100YR Job: Saving Tenroujima from the Legendary Bear

A young lady with long pink hair. The start of any good anime or game right? Well, this one was currently sitting in the bar at Fairy Tail, waiting and wondering when her next lead would come. Her scarf drooped around her hand as she leaned on it, halfway sleeping. This was Hera Reyold, mage of Fairy Tail; fire mage, and daughter of one of their previous Guildmasters. She was a hot head, and often times; wanted nothing more than to be noticed.

But here she was, sleeping on her scarf that flowed down to her knees when she was standing; so sitting down it was comfortable to lean on while wrapped around a hand. She snored, as a huge "sleep bubble" anime style would be expanding and contracting from her nose. In front of her, a cat like creature with deep red fur standing only 2ft tall would be flipping through all kinds of paperworks and leads while actually drinking coffee; this was an Exceed.

It was SO early in the morning, that her Exceed; Rose, was surprised she made it up to the Guild at such a time, she looked over at Hera sleeping at one of the desks in the Guild in the morning; and couldn't help but to feel like this was going to be a decent day. Maybe it was the smell of her coffee. No, she had to get back to work.

"Where would I be if I was a giant bear....that was the longest trip EVER up into the Phoenix Mountains, ugh. What a pain that was...but no sight of it there." Rose flipped through pages and articles and even random images on the table; photos of what looked like a bear like creature...taller than any building or mountain. But the images were blurry at best since they were wisely taken from far away. Whatever the thing was it was huge. Hera and she had been hunting this gigantic thing for more than a week now.

The torches on the sides of the walls of Fairy Tail's castle like Guild, and their banners slightly flapping in the morning breeze from the open windows were all that was heard. That and Hera's occasional sleeping sounds. The stage in the center of the Guild Hall was empty, and even the kitchens were quiet now.

Rose swished her tail and continued flipping through various different images, unbeknownst to her that Hera was beginning to wake up behind her. Slowly but surely. It was a great feeling, stretching in the morning like this; she was SO tired from that trip from the Phoenix Mountains. Like...why in the world didn't they leave before it got dark up there. She literally thought these thoughts as she blinked awake to an empty Guild Hall, the sound of blazing torches, and morning coffee hitting her.

"You....made coffee?" she said, smiling and blushing a bit. Rose would then look up, raising an eyebrow and swishing her tail.

"For me. Yes." she said, a half smile crossing the Exceed's face as Hera looked shocked and then got an "angry" mark over her head comically. Rose then said she was kidding and pointed to a freshly brewed mug of coffee over there in the corner. Fistpumping as she hopped up, Hera would sparkle comically. Moving over to it, she poured herself a cup of joe at the bar of Fairy Tail and then popped up behind Rose slowly, as the Exceed continued to flip through what seemed like dozens upon dozens of letters and job Requests.

"So, next time...can we not climb a mountain looking for the bear?" Hera said as she held her coffee behind Rose, looking at her go. She was a machine.

"Hera the reward is hundreds of thousands of jewels!!! I can't pick where the damn thing is gonna be!" Rose retorted as Hera moaned and complained before sipping her coffee happily, leaning back after she was convinced Rose knew she hated mountains now. She used to love them, and they looked beautiful. But damn they were a different story when you had to walk up one.

"OK, OK, where should we look?"

"Hera...I'm trying to figure that out right now."

"Will there be anyone who I can take on? Anyone to like...blow up!" Hera would throw two punches in the air from where she sat before leaning on her face again in boredom. Causing her Exceed to just facepalm. "What?! I mean...if it's a bear it's not going to be that tough right?" she smirked to herself.

"It's supposed to be the size of a mountain Hera." Rose said, her ears flicking in annoyance once. Jesus, did this girl even hear herself sometimes. Rose wondered. She truly did.

"I bet I could just run at it, and flail and scream and act crazy and it'll run off!" she said smirking smugly as Rose literally would throw a picture at Hera. It hit her in the face as she peeled it off her lips and then inspected it with a raised eyebrow. All she saw was a huge blur...but it was a VERY big blur. Apparently taller than the entire forest it was in by a lot while it was standing up.

"So we're hunting....a giant blur?" she said sarcastically as Rose snapped. Jumping up and tackling Hera out of her seat as Hera laughed and began to tickle Rose in response to her wild assault. The cat tried to fight the laughter but couldn't as Hera eventually picked her up into her arms. "You've been at it all day, let's go home for now and get some rest in our own beds before we set out on some wild adventure again, we just got back in town from the Phoenix Mountains after all."

In agreement, Rose would leave all the papers and images scattered on the table in the Guild, it was still early about 7AM now. They would leave behind the Guild as the camera followed them out into the morning city sun, as people jogging here and there were shown past Fairy Tail's lawn and gates.

"Man you really DID drag me out of bed early....." Hera wondered just where they would start when all of this got underway. However, for now all that she could think of was her bed, and house; in South Gate Park. Walking through the town, she realized how badly she wanted to crash right there as she even yawned while walking. Rose would float onto her shoulder as she did so, but then she would spot something curious. It looked like a parade was about to go down. She'd keep it a secret so Hera didn't flip out and complain about not getting any sleep.

As the parade set up early in the morning, Hera couldn't help but to notice some balloons here and there as Rose directed her attention up ahead as she nearly walked straight into a fountain. Hera would stop, still sleepy, and stare at her own reflection down into the water. Beginning to get angsty, she merely glared back at the person she saw.

Hera moved on from the fountain, hands in her pockets pretty much the entire way home. Boy it had been a long journey coming back to Fairy Tail and all. So much had changed since she was gone. But she hoped she could truly do some good to bring it back to the qway things used to be. A time when people could live without fear of the next apocalyptic friggin Dark Guild attack.

She cringed at the thought of dealing with those guys ever again, but shook her head solemnly. For some reason she really did hope that everyone found some sort of peace, even the Dark Mages and wizards that loved to cause terror and just be generally insane for some reason.

Sure in a battle or a sport you could go all out, but for fun? Sometimes Hera wondered why these guys weren't just using their Magic for....I don't know something else. As she thought this, she walked past people who waved at her. She gladly waved back and continued on through the streets of Magnolia. She wanted to become more powerful, but wondered what route she would have to take to do so. Only to push her own limits as mage; even though it seemed she could level continents now, it wasn't enough. Something told her there was a threat beyond that which she could comprehend coming soon, and eventually she'd have to face it.

She wasn't sure if she was ready now, but she felt she was close. This 100YR job was taking forever, and she understood why they were called 100 year jobs now. Because it could potentially take you up to 100 years to figure out how to complete the task at hand.  Before she could think too much more on the topic, her house came into view. Hands in her pockets, she smiled and sighed to herself relieved at the sight of it. Walking up across her lawn, and putting her keys in the lock; she twisted it and stepped inside as the door opened. Many family memories filled her as she glanced on the walls, seeing pictures of her Father, Heero and all of his friends and mages from other Guilds on the wall. Not to mention the giant picture of her mother on the wall, sitting elegantly in a chair.

Kicking off her shoes, she didn't even make it all the way to her bed. Just did a full body flop on her couch in the living room since it was so close to her. She was really tired. The softness of it took her to quickly; and she began to sleep soundly before Rose had even gotten herself comfortable. Shaking her head, as she'd left the front door open, and not even bothered to go to her own room; Rose would push a paw on the front door and close it. Floating around the house with her white wings out, levitating and adjusting things here and there. OCD as her cat was about cleaning, she truly was a sweetheart.

Hera's sleeping peacefully caused Rose to actually want to get some rest herself and eventually she would curl up on the couch with Hera and pass out too.

If you were to think that some girls don't sleep in, you you'd be wrong. Girls loved to sleep, as a matter of fact; most women made an art of it. Hera was no different, sleeping in all types of different positions as in the background outside of her window in her living room, time passed; and her positions changed as the night went on.

Rose however, just sat up on the couches back, just snoozing away as the time went on and on. Eventually daylight would break, and for awhile; nothing stirred. Magnolia was peaceful as only the sound of the morning workers was heard. The reconstruction being just about done now, but not quite. Even the sound of the early morning construction didn't stop her from dozing off as the sounds of the construction served only to further put her into a deeper sleep.

Her carpet, white, a flatscreen on the wall. Family photos, a coffee table with various snacks on it. A nice place, with two bedrooms upstairs. Fortunately, the house had been paid off back in her parents days as mages. But it had seen it's fair share of visitors. Some more famous than others. A picture of  the famed Wizard Saints, Zeno, Alye, and Kyll were shown. The founders of Eclipse Soul, those 3. One of them here aunt, Alye; Hera never got to meet or spend time with. She wondered if she was still out there...somewhere. Eclipse Soul..the guild her mother was in before Fairy Tail. A guild that helped those who were trapped in darkness find the light again. She wondered if Fairy Tail had now taken on that role since that Guild had been destroyed...by one of it's own members no less.

Hera eventually would come too, sitting up and stretching with a long groan as she would pet Rose while she slept. Making her way into the kitchen, she would tie her hair into a pink ponytail with a hairtie and then click on the news as she began to cook mindlessly. She set about brushing her teeth and showering, and it felt SO good after being on the road for so long. She then found her slippers in her room; and slipped them on. Most of the day went on as normal, as afternoon eventually approached them and Hera decided to change back into her normal outfit rather than lounge around all day, even though she'd earned it.

Back in her normal clothes, she would let her hair down out of the hair tie as it flowed down her back past her shoulders as usual. Rose had already suggested they visit the Guild to see if any interesting Jobs had come up. Agreeing, Hera would stretch and get ready for her daily dose of people. Who knew what today would bring. Stepping out she would make her way through Magnolia towards the Guild Hall, before she would catch wind of a curious site.

It was a Rune Knight, but he seemed to be alone. Standing around as if he was looking for something. Staring at him from across the river that ran through the center of Magnolia, Hera would realize she was staring at an officer of the law and then would move into an alleyway in the city; watching him carefully through the huge morning crowds of people. He would then look around for a little while and then eventually he would start walking. She would then climb up the side of a house, stepping off of windows and all until she was up above on a rooftop. She would then follow him rooftop to rooftop as best she could as he moved below.

"Is that a Lacrima?" she said as she saw him speaking into a crystal and then putting it back into his pocket. Why was she doing this....he was a cop, he could be on an undercover mission or something. But, something about him being alone seemed weird. Usually there were no Rune Knights in town, because Magnolia had a Mage's Guild to protect it. So this one had to be on an investigation of some kind or on other business since there was no Rune Knight precinct here. "Um...what in the world?" she thought even further as she followed him all the way to the point where he was standing on walkway with a railing nearby. He would stand near it and act like he was on patrol, just...standing there with his Rune Staff at attention like a statue. I hope he realizes he's the only Rune Knight in town.....just standing there looking suspicious like that is kind of ridiculus.

She said as she would climb down off of the house at another angle and then walk around the corner confronting him.

"Hey officer. I'm a mage from Fairy Tail and...." when she made eye contact with him, his eyes would look a bit panicked for a second and he would take off running. Widening her eyes she would take off after him as Rose flew next to her at shoulder level while they gave chase. Eventually, the guy would wave his hand as a Spell went off. He would then turn himself into a literal half bird, half man and begin to fly off into the skies as Rose would take off at a faster speed than him and ReQuip a sword into her hand as she flew. Floating in front of the Takeover mage and then pointing her sword at him.

"Get em Rose!" Hera flailed from the ground back down in the city comically.

"So...you're impersonating an officer of the law? Why?" she said as she held her sword out toward him. The Takeover mage would just flap his arms that were his wings now, and smile at her but not in a friendly way it was more sarcasm. This would tick Rose off as she would fly at him and try to slash him in the leg with her sword mid-air; but even at hundreds of miles per hour, the guy managed to dodge; which shocked the hell out of Rose, and even Hera standing down on the ground. He came back around for a flying strike; but Rose this time was too fast, flying around him in a vertical barrel roll which caused him to let out a surprised noise as well.

"You're not half bad kitty cat!" he said as this ticked Rose off anymore. She'd been holding back for his sake, but she was about to go off. "Oh....that was a nerve." he said as he kind of began to get nervous visibly as Rose's magic power went up beyond a level he was capable of. As he blinked, she was already at his side; a hammer bigger than her appearing in her hand in a flash as she smacked the young man in the side with it as he plummeted to the ground rapidly. Hera would then run forward and catch him as he fell with a jump mid-air! Looking down however, they were right above the river flowing through the middle of Magnolia. With a splash landing, they would hit the water as the boy shook off his Takeover enchantment and looked at Hera as they floated there in the river together.

An old lady and her husband sat on the walkway above together, looking perplexed at Hera and the young blonde mage with green eyes. She would then look angry at the young man in the water floating with her as he returned the look; but then got a softer one and sighed. Both of their hair wet, they climbed out of the water together.

"You should probably get out of that outfit, if you get caught impersonating a Rune Knight......" she gave him a look that said 'there will be consequences' as he gave her a stern look but also nodded in return.

"Yes, I agree. I'll explain if you want to wait for me to get out of these clothes." he said as Hera would only nod in return. The young man would then make his way off to a clothing store and eventually would emerge in an all white tunic that was kind of long and flowing, and a set of black combat pants and boots. His blonde hair an green eyes and face greeted her properly now; as he was carrying a huge staff that was metal and carved to look like the sun and moon were in orbit around one another at it's top. It had wrappings on it where he held it, for grip, and all kinds of runes all over it. Some of which she recognized as animals; but didn't know what to make of it.

"I'm Merlin, a mage from Pergrande. Pleased to make your acquaintance." as he said this, she looked extremely confused. He took this well as if most people had this reaction. "Yes, I was given up by my parents when my magic showed itself to them, well, really it was my Mom who saved me. My Dad freaked out and wanted to turn me over to the Paladins...which would've meant----bye bye." he said as he leaned on his staff. "My mom however, found an adoption agency in Seven and well, let's just say I was raised by a bunch of talking animals." he shrugged to himself as Hera took this all in.

It actually made sense. A baby born with Magic in Pergrande given up for adoption by a Mom out of options whose own husband had turned against her. After carrying a kid for nine months and then raising them you weren't going to just turn them over to death row after all right. She would nod to him up and down.

"That still doesn't explain why you were wearing a Rune Knight's outfit....." she said as she sweatdropped a bit. He then let out a noise as he'd forgotten.

"Ah yes...well, you see I've been trying to find a beast known as the Legendary Bear. My investigation has led me here, but I had hit a dead end. A Rune Knight questioned me about my...Guild? Something you guys have here in Fiore? A group of mages? Well when I told him I wasn't in one he got a bit pushy and well....I had to knock him out and take his clothes...." he explained as Hera busted out laughing.

"So there's a naked officer somewhere in town....." she said taking a break from laughing and literally continuing to do so when Merlin informed her that she was right.

"So you were after the same creature as us?" Rose said, over Hera's laughter which eventually stopped as she noticed the question. Merlin's expresion would soften but also look surprised for a second. "Yes we actually have been looking for the same beast...the reward is amazing." she said as she actually drew a nod from Merlin.

"Yes, and for good reason too...have you realized the size of the Bear in question? It goes beyond unnatural and magical." he said at an undertone when he finished. Hera wondered if both he and Rose were on something, there was no way a bear that big actually existed.

"We're talking about a bear here....."

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WC: 3606 / 35,000