Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Open Roads.
October 8, x791.
"Damn that kid." Gildarts grumbled while walking through Stella's countryside. "I can't believe he made me find my own way to Stella. He even made me leave a week earlier than the rest."
Just like Ur suggested the day Alfonzo was cleared to return to wizarding work, Alfonzo included Gildarts in the group that would be taking the quest. However, because of the destructive quality of Gildarts' magic power, he refused to let him ride in his magic vehicle. And that went for Ur and Evergreen, as well.
On a side note, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana found the look on Gildarts' face when Ur refused to let him ride with her priceless.
As a result, Gildarts was forced to find his own way to Altair. However, thanks to his reputation, Gildarts was not allowed on the trains in Fiore. So, he had to walk to a border town in Bosco so that he could catch the train.
Yet, when he arrived in the town, he found that his reputation for destroying everything he came in contact with had spread further than just Fiore's borders. As a result, he was forced to cross Bosco on foot, as well. Then, by the time he reached Stella's border, he completely gave up on trying to take the train, walking the rest of the way, as well.
"I don't understand why they had to drive in the first place." Gildarts continued to grumble. "Wouldn't taking the Blackbird or the Fairy's Tail be faster, anyway? So, what if those little thieves noticed us? It's not like they could do anything once we found them."
*Bang!*
Reaching that pint, Gildarts kicked a stone on the side of the road. And thanks to his [Crash Magic], it was separated into many smaller pieces on impact. As a result, the small pieces of stone flew through the air like buckshot before peppering the side of a boulder half a mile away.
"Damn it!" Gildarts shouted as the rock in the distance collapsed into rubble.
*Sneeze!*
Meanwhile, Alfonzo, while heading back to the hotel, sneezed out of nowhere.
"Hmm..." Alfonzo hummed while wiping his nose with a handkerchief. "I bet that old man is talking shit about me. Hmph! It's not my fault he can't control his magic power to not destroy everything he touches. And I know he doesn't want me to kick his ass if he destroys my car. Especially not in front of Cana."
Before Alfonzo could continue his rant, however, he snapped his head up towards the roof of a nearby building. When he did, he did not see anything. However, because of his [Magic Power Detection], he sensed something rushing past at high-speed.
"What the hell was that?" Alfonzo asked himself while continuing to track the signature he just picked up. "It's such a weak signature. And that speed doesn't match a signature that small. What's going on?"
Despite having many questions, Alfonzo quickly cast his [Electromagnetism Magic] to both make himself invisible by manipulating the visible light around him and increase his speed before flying after the signature.
"Damn... Whoever this is, they're fast." Alfonzo muttered to himself while following the signal. "On top of that, their concealment is crazy. Maybe on the same level as Lici. The further away they are, the harder it is to sense them."
Reaching that point, Alfonzo grinned.
"Looks like I found a lead." Alfonzo said to himself as he followed the signal, keeping it at the edge of the range he could detect it.
It did not take long for the signal to start moving erratically, however. And when Alfonzo noticed that, he realized that whoever this signal was had noticed that they were being followed.
'Damn... I've suppressed my magic power as much as I can.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'How the hell did they notice me? I mean, I've snuck into Fiore's most heavily guarded prison like this. This has got to be one of the Spiders.'
And Alfonzo was correct. The person he was following was the same pink-haired young woman who detected and cut Elicia's threads. And thanks to her preternatural senses, she felt it when Alfonzo was focused on her. Though, she had no way to tell where he was watching her from.
If she had known, she would have set a trap for him to fall into. That way, she would have been able to identify her pursuer before killing him and reporting to the head of the Spiders, Chrollo Lucifer.
"This is annoying." The pink-haired young woman said while hopping from roof to roof while using her [Stealth Magic]. "It looks like another foolish guild wizard is trying to complete our subjugation request. Not that it matters. As soon as we find out who they are, the leader will probably order their guild's destruction."
Like that, the game of cat and mouse continued. And neither Alfonzo nor the pink-haired young woman was able to gain any ground. Because Alfonzo had no way to track her to her base if she did not go that way. Nor did the pink-haired young woman have the ability to either shake off Alfonzo or lead him into a trap, especially because she had no idea that he was following her through the air rather than on the ground.
'Is this ever going to end?' Alfonzo and the pink-haired young woman thought at the same time.
'If I could just swoop down and capture them, this would be so much easier.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But if I do that, that will only alert the rest of the Spiders... If she's actually one of them, that is. And if I tried to attach a piece of metal to them, I have no doubt they would notice it immediately. What the hell am I supposed to--- Wait a minute...'
Though it was subtle like the signal he could sense from the pink-haired young woman, after thinking about putting a piece of metal on her, Alfonzo thought he felt the presence of metal. But since it was so faint, he could not be sure.
So, Alfonzo chanced getting a little closer to get a better sense of what he was feeling.
'Those feel like needles.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Sewing needles, to be exact. And they're only on the left side of the signature. Hmm... I think I have an idea of who this is. And if I'm right, it makes sense that girl, Machi Komacine, would be able to sense that she was being followed. Well, that doesn't matter anymore. I've got a way to track her without having to follow her, now.'
With that, Alfonzo's magic power flared, uncaring whether the pink-haired young woman, Machi, would be able to feel his presence or not.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Enhancement]." Alfonzo chanted before he vanished in a burst of speed.
In the next instant, Alfonzo reappeared next to Machi. However, instead of trying to stop her from escaping, he gently, very gently, touched the needles sticking out of the pin cushion on her left hand. In fact, his touch was so gentle that Machi, even with her heightened senses, was unable to feel any pressure on her arm. He then pushed a miniscule amount of his magic power into each one. Then, just as quickly as he appeared next to her, he vanished once again while suppressing his magic power to the point that Machi could no longer sense it.
At the same time, Machi, sensing a presence just to her left, flung her left arm to the side while casting her [Thread Magic] in an attempt to either bind or cut the presence that appeared next to her. Yet, before her arm even started to move, the presence disappeared, resulting in her threads only cutting through the corner of the building she just leapt from.
"What was that?" Machi asked herself in an emotionless tone as she came to a stop on the next building. "That surge of magic power was so big. It even passed right by me. But now... It's just... gone. What in the world is going on?"
However, Machi did not stay in the same place for long. Like before, she had no way of knowing where the person who had been following her was. But at the same time, she could no longer sense the gaze of the person that had been following her, either.
Even so, Machi still felt like something was off. So, she had no intention of returning to the Phantom Troupe's hideout for now. Because of that, she continued to run circles around Altair for the next several hours, only reluctantly returning to the hideout long after night fell on the city.
Meanwhile, as Machi ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, Alfonzo found an inconspicuous place to dispel his invisibility. Then, he walked out onto Altair's main street as if nothing happened. All the while, he had a smile on his face.
"Now, I just need to keep track of her location." Alfonzo thought to himself as he walked. "It will probably be a while before she meets up with the rest of the Spiders. But we can wait. Plus, I'll have Lici start keeping tabs on Caine tomorrow. If he's supposed to be the buyer for the Curta Clan's eyes, then there's a good chance that if not him, one of his close aids will show up to complete the deal with the Phantom Troupe."
Nodding in satisfaction at the plan he came up with, Alfonzo started humming to himself as he leisurely walked through the streets. However, he was not walking randomly. Instead, he was making his way towards the part of the city where most of the clothing stores could be found.
"Just because we're on a quest, that doesn't mean we can't go n a little date, does it?" Alfonzo asked himself as his smile widened. "I'll make sure to go on dates with Cana Tear, and Sun before we head back to Magnolia, too. I don't need either of them calling me unfair. Plus, Sun's disappointed puppy eyes are dangerous."
It didn't take long for Alfonzo to find Elicia, who was once again gushing over a dress in a store front's window. However, instead of doing so from outside of the store, she was inside the store this time. On top of that, she was inspecting the dress's material by touch while inspecting every stitch.
*Ring!*
The bell hanging over the shop's door rang as Alfonzo pushed it open and stepped inside.
"No matter where we go, you always need your shopping fix, huh, Lici?" Alfonzo asked in a teasing tone.
"Huh?" Elicia intoned, Alfonzo's voice surprising her as she was completely focused on watching over the web of threads she laid out over the city while also paying close attention to the dress. When she looked up from the dress and saw Alfonzo walking towards her, she smiled brightly. "Fonzie! What are you doing here? Did you already meet with the client?"
"Yeah, I did." Alfonzo replied as his smile widened, as well. "But we can talk about that once we get back to the hotel. For now, I was thinking maybe we could go on a little date."
Now, not only was Elicia's smile wide enough to see from the moon, but her eyes were shining brightly enough to illuminate the moon's dark side, as well. She then skipped away from the dress she was inspecting, deeming it wholly unimportant when compared to the prospect of going on a date with Alfonzo.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Elicia repeatedly called out as she clung to Alfonzo's arm. "Let's go on a date."
Seeing how excited Elicia was, Alfonzo could not help feeling excited, as well. He then led Elicia out of the shop, disappointing the staff, as they were expecting Elicia to buy something. The couple then strolled around the city, enjoying each other's company, before having dinner at a relatively upscale restaurant that did not have a dress code. Then, once they finished their meal, they returned to their hotel to report what they found throughout the day to the rest of the team, minus Gildarts, of course.
Around the same time that Alfonzo and Elicia returned to their hotel, two other things happened near Altair's outskirts.
First, Machi finally returned to the Phantom Troupe's hideout. And the first thing she did was report her encounter with Alfonzo. Though, she had no idea that she had a run in with Alfonzo Marcus of Fairy Tail.
And second, Gildarts finally arrived at the city. However, he was not the only one to arrive at Altair, as he crossed paths with a hulking man standing at 8'6" tall who looked to be four hundred pounds of muscle, at the very least, with an unruly mane of grey hair, sideburns, thick eyebrows, green eyes, and hair on his shoulders, arms, and chest. On top of that, he had a large, twelve-legged spider tattooed on his lower back with the number "11" written on its body.
"*Whistle* That guy must have grew up eating well." Gildarts said when he saw the large man.
Despite Gildarts' laid-back attitude, the large man reacted in a completely opposite manner, as he showed hostility as soon as he turned around and laid his eyes on Gildarts.
"The leader said no one was supposed to see us." The large man said as his expression widened into a bloodthirsty smile. "But you saw me. And that's not good. Unfortunately, that means you're going to have to die tonight, Old Man."
"*Sigh* Of course..." Gildarts muttered to himself after hearing what the large man had to say. He then looked into the man's eyes and continued at a normal volume. "Look, Kid, I walked all the way here from Fiore. So, I'm really tired. I'm really not in the mood for this shit. So, let's just pretend we didn't meet each other, alright?"
"Oh, if you're so tired, I can help you get to sleep, Old Man." The large man said as his smile widened. "Of course, when I'm done, you'll never wake up again, though."
"*Sigh* No one can say I didn't try..." Gildarts muttered while shaking his head. "I just hope this doesn't mess up whatever plans they've come up with."
With that, Gildarts threw his bag to the side, making sure his luggage would not get caught up in the coming fight. He then started walking towards the large man with a grumpy expression on his face.
"I just wanted to get some sleep before dealing with all this shit." Gildarts continued to mutter as he flared his magic power higher with every step. "But no~~. I have to run into one of the subjugation targets as soon as I get to the city. Seriously, what kind of luck is this?"