Edolas, Edolas Continent, Royal Capital.
November, x784.
After the Edolas Fairy Tail arrived at the Royal Capital, a few more days passed. During those days, they assisted in the reconstruction of the Royal Capital, though it made all of them feel awkward at first. Considering that they were branded as the kingdom's worst criminals for the past few years, that feeling was to be expected.
Even so, they got over the awkward feeling quickly enough. And when they saw the captains of the Royal Army, the ones who terrorized them the most over the years, being forced to help with the restoration efforts, they felt a sense of catharsis.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo spent all his time manufacturing the rest of the Anima devices that would be spread around Edolas. Although the manufacturing process was delayed slightly due to the fact that the royal family's treasury did not have enough materials available.
Luckily, the Edolas Kingdom spanned the entire world of Edolas. Thus, getting a supply of materials was much easier than it would have been otherwise.
"Alright, that's the last one." Alfonzo muttered with a tired expression. "Fuck, now I know what Marin and the girls meant. I wanna take a dip in the hot tub and take a nice long nap."
"Thank you for your help, my friend." Mystogan, who was waiting in the workshop for Alfonzo to complete his task, replied in a grateful tone. "I can never repay you for what you've done for Edolas."
Waving off Mystogan's thanks, Alfonzo made his way over to a nearby chair and flopped down lifelessly.
"Dude, chill out with that shit." Alfonzo said lazily, closing his eyes as he spoke. "We're guild mates, right? So, of course I'd help you. Oh, and take this, too."
As Alfonzo spoke the last part, he reached over to the table that was positioned next to his chair and grabbed a darker miniaturized Anima, before tossing it to Mystogan.
"And this is?" Mystogan asked curiously while inspecting the cube that he just caught.
"That's a special Anima." Alfonzo replied. "That one will open a portal to Earth Land. More specifically, to your house in Magnolia. If you ever need our help, you can use that to ask us for it."
Hearing Alfonzo's explanation, Mystogan looked down at the cube in his hand before clenching it tightly. Then, he stowed it away in his cloak.
"Thank you, Alfonzo." Mystogan said with a nod and a smile. "I'll remember this."
"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said, waving off Mystogan's thanks once again. "I only did that so that you would still be a member of Fairy Tail in the future. I mean, no one wants to go through that whole departure ceremony, right?"
"*Chuckle* I see." Mystogan replied.
"Now, let's talk about my payment." Alfonzo said as he sat up straight and steepled his fingers in front of his chin.
"*Sigh* I knew this was coming." Mystogan replied with a wry smile. "But like I said before, I could never repay you for what you've done for Edolas. So, what could I possibly give you that could serve as a proper payment?"
"The Dorma Anim." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone, though his eyes were ablaze with excitement. "I want it."
Hearing that, Mystogan could only blink his eyes in surprise. In his mind, since Alfonzo had defeated it and destroyed its ability to draw in ethernano from the planet, it already belonged to him. But since he had no other way to repay him, he just nodded in agreement.
"Good." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Then, now that we've settled that, you should probably let everyone know what the plans for the future are."
"You're right." Mystogan replied solemnly. "Though, I can imagine there will be a few people with quite a bit of dissatisfaction. Especially about the Exceed's fate. I mean, they are considered deities by quite a few people."
"Well, what can you do?" Alfonzo said uncaringly. "As much as I tried to, I couldn't make it so that you could select the entities with magic power in their bodies to send over to Earth Land. Instead, it'll just send everyone over, regardless of if they want to go or not."
"I know." Mystogan replied with a nod.
"On the upside, I did manage to set up a process that would trigger when the original Anima completed the process of sending everything to Earth Land." Alfonzo said with a mischievous smile. "It will make life a lot easier for you, too."
"What did you do?" Mystogan replied in a guarded tone.
"It's nothing bad." Alfonzo said with a smile. "But when the send over is complete, the Anima will self-destruct and split the lacrima crystal into small enough pieces to fit into the new Anima devices. And if my calculations are correct, there should be just enough to power all of them until the ambient ethernano reaches a point where they become self-sustaining."
Though Mystogan still felt skeptical after seeing Alfonzo's mischievous smile, he could only nod in the end. After all, having the lacrima divided into small pieces would be quite helpful.
On top of doing all that, Alfonzo had also marked a map with the best locations to position the new Anima for maximum efficiency. So, doubting him at this point would be ungrateful.
Instead of doubting Alfonzo, Mystogan put his energy to better use. In other words, he made a trip to Extalia to explain what would happen to the Exceeds. And although the trip could not be called smooth, considering how many Exceed seem to think themselves superior to humans, Mystogan was able to convey the matter of all the Exceed being sent to Earth Land.
Though it would more than likely cause an outrage among the Exceed, there was simply nothing Mystogan could do about it. And honestly, he thought things would be better this way. Having another race on the planet being deified would only create a divide between the people of Edolas.
Instead, it would be better to have the Exceed live on a world where they innate magic would not make them special. Then, with time, their unfounded arrogance may one day be put to rest.
The following day, the wizards from both Fairy Tails, the Captains of the Magic War Divisions, Byro, Coco, and a number of soldiers from the army who assisted with the Royal Capital's restoration were gathered in the central plaza to send off the wizards from Earth Land.
Though so many people gathered together to send them off, there was not much in the way of ceremony before Mystogan started the original Anima. And when he did, the eight visitors from Earth Land were covered in a gentle glow. To everyone's surprise, however, Panther Lily was also covered in the same glow.
"What? What's happening?" Panther Lily asked in a confused tone.
"*Sigh* I'm sorry, my old friend." Mystogan replied. "Unfortunately, everyone with magic power in their bodies will be sent over to Earth land."
"But Prince, why didn't you tell me before?" Panther Lily asked, feeling a bit betrayed.
"Because I know you well, Lily." Mystogan replied. "If I had told you beforehand, you would have tried to convince me not to send everyone back to Earth land. You might have even tried to destroy the Anima."
Hearing that, Panther Lily could only lower his head, as Mystogan was correct.
"Besides, I think this will be better for you, Lily." Mystogan continued. "Over on Earth Land, there are many opportunities for adventure. Along with many ways to improve yourself."
"He's right, you know." Gajeel said, cutting in on the conversation while patting Panther Lily on the shoulder. "And when we get there, I'll show you the ropes. You're gonna be my cat, after all."
"Besides, when we get home, I'll make a new sword for you." Alfonzo said with a smile. "One that's better in every way than that oversized piece of scrap iron you called Bustermarm."
"Hmph!" Panther Lily snorted in response. "We'll see about that. Though, I suspect you're doing little more than boasting at this point."
In response, Alfonzo only smiled brightly. Though Panther Lily had no idea about it, Alfonzo intended to create two weapons for him. One would be a simple, yet strong, magic sword that would be able to change sizes depending on which form Panther Lily was taking.
While the second may not end up as a sword, as Alfonzo would give Panther Lily a [Soul Weapon Embryo]. Though the chances of it turning into a sword on its first shift were quite high. Especially considering the fact that in the anime, Panther Lily could match Erza in pure swordsmanship.
'I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the [Soul weapons]] will react with a race other than humans.' Alfonzo thought to himself while he continued to smile. 'Lily, you'll be a good guinea pig.'
Coco, on the other hand, was taking Elicia's departure much better than everyone expected. Especially considering how closely she clung to her foster mother's counterpart over the last few days.
"Take care, Coco." Elicia said with a smile.
"You, too, Miss Elicia." Coco replied with a smile of her own. "Thank you for putting up with me for the past few days. Although I know you're not the Miss Elicia I know, having you here felt like I got to see her one more time. And seeing you off gives me the chance to say goodbye."
"Ooh~~~~! You are so precious!" Elicia squealed as she pulled Coco into a hug.
Returning the hug, Coco buried her head in Elicia's chest to hide the sadness she felt due to their separation.
Unfortunately, the time for goodbyes came to an end soon enough. With the glow surrounding everyone who would be leaving Edolas increasing in brightness, they were all pulled into the sky towards an Anima gate that opened above the Royal Capital.
A moment later, every organism with magic power dwelling inside it, along with the lacrima housing Magnolia and its inhabitants, was pulled into the portal before it closed for good.
Just before Alfonzo was pulled into the Anima gate, however, he shouted something that no one understood.
"Oh, by the way, Mystogan, it's permanent!" Alfonzo shouted in a gleeful tone. "You don't have to thank me!"
With that, the gate closed and everything returned to normal. Though, everyone in the plaza was thoroughly confused by Alfonzo's final words.
Then, a few moments after the Anima closed, the Anima device was dismantled into particles of magic power that were eventually blown away with the wind, while leaving behind the divided lacrima need to power the new Anima devices. Though, if one were to follow those magic particles, they would have seen that they headed for the most secure cell in the Royal Capital's prison.
"*Sigh* I will miss you, my friends." Mystogan muttered while staring up into the sky at the place where the Anima portal had opened. "Stay well until the next time we meet. Though, I'm a little worried about what ever Alfonzo somehow left behind."
A moment later, Mystogan turned his attention back to the people gathered in the plaza.
"Alright, now that our guests have left, let's get back to restoring our city!" Mystogan shouted, gaining a round of cheers from his soldiers and the wizards from the Edolas Fairy Tail.
Then, after overseeing the reconstruction for a while, Mystogan decided now was the time to confront his father about his crimes and the punishment he would face. So, he made his way towards the Royal Capital's prison. More specifically, to the prison's most secure cell.
However, when he entered the cell and caught sight of his father, Mystogan's steps came to a complete and utter halt. Not only his steps, though. Even his mind came to a complete stop. The only thing he could do was stare at his father, more specifically, his father's forehead, in shock.
"Oh, so you've finally remembered me, my son." Faust said in a tired tone.
"Though he had only been imprisoned for a little less than a week, Faust looked as if he had aged for a decade, or so. And considering the fact that he already looked as though he were in his seventies, that made him look quite old.
But the new piece of… art… on his forehead, something he did not seem to realize had appeared, made his look quite indescribable.
"Have you come to mock me?" Faust asked, unable to see the odd expression on his son's face due to the poor lighting in the prison cell. "or perhaps, my sentence has been decided?"
With that, Mystogan finally came back to his senses. Then, he quickly turned around.
"Indeed." Mystogan replied to his father's questions while suppressing a chuckle. "Your sentence has been decided. I, Jellal, the Crown Prince of the Edolas Kingdom, hereby strip you of all the rights afforded to you as a member of the Edolas Royal Family and demote you to the status of a commoner to live out the rest of your days among the people. Your sentence will begin once the repairs in the Royal Capital have been completed, which is also the day when I will be coronated as the next king.""
With his declaration, Mystogan took one more look over his shoulder at his father. Then, after seeing the hyper-realistic drawing of an erect penis on his father's forehead, he quickly turned back and left the cell. As a result, Faust was left completely dumbfounded by the lenient punishment he received.
"Hmph! That boy is too soft." Faust muttered, thinking that he would be able to regain control of the kingdom once again if he was set free.
If he had been able to see himself in a mirror, however, Faust would have preferred the death penalty over the humiliation he would undoubtedly face once he was released from prison.