Effervescence

Chapter 3

The next day, I woke up with a smile on my face. I was finally home... and home was a very cozy apartment. Also, I could hear footsteps outside the door, in my kitchen, and a hushed conversation in the dining room. I sighed, happy that my friends were there for me the first real day back.

I got up, and quickly changed into a light blue top and black skinny jeans. I walked out of my room to find the Raijinshu in the dining room, and Freed cooking breakfast. I inhaled and exhaled loudly, alerting everyone to my presence.

"Nice place you have here, sis." Laxus said quite cheekily. I giggled, because I knew he was the one to pick it out for me. I decided to play along.

"Yes...it is quite nice! I wonder who could be so considerate and know exactly what I would need or want..." I snickered, and wrapped my arms around the team's necks. "Thanks, guys it's wonderful!"

I then went to pat Bickslow's babies, who seemed to purr and said "Mommy, Mommy!" I shot a look at Bick, but he looked completely dumbfounded. I noticed they weren't wearing any eye protection, and I was happy to see they were very relaxed around me. At least I know they won't treat me any different than before... I smiled at the thought as I helped Freed carry the food over to the table.

~~Le Lazy Time-Skip~~

"I was wondering, Ash," I hummed at the sound of my nickname,"What do you exactly eat?"

"Normal food..." I said uncertainly. I was sitting at the bar, talking to Gray.

"No, I mean the element you eat to regain strength, like all the other Dragon Slayers?" Oooooh. That.

"Fire breath over there eats fire, and you've already probably seen Gajeel in his shadowy corner eating some type of scrap Iron." We both looked to Gajeel's dark corner, and saw two red eyes glowering from the darkness.

"And Wendy eats air... I still don't get that, honestly." He mumbled under his breath. I smiled and laughed at his confusion. Just then, a brawl started in the middle of the guild. I smirked, and told Gray to watch.

I turned towards the fight, and started to take in a large breath. Instead of inhaling air, though, a bright blue spiral of energy was funneled into my mouth from the direction of the brawl. Instantly, all of the guild members that had been about to crush each others skulls started acting all buddy-buddy with each other. Gray, Mira, and Erza looked on in shock, and snapped their heads towards me.

I shrugged "I'm the Apocalypse Dragon Slayer, which means I eat chaos particles, which are everywhere at all times. The greatest concentration is when there is some type of violence near me." I showed off a crooked grin. "When I take in that great concentration near me, harmony to the surrounding area is restored."

"So just by eating... you can stop a fight..." Erza said, deep in thought and eating her strawberry cake.

"So, tell me Mira, what does it feel like to be a demon take-over mage?" I turned to my old friend.

"Oh, well it's like I have a second soul I always need to push down and out of sight. Constantly. Every second of the day." We all sweat dropped at her extremely depressing words. "Jeez, Mira. I kinda liked you better when you were a punk and full of fight. Next time you say something so depressing, you should at least not smile so sweetly." I sighed, and stood up from the bar, gathering my hair over my shoulder, and sauntered over to a back table, where Wendy Marvell sat with her exceed.

"Hi! Can I join you?" I yelled as I approached. She looked at me with wonder-filled eyes. Oh, she's a curious one.

"I'd like to get to know my fellow dragon slayers, and thought you'd be the best choice for my first introduction!" I gave her a closed eye smile as I stretched out my hand for her to shake.