Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
April 19, x785.
Early in the morning of the next day, Alfonzo slowly opened his eyes in the hotel Fairy Tail book for all its wizards who decided they wanted to attend the trial. And as is common, Elicia was clinging to him when he woke up.
"*She looks so happy just because she can hold me in her sleep." Alfonzo said as he swept a lock of hair out of Elicia's face.
["Yeah, it's kind of amazing how anyone can love an asshole like you that much."] Bedlam said. ["I mean, if it were me…"]
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.' Alfonzo replied mentally. 'You really don't have to say it.'
["Why don't you just fucking forgive her already?"] Riot asked in an annoyed tone. ["It's clear that you're not angry anymore. ON top of that, it would make her happy."]
'Not yet.' Alfonzo replied as he began combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. [I've already got something planned as far as when and where I'll do it.'
["Whatever…"] Riot replied, trying to sound uninterested.
Meanwhile, Elicia, after feeling Alfonzo's fingers brushing against her scalp, subconsciously hugged him tighter before she started opening her eyes a moment later. Then, as soon as she saw Alfonzo, she smiled brightly, despite the fact that she was barely awake.
"Mornin', Fonzie." Elicia said groggily.
"Good morning, Elicia." Alfonzo replied with a gentle smile.
For a split-second, Elicia pouted at the term of address. But her bright smile reappeared just as quickly as it disappeared.
"Come on, let's start getting ready for hopefully what is the last part of the trial." Alfonzo said while continuing to comb his fingers through Elicia's hair.
"'Kay~~." Elicia said lazily.
With that, Alfonzo climbed out of bed. But to his surprise, Elicia continued clinging to him, allowing herself to be dragged to the edge of the bed.
Amused, Alfonzo stood up, only for Elicia to quickly wrap her legs around his waist like a koala. Then, she rested her head against the side of his neck and closed her eyes with a contented smile on her face.
"Come on, Elicia." Alfonzo said with an amused smile on his face. "We seriously need to get up."
"'Kay~~." Elicia replied just as lazily.
"If you don't get up, you're gonna regret it." Alfonzo warned as he made his way towards the room's bathroom.
Instead of responding, Elicia only slightly adjusted her position to make herself more comfortable.
"Fine, you asked for it." Alfonzo muttered as he entered the bathroom.
A few moments later, the sound of Elicia's screams echoed throughout the entire floor of the hotel.
About forty minutes later, Alfonzo and Elicia, who was wearing quite the obvious pout, made their way into the hotel's dining hall, where they found the members of Fairy Tail occupying several large tables on one side of the venue.
"Hey, Fonzie, over here!" Cana shouted after noticing the duo enter the dining hall.
"By the way, Elicia." Alfonzo said with a wry smile after waving at Cana.
"Hmph!" Elicia snorted while looking away.
"How did you manage to convince the others to let you share a room with me last night?" Alfonzo asked while trying to suppress a chuckle.
In response, Elicia glared at Alfonzo from the corner of her eye while making her pout more pronounced. Still, she decided to answer his question.
"Rock-Paper-Scissors." Elicia replied.
"Ah, got it." Alfonzo acknowledged as he and Elicia arrived at Cana's table.
When they arrived at the table, they noticed the expected group of people sitting there. Namely, the rest of Alfonzo's girlfriends, minus Erza, Levy Jet, Droy, Lisanna, and Elfman. Meanwhile, the rest of their closest friends, like Team Natsu, were out on quests and were unable to attend the trial.
"Hey, Lici, what's wrong?" Marin asked after noticing Elicia's pout.
"Marin, you'll never guess what Fonzie did to me this morning." Elicia said, pulling Marin into a hug as she told her story. "He actually picked me up out of bed and brought me under the shower while the water was freezing cold."
In response, everyone at the table looked at Alfonzo while trying to suppress their laughter. Meanwhile, Alfonzo's upper lip was twitching violently.
"Although that's not wrong, I feel like you're leaving out some crucial details, Elicia." Alfonzo replied. "Like the fact that I tried to wake you up so that we could get ready. Or the fact that you continued to cling on to me even though I said you'd regret it if you didn't get up."
"Small details." Elicia replied with her head buried in Marin's chest.
"That's not small." Alfonzo replied.
"That's what she said." Cana interjected.
Immediately, the atmosphere around the table froze while everyone looked at Cana in disbelief.
"Alfonzo says stuff like that all the time, but it never gets this awkward." Cana muttered.
"*Sigh* Alfonzo is rubbing off on you." Mirajane said while shaking her head with a wry smile.
"Cana, *Sniff* I'm so proud of you." Alfonzo said while wiping a non-existent tear from his eye.
"Yeah, yeah, just eat." Cana said in an annoyed tone. Though, she scooted closer to Alfonzo, and even tried to feed him.
Like that, the rest of breakfast went on peacefully with a happy atmosphere. Then, when everyone was done eating, they returned to their rooms and changed into their court room attire.
Once everyone was properly dressed the entire group from Fairy Tail traveled together towards the Royal Castle, Mercurius, the Flower Light Palace. Which, to anyone familiar with Fairy Tail, could be quite intimidating. Yet, they had no intension of causing trouble for the people of Crocus.
"So, how do you think the kings will rule on the case?" Lisanna asked curiously.
"If they rule them anything other than guilty, then I'm moving our guild to another continent." Ur replied.
"Ur's right." Alfonzo added. "If the verdict is anything other than guilty, we'll know there's some foul shit going on on this continent. But since we're expecting a guilty verdict, the more important question is what will their sentence be?"
"Then, what do you think the sentence will be?" Lisanna asked.
"Honestly, I don't know." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head. "But like I said, I'm hoping for the maximum sentence."
'Because if the whole council doesn't get time behind bars, I won't be able to suggest the next step of my plan.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
"Well, considering all the evidence, that shouldn't be a problem." Levy added. "I mean seriously, the attempted murder argument pretty much sealed it."
"I hope so." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Either way, we can only wait and see."
While continuing to chat about the trial, the wizards of Fairy Tail eventually reached the gates of the Flower Light Palace, where they were all searched before being allowed to enter. Then, like they had done the day before, they all made their way to the court room and waited for the rest of the attendees to arrive.
Slowly, all those who attended yesterday's proceedings trickled into the court room. There were even a few extra faces, as well. Mainly guild masters who were not interested in supporting Fairy Tail during the trial. However, they were definitely interested to know what would become of the Magic Council afterwards.
Then, at noon on the dot, Toma E. Fiore, the king of Caelum, and the Prime Minister of Isvan entered the room and made their way up to the highest platform. Then, once they were all seated, Toma began speaking.
"Good afternoon, and welcome back to those who were in attendance yesterday." Toma said in that same booming voice that did not fit his stature. "And to those who decided to attend for the trial's verdict, welcome. Now, I'm sure none of you wish to hear me drone on. Therefore, I'll get straight to the point. Org, Second Seat of the Magic Council, step forward."
Following Toma's instructions, Org moved to the center of the court room before lowering his head to the three rulers.
"We find you guilty of all crimes." Toma said in a stern tone. "AS for your sentence, the simple fact that you have been convicted of treason leaves us with no choice but to give you the death penalty."
Hearing that, Org's expression fell immediately. Yet, he remained silent, as there was nothing he could do about it.
A moment later, a pair of Cherry Blossom Holy Knights approached Org from either side before taking him away in anti-magic cuffs. Though, Org did glare with murderous intent at Alfonzo as he was taken away.
"I kinda wish he was able to struggle away from those knights and attack me." Alfonzo muttered while glaring back at Org. "Then, I'd be justified in killing him in self-defense. In fact, I could just cause those cuffs to break, and I'm sure he would rush at me like a bull in a china shop."
"You definitely can't do that, Alfonzo." Ur whispered sternly.
"I know, you don't have to worry about me, Ur." Alfonzo replied with a smile while waving off Ur's concerns. "I was just kidding."
"Uh huh…" Ur replied while staring at Alfonzo with skepticism.
A moment later, once Org had been escorted out of the court room, Toma called on the next member of the Magic council to be judged.
"Michello, Third Seat of the Magic Council, step forward." Toma ordered.
Like that, the rest of the Council was called forth to receive their judgment one by one in descending order of their ranks. And they mostly received a life sentence. However, some of those, Such as Belno, who had not taken things too far when dealing with other matters, were given the chance for parole if they behaved well while in prison.
"Crawford Seam, step forward." Toma ordered.
Crawford Seam, after seeing all the others receive life in prison as a sentence, was not too worried. Other than when dealing with fairy Tail, his record was spotless. Though, that was not because he always treated everyone justly. Rather, it was because he had someone else do the dirty work for him. Still, he was certain that he would only be sentenced to life in prison.
Unfortunately, he forgot one of the last things Alfonzo said about him.
"Crawford Seam, you have been found guilty of all charges against you." Toma said, announcing the verdict. "As for your sentence, like Org, you will be sentenced to death."
Immediately, Crawford Seam's eyes opened wide in disbelief. Then, his beard and mustache began to bristle, a sign of the deep rage he was experiencing.
"This is outrageous!" Crawford Seam shouted angrily. "I dedicated most of my life to the betterment of Ishgar. And for one bad decision, this is how I'm treated?"
"Your one bad decision led to the Magic Council firing Ishgar's most powerful weapon on itself, the near loss of five of its most outstanding young wizards, and the near loss of many more innocent lives. Not to mention, you did not even warn the public before firing. And as Mr. Marcus said in his closing statement yesterday, as the Chairman of the Magic Council at that time, you must be held to a higher standard."
"This is preposterous, I am Clearly being targeted." Crawford Seam bellowed.
"Guards! Take him away." Toma ordered as four more Cherry Blossom Holy Knights entered the room to take Crawford Seam away. And like Org, while he was being led away, Crawford Seam glared at Alfonzo with hatred.
At the same time, from the door where the knights entered the room from, Alfonzo could feel a cold stare fall on him. And when he looked towards the door, he saw King Bradley staring at him. Though, he could not figure out why.
'Did getting the Council convicted somehow get in the way of Father's plans?' Alfonzo wondered while making eye contact with Bradley. 'Well, not that it matters to me. If he wants to jump up, I have no problem smacking him down. Besides, I'm pretty sure I already know where Father's lair is. If the place where my Techno Organic Metal was pulled out of Envy's body is any indication.'
["If you already know where that bastard is, we should just go down there and bust some heads."] Riot said in response to Alfonzo's inner monologue.
["Before he can do that, he has to do something about the giant transmutation circle first."] Bedlam added.
Then, as the voices in Alfonzo's head continued their conversation, the doors to the court room were closed once again.
"With that, the trial of Fairy Tail Vs. the Magic Council has concluded." Toma said. He then continued in a conflicted tone. "Unfortunately, now the Magic Council consists of only one member, Gran Doma, and the number of magic infractions all over Ishgar will once again rise."
Hearing that, Alfonzo and Ur exchanged glances. Then, after receiving a nod from Alfonzo, Ur stood from her seat.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, if you'd allow it, I might have a suggestion that could solve that issue." Ur said while bowing her head politely.
"Oh." Toma muttered in interest. "By all means, if you have a suggestion that could help the continent through this, speak your mind, Master Milkovich."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ur said, bowing once again. "I believe that filling the seats of the Magic Council with former guild masters and members of the Ten Wizard Saints would be the best way to keep the Magic Council going after such an outcome."
"But how would that work?" The King of Caelum asked in a confused tone. "There are so many guilds on Ishgar. With that many members, the Council would never be able to agree on anything."
"I can understand your concerns, Your Majesty." Ur replied with a nod. "But instead of having former guild masters from every guild, I believe that representatives should be elected from the guild's in a particular country. And the size of the country, as well as the number of guilds in said country, should determine how many representatives from that guild are chosen."
"Interesting." The Prime Minister of Isvan said while stroking his beard.
"Indeed." Toma added. "You mentioned representatives for the guilds, but what about the countries themselves?"
"That's where the Chairman comes in." Ur replied. "The chairman, from this point forward, should always be someone who is not affiliated with any guild. And their role will be to look at any proposals from the perspective of the kingdoms and countries. And if he believes that the proposal is detrimental to the countries, he has the right to bring it to a vote between the ruling bodies of each nation, which would immediately veto the proposal should it be voted down by the rulers."
Like that, the rulers, the members of the Ten Wizard Saints, and the current and former guild masters in attendance continued to question Ur about her proposal. Meanwhile, a certain member of the Wizard Saints, who also happened to be the former master of a guild. The former master of Fairy Tail, to be exact, stared at Ur in bewilderment.
After retirement, Makarov thought he would be able to live his remaining days in leisure, without the thought of filling out paperwork having to cross his mind. Yet, he just found out that not only would he have to do paperwork again if this proposal passed, but as a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, he would likely not be able to refuse.
On top of that, even if he resigned as a wizard saint, he would more than likely be elected as a representative thanks to his power and experience as a guild master.
'Damn it! That girl was waiting for this.' Makarov grumbled internally. 'I guess I shouldn't have gloated so much while helping her learn the ropes. But still, how could she do this to me?'
Eventually, after the rulers, Wizard Saints, and guild masters were satisfied with Ur's explanation, the court proceedings were concluded, and those not necessary for the forming of the new Magic Council were allowed to leave while those who would participate in the new Magic Council's establishment stayed to hash out all the finer details.