The opening bells of the Fantasia rang throughout South Street.
The lead float was the first to set off. Erza stood in the center of twelve shields, pointed her longsword forward, and the shields unfolded simultaneously, spraying petals hidden behind them onto both sides of the street, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Natsu and Gray's float followed closely behind. As soon as the fire dragon peeked out from the roof, the ice castle froze along the dragon's body. The two were supposed to perform a duet of ice and fire together, but instead they fought for control on the float, with flames and ice shards flying everywhere.
Makarov sat on the viewing platform, his forehead twitching, but he did not call for a halt.
As the sixth float entered the central square, Mira simultaneously untied four cloth bags.
Eight hundred sheets of silver paper were swept into the night sky by black wings.
Lin Yuan drew the " Nameless ". The spatial magic covering the sword's edge did not harm anything, only brushing across the paper along the pre-memorized outline. The silver paper separated one after another under the light, turning into pairs of luminous fairy wings.
Mira flapped her black wings, and the airflow supported all the paper wings. Lin Yuan opened dozens of spatial entrances before and after the float, causing the silver light band to disappear from one side of the street and reappear above the audience's heads.
The paper wings circled the clock tower in the square, forming a giant Fairy Tail emblem in mid-air, before transforming into countless silver lights that flew to both sides of the street.
The children chased after the paper wings, their cheers echoing all the way to the riverbank.
As Lin Yuan sheathed his sword, Mira caught the last pair of wings that were falling. The two looked at each other through the emblem in the center of the float and laughed at the same time.
After the parade reached the riverbank, all the floats stopped in turn. Guild members climbed onto the temporary platform, while Macao and Wakaba rushed to check the fireworks they had just retrieved.
The first Magic Crystal successfully ascended into the air.
Golden fireworks burst above the river, illuminating the entire embankment. Then came red, blue, and silver-white fireworks, one after another, rising into the night sky, unbeknownst to anyone, they had been in the quarry outside the city just an hour before.
Mira stood at the edge of the crowd, looking up at the fireworks.
Lin Yuan came to her side and took a key out of his pocket.
"This is the spare key to my front door."
Mira looked down at his palm. "Is this for me?"
"Um."
Lin Yuan placed the key in her hand.
"I won the duel. My condition is that you clean my house when you have time."
Mira gripped the key, and after a moment asked, "You've kept this wish for so long, and you're just going to use it to have me clean for you?"
"Once I give you the key, you can come in anytime. Cleaning is just a reason for me to use the bet."
Mira looked up. The light of the fireworks flashed in her eyes. She didn't urge him, but waited for Lin Yuan to finish speaking.
"Even if I'm slow on the uptake, I should have realized your feelings for me by now. Besides, Lisanna told me that you originally planned to confess to me after winning the duel."
Lin Yuan did not avoid her gaze.
"It has come to this point; I can no longer turn a blind eye."
He asked earnestly, " Mira, would you like to be the mistress of this house?"
Mira stood there, stunned, her cheeks flushing red at a visible speed.
The next moment, she punched Lin Yuan in the shoulder.
"You made me wait two years, and even after I got back, Lisanna had to remind me before I thought to ask this question?"
Lin Yuan didn't flinch, he just looked at her. "So you're unwilling?"
"Who said I didn't want to!"
Mira grabbed his collar and pulled him in front of her.
"That Lisanna, she clearly promised not to tell you. And you, now that you've handed the keys over to me, don't even think about going back on your word. From today onwards, I am the mistress of this house, understand?"
"I understand."
Upon hearing this answer, Lin Yuan continued, "There's one more thing I can't hide from you."
He gazed at the silvery light that was gradually fading in the night sky.
" Yui is still in hibernation in a separate storage area of another world. I promised to go back for her, but staying here and waiting will only lead to a dead end."
"So the next time a rift leading to another world appears, I will go in on my own. That rift may not lead to her world, but other worlds may contain methods that allow me to understand the World Marker and stably traverse between them."
Mira's grip on the key tightened slowly.
"You can't be sure where you'll go, or how long it will take to come back, right?"
"Yes. I can't guarantee I'll never leave again."
Natsu's shouts came from the other side of the riverbank. He seemed to want to light the fireworks himself, but Erza grabbed him by the collar and dragged him off the platform. The laughter of the guild members mingled with the next round of explosions.
Mira listened quietly, then suddenly gripped his collar tightly.
"You just made me the lady of this house, and the next thing you say is that I'm planning to jump into some unknown crack in the future?"
I need to tell you this first.
" Yui is our partner, our family, of course we have to bring her back." Mira glared at him. "What angers me is that you want to go alone again. You must tell me before you leave. If you dare to disappear suddenly like last time, when you come back, I will beat you into a wall."
"I promise."
"Also, come find me first when you get back. If you dare run off somewhere else first, you're dead."
"Good."
The final fireworks display rose behind the two, the sky filled with silver light forming the emblem of Fairy Tail.
Mira then released his collar and took his hand in hers. She held the keys in their clasped palms, a smug smile playing on her lips.
"I've taken the keys. From now on, that house is under my management, and you are under my management too."