Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Seas.
December 16, x784.
Four hours have passed since Acnologia left the area where Tenrou Island used to be. In that time, the Magic Council fleet managed to save all the surviving sailors and Rune Knights who were thrown overboard when the tidal wave caused by Acnologia's last attack washed over the ships. Unfortunately, not all the men survived the encounter.
While some were drowned, some simply took an unfortunate fall when the ships were wrecked. Then, there were those who were hit by debris, as parts of the ships were damaged when the tidal wave passed through. Still, although the morale of all those on the ships had been lowered by quite a bit, they had received orders from the Magic Council to carefully search the area for surviving Fairy Tail wizards.
Unfortunately, even after the full four hour period, the fleet was unable to find anything.
"This is quite the tragedy." Lahar muttered while adjusting his glasses. "We've been searching for the better part of three hours. And we haven't even found any remains."
"Yeah…" Doranbolt replied. "It's as if Acnologia's last attack vaporized everything on the island. Even the ship they sailed here on is completely gone."
Shaking his head in response, Lahar looked to the spot where the Great Tenrou Tree stood. Then, he breathed out another sigh.
"Well, after the search teams return, I guess we should return to Council HQ and give our entire report." Lahar said as he started walking towards the ship's cabin, intending to take a rest.
"Right." Doranbolt replied with a nod.
Like Lahar, Doranbolt also started making his way towards the ship's cabin. However, after only a few steps, he cast his gaze towards the waters that used to house Tenrou Island. And to his surprise, he was hit with an intense feeling of melancholy, though he could not put his finger on the reason for it.
A few moments later, Doranbolt shook his head to rid himself of this strange feeling. But before he could start walking again, the ethernano in the area began to shift.
"What's going on?" Doranbolt asked in a confused tone.
Doranbolt was not the only one to feel the change in the atmosphere, however. So, with this change, the crew of each of the remaining Magic Council ships began to look around with confusion written all over their faces. Even the search parties resurfaced after feeling the shift, as well.
A few moments later, the sea surface began to swell, lifting all the ships and sailors who were currently in the water high above the surface.
"What in the world is going on?" Lahar asked as he made his way towards Doranbolt.
"I have no idea." Doranbolt replied with a mixture of confusion and concern in his tone. "Do you think Acnologia left some kind of trap behind for anyone who went looking for Fairy Tail?"
Hearing Doranbolt's hypothesis, Lahar could not help but remember the glance Acnologia threw at the fleet before flying away to God knows where. And just the memory of meeting eyes with that dragon made him break out in cold sweat.
"For our sake, I hope that's not the case." Lahar replied while adjusting his glasses nervously.
A few moments later, the swelling of the sea's surface finally came to a stop. Then, all the water drained back into the ocean. Now, in its place was a glowing, yellow sphere with the Fairy Tail mark on the surface.
"What is this?" Lahar asked in a tone filled with confusion.
"I don't know." Doranbolt replied. "But we need to find a way to get down from here with the fleet. Otherwise, there's no telling what could happen."
Unfortunately, the members of the Magic Council's fleet and the Rune Knights were unable to see the Fairy Tail guild mark from their current positions. Otherwise, although they would have been even more confused. The chances that they would have thought they were in any danger would have decreased significantly.
Meanwhile, floating a short distance away from the newly emerged sphere, the silhouette of a little girl with pastel yellow-blonde hair and green eyes looked on with confusion.
"How is this possible?" Mavis, the first guild master of Fairy Tail, asked in a confused tone. "Judging by the amount of magic power gathered, the [Fairy Sphere] should have lasted for close to ten years. But it looks like it's about to dissipate and it's only been a little over four hours since it was cast. How curious."
Just as Mavis' finished thinking aloud, the surface of the [Fairy Sphere] spell began to flicker before the bright yellow color making up the defensive membrane quickly dimmed. Then, in less than a minute, the spell was dispelled, causing the entire Magic Council fleet to drop on top of the landmass that was held up by the Great Tenrou Tree.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
Meanwhile, the wizards from Fairy Tail who were just defending against Acnologia, from their own perspective, looked around in confusion.
"Hey, Kid." Gildarts said, noticing that the magic power receptor he was holding had disappeared. "What did you do? And where is Acnologia?"
"More importantly…" Ur said, narrowing her eyes at Alfonzo. "It feels like you were already prepared for Acnologia to appear."
Hearing Ur's assumption, all eyes turned to Alfonzo. Although they were happy that he was prepared for whatever happened, the fact that he didn't tell anyone about it was a bit off putting.
"*Sigh* I saw this coming." Alfonzo muttered while grabbing at the hair on the back of his head. "Well, it's seriously because of that Mest guy. I mean, having someone infiltrate your guild is a good way to make people start doomsday prepping and shit."
Hearing Alfonzo's explanation, most of the people present lowered their suspicions. Unfortunately, Ur's eyes remained narrowed. In fact, they narrowed even further.
"That still doesn't explain how… Or rather, why you had a defensive spell ready that could defend the entire island against something like Acnologia." Ur replied, raising the suspicion surrounding Alfonzo once again.
'Damn it, Ur.' Alfonzo muttered internally. 'Can't you just leave well enough alone? I don't like lying to you. But you're leaving me no fucking choice.'
"Are you seriously asking that, Ur?" Alfonzo asked while glancing at Ur from the corner of his eye. "Me, Lici, Cana, Ultear, and Erza have already been in a situation where the Magic Council fired the Etherion at us. Why the hell wouldn't I prepare for such an eventuality?"
"So, you're saying that you thought Mest was a spy from the magic Council the whole time?" Carla asked while looking at Alfonzo angrily. "And you let him team up with Wendy without telling us?"
'God damn it.' Alfonzo muttered to himself once again. 'And now I have to deal with questions from the overprotective mama cat.'
"I already told the S-Class wizards about my suspicions of Mest." Alfonzo replied, sounding annoyed that his good intentions were being questioned over and over. "Why the hell do you think Ur was so hard on the guy while they were getting ready for the exam?"
Though Carla still wasn't happy, Alfonzo decided that he'd had enough of the interrogation.
"Either way, you all are sounding real fucking grateful, aren't you?" Alfonzo said in a disgruntled tone. "Because of my new magic items, not only did we get proof that the Magic Council is working against us by just watching us fight Grimoire Heart, but we also survived an attack from Acnologia. But instead of thanking me, I get the third fucking degree. That's the last time I help any of you mother fuckers for free."
With that, Alfonzo turned around and started walking towards Sixth Sense. Meanwhile, all the others could only watch him with disbelief on their faces.
"Mom, I think you went overboard this time." Ultear said in a slightly reproachful tone.
"I agree." Laxus said with his arms crossed, surprising everyone with his support of Alfonzo. "Why are you looking at me like that? What Alfonzo said is right. He just saved all our lives. But instead of thanking him, which he probably didn't even really want or need, you made it look like he had done something wrong."
With that, the group of Fairy Tail wizards fell silent. Though it was natural to feel suspicious when things were too convenient, they knew they were in the wrong. Unfortunately, their emotions from the near death experience were running wild at the time.
"That was Fairy Sphere, right?" Makarov asked after a few moments of tense silence.
"That's right." Elicia replied with a nod.
"But how did he know how to cast it?" Makarov asked with genuine curiosity. "Even more impressive, how did he manage to imbue its effects into a magic item?"
Unlike the others, Makarov was never suspicious of Alfonzo. He believed in his children, after all. However, knowing the intricacies of the [Fairy Sphere] spell, he knew Alfonzo's feat was much more impressive than simply saving everyone's lives. Especially since the only way to cast the spell was to gather not only the guild members' magic power, but also the power of their bonds and faith in one another.
"Fonzie told me he found a book written by the first guild master in the library shortly after our trip to Akane Resort." Elicia replied. "So, he studied it quite extensively after the Magic Council fired the Etherion on the Tower of Heaven. We were lucky that the Tower of Heaven was made to absorb a lot of magic power. But if that hadn't been the case, we would have all died that day."
Hearing that, even more of the guild members suspicions were lessened significantly.
"Then, why didn't he say anything to us about it?" Gray asked curiously.
"Why did he have to?" Elicia asked, tilting her head in response. "Since when did Fonzie need to tell everyone what kind of magic item he was creating? Or rather, when has he ever done that before?"
"Lici's right, you know?" Sun added. "Besides, it's not like he was keeping it a secret that he was making something. I mean, he spent, like, two months in the library without taking quests. Other than the one to find those two scientists, right?"
By this point, not only Elicia, Ultear, and Sun, but the rest of Alfonzo's girlfriends, Laxus, Natsu, and Lucy were looking at everyone unhappily.
*Clap!*
"Alright, that's enough." Makarov said in a stern tone while drawing everyone's attention to himself with a firm clap. "I know you're all just letting your emotions do the talking after surviving an attack from Acnologia. But do you really think Alfonzo would do anything to harm the lot of you?"
With that, all the guild members who were suspicious of Alfonzo hung their heads with a bit of shame on their faces.
"The fact of the matter is, Alfonzo's actions were correct. Especially since most of you could feel the Magic Council waiting just off the island's coast. Still, I doubt he's all that angry. Instead, he's probably just disappointed. So, just go and apologize to him later, and I'm sure everything will be alright."
'And that's why he's been the guild master for over forty years.' Elicia thought to herself after Makarov finished speaking. 'He knows all his children so well. Like he said, Fonzie wasn't angry at all. The only reason he stormed off like that was because he didn't want to lie to the people he cares about anymore. But he probably really was serious about not helping anyone for free after this."
A few moments later, while the Fairy Tail wizards were contemplating Makarov's words, the silence was broken by the voice of a young woman. A voice that did not belong to anyone present on the island.
"Hey, how did the [Fairy Sphere] dispel so quickly?" Mavis, flying quickly towards the group, asked excitedly.
"First Master?" Makarov asked after catching sight of Mavis' spirit.
"Yeah, it's me, maki." Mavis replied cheerfully. "Anyway, how did the [Fairy Sphere] dispel so quickly. From what I could tell, it should have lasted almost ten years. Instead, you came back after only about four hours, or so."
"Huh?" the members of Fairy Tail exclaimed collectively. "And how is the first master here?"
Realizing that most of the wizards present did not know much about Fairy sphere, Mavis explained it to them. She let them know that it was an absolute defense spell, something the wizards accepted immediately. She also mentioned that the spell defended against the passage of time, as well.
"Does that mean we could have been frozen in time for almost ten years?" Fried asked.
"That's how it should have been." Mavis replied with a nod. "But somehow, you're all up and about only four hours after it was cast."
"I think we have Alfonzo to thank for that." Makarov replied.
"Alfonzo… Hmm…" Mavis muttered while tapping her chin with her right index finger as she tried to remember the name. A moment later, her eyes lit up with the signs of recognition. "Oh, he's the one that uses [Metal Magic], right?"
"How does she even know that?" Cana asked curiously as this was the first time she'd ever seen Mavis' spirit.
"Oh, because I watch the S-Class Promotion Exam every year." Mavis replied happily. "I only got the chance to see him take it once, but I remember he was pretty impressive. He even won a two on one fight against another candidate and an S-Class wizard that year. Then, he fought against Gildarts with his girlfriend at the end of the exam. It was pretty memorable."
Before the conversation could continue any further, however, it was interrupted when a young man, Doranbolt, appeared in the middle of all the Fairy Tail wizards.
Immediately after Doranbolt's appearance, and before he could say anything, he felt the pressure from all the Fairy Tail wizards' magic power come crashing down on him.
'I really should have seen this coming.' Doranbolt thought to himself while feeling all the Fairy Tail wizards' hostility aimed at him.