Chapter 47: The 100 Year Quest

"If you sigh one more time, I'll throw this vase at you," Erik told Riku darkly.

"He's exaggerating," Riku assured the worried looking clerk. He lowered his voice so only Erik could hear and continued, "Don't scare the old man, jerk. What's got your panties in a bunch any way?"

Erik put down the vase and turned to look at a bookshelf filled with ancient and crumbling books. He ran his hands over them gently as if looking for a title and muttered back in at the same volume. "This whole affair is stupid. Yusuke begs us to come on this mission and then makes us wait in this dusty old shop? My allergies are starting to act up."

Riku tried (and failed) to bite back a snicker, which only made Erik shoot him a murderous look from across the store. To think that Cobra, the big bad Poison Dragon Slayer, had a dust allergy. It was too funny. Riku recovered before he put down the hat he had been looking at and nodded towards the door. Waving thanks to the clerk, they both exited and Riku led Erik to a cafe near by with outdoor seating.

"Better," Riku asked.

"Better," Erik agreed. "But louder."

"There's no satisfying you," Riku said with a roll of his eyes. "Just tune them out. It will be good practice."

"That's how you survive the guildhall, huh," Erik asked as a waitress arrived to cheerfully greet them. They both ordered a beer. As she left, Erik continued. "I've been trying to follow the advise, but some of the people there are just so loud..."

"What did you expect joining Fairy Tail," Riku asked. After Acnologia and Zeref were defeated, Riku was initially concerned about Magnolia and Fairy Tail, but little had changed at all. Anna Heartfilia became a school teacher in a small village; Ichiya won Blue Pegasus' Manly Man of the Year contest; Mermaid Heel became the exclusive models for Sorcerer Magazine; and the king retired and passed his title on to his daughter, Queen Hisui. None of that was too outlandish. Perhaps the most surprising changes had been when the new queen absolved Crime Sorciere of their past crimes, allowing them to join guilds and take jobs. Erik had joined Fairy Tail a week after. Riku thought Jellal would be close behind, but he was elusive as always.

"He and some of the others remained together as an unofficial guild," Erik said, nodding thanks to the waitress when their drinks arrived. "Maybe they'll do the paperwork, maybe not."

"I told you not to listen when I'm not talking to you," Riku scowled.

"Sorry, old habits die hard." Erik took a large sip before leaning back with a sigh. "I take it back, maybe its not so bad that Yusuke ditched us."

"I'll admit I'm a bit confused," Riku said. "He practically dragged us out here, made us rent horses and everything, just to leave us behind. What's he want out here?"

"At least he didn't make us take a train like he was originally planning," Erik muttered to himself, but Riku heard.

"You know why we're here. Spill."

"I shouldn't," Erik said, but Riku only had to raise a skeptical eyebrow to convince him to share. "It's something for Mira. Something like a promise ring, maybe? I'm not exactly sure what that is." Erik caught Riku's exasperated look before adding, "Sorry I was trapped on an island, then in a dark guild, and then in prison. I haven't had a lot of experience in romance."

"It's a ring you give someone to show you care about them and promise to one day take the next step," Riku replied, taking another gulp of his beer. "That doesn't explain why he wanted us here, though."

"I think he considers us his closest friends," Erik admitted. Riku nearly choked on his beer, coughing loudly as Erik halfheartedly patted his back. "I was surprised as well," Erik added.

Riku managed to recover, waving Erik away with a thanks before pondering over his beer. Yusuke and Erik had been part of Fairy Tail now for about eight months and in that time the three of them had spent a fair amount of time with one another in the guild hall and outside of it. Yusuke had helped Laki make Riku a working wooden left arm after he lost his original one. Erik had helped Riku connect with a metal smith to make a more durable one after the wooden one disintegrated during a brawl at the guild. Outside of that, they had exchanged whispers, gossiped about their relationships, and even share some of their lives from before Fairy Tail. Riku supposed he had seen Erik and Yusuke almost as often as he had seen Mystogan before he went back to Edolas.

"Closest friends, huh," Riku said aloud. Erik's face was strained. Riku sighed. "It's fine. You can take it easy and listen. You look painfully constipated."

Erik visibly relaxed, letting out a breathe. "It's almost more exhausting not to listen." Erik's face grew serious and he leaped up. He turned just as Yusuke darted passed their table pursued by four burly looking men. Erik and Riku watched as Yusuke led the men through the courtyard and out of sight. The disturbance passed, Riku raised his left arm, the metal fingers catching the light from the sun and the waitresses attention. She returned to their table, throwing one more confused look in the direction Yusuke had disappeared.

"Can we please get another round," Riku said.

"We're not going to help," Erik asked, sitting back down as Riku finished his first drink.

"What's love without a little bit of risk," Riku said, waving away Erik's concern. "Besides, he's a dragon slayer being chased by four men who might be mages. He has been up against worse."

"That's true," Erik agreed. "But if we hear anything-"

"Then, we'll go," Riku agreed. "But I bet the cost of our bill that he'll come back, unscratched, before you hear anything worthwhile."

Sure enough, just an hour or so later, Yusuke sat down at their table, unscratched and beaming, as their third round of drinks arrived.

...

They returned to Fairy Tail by the start of the next day to find that the guild was already bustling with excitement. Yusuke, having ditched Riku and Erik for so long on their trip, agreed to return the horses.

"I use to beg Mystogan to put these idiots to sleep whenever we came back," Riku reminisced to Erik as he pushed open the door. He caught sight of Cana loudly instigating a fight from the bar as Gray rolled up his sleeves and Elfman yelled about being manly. "Now I think I'd be creeped out if it were too quiet."

"Too much for me right now, I'll say hi to Kiana, but then I'm going to take a nap," Erik said with a wave.

"Riku Starlight, come have a drink," Cana called. Riku nodded his greeting her way and headed towards the bar, taking the seat in-between the brown haired magic card holder and Wendy, who was laughing as Gajeel hurled himself into the fray.

"Honestly, we should be getting ready to go, not watch this fighting," Charla scolded Wendy. "We need to head out as soon as Natsu gets Lucy."

Riku took a quick swig of the whiskey Mira put in front of him, feeling the refreshing warmth trickle down his throat before giving Cana and Mira a questioning look.

"Master has given Team Natsu permission to go on the hundred year quest," Cana said.

"Didn't Erza tell you," Wendy asked curiously. It did seem like something his girlfriend should have mentioned...

"They only got approval this morning," Mira assured Riku.

"There's Erza now and she's got her warden face on," Cana laughed.

Riku turned to see Erza Scarlet standing at the door, her eyes scanning the guildhall and her expression stern. For a moment, her gaze paused on the brawl and she took a step towards it, but she paused when her eyes caught Riku's. Her face was still serious and determined, but she changed her path. When she arrived at the bar, she grabbed his good wrist and pulled him behind her out of the main hall and into the kitchen. Riku was confused, to say the least. Last time he had seen Erza she had been smiling, laughing, and showing off her dress for Lucy's award show. Now she was all business.

"Are you well," Erza demanded, motioning to his left arm. Riku held up his hand and flexed his fingers one by one.

"It's still working great, though I do have some phantom pains, but they're manageable."

Erza nodded in understanding, "And your travels went well?"

"Erm, yes," Riku answered again. He fidgeted slightly from one foot to the other. "Is everything okay, Erza?"

"Team Natsu has been approved to go on the mission called the hundred year quest," Erza said.

"I heard," Riku replied. "That's very exciting."

"It may take a very long time," Erza continued.

"I imagine it could take a hundred years," Riku agreed. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. She was in her usual armor with a blue skirt and her long scarlet hair down around her shoulders. He was positive she had that ridiculous wagon stacked high with way too many clothes. Then again, if she was going to be gone for one hundred years, he supposed for once she ought to pack as possible.

"I don't know when we will be back," Erza said. In a flash, her entire countenance changed. Her eyes dropped to the floor and her left hand moved to her right elbow, guarding herself. Her scarlet hair fell slightly to cover her face. "I don't want to make you wait."

"Oh."

It was all Riku could think to respond. Was Erza breaking up with him? Riku could feel a strange wave of feeling washing over him: sadness and shock overtaking his senses. It was true that they would be gone for a long time, maybe for the rest of their lives if the request was to be believed. It wouldn't be fair for Erza to ask him to wait for her and she was too kind to hold him back from any sort of happiness he might find, but... was there any happiness without Erza? Riku gulped as the silence extended between them. Someone had to speak or they might spend the next hundred years right here in the kitchen, stuck in this frozen and uncomfortable moment. Erza must have thought the same thing because they spoke at the same time.

"I suppose this is goodbye then."

"I want you to come with us."

"What?"

"What?"

Riku grabbed Erza's wrist before she could turn away, dragging her into his chest and trapping her in a snug hug.

"Say that again," Riku said.

"I said, I want you to come with us," Erza replied, voice muffled from her spot against his chest. "But, I understand if..."

"Mavis, Erza," Riku laughed, relief flushing through him. "You need to start with that. I thought you were trying to break up with me."

"You did?" she pushed herself back just enough to look up at him, the light catching her eyelashes. "I didn't say that, though. D-did you want to break up?"

"No," Riku said hurriedly. "Which is why I was unhappy about it."

"You'll come with us on the hundred year quest?"

"Sounds like a perfect way to spend my next century," Riku agreed. A smile lit up Erza's face, dusting pink across her cheeks as Riku lessened his grip enough to kiss her lightly on her forehead. He couldn't think of a better way to move froward than to continue as he always had. With Erza Scarlet, his friends, and Fairy Tail behind him, he could do more than simply survive- he could thrive.

THE END.

A/N: This is the end of this story, although (obviously) not the end of Riku, but you can make up a 100 year quest vision on your own. This has been a pretty fun story to do (especially during isolation and covid). It has definitely forced me to improve my fight scenes, though my conclusions still feel kinda weak (sorry, I hate saying good bye and that's what a conclusion is).Thanks so much for reading & reviewing and following! I really hope you enjoyed it!