Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
December 16, x784.
"Give us a reason why we shouldn't send you back to the Magic council on a stretcher." Natsu growled with flames covering his body.
"Yeah, I can understand why you feel that way." Doranbolt replied while raising his hands disarmingly. "Believe me, I wouldn't have come here to bother you if I wasn't truly in need of your help."
"Oh, so, you need someone to get your ships off the top of the Great Tenrou Tree, huh?" Elicia asked with a smile.
Hearing Elicia's question, Doranbolt could not help but open his mouth and eyes wide in surprise.
"H-how did you know that?" Doranbolt asked.
"That's classified." Elicia said with a wink and a smile while imagining a busty, redheaded, time traveling, second year high school student.
Naturally, that response dumbfounded Doranbolt. Before he could regain his senses, however, Makarov cut in.
"Even if we wanted to help you, there's only one person among our group who could do so." Makarov said. Then, with a wry smile on his face, he continued. "But he's not really in the best of moods right now."
Hearing that, all those present, except Doranbolt, knew Makarov was referring to Alfonzo. Unfortunately, many of them were not sure that he would even listen to their request after what happened earlier.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Doranbolt asked in confusion.
After scanning the faces of those present, however, Doranbolt quickly realized who Makarov was talking about.
"So, the Master of Metals isn't here right now, huh?" Doranbolt said in a disappointed tone. "I guess we'll just have to---"
Before he could finish, Doranbolt caught sight of all the Magic Council's ships floating from the top of the Great Tenrou Tree.
A moment later, all the Fairy Tail wizards looked in the same direction as the dumbfounded Doranbolt.
"I guess he's feeling better now?" Gildarts asked while scratching the back of his head.
"Probably not." Elicia replied while shaking her head. "But he's probably gonna get a huge~~~~ paycheck for this."
Just as Elicia said, shortly after Alfonzo left, he flew up to the top of the Great Tenrou Tree. In fact, from the moment Tenrou Island re-entered the normal time flow, he had spread his [Magic Power Detection]. It would not have been good if Acnologia had still been waiting when they got back, after all.
During that scan of his surroundings, Alfonzo noticed all the magic power signatures on top of the tree. So, to take his mind off of what just happened, he decided he would fly up there and fleece the Magic Council.
And by the time he arrived at the fleet, Doranbolt had already left, making the negotiations with Lahar much easier than they would have been otherwise. As a result, Alfonzo and Lahar agreed on a reward of 1,000,000 Jewels for every ship Alfonzo returned to the sea surface.
Meanwhile, Doranbolt and the wizards of Fairy Tail could only watch blankly as the nine Magic Council ships floated through the air before being placed on the sea.
"Well, now that you got what you came here for, you should leave." Carla said in a very hostile tone.
"Yeah, I guess I should." Doranbolt replied.
A moment later, Doranbolt [Teleported] away from the island and appeared next to Lahar, who was still speaking with Alfonzo, on the deck of the Magic Council fleet's flag ship.
Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Seas.
"Now, I hope you folks from the Magic Council don't try to go back on your word." Alfonzo said while waving around a recording lacrima. "I do have video evidence, after all. And let me tell you, I don't take too kindly to people messing with my money."
"The Magic Council would never do something like that." Lahar replied in a stern tone while adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah, just like they'd never sit back and watch a Legal Guild fight a member of the Balam Alliance without raising a finger to help, right?" Alfonzo said in a sarcastic tone. "And they would definitely never send a spy to infiltrate that same Legal Guild, right?"
Lahar could only look away in response. At the same time, Doranbolt appeared on the ship's deck.
"Oh, speak of the devil." Alfonzo said with narrowed eyes. "I really should beat the shit out of you for trying something with our little Dragon Slayer."
Despite wanting to retort, Doranbolt chose to remain silent. He already knew that the Magic Council was in hot water, and any excuses he could make would only make their situation that much worse.
"*Cough* Anyway…" Lahar said with a fake cough to change the subject. "Could we make one more request of you, Mr. Marcus?"
"That depends." Alfonzo replied in a clearly uninterested tone.
"We would like to request that you hand over the members of Grimoire Heart that you captured along with their airship." Lahar continued.
"Oh, don't worry, I plan on handing over the members of GrimoireHeart." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Hades died last night in his sleep, though. Still, I don't think that will affect the total I get when I hand them over for their bounties, right?"
When Lahar and Doranbolt heard that Alfonzo would be handing over the dark wizards, they were both surprised and overjoyed. However, when they heard that Alfonzo wanted their bounties, those feelings of joy vanished immediately.
"Did you really think I would just let you have the credit when you did jack shit to help?" Alfonzo asked disdainfully. "And as for the airship and everything it holds, that's a big fuck no. Those are the spoils of our subjugation. What in the fuck makes you think you have any claim over them?"
While Doranbolt gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at the disrespectful, vulgar, and profane language, Lahar only sighed in resignation. In fact, he knew his request would more than likely be shot down. But he had orders from the higher ups to make the request, anyway.
"Well, if that's all, I'm going back." Alfonzo said in a bored tone. "I've had a really long couple of days and I wanna get some rest."
Then, without waiting for a response from anyone on the ship, Alfonzo flew away from the flag ship and headed back to Tenrou Island.
"The Magic Council is really in trouble this time." Lahar said once he was sure Alfonzo was no longer within earshot.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it were disbanded once again." Doranbolt added. "And it's only been a little over a month since it was reinstated."
"*Sigh* Anyway, let's just return to HQ and give our reports." Lahar said, sounding like he had aged by a few years.
With that, Lahar gave the orders to set sail and the fleet began their journey back to Era.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
"Let's get loaded up and head back to the mainland." Alfonzo said while flying back to where the rest of Fairy Tail was gathered. "I'm sure the guys at the guild are getting worried by now."
"You're probably right, Alfonzo." Makarov replied. "We should have already been back by now, after all."
With that, Alfonzo nodded before flying towards the camp to pack up his tent and gather his belongings.
"Well, I guess he's still upset." Ur muttered, sounding a bit disappointed in herself.
"Just give him some time." Makarov said while approaching Ur from behind. Then, he raised his hand to pat her on the back.
*Smack!*
"Don't even try it, Perverted Old Geezer." Ur said while slapping Makarov's hand away from her butt.
"Urgh!" Makarov winced from the pain of having his arm slapped away. Especially since that was the same arm that Acnologia had bitten.
"Hmph! Serves you right." Ur snorted while walking towards the camp.
Not long later, all the Fairy Tail wizards were on their way to the camp to pack up. Meanwhile, Mavis, who was still interested in what Alfonzo had done with [Fairy Sphere], was floating around him and bombarding him with questions while he packed up.
"Hey, you're Alfonzo, right?" Mavis said while floating in front of Alfonzo.
"That's right." Alfonzo replied. "And you're the first master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I wanna know how you did it." Mavis replied with an excited glint in her eyes. "How did you make it so that the [Fairy Sphere] dissipated so quickly. From my assessments, you should have been frozen in time until this time in x794."
"Wait, are you serious?" Alfonzo asked in a surprised tone while dropping the bag he had just picked up. "But I thought it wouldn't have lasted any longer than x791 if my magic item didn't work."
'Actually, now that I think about it…' Alfonzo thought to himself while he fell into deep contemplation. 'I was only basing that on the canon. It makes sense that it would have lasted longer. Especially since we have different guild members here. Plus, there were a lot more S-Class wizards present than in the canon, too.'
"Well then, for your sake, it's good your magic item worked." Mavis said energetically. "But still, you haven't told me how you made it dispel.
"Oh, that…" Alfonzo replied while shaking his miscalculation out of his head. "That was a lot harder than you'd think. But to make a long story short, I made the core of my magic item a temporary piece using my [Metal Magic]. The hard part was making it so that my magic power dissipated, instead of being frozen in time, as well."
With that, Alfonzo and mavis continued discussing the intricacies of [Fairy Sphere], Alfonzo's magic items, and the encounter with Acnologia. Their conversation even continued after Alfonzo finished packing up not only his things, but those of his girlfriends, as well.
And by the time the rest of the guild arrived, those who wanted to apologize to Alfonzo felt like interrupting such a passionate conversation would only make things worse with him. Eventually, the whole camp was packed, the prisoners were secured, and the S-Class Promotion group were back on Sixth Sense and heading back to Hargeon.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Seas.
About an hour into the voyage back to the mainland, Mavis had finally stopped with all the questions. By now, the sun had set and most of the members of Fairy Tail were resting in their cabins on the ship. Meanwhile, Alfonzo was sitting alone in the wheel house and steering the ship back to Hargeon.
"*Sigh* I wanna sleep in my own bed." Alfonzo muttered while his attention shifted between the sea chart and the water in front of the ship. Unfortunately, we'll have to show our faces at the guild first to let everyone know that we're all okay. *Sigh* I really need to make a simpler means of communication. Communication lacrima have too many limitations. Maybe I should make cell phones or something. Somehow bringing the internet to this world might work, too. But for that, I'd have to learn [Archive Magic]. Or work with someone who already knows it. Hmm… I wonder how Hibiki would feel about getting rich with me."
Just as he finished monologuing, Alfonzo heard the sound of footsteps approaching the wheel house.
"Um… excuse me…" Lucy said while poking her head into the wheel house.
"Oh, hey, Lucy." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "What's up?"
"Nothing really." Lucy replied as she stepped into the wheel house while twirling her side tail around her finger. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I mean, you seemed pretty upset when everyone was accusing you."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile. "Although I was pretty annoyed, I wasn't really mad about it. I can understand why they were so suspicious, after all."
"Lici said the same thing." Lucy said with a small smile as she drew nearer to Alfonzo. Then, when she was standing next to his seat, she continued. "But still, I just wanted to make sure you were okay for myself."
"Well, I definitely appreciate the care." Alfonzo replied with a wide smile.
In response to Alfonzo's smile, Lucy's cheeks reddened slightly. Then, she lowered her head before she spoke once again.
"Anyway, it's because of you that all of us survived." Lucy said in a sincere tone. "So, I just wanna say---"
Before Lucy could finish, however, Alfonzo's hand shot out. Then, he placed a finger on Lucy's lips to stop her.
"We're all members of the same guild, Lucy. We're basically family in all but name." Alfonzo said in a stern tone. "So, there's never a need for thanks when it comes to stuff like that."
At first, Lucy was taken aback when Alfonzo stopped her words of gratitude. Then, when she realized Alfonzo's finger was pressed against her lips, her cheeks reddened even more. And finally, when she processed what Alfonzo said, her eyes began to well up with tears. At the same time, a giggle escaped her lips, as well.
"Hmm…?" Alfonzo hummed in a slightly confused tone. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Lucy said with a smile. "It's just after you walked away earlier, Laxus defended you and said that you probably didn't want or need anyone's thanks. I guess he really does know you pretty well, huh?"
"Well, there aren't usually all that many people that know you better than your worst enemy." Alfonzo replied with a shrug and a smile. "Not that I considered him an enemy. But he definitely thought of me as one until recently."
With that, Alfonzo and Lucy continued to chat in the wheel house until the ship docked at Hargeon's port. Alfonzo also rented another space at the port for Grimoire Heart's airship, that he had connected to Sixth Sense with a sturdy chain to tow it away from Tenrou Island.
And when Alfonzo exited the wheel house with Lucy sleeping in his arms, Elicia and the rest of his girlfriends only looked on with knowing smiles while everyone unloaded their belongings.
Meanwhile, after putting Lucy in a vehicle, Alfonzo made his way over to the Magic Council's branch office in Hargeon and handed over the members of Grimoire Heart to get their bounties for the guild. Then, after all that was taken care of, the Fairy Tail wizards left Hargeon and made their way back to Magnolia.