Chapter 21
That night, a lunar eclipse darkened the sky.
[I’m back.]
"Did either of you just hear a voice?"
"Nope!"
Three lounge chairs had been arranged side by side on the roof of Marshall’s house, though Marshall was the only one actually lying down.
Beside him, Cana and Erza were locked in a staring contest—or rather, Cana was glaring daggers at Erza while Erza calmly ignored the murderous look aimed at her.
"Sorry, I didn’t hear anything either," Erza said. "I don’t think anyone spoke."
"Then! Why! Are! You! Here?!" Cana demanded. "Tonight was supposed to be family time for me and Marshall! What are you doing here?!"
Erza tilted her head.
"I’m Marshall’s sister, which makes me family too. Why wouldn’t I be here?"
"What did you just say?!"
"Ahem! Could you two stop for a second?" Marshall quickly pointed toward the sky. "Look, there’s a shooting star!"
He pushed aside the strange voice he had heard. It was probably just a nearby thought slipping into his range again.
A bright streak of light appeared where he was pointing.
But.... it was flying upward.
"Where?! Where is it?!" Cana’s eyes widened. "Wow, it really is a shooting—wait, isn’t that path a little strange?"
Erza nodded thoughtfully.
"It is. I didn’t know shooting stars could fly upward."
"Are we sure that’s even a shooting star?" Marshall asked. "Why does it feel like it’s getting closer?"
The three of them watched as the glowing object suddenly changed direction and began falling.
It drew nearer and nearer, streaked over Magnolia, then descended toward the eastern forest.
"..."
"Uh... Did a shooting star just land near our town?" Cana asked.
"It looked that way," Marshall said. "But there wasn’t any sound. Maybe it fell farther away than we thought."
Cana suddenly gasped.
"Oh no! I forgot to make a wish! This is all your fault, Erza!"
Erza gave her a flat look.
"That makes absolutely no sense."
She stepped forward, lifted Marshall from his chair, and tucked him into her arms.
"Come watch the moon with your big sister tonight."
"W-Wait! Erza, what are you doing?!" Cana lunged toward them. "Put Marshall down! I’m his sister!"
Erza easily knocked Cana aside and replied with maddening calm.
"First, a person can have more than one sister. Second, I’m the oldest, so I’m the big sister. You should call me that too, Cana."
"You! Said! What?!"
Seeing Cana on the verge of transforming into some furious snake-haired monster, Marshall sighed and teleported out of Erza’s arms.
"Could both of you calm down for five minutes? The eclipse is almost over. We came here to watch the stars, remember? Can you please just lie down?"
After some negotiation, Marshall took the middle chair while Cana and Erza pushed theirs close against either side of his.
The three of them lay beneath the stars without speaking, and for once, the atmosphere was peaceful.
At least outwardly.
In Marshall’s ears, their thoughts never stopped.
[Whenever I’m with Marshall, it’s so easy to feel calm. I wouldn’t mind living like this forever... though it would be even better if that annoying Erza weren’t here.]
[When I’m beside Marshall, the loneliness disappears. I hope I can become strong enough to protect this happiness myself. I’ve already lost too much. This time, I won’t lose it again!]
"..."
Marshall did not dare say a word.
He was happy that the girls cared about him, but this was starting to feel like an alarming amount of pressure. It was almost hard to breathe.
He had once thought being born several years too late was a terrible disadvantage because he could only be treated as a younger brother.
Now he was grateful he had been born several years too late and could only be treated as a younger brother.
The quiet continued for some time before Erza finally spoke.
"Cana, are you living at the church right now?"
"Hmph. Yeah. Why?"
"Nothing. I was raised by a church too, so perhaps that’s why you’ve always felt a little familiar to me."
"Uh, I..."
’I have parents, you know!’
Cana’s face turned red.
She might not get along with Erza, but even she understood that saying something like that aloud would be cruel.
Unfortunately, Marshall had already heard it.
"Even if you say something like that, I’m still not becoming friends with you!" Cana huffed.
Erza chuckled softly.
"I actually like everyone in the guild. I like Marshall, and I like you too."
"What about Gray?"
Silence fell.
After a long pause, Erza rubbed her forehead and forced out an answer.
"Gray is... energetic and rather endearing too."
Cana immediately grinned.
"Great! Then Gray can be your little brother, and Marshall belongs to me!"
"I refuse!"
Erza sat upright and slapped a hand against her chair.
The two girls stared at each other for several seconds before both bursting into laughter.
"..."
Marshall silently mourned for Gray and covered his face with both hands.
He was not laughing. He merely felt that something about this entire exchange was deeply wrong.
For tonight, he decided he would obediently accept his role as their shared toy.
Erza sighed.
"Honestly, I was trying to improve our relationship, Cana."
Cana grinned.
"Our relationship has always been good, hasn’t it?"
Erza paused, then smiled and lay back down.
"I suppose I was overthinking it. Sorry. I still have a great deal to learn about getting along with people."
"Hmph. As long as you stop trying to steal Marshall from me, we can be best friends!"
"Marshall is everyone’s little brother. I think sharing is reasonable!"
"Hmm... Fine. Since you’re my best friend, I’ll lend him to you whenever I’m not around!"
"..."
Marshall opened his mouth, then closed it again.
If he did not already know both girls were still elementary-school age, he would have considered calling the authorities.
Forget it.
The whole conversation was ridiculous!
The two "sisters" chatted for quite a while before finally realizing they had been neglecting their little brother.
Cana leaned closer and pinched Marshall’s cheek.
"Marshall, why aren’t you saying anything?"
"I’m meditating."
"Huh?"
"The magic power in the air is unusually dense tonight. It’s perfect for training."
Erza focused for a moment.
"He’s right. The ambient magic power is much more active than usual. I’ll meditate too."
"What?! Do both of you really have to train even now?"
It had taken Marshall an entire year to fully appreciate how important magic power was.
His own reserves had grown at a respectable rate, but he was still dissatisfied.
Erza had already far surpassed him.
Ever since she joined Fairy Tail and began receiving proper magical training, her strength had exploded at an absurd pace.
Even Marshall, with a system helping him, could barely keep up.
He had once boasted that he would become Fairy Tail’s strongest Mage.
He had no intention of breaking that promise.
From now on, he planned to focus heavily on increasing his magic power. Earlier that day, he had spent some Inspiration to raise Meditation to Level Two.
If improving the basic Meditation skill increased the rate at which his magic power grew, then it was finally time to spend some of his hoarded points.
"I can still talk while meditating. The two things don’t interfere with each other."
Cana sighed.
"I don’t understand why you two love training so much. I just want to stay with my family and have fun every day."
Erza’s voice became firm.
"To protect my family, I need greater strength. Right now, I’m still far too weak!"
"That answer sounds exactly like you." Cana turned toward Marshall. "What about you?"
"A man needs no reason to become stronger."
"You’re a little boy who hasn’t even grown up yet!"
Cana pouted.
"Fine. I’m starting to feel like you’ll both leave me behind if I don’t work harder too."
She looked at Marshall.
"Could you teach me a few kinds of magic that suit me?"
"Of course, my dear Cana."
"Hehe. Thank you, my dear little Marshall~"
The three of them continued talking from both sides of him, wandering from one subject to another.
They spoke about the guild, the future, their dreams, and everything else that came to mind.
Unfortunately, two of the three were sheltered children with very little experience of the wider world.
Most of the conversation ended up being Marshall shamelessly bragging about whatever idea entered his head, while Cana and Erza listened with bright, fascinated eyes.
Before any of them realized it, the night had grown late.
At last, Cana reached one hand toward the stars. Her voice softened, and her eyes became gentle.
"I really hope we can always stay like this and never have to separate."
She glanced at the other two.
"Do you think we can remain family for the rest of our lives?"
"Huh? T-Together forever?"
Something about that phrasing made Marshall inexplicably nervous.
Erza suddenly sat up and grabbed Cana’s hand with the solemn determination of someone swearing a sacred oath.
"Of course we can! We’re Fairy Tail!"
"..."
’Is that really the kind of moment where you use that line?!’
Two intense gazes turned downward toward Marshall.
The atmosphere suddenly felt so strange that it was almost frightening!
How had things developed this far so quickly?
"Marshall!" they called together.
Under the crushing pressure, Marshall swallowed and extended one small hand, placing it over theirs.
"O-Okay. We’ll stay best friends forever..."
"Yes! Forever!" they answered in unison.