Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 9, x791.
About three minutes have passed since Alfonzo led the Fairy Tail wizards thought he gate leading to the Prime Timeline. And ever since they left, Mavis has been standing on the roof of the Sixth Sense Hotel worrying about the safety of her wizards.
"He said it would feel like they left then came right back like they left something." Mavis said while pacing between the two airships. "But it's been, what...? Almost five minutes since they left. How long does it take to realize you forgot something?"
Clearly, Mavis was worried. Luckily, she was alone on the roof. So, none of her other wizards could see her acting that way. Unfortunately, that was about to end.
"First Master, are you up there?" Makarov asked as he pushed open the rooftop access door. "Huh? Master Mavis, is something wrong? I thought you came up here with the others. But I never sensed them leaving."
'Darn it.' Mavis thought to herself as she spun around to face Makarov. 'Although I don't think Maki would turn on us for the Magic Council, he was the last person I wanted to know about this. I never wanted to put him in an awkward position where he would have to choose between his responsibilities to the council and the guild. Now, I just need to get him to leave before he starts asking too many more questions.'
"Oh, don't worry about them." Mavis said with a smile as she dismissively waved off Makarov's question. "They're just... Anyway, what do you need, Maki?"
Hearing Mavis' evasive tone, Makarov raised an eyebrow in curiosity. But seeing as she did not want to answer his question, he figured that it was a guild secret. And although he was the former guild master of the Fairy Tail guild, he was now a member of the Magic Council. And just as she thought, he would rather not have to worry about his responsibility with the Council. So, he just shrugged his shoulders and continued with the reason he came up to the roof in the first place.
"I just came to let you know I was about to head back to Era." Makarov replied respectfully. "I was hoping to say goodbye to the kids, as well. But it seems they're a little busy at the moment."
"I'm sure they'll be sad they missed you." Mavis replied with a smile. "But I'll make sure to tell them---"
*Flash!*
However, before Mavis could finish, a point of light appeared on the roof behind her. Then, before Makarov's eyes could even widen in surprise, it expanded to the size of a gate that could fit four people walking shoulder to shoulder.
'Well, so much for keeping it a complete secret.' Mavis thought to herself. "I can only hope that they don't say anything they're not supposed to when they come back through.'
"Man, meeting another version of myself who was frozen in time for seven years after Acnologia attacked Tenrou Island was weird." Natsu's loud voice could be heard as he, Erza, Ultear, and Ur were the first ones to walk through the Parallel World Gate. "But it's even weirder to find out that Alfonzo and Lici didn't exist in that world."
"Indeed." Erza replied. "Imagining the guild without those two is quite difficult."
*Smack!*
Mavis face-palmed hard enough that the sound of flesh smacking against flesh could be heard from the streets below.
Immediately after hearing the sound, Ur, Ultear, Erza, and Natsu noticed Mavis. And while Natsu looked at her quizzically after seeing her covering her face with her left hand, Ur, Ultear, and Erza all looked around before noticing Makarov standing there, staring at them and the Parallel World Gate with his eyes and mouth wide open.
"Oops." Ur muttered as she smiled wryly. "I guess the secret's out now, huh?"
Shortly after Ur said that, the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards who made the trip to the Prime Timeline walked through the gate with Alfonzo bringing up the rear before he closed the gate and put away the magic item that created it.
Seeing Mavis with her hand covering her face and the dumbfounded expression on Makarov's face, Alfonzo's thoughts were similar to Ur's
"Looks like we came back at a bad time." Alfonzo said casually. Then, he started walking to the front of his group, clamping a hand over Natsu's mouth as he passed by. "Well, we'll just get out of your hair. Master Mavis, you can continue your conversation with Gramps. We won't bother you."
Getting the hint, the other Fairy Tail wizards started walking, as well. However, before they could get too far, Makarov got his wits about him again.
"Hold on, you brats!" Makarov bellowed. "You think I can just let that go? You're going to tell me everything. There's no way I could miss out on hearing about a Fairy Tail so different than the one I know!"
This time, it was everyone else's turn to look at Makarov with a dumbfounded expression. Seeing him on the rooftop when they arrived, they were expecting him to question them about where they just came from. And when you take into consideration what Natsu said upon arrival, they thought it would be about traveling between timelines. But for his first question to be about the Prime Fairy Tail, that was something no one expected.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Mavis said in an unsure tone. "If you hear about this, you'll have to report it to the Council, won't you? And I'm sure none of them would like the thought of us playing around with parallel world travel. I mean, just look at the last time. Didn't Magnolia vanish from the face of Earth Land for a while."
"Huh? Tell them about what?" Makarov asked in a tone filled with feigned confusion. "I'm getting old. So, there's a good chance I won't even remember what you're talking about in about fifteen minutes, or so."
Although everyone looked at Makarov with dumbfounded expressions, no one was actually surprised by Makarov's response. Like Alfonzo said years ago to Laxus, Makarov eats, sleeps, and shits for Fairy Tail, and everyone knew it. So, him putting his duties to the Magic Council over the guild was something that was more or less impossible.
"Alright, let's just head inside." Mavis said in a tired tone. "I guess it would be unfair if the fourth and fifth masters of the guild knew about this and the third didn't."
Receiving understanding nods from everyone present, Mavis led everyone downstairs to the conference room. Though, they had to make the trip in groups, since the elevator was not large enough to fit everyone.
Along the way, Mavis called all the other members of the guild to listen to the story, as well. She was sure they would all like to hear about their own parallel world counterparts, too.
Eventually, the conference room was filled to the brim with members of the guild, and they were all watching Alfonzo, the leader of the trip to the other world, like hawks, waiting to hear all about it.
"Alright, is everyone here?" Alfonzo asked while looking around the conference room at all the familiar faces. Then, after he was satisfied with all the faces he saw, he began speaking again. "Okay, then, let's get down to business. I know you all want to know what the other world was like, right?"
"Yeah!" The members of the guild shouted excitedly.
"Well, before I do that... You know, just in case anyone is eavesdropping.' Alfonzo said before tapping his right heel on the floor.
*Swoosh!*
In the next instant, the floor, ceiling, and walls were coated in a thin sheet of metal. This metal was packed full of small sigils, making the room completely soundproof.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way..." Alfonzo said with a solemn expression on his face. "The first and most important thing about that world is..."
Reaching that point, Alfonzo trailed off for dramatic effect. Meanwhile, everyone, even the ones who went on the trip to the other world, leaned forward in anticipation.
"Lici and I did not exist there." Alfonzo said, sounding completely heartbroken as he did so. "There were no mentions of Sun and Marin, either."
*Bang!*
Immediately upon hearing Alfonzo's first sentence, many of the guild's wizards, already leaning forward, face-planted into the floor or conference table.
"Seriously, that's what you call the most important thing?" Warren asked in a dumbfounded tone. "What about the state of the guild?"
"Yeah! Then there's the fact that I had to have ended up with Levy, right?" Jet shouted.
"What do you mean you?" Droy asked angrily as he grabbed Jet's collar. "Obviously, it was me who would have ended up with Levy!"
And just like that, the entire conference room was embroiled in Fairy Tail's trademark brand of chaos. Punches were thrown, insults were made, and furniture started flying around the room.
"What do you assholes mean that me and Lici not being here isn't the most important?" Alfonzo asked angrily, his voice perfectly clear despite the ruckus. "Just what do you think this guild would look like if we weren't here? Would we have such a nice guild hall? What about the fight with Acnologia. Everyone would have been stuck in Fairy Sphere for years like they were in the other world. Even worse, they might have died to Acnologia's last attack. Then what about all your clothes? Who else would have hook you all up other than Lici? Get your heads out of your asses! We're clearly the biggest missing parts of the guild!"
The room fell silent after Alfonzo's outburst. And while most of the members of the guild glared at Alfonzo, Elicia and Alfonzo's other wives and lovers nodded their heads. None of them could imagine a world where Alfonzo did not exist. And the reasons Alfonzo mentioned were not the only ones.
Unfortunately, although most of the guild members agreed with what Alfonzo said, they were all to prideful to admit that they were any less important to the guild than he was. So, after a few moments of tense silence, they all decided to gang up on him, to put him in his place.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Unfortunately, they did not think that course of action through, forgetting just how much stronger Alfonzo was than the rest of them. So, most of them ended up with lumps on their heads, lying on the floor, and wailing in pain.
"Anyway, like I was saying." Alfonzo said while dusting off his hands. "Me, Lici, Sun, and Marin weren't the only ones who we couldn't find in that world. Everyone from Takanosu wasn't there, either. In fact, Takanosu didn't even seem to exist. Then, there were the Village Hidden in the Leaves and the Soul Continent. They didn't seem to exist, either."
Alfonzo then went on to list everything that was unique to this version of Earth Land and that did not exist in Prime Earth land. And the more his guild mates heard, the wider their eyes opened.
"Oh yeah, and Macao was the fourth master of the guild." Alfonzo said off-handedly.
Immediately, every eye in the conference room swiveled to Macao. Then, they all looked away and said the same thing, almost in unison.
"No way."
"What the hell do you all mean by that?" Macao shouted angrily. "I'd be a great guild master! Tell 'em Wakaba!"
In response, Wakaba only looked away, lit his pipe, and took a long puff.
"Boy, we're sure having great weather today, aren't we?" Wakaba asked, doing his best to not answer Macao's question.
"You can't even see the weather from in here, you bastard!" Macao shouted before throwing a punch that landed on Wakaba's jaw.
And just like that, the conference hall was thrown into chaos once again.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
"That's enough!" Erza said after breaking up the brawl with more violence. "Behave yourselves. There is still more to be said."
"Erza is right." Mavis added. "So, tell us about what you did while you were in the parallel world."
"We fought dragons." Natsu shouted happily. "And it was a lot of fun. I bet we could take Acnologia if he ever came back."
"Nah, I doubt that." Alfonzo said, pouring a metaphorical bucket of cold water on Natsu's enthusiasm. He then smiled confidently as he continued. "At least, not right now. But I'm sure we'll be ready the next time he shows up."
"Hell yeah! Because we're Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted after getting his energy back. "And Fairy Tail is the strongest! Aw, Man! I'm all fired up!"
*Bang!*
*Crunch!* *Crunch!* *Crunch!*
"You're starting to sound like those idiots from Sabertooth did last year, Salamander." Gajeel said with a grin while chewing the chunk of metal Alfonzo used to stop Natsu from spraying flames everywhere. Though, it was obvious that he wanted to take another shot at Acnologia, as well.
From there, Alfonzo was not the only one who spoke, as everyone who went to Prime Earth land started telling their own experiences over on the other side. Then, after everyone had the chance to talk and ask questions, Mavis decided it was time to return to Magnolia. So, everyone went back to their rooms, packed up their belongings, and boarded the two airships before Alfonzo and Ur piloted them back home.