Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August 12, x790.
"Well, it looks like it's over." Irene said with a smile as she placed her wine glass on the coffee table in Mavis' office. "They didn't cause as much damage as I thought, either. Just a few craters. Nothing that can't be taken care of easily enough."
Reaching that point, Irene glanced at Mavis, who was sprawled over her desk with her arms spread out. Then, she glanced outside of the guild hall, her smile widening slightly.
"Well, for the most part, anyway." Irene continued, completely unbothered by Mavis' dead fish expression. "Anyway, shouldn't we get going? Those kids should be back with the prisoners they captured soon, right?"
"Ugh... Why was I so happy to be guild master again?" Mavis asked in a tired tone. "There are gonna be complaints from Magnolia, Fiore, and the Magic Council for this. Even worse, it was caused by a former guild master. Couldn't she show a little restraint?"
"To be fair, Ur did save the town from being flooded, though." Irene said as she stood up.
"I acknowledge the truth in that statement." Mavis said as she pushed herself off the desk. "But she's strong enough that she had any number of ways to deal with that issue. Instead, she chose the one that would give me, the guild master, the most problems with the authorities."
"Well, there's no point complaining for now." Irene said as she started walking towards the elevator. "Come on, let's go."
Sighing once again, Mavis pushed herself away from her desk before standing up and walking towards Irene. AS she approached, Irene couldn't help but notice that Mavis, after being free of Ankhseram's Curse, had grown a few inches, now standing at 5'4", rather than her previous 5'2". Also, her figure had become more feminine, as well. Though, her chest was still flat as ever.
Not long later, Mavis entered the elevator. Then, Irene pressed the button for the second basement level of the guild hall, which was where the prison was. After that, it only took a few minutes before Gildarts, along with Kakuzu to arrive.
While Gildarts was smiling casually as he entered the prison, Kakuzu, upon seeing both Irene and Mavis, widened his eyes. Though, that was more so for Mavis than Irene. While the power rolling off of Irene was breath taking, he was old enough to have heard the news about Mavis' death nearly a century ago. But to see her standing in front of him, looking very alive, was more than he was ready for.
'I had heard news that she had come back to life.' Kakuzu thought to himself. 'But I never really believed it. I didn't know what the deal was, but people don't come back to life. But now, I'm not so sure my experience can be counted on anymore. First, I run into this orange-haired idiot and have four of my five hearts destroyed with one move. Then, I see that monster treating Pain like a little kid. And now, I'm seeing people come back to life. Seriously, I'm too old for this shit.'
"I'm the first one to make it, huh?" Gildarts said while looking around the prison. "Well, I didn't have to fight at all. So, I guess that makes sense."
"And that's a good thing for Magnolia." Mavis said while rolling her eyes. "If you had fought, you probably would have destroyed half the town."
'And killed me in the process.' Kakuzu added in his heart.
"Probably." Gildarts replied unrepentantly. He then jabbed his thumb in Kakuzu's direction as he continued. "Good thing it didn't come to that, though. Catching this guy should finally get me some points, right?"
"It will indeed." Mavis replied with a nod.
"Too bad it will be a while before you can use any of those points, though." Irene said while smiling mischievously. "And you have your dear Ur to thank for that. She's the one who gave Alfonzo work to do for the rest of the year, remember?"
"Oh, right..." Gildarts replied, his tone making his disappointment clear. "*Sigh* By the time he's got time to cook for the guild again, I'll have probably lost all those points again, huh?"
"If your track record is anything to go by." Mavis said with a nod. "By the way, where is that girl you brought back last month? I haven't seen her around the guild hall recently."
"Oh, she spends most of her time running around Magnolia with Naruto." Gildarts said with a grin. "Those two are a real pair of pranksters. They really keep the townsfolk on their toes."
Mavis and Irene, although they were aware that Naruto and Fū spent a lot of time together, were completely in the dark about what they did when they were together. So, the blank looks they sent Gildarts' way were not unexpected. Yet, after only a moment, they both shrugged it off as if they could not be bothered.
"Well, we haven't received any complaints from the citizens of the town about property damage." Mavis said while shaking her head. "So, I guess they are fine to do what they want."
"Yes." Irene added with a nod. "It's clear to see the difference between those who were raised by Fairy Tail and those who were brought in later, isn't it?"
"It is." Mavis added with a nod of her own. "At least we won't have to remodel the town again for someone who just can't be bothered enough to walk around the buildings on his way to a certain location."
Naturally, Gildarts knew the ladies were talking about him. However, there was nothing he could say in his defense. Meanwhile, Kakuzu, who had heard rumors about Gildarts over the years could only stare at the former Fairy Tail ace with a dumbfounded look in his pupilless eyes.
Noticing the gaze he was receiving from Kakuzu, Gildarts, who could not complain to the women in front of him, put on an indignant expression. Yet, just when he opened his mouth to address Kakuzu's look, three more people, two women and a man, entered the underground prison.
"Don't even bother trying to defend yourself." One of the women, Ur, said as she stepped out of the elevator with Mirajane while dragging Kisame behind her. "The Gildarts Shift literally has your name in it. There's no denying that it was made for you, and you alone."
Immediately shutting his mouth, Gildarts turned to look at Ur with a smile on his face.
"Ur, welcome back." Gildarts said in a sugary-sweet, loving tone. "How was it to be out on the front lines again?"
Rolling her eyes at Gildarts' obvious attempt to change the subject, Ur could not stop the smile that crept onto her face.
"It felt just like the old times." Ur said happily. She then glanced back at Kisame, who's arms and legs had been thawed before looking back at Gildarts with a bashful smile. "It looks like I've really been out of practice, though. If I had been out taking quests this whole time, I would have been able to take this guy down in half the time."
"You would have probably still frozen that much of the landscape, though." Mavis cut in before Gildarts could reply. "From what I saw in the reports of your missions, you have a habit of doing stuff like this, don't you, Ur?"
"She's right, you know?" Irene said with a grin. "Although he Worth Woodsea is the only instance of things like this that anyone ever talks about, almost every quest you've ever completed ended up with something being frozen. These two events are the only ones on such a scale, though."
Instead of replying, Ur looked away with a sheepish smile while trying, and failing, to whistle an inoffensive tune. Meanwhile, Mavis and Irene shifted their gazes to Mirajane, who was standing next to Ur with her usual, pleasant, smile on her face.
"I'm surprised by you, though, Mira." Mavis said. "You know, I expected a much more drawn out end to the one you were fighting. Especially after the attack on the mansion."
"Honestly, so was I." Mirajane said without changing her expression. "I had every intention of torturing him and everyone I could get my hands on to death. Although they weren't the ones who attacked the place where Bianca was sleeping, they were all guilty by association."
Hearing the way Mirajane mentioned torture with such a pleasant smile on her face caused both Kakuzu and Kisame to shudder involuntarily.
'Powerful mothers are scary.' Kakuzu and Kisame thought at the same time.
"But when I saw the lifeless look in that bomb guy's eyes after I ripped off and disintegrated his hands, I just lost the desire to do so." Mirajane continued, her smile widening slightly after noticing Kakuzu's and Kisame's reactions to her previous words.
Like that, the five Fairy Tail wizards continue to chat. Meanwhile, Gildarts and Ur put Kakuzu and Kisame into two of the cells on either side of the corridor.
"Oh, looks like I got some neighbors." A man with a deep voice said from the only other occupied cell in the prison. "Well, at least you guys are in for a treat. These guys treat their prisoners much better than we did in Alvarez."
Hearing that, Kakuzu and Kisame turn to look at Jacob, who Elicia captured a while ago while he was investigating Irene and Brandish, former members of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12, after they stop reporting when they were assigned to investigate Alfonzo after his defeat of God Serena.
"Oh, almost forgot you were still here, Jacob." Irene said with a smile. "I thought you would have killed yourself or something."
"Hmph! Don't talk to me, traitor." Jacob said rudely before turning away.
*Tap!*
"It seems you've forgotten just who I am, Jacob." Irene said as she materialized Belserion in her hand and tapped the butt of her stave on the floor. "I think I should give you a little reminder."
In the next instant, a complex magic circle appeared around Jacob, who was sitting on the floor of his cell with anti-magic bracelets and anklets around his limbs. Then, a column of light shot up to the ceiling of the cell, completely engulfing the Alvarez Assassin in light.
"Argh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Jacob screamed in agony, making both Kakuzu and Kisame shudder.
"Remember this, Jacob." Irene said, loud enough to be heard over Jacob's screaming without losing her smile. "I was called 'the Scarlet Despair for a reason."
A few seconds passed in this manner, with everyone, other than Jacob, for obvious reasons, remaining silent. Then, just as Jacob's screams started to sound hoarse, Mavis patted Irene on her lower back.
"That's enough, Irene." Mavis said while shaking her head. "Legal Guild's don't torture prisoners."
"Very well." Irene replied, clearly just waiting for Mavis to stop her. Though, she would not deny the enjoyment she received from letting her sadistic side out for a few moments. "I suppose you're right. I'll let him off… this time."
With that, Irene dematerialized Belserion. At the same time, the magic circle surrounding Jacob vanished while the light column also dissipated.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu and Kisame looked at Irene with horror in their gazes.
As former members of Hidden Villages, though Kakuzu came from a minor one, they were both fairly adept at information gathering. On top of that, they had been working with Zetsu, who had the best information network on Earth Land for a long time. So, they knew that Zeriff's empire, the Alvarez Empire was on a higher level than most of what Ishgar could bring to bear in a conflict. On top of that, they had heard the name, "the Scarlet Despair," on more than one occasion. Even Pain, with all the power granted to him by the Rinnegan would steer clear of her.
And now, after getting the chance to match a face to the name, both Kakuzu and Kisame had given up any thoughts of escape.
'What's up with this guild?' Kakuzu thought to himself. 'First there's that monster who destroys everything. Then, there's the young man who could fight Pain and make it look easy. And now, this demon in the guise of a beautiful woman is part of the guild, too? Damn you, Pain! You never paid me anywhere near enough to take on people like this.'
Kisame, on the other hand, did not even know what to think. The reason he joined the Akatsuki was because he believed in pain's dream of ending all conflict on the continent, as foolish as that dream may have been. But now, after seeing the strength of the Fairy Tail guild, he wondered, even if they had not attacked the guild, would they have been able to succeed?
'Of course we wouldn't have.' Kisame thought to himself. 'None of us are dumb enough to think that we weren't in the wrong in our methods. We also expected strong opposition from the rest of the continent. But with the power of Pain, we were sure we would be able to handle anything. It would seem we've all grown arrogant over the years, haven't we?'
Like that, more time passed. Eventually, Erza, Sun, and Saeko also arrived. However, since they had killed Sasori during their confrontation, they did not have a prisoner, either.
"Well, it looks like everyone's here." Mavis said with a smile. "GOOD Job, Everyone. You've protected both the guild and the town from the attack of seven S-Class threats. I'm proud of all of you."
Hearing Mavis' praise, the other Fairy Tail wizards all smiled. However, it did not take too long for Erza to realize that there were some people missing.
"By the way, where are Alfonzo, Elicia, and Sasuke?" Erza asked curiously. "Surely, they are done with tier battles, as well."
"Oh, them?" Mavis said with a happy smile while her ahoge bounced from side to side. "They're all at Porlyusica's house getting their prisoners some medical attention. Don't worry, they should be back before too long."
"I understand." Erza replied with a nod.
"Anyway, let's get back to the mansion." Sun said energetically. "We still need to finishing setting up for tomorrow's party."
In response, everyone nodded their heads. Then, without another word to their prisoners, they all left the floor before heading to the Mansion on the Lake. Though, not all of them would be helping with the party's preparations. None of them wanted to miss the feast that Alfonzo would undoubtedly prepare for the victory celebration.