Chapter 31: Arc 1 – Now or Never: Chapter 31

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Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

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Arc 1 - Now or Never: Chapter 31

20 minutes later*

I'm speechless right now. I'm really speechless. Truly I am. Not even half an hour. It is like Juvia and Karen are the best friends ever, mainly over the topic of fashion. I did not expect Juvia to be a fashion model as a side job which she is a big hit and known by the fashion people as the Cold Queen due to how she gives nearly everyone the cold shoulder and other things that made many come up with that title for her. In addition, Juvia has her own personal brand that many designers would love to include in their own works, even if they have a brand of their own.

Seriously, how much did I skim over in the Beyond Card while using it on Juvia?! Did my unconsciousness want me to be surprised to find more about Juvia without having to rely on the Beyond Card?! Oh, wait. I forgot I made use of my cheat to make it so the Beyond Card won't overload my brain, turning me braindead from overloading all the knowledge and just giving me the main core information for the question being asked. While the rest are deemed unimportant and unrelated to the question.

"Miss Lockser, if possible, could you tell me what the next latest fashion trend will be?" Karen asks Juvia in a hopeful tone, clasping her hands together, showing how nervous she is now.

Juvia happily answered this question. As if Karen is her long-lost friend she had just now reunited with. Truly baffling.

I look away and resume ignoring the conversation again. I was not into fashion whatsoever, so trying to pay attention to the conversation would be near impossible and I would be completely lost in what was going on.

I blink as a flash of golden light appears out of nowhere, then a young man of average height, distinguished by his delicate facial features and orange hair. His hair is kept in a mildly short, spiky cut, with spiky strands covering his forehead. A pair of strands sitting on top of his head, being vaguely reminiscent of animal ears. He is wearing an elegant dark suit, with the jacket left unbuttoned and the loose pants held up by a light-colored belt, over a lighter shirt with a zebra-striped tie around his neck, plus dark shoes.

And it seems Karen still has Loke, aka Leo the Celestial Spirit and leader of the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys. Well, maybe his name isn't Loke and Leo since he is still with Karen.

"This here is my Celestial Spirit Leo; isn't he charming?" Karen hugged Leo, who just greeted us with a smile. "He is the most important person in my life." She leans in to kiss Leo, causing him to chuckle.

Okay, so the relationship between the two isn't bad, like in canon. Good to know.

"But, don't Magic Council make a strict law against having a romantic relationship with Celestial Spirits?" Juvia looks at Karen with concern.

I blink.

What?

Leo frowned and pulled Karen closer into his arms, "Let's just say that if the Magic Council try anything, then they better be prepared to face my wrath."

"Oh, Leo~!" Karen smiles in love and starts giving Leo many kisses.

"No one going to take you away from me, princess." Leo smiled at Karen with love.

"Renato-sama, aren't they so cute together?" Juvia asks me in awe at the display of love before our eyes.

Guild Master Bob on the side giggled, "Those two are our guild pride and joy, showing the world that love conquers all~!"

"Yup." I replied to both questions.

"Oh!" Karen's eyes widen. "Miss Lockser, let me introduce you to my other Celestial Spirit. She is also my best friend and could help you with your newest designed outfit in materials." Then, she pulls out another Golden Zodiac Key. "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!" A golden Magic Circle appears, causing a bright flash of golden light to appear once again and reveal Aries.

Aries is a female spirit who resembles a young woman with pink hair. She wears clothes that have a white and fluffy wool-like getup.

"I'm sorry for appearing." Aries apologized before anyone could say anything.

"Aries, darling." Karen sighed in frustration. "There is no need for you to apology."

So this Karen is stronger than her canon version since in canon, Karen wasn't able to summon another Celestial Spirit due to Leo staying in the human world against her will, draining her of her Magic Power, and even then, she couldn't summon two Celestial Spirits at the same time. Although, in the canon, they didn't show Karen had other Celestial Spirits besides Leo and Aries. Therefore, to see her summoning both so easy just prove she is stronger and possesses more Magic Power to keep two powerful Celestial Spirits like nothing.

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No idea about combat though.

"Miss Lockser, this here is Aries. Her magic allows her to create and manipulate pink wool. I was wondering if you could use her wool as the material for your next designed outfit. I know your color isn't pink, but we can fix that easily with many different methods." Karen hugs Aries to comfort the timid Celestial Spirit. "Aries here also wanted to meet Miss Lockser for a long time too."

I kept quiet while learning new facts by the second. For one thing, Leo and Karen are a couple, and the latter isn't like in the canon who abused Aries. Overall, I'm not even surprised by everything I've experienced during my time in this world. By now, I wouldn't be surprised if Guild Master Bob is secretly an overpowered Mage that can take on all the Wizard Saints by himself.

"Hey, I'm Leo, as my sweet Karen introduced me before. You must be Miss Lockser's friend. It's nice to meet you and as a fellow guild member." Leo moves his hand towards me for a handshake, which I shooke.

"Renato-sama is Juvia's boyfriend." Juvia commented on the side when Leo mistook me for a regular friend.

"Ah, my mistake!" Leo let out an awkward chuckle, causing Karen to sigh on the side.

"Honestly, Leo. You should be able to tell the signs with how close two are." Karen said tiredly. "Sorry, Miss Lockser and Mister Renato. Leo can sometimes mistake a few things, but he is a great boyfriend and someone to rely on for combat."

"It's fine." I replied calmly, smiling to show none was taken.

Soon, Juvia, Karen, and Aries begin talking to each other. Well, more of Karen and Juvia on the side, with Aries giving an input here and there.

"So not much of a talker, huh?" Leo asks me awkwardly.

"Do we even have a common topic to talk about?" I raise an eyebrow at the Celestial Spirit, who looks confused and unsure. "What magic do you use? At least your main one."

Leo looks at me with confusion for a few seconds before smiling as he begins telling me about his magic: Regulus. It's pretty much the same as canon, producing the element of light from his body, which he mainly used to boost his melee performance.

"I use Bullet Magic." I replied once Leo finished, looking at me to tell him what magic I mainly use. Then I thought a moment before explaining how I use my Bullet Magic since Leo went out of his way to tell more about his magic. But, like him, I only mention some parts and not everything.

After that, the awkward silent return with only the sound of the girls' conversations still going in the background.

I honestly can't believe how uncomfortable this is, and Leo isn't even a bad guy, nor do I have this gut feeling of something wrong with him like I did with Machio and Erza. Then again, I did use my cheat beforehand to make it so there won't be a second time like with the previous guild I was in.

Both Leo and I look over at the girls. They are having a blast with each other. Even Aries is slowly becoming more open with Juvia and Karen. Yet, here Leo and me having an awkward yet quiet silence. No good topics to talk about, and the one before didn't even last that long.

Looking back, I can say that it was mostly the others who started the conversations most of the time than Juvia and me. Preventing any uncomfortable silence to occurs. In fact, Juvia and I would gladly just enjoy each other presence with a few random topics to talk about, where it would last for a while and sometimes hours if the topic is important.

Wow. Now that I think about it. Both Juvia and I are lonely people if we split. Juvia now has Karen and Aries while I'm over here with Leo and it's not going great but not bad either. And holy shit, I now understand it wasn't because I decided to give Machio a chance but because the guy was pushing himself into my personal business whenever he could. Leo here didn't and is trying to come up with something for us to discuss without any hidden motive.

"So, how did you get together with your girlfriend?" I ask Leo, causing a big smile to appear on his face.

"It was like love at first sight." Leo begins the tale of how he met Karen and how they slowly fell for each other. Of course, there were some downsides and upsides on the way.

To summarize the whole thing. The only key difference is that Leo's love for Karen was just a bud, which was destroyed by how Karen treated Aries and would lead like in the canon. However, before that route could even start. Early on with the recent contract formed with Leo and Aries. Karen treated them right initially and did not mistreat them later on. One thing or another, Leo and Aries saved Karen's life during a high-risk job, causing Karen to turn over a new leaf, fall for Leo, and see Aries as an angel.

Talk about a sudden change of heart. Then again, there is that whole troupe of girls falling for the shining white knight that saves them from distress. But, with this world being an alternate universe of Fairy Tail. I wouldn't be surprised if Karen, Leo, and Aries are secretly in a relationship. Leo has two girls, one being a fellow Celestial Spirit and another his contractor. Similar to how I was with Erza included in my relationship with Juvia.

I thought it about but decided not to use my cheat on Leo and his two girlfriends if Aries is in the relationship, that is. Otherwise, I might cause a drama to happen by accident the moment I use my cheat to make this happen.

I can just imagine it now. The moment I used my cheat to make it, there is no failure in any bad relationship with all three. Suddenly, Aries confesses her love to Leo after so long and is willing to be the secondary girl, etc., and more drama happens. However, there is the chance that this is all in my head and Aries doesn't have any feelings for Leo, and I forced this to happen.

Holy shit, I can cause so much drama by doing this!

I snap out of it quickly before these lines of thought continue and focus on Leo's tale of love with Karen. Damn, he is still going and not stopping anytime soon, praising Karen's qualities to make her look better.

I glance over the girls' side and see Karen smiling wider with pinkish cheeks. No doubt she and the other two are listening to Leo as well. While the talker himself doesn't realize this.

Hm. Leo is still talking. I wonder how long until he is done?

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