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[FT: O King of the Fairies] Chapter 61
🕑 Added 2025-04-03 10:53:42 +0000 UTCPeaceful.
But not for long.
"Aiden, wake up."
A pillow smacked into my face with enough force to knock me off the bed.
I hit the ground with a thud, groaning. "What the hell, Alma?"
Standing above me, arms crossed, was Alma Maxwell—my girlfriend, the guild’s receptionist, and the absolute bane of my existence in the morning.
"Get up," she said, completely unfazed by my suffering. "You were supposed to be up an hour ago."
"Supposed to?" I grumbled, rubbing my face. "Says who?"
"Says me," she deadpanned. "And also the fact that you promised to help me restock the kitchen."
"That… doesn’t sound like something I’d promise."
She arched a brow. "You did. Last night. You were half-asleep, but I still got verbal confirmation."
I squinted at her. "That’s cheating."
"No, that’s called using my resources." She smirked, tossing another pillow at me for good measure. "Now get up, lazy ass. You still need to eat before we head to the guild."
I grumbled under my breath but ultimately dragged myself up.
After freshening up, I made my way to the kitchen, where Alma had already set out breakfast—toast, eggs, and a pot of coffee.
"You know," I said, taking a bite of my food, "I don’t mind waking up early, but I feel like you enjoy tormenting me a little too much."
She took a sip of her coffee, completely unbothered. "I do."
I sighed. "At least pretend to deny it."
"Why? You’d see through it anyway."
Fair point.
I leaned back in my chair, taking in the sight of her sipping her coffee, completely at ease.
Once breakfast was finished, we cleaned up, gathered our things, and made our way toward the guild.
The doors of Fairy Tail slammed open with a loud bang, rattling the already chaotic guild.
Inside, the air was thick with laughter, shouting, and the occasional sound of breaking furniture.
In other words—just another day.
I barely had time to take a step inside before a small blur launched itself at me.
"Aiden!"
Cana Alberona, all eight years old of her, clung to my arm, grinning up at me.
"You owe me juice!" she declared.
I frowned. "Wait, what?"
Gray Fullbuster, standing behind her with his arms crossed, smirked. "She won the bet."
I sighed. "What bet?"
Cana puffed out her chest. "Yesterday! You said Gray wouldn’t last five minutes in a snowball fight with me. And guess what? He lasted ten!"
I glanced at Gray, who looked far too pleased with himself. "You cheated, didn’t you?"
Gray gasped, all mock offense. "I would never!"
Cana smirked. "Pay up, Aiden."
I sighed, ruffling her hair. "Fine, fine. One juice coming up."
Alma, who had been watching the entire exchange, shook her head with a small smile. "You’re like an older brother to half the guild at this point."
I snorted. "Yeah, well, someone’s gotta keep them out of trouble."
"Not doing a great job," she teased.
I shot her a look, but before I could retort—
BOOM!
All heads turned toward the other side of the guild, where a fight had broken out. Again.
Macao was wrestling Wakaba to the ground while someone—probably Wakaba’s fault—was hurling chairs across the room. Someone else had already been thrown onto a table, sending drinks flying.
Alma sighed. "You gonna stop them?"
I shook my head. "Nah. Let ‘em have their fun."
"Figures."
I grinned. "Besides, if I step in now, I’ll probably end up in the fight myself."
Alma gave me a knowing look. "And you wouldn’t enjoy that?"
"...No comment."
The fight continued in the background, but honestly, it was just another day in Fairy Tail. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing I had to worry about.
“Lyon, you absolute idiot!”
At the center of the room, Gray Fullbuster—all of eight years old—was glaring at Lyon Vastia, his fellow apprentice and all-around rival.
Lyon, sitting on the bar with a smug grin, shrugged. “What? You were the one who tripped.”
Gray clenched his fists. “I tripped because you froze the floor, you jerk!”
From the side, Ur sighed, sipping her drink like a tired mother dealing with hyperactive children. “Will you two knock it off before I turn you both into ice sculptures?”
I smirked. “Good to see some things never change.”
Ur glanced up, noticing me for the first time. “Well, well. Look who finally decided to show his face.”
Lyon crossed his arms. “Huh. Thought you died.”
Ur sighed. “Alright, Aiden, if you’re done standing around, why don’t you take these two off my hands?”
I chuckled. “What, you getting tired of babysitting?”
“Not at all,” she said dryly. “I just enjoy making my problems your problems.”
I shook my head with a grin.
It was good to be back.
—
The next day..
The sun was barely up when I cracked one eye open, only to feel something—or rather, someone—poking my face.
"Aiden. Hey. Wake up."
I groaned. "Five more minutes…"
A finger jabbed my cheek again. "No. Now."
I pried my eyes open and found Alma looming over me, arms crossed, completely dressed, and very awake. That was unfair.
"You’re way too energetic for this hour," I mumbled, burying my face into the pillow. "What do you want?"
She let out an exaggerated sigh. "You, my dear, loving boyfriend, are on babysitting duty today."
My brain took a moment to process that. Then, it rejected it entirely. "No, I’m not."
"Yes, you are."
"I don’t remember signing up for this."
"That’s because you didn’t. I did. For you."
I lifted my head just enough to give her a betrayed look. "That’s treason."
Alma patted my cheek. "It’s delegation."
I groaned again and sat up, rubbing my face. "Who am I dealing with?"
"Erza, Gray, Cana, and Kagura," Alma listed, as if she was handing me an assignment. "You know, the little gremlins."
I blinked. "That’s four kids. That’s too many kids."
"That’s four kids who look up to you," she corrected, giving me a smug look. "You wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would you?"
I squinted at her. "I feel manipulated."
"Because you are," she admitted shamelessly.
I flopped back onto the bed, dramatically groaning into my pillow. "Fine. But you owe me for this."
She smirked. "I’ll consider it."
—
By the time I arrived at the guild, the so-called Chaos Brigade was already assembled, waiting for me like a pack of wolves waiting to be unleashed.
Erza, always the most composed, sat at a table with a cup of juice, looking eerily like a mini adult. Gray, shirtless as always, was bouncing on his heels, looking like he was ready to start a fight at any second. Cana had her usual mischievous glint in her eyes, already halfway through a deck of cards. And Kagura, the smallest of the group, was staring up at me like she was expecting something grand.
"So," I said, eyeing the four of them warily. "What exactly did Alma sign me up for?"
"A whole day of fun!" Cana declared, grinning.
Gray snorted. "Or chaos. Depends on your perspective."
Erza nodded seriously. "We have a schedule."
I stared. "You made a schedule?"
She held up a small, neatly written list. "Alma helped."
Of course, she did.
I took the list and skimmed it. "Breakfast. Sparring. A game. Lunch. More sparring. Free time. Dinner." I lowered the paper and sighed. "This looks exhausting."
"Don’t be lazy," Kagura said, crossing her arms.
I gave her a dry look. "Says the smallest one here."
Kagura huffed, and Cana giggled.
"Alright, fine," I said, rolling up the list. "Let’s start with breakfast."
The guild hall’s kitchen was open for use, and in theory, letting a bunch of kids make their own breakfast sounded like a great learning experience.
In practice?
It was a war zone.
Gray and Cana were fighting over the last egg.
Kagura was aggressively stirring a bowl of pancake batter with way too much force.
And Erza… Erza was wielding a knife like she was ready to go to war with the bread.
"Okay!" I clapped my hands, stepping in before someone died. "New rule—no one touches the knives except me."
Erza pouted. "I can handle it."
"Yeah, that’s the problem," I muttered, taking it from her.
Meanwhile, Gray and Cana’s argument escalated into a full-blown wrestling match. I sighed, reached over, and plucked the egg right out of their reach.
"Mine now," I said.
They both groaned.
"Alright," I continued, pointing at each of them. "Gray, handle the plates. Cana, you do drinks. Kagura, stop trying to murder the pancake batter."
"I wasn’t murdering it," she mumbled.
I raised an eyebrow at the absolute disaster in the bowl. "You drowned it in flour. It’s dead."
She sulked.
With some effort, I got them all working together, and somehow, somehow, we ended up with a somewhat edible breakfast.
"See?" I said, as they all stared at their plates. "Teamwork."
Cana poked at her eggs. "It’s kinda burnt."
I pointed my fork at her. "Eat it anyway."
After breakfast, the kids insisted on sparring. It was originally supposed to be friendly training matches, but I should’ve known better.
It took about five minutes before it turned into an all-out war.
Gray and Erza immediately went for each other, their rivalry already in full force. Cana was using her cards to mess with them both, while Kagura stood off to the side, waiting for an opening like some kind of assassin.
I watched them go at it for a few moments before shaking my head. "Alright, alright, break it up!"
No one listened.
Sighing, I did what I had to do.
I jumped into the middle of the fight.
Within seconds, they all turned on me.
Gray threw ice, Erza swung a wooden sword, Cana flung cards, and Kagura straight-up tried to trip me.
To be fair, they worked together surprisingly well.
Too bad for them—I was built different.
I dodged, blocked, and countered every attack with minimal effort, letting them think they had a chance before flipping the situation. In under a minute, I had Gray pinned, Erza disarmed, Cana tangled in her own deck, and Kagura held up by the back of her shirt.
They all groaned in defeat.
"Lesson of the day," I said, grinning. "Don’t fight a battle you can’t win."
Gray grumbled. "One day, I’m gonna beat you."
I ruffled his hair. "Sure, kid. Keep dreaming."
The rest of the day followed the schedule (more or less).
We played a game, which somehow ended in another minor fight.
Lunch was mostly peaceful.
Free time included me chasing Cana after she tried to cheat at a card game.
And dinner was another minor disaster, but at least nothing caught on fire.
By the time the day ended, the kids were exhausted—but happy.
As I dropped them off, Erza turned to me and gave a small smile. "Thanks, Aiden."
Gray, despite his usual grumpiness, nodded. "Yeah. Today wasn’t bad."
Cana smirked. "Let’s do it again."
Kagura yawned. "You’re not as bad as I thought."
I raised an eyebrow. "Gee, thanks."
They all eventually left, and I let out a long breath. Babysitting was way harder than fighting, and I had the battle scars to prove it.
When I finally returned home, Alma was waiting with a smug look.
"So," she said, "how was babysitting?"
I stared at her.
Then, without a word, I walked past her and collapsed onto the couch.
"That bad?" she asked, amused.
I groaned into the cushion.
Alma just laughed.
