Shortly after buying a hot dog from a street vendor, we eventually arrived at our destination. The building was near the city center and quite large; clearly, the owner was quite successful in his line of work.
"That took long enough; we practically toured the city." As Cana huffed in annoyance, I shoved the hot dog into my mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing. "Yeah, well, I would've asked someone for directions, but someone's appearance kept frightening everyone." Lucy shot me a glance, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "I didn't scare anyone."
"Maybe not purposefully." While glancing at Cana, Lucy promptly shook her head before striding towards the building. "Well, no matter, we've arrived. C'mon, you two." As Cana and I followed Lucy, we entered through the front entrance of the Rainbow Theater, ignoring the closed sign.
Once inside, we passed the empty lobby and headed to the theater, which was also empty. "There should be an office or something, right?" Scratching her head, Lucy glanced at us for confirmation, though Cana and I just shrugged our shoulders; this was our first time inside a theater. "Wow, thanks for the help."
Ignoring Lucy's twitching eye, we stepped onto the stage, heading to the back, though, while doing so, I heard a faint noise from the rafters, prompting me to look up, only to see a sandbag falling right for Lucy's head. "Lucy, above you." As I folded my arms, Lucy and Cana both looked up, quickly noticing the sandbag rapidly approaching the former.
Reacting swiftly, Lucy hardened her gaze, stood her ground, and lifted her leg, kicking upwards, performing a standing split; when her foot and the sandbag collided, it exploded into a cloud of sand, which I dispersed by exhaling, revealing an unharmed Lucy.
"Whoa, that was pretty impressive, Lucy. I didn't know you were that flexible." At Cana's praise, I nodded in agreement, having not expected that from Lucy of all people. However, her image of a strong mage was promptly broken as she collapsed onto the stage, holding her foot while whimpering. "My toes!"
"Well, at least you didn't praise her strength." "I got lucky." "Dammit, come help me, you fools!" Rolling our eyes, we helped Lucy onto her feet. "I think my toes are broken." "Oh, please, stop exaggerating the pain; your toes are fine, see." Scoffing softly, I removed Lucy's shoes, showing her feet and bruised toes. "See! My toes are purple!" "But they're not broken, just bruised." "He's got a point, Lucy."
While Lucy looked like she was about to lash out at us, someone suddenly burst through the entrance of the theater. "W-Who goes there!? Is that you, Ghost!?" Raising our heads, we turned and looked at the finely dressed older man with a slightly deranged look in his eyes, which subsided when he noticed us.
"Eh, who are you three?" "Fairy Tail mages. We're here about the ghost quest you issued." While Cana went ahead and spoke with the man, I put Lucy's shoes back on. "Can you walk?" "Yeah, I just can't bend my toes." Helping Lucy down the stage, we walked to Cana, the older man, who was staring at us as if we were his savior.
"Oh, thank goodness! That Ghost has been pestering me for weeks! It's been ruining my business! If this problem can't be solved, I don't know what I'll do." On his knees, the old man was latched to Cana's thighs, looking up at her with tears in his eyes while she looked to us for help; however, Lucy stuck her tongue out, and I just promptly ignored her plea for help.
"S-Sir, please, rise to your feet, a-act your age. Please." While Cana was forced to deal with the man who introduced himself as Loyd, he informed us about the so-called Ghost, detailing everything from its first appearance to the present.
While that was happening, I was sitting down beside Lucy, my eyes closed as I focused, searching for any sound that was out of place, and it didn't take long to notice something. "... I've tried exorcism, but that didn't—" "Loyd, is there anyone else in this building?" Interrupting Loyd, I opened my eyes and glanced at him, causing Cana to heave a sigh of relief while he furrowed his brows.
"No, Sir, other than us, there should be no one." "Well, then I've got good news for you, your theater isn't haunted." It wasn't just Loyd who looked at me in confusion; so did Cana and Lucy. "Did you figure something out, big bro?" "I can hear five different breaths in this building, so unless this ghost specifically can somehow breathe, this place isn't haunted."
"Five different breaths? You can hear that?" Nodding at Lucy's words, Loyd just looked at me, even more confused than the others. "S-So you're saying someone else is in here? But I've searched throughout this entire building multiple times." "This is a big building. It wouldn't be that difficult to constantly hide from one person. Especially if that person happens to know the layout of this place."
Frowning, Loyd went silent, a pondering expression gracing his face as he stroked his trimmed white beard. "So someone has been camping in this building? Where are they?" Folding her arms, Cana looked at me with a raised eyebrow, causing me to smirk. "Where do you think?" There was a brief silence as she pondered, only for Lucy to break it.
"Tsk, the rafters! He probably dropped the sandbag!" Clicking her tongue, Lucy stood up and pointed at the rafters above the stage, causing me to nod. "Yes. He's watching us right now. Too bad he's not close enough to hear us speak." At my words, Lucy didn't hesitate and summoned one of her celestial spirits.
"Virgo, go capture that man in the rafters." "Yes, Master." At Lucy's command, Virgo bowed and dashed towards the rafters, arriving within just a few moments. "H-Hey, what are you doing!? L-Let go! I said Let go! Ahh, Help!"
Hearing that voice, which turned out to be quite feminine, Virgo returned to us, carrying a struggling young woman by the collar before tossing her at our feet. "The deed is done, Master." "Tch, bastard!" As she stood up while dusting herself off, Loyd broke out of his pondering. "D-Dear?"
"Dear? Is she your wife? She's like a third your age." Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Lody slowly shook his head while approaching the woman. "No, she's my daughter, Candice." "Oh, that makes sense." As I tapped my chin, Loyd and Candice proceeded to have a ten-minute discussion.
Candice was upset with Loyd for not giving her the leading role, and Loyd didn't give her the role because he didn't want to put too much pressure on her. After stating their reasons and clearing up the misunderstanding, the two tearfully hugged, apologizing to each other as they made up.
"Tch, I feel like I was just punched in the gut." "Tell me about it." Lucy and Cana stared at the father-daughter reunion with ugly expressions, causing me to raise an eyebrow before nodding. "Well, at least you two have fathers." The two groaned in unison before reluctantly nodding.
Once they separated, Loyd thanked us profusely while Candice apologized to Lucy. Seeing how our work was done, we collected our pay and bade our farewells to Candice and Loyd, stepping back out into the streets of Gazania. "If you're ever nearby, make sure to stop by; any play will always be free for you three!"
Waving at the shouting Loyd, we stood in the middle of the street, glancing at the evening sky. "So, what do we do now?" "Now? Now we get drunk!" "Hold it right there, you drunkard." Before Cana could head off to the nearest bar, I grabbed her head, stopping her. "Tch, why are you always cock blocking me?" Swatting my hand away, Cana huffed in annoyance while I just rolled my eyes.
"C'mon, let's go have dinner. The leader is paying." "Yay! Wait! I didn't agree to this!?" "Haha, great idea, big bro!" While Lucy tried to protest, Cana and I dragged her towards the nearest restaurant. Of course, I wasn't going to have her actually pay, not for me at least.
"Mhm, this food tastes pretty good." Placing a plate atop the stack of plates, I grabbed another one, devouring the food. "Slow down, big bro, no one is going to steal your food." "Do you know how many times my food has been stolen when I was younger, Lucy?" Eyeing Lucy, who sported a wry expression, she shook her head, prompting me to continue eating.
"Forgot you lived in a forest… Anyway, I was looking through the train schedule, and it looks like a train leaving for Magnolia won't be for another three days." "Ugh, that long? Looks like we're walking home then, that sucks." "Oh, don't say that, Cana, who knows what kind of adventure we might stumble across?" Despite Lucy's optimistic outlook, Cana just snorted.
"If I don't come across a cow that produces alcohol, then I don't want any adventure." "You're a weird one, you know that?" "Tch, where is my food? I ordered fifty plates, but there are only twenty-five!" "Haa, what a special group."