to cover the Mansion on the Lake. When she did, she noticed that Alfonzo, Elicia, and Irene had returned to the Mansion on the Lake. On top of that, along with Grayfia, Ikaruga, Mey-Rin, and Miyuki, they were the only ones in the mansion.
"Hmm… It looks like Maria and Ai took the children out to play somewhere." Brandish muttered to herself as she turned her head in the direction of the Mansion on the Lake. "And all the other girls are at the guild hall right now."
["Then, it looks like your destination is decided, no?"] Hecatoncheires asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.
"I guess." Brandish replied as she started walking towards Lake Sciliora.
It only took about ten minutes for Brandish, walking at her usual lazy pace, to arrive at the Mansion on the Lake's front door. When she did, just before she could knock or ring the doorbell, the door opened with Mey-Rin, her face completely red and her glasses steamed up, standing in the open doorway.
"G-G-Good Afternoon, M-M-Miss Brandish." Mey-Rin said with an embarrassed studder. "H-H-How do you do, t-t-today?"
'What's up with her?' Brandish asked while looking at Mey-Rin suspiciously. 'Usually, she only acts like this when Maria teases her. But Maria isn't here today. So, what's the big idea?'
"Good afternoon to you, too, Mey-Rin." Brandish said in her usual tone with an eyebrow slightly raised. "I came to see Alfonzo and Irene. I assume they are here, correct?"
Immediately, Mey-Rin, who was already blushing, blushed even harder, the red creeping down her neck and up her ears.
"Wahh~~~~~~~!" Mey-Rin let out a strange scream before steam was emitted from both her ears and her head. On top of that, she began to stagger in place, looking as if she had taken too many hits to the head.
'Interesting.' Brandish thought to herself while examining Mey-Rin's response. 'So, this is either because of Alfonzo or Irene. But what could make her act like this? Well, I'm definitely curious to find out.'
["More than likely, it's because she couldn't handle one of Irene's sadistic outbursts."] Hecatoncheires said, giving her opinion on the matter. ["I doubt it's because of Alfonzo. He treats all of the maids quite well, after all."]
'That's true.' Brandish replied while nodding internally. 'But if Irene is in one of those moods at the moment, I'm kinda scared to go in there.'
["But Alfonzo's cooking will make it worth it, wont' it?"] Hecatoncheires asked, tempting Brandish with what amounted to the Devil's whispers.
'*Sigh* I guess you're right.' Brandish said after thinking through Hecatoncheires' advice. 'It's not like I haven't been on the receiving end of Irene when she's in a mood before. And although I'm not desensitized to it, I think I can manage.'
"So, where are they, Mey-Rin?" Brandish asked as she stepped through the door.
"L-L-Living Room!" Mey-Rin screamed in that same strange tone.
*Bang!*
In the next instant, Mey-Rin slammed the door shut before running of and disappearing around a corner.
"Wahh~~~~~~~~~~!" The sound of Mey-Rin's strange screams echoed throughout the mansion as she ran away.
Seeing Mey-Rin's over the top reaction, Brandish stared at where she disappeared for a moment. Then, she shook her head and started making her way towards the living room.
"There's no way Irene scared her that badly." Brandish said while once again shaking her head. "I mean, Alfonzo would have definitely stopped her before things went too far."
["But what if Irene turned her ire onto Alfonzo after that?"] Hecatoncheires asked. ["Alfonzo, although he is quite strong, is still weaker than Irene for the time being. She might be having her way with him right now."]
Hecatoncheires perfectly reasonable speculation gave Brandish a moment of pause. Yet, after that moment of pause, she started to walk towards the living room again. As someone with a small domination kink, she was curious to see Alfonzo being dominated by Irene.
With the anticipation putting a bit of extra spring in her steps, Brandish's pace towards the living room increased. However, as she drew nearer, she found herself more and more confused. No matter how close she got to the living room, she could not hear any sounds. None, at all.
"This is weird." Brandish muttered as she continued to walk forward. "It's too quiet."
["Irene probably put up a [Sound Barrier] to not disturb the maids."] Hecatoncheires suggested.
Nodding in agreement, though she was still feeling a bit uneasy, Brandish continued onwards. And when she finally arrived, she found out that Hecatoncheires was right. However, things were not what either of them thought.
As Brandish finally reached the living room, the first thing she saw was the back of a couch that was facing away from the entrance to the living room where she was entering from. Next, over the back of the couch, she saw Irene, who appeared to be sitting on the opposite couch. On top of that, she was smiling while raising a glass of wine to her lips.
At the same time, Irene looked up and made eye contact with Brandish before gesturing for Brandish to come join her.
Even more confused after not seeing the scene she expected to see, Brandish, with confusion written all over her face, stepped past the threshold to the living room. And as soon as she did, the reason for Mey-Rin's embarrassment came crashing into her like a train.
"*Slurp!* Mmm~~~~~~~~~~~! *Slurp!* *Gag!* *Slurp!*"
And as soon as she heard those wet, sloppy, lewd sounds, Brandish froze like a deer in headlights, not knowing whether she should continue forward or turn around and run like Mey-Rin did.