With the earlier foreshadowing about Edolas Cana, Gildarts immediately accepted the truth, he had a daughter.
The one question that had puzzled him for years, whose child Cana was, now had an answer, right in the middle of all the noisy discussions from their companions.
Connecting the dots with the surname Alberona, Gildarts confirmed it. It was Cornelia, his ex-wife.
He had heard years ago that Cornelia had passed away, but he never imagined she had left behind a child.
His daughter had been in the guild all this time, right under his nose, and he hadn't realized it. A deep wave of guilt surged within him.
Gildarts pulled Cana into a firm hug, his voice choked with emotion as he stammered out apologies and reassurances, tears brimming in his eyes.
The more sentimental guild members, like Lucy, Levy, and Elfman, were already wiping away tears of their own.
"Manly Men cry too! Waaahhh—" Elfman's loud sobbing cut through the emotional air like a drumbeat.
His grief even spread to Edolas Elfman, and the two muscular brothers, despite their different hairstyles, stood shoulder to shoulder, bawling their eyes out in perfect, tearful harmony.
Lisanna stood behind them, patting both their backs in a futile effort to calm them down.
Meanwhile, Makarov, who had been deep in conversation with Mystogan, called out, "Rhodes, come here for a second."
Just as he turned to speak, his sharp eyes caught sight of tearful Cana hugging Gildarts tightly.
His brows furrowed. "That no-good Gildarts, don't tell me he's trying to hit on Cana?! That's outrageous!"
Rhodes nearly fell over. "It's not what you think, Master!"
Quickly, he explained everything, calming the furious guild master before the old man could charge in with a fist ready.
Makarov finally relaxed, lowering his raised hand. "So that's what this is about? I didn't even know..." he mumbled with a sigh.
Rhodes gave a helpless shrug. "Let's talk about that later. What did you and Mystogan decide?"
"The device they used to activate Anima is still intact," Makarov explained as he pulled Rhodes aside and lowered his voice. "Mystogan says he can send us home whenever we're ready."
"But the real issue," he added in a serious tone, "is making sure something like Anima never happens again. Mystogan's got an idea, but... it's a bit drastic."
"How drastic?"
"He wants to reverse Anima. That is, siphon all the remaining magic from Edolas into our world. Once this world has no magic left, Anima will never activate again."
"..."
It was certainly an extreme plan, but for them, it was also the safest.
Rhodes could see clearly now: Mystogan was someone willing to cast everything aside for the sake of his friends.
"You agreed to that?" he asked.
"Of course not!" Makarov snapped. "If he goes through with that plan, the whole world will see him as a criminal. It's far too dangerous. I may want to eliminate Anima for good, but I won't let my own child be branded a villain."
Just then, Mystogan walked over, his tone steady but determined. "This disaster began with my father. And I failed to stop it in time. Naturally, the responsibility falls on me."
"If all magic disappears overnight, people will panic. To stabilize the chaos, they'll need someone to blame, and someone to follow."
"I'll become the villain," Mystogan continued calmly. "But we'll also appoint a hero. Someone trustworthy who can 'defeat' me in front of everyone, then rise as the new king to guide Edolas into a new future."
"Absolutely not!" Makarov waved him off firmly. "I won't allow it, no matter what. If you really need a villain that badly, let us be the bad guys. After all, causing trouble is what Fairy Tail does best!"
"Master..." Rhodes spoke up, cutting into their clash of ideals. "I don't think we need to go to such extremes. There's a softer way."
"Softer?" Mystogan looked at him.
Rhodes nodded. "The magic distribution across Edolas is already wildly imbalanced."
"In the capital, people use magic for things like lighting stoves and building fountains. But in the outer regions, just owning a magical tool is treated like a crime."
"If it stays like this, more people like your world's Fairy Tail will start rising up. They won't sit back and accept it. Eventually, the unrest will explode into rebellion."
"So why not turn the situation around before it comes to that? Frame it as the prince Mystogan, leading Fairy Tail in a righteous revolution. Overthrow the tyrant king, protect the people, and drive back the foreign invaders while we're at it."
"Afterward, you have two choices. One, distribute all remaining magic equally among the people, but if you do that, it probably won't be enough for anyone to actually use."
"Or two," Rhodes suggested, "declare that all remaining magic will be centralized for rebuilding the nation and researching alternative power sources. Think about it. The capital's in ruins. Those floating islands still need to be safely grounded."
"And if you still think there's too much magic left..." Rhodes shrugged, "then just quietly use a small reverse Anima to drain off a little. The people are already expecting magic to run out eventually. Just make sure it happens slowly, not all at once."
"But the root cause of the magic depletion," Rhodes continued, "is obviously due to King Faust's long-term abuse of the Dragon Knight armor and his reckless experiments. That's what accelerated the loss."
"And as for the everyday lives of the people… isn't it only the capital that will have trouble adjusting? Most of the other cities were already banned from using magic, weren't they?"
Back when he first arrived in Edolas, Rhodes would've only felt safe if all the magic was drained completely and the Anima device destroyed beyond repair.
But now, with Mystogan potentially staying behind as king, he was willing to believe things could go another way.
Still, a question nagged at him: would Mystogan remain in Edolas permanently to guide the nation, or would he try to return to Fairy Tail in Earth Land through a smaller Anima portal before the magic was gone?
Makarov and Mystogan just stared at Rhodes, speechless.
This kid… was he secretly harboring a deviously strategic mind?
The way he casually planned out how to make magic "disappear reasonably," while pinning all blame on Faust and eliminating the threat to Earth Land, it felt just a little… cold.
If Rhodes knew what they were thinking, he'd probably roll his eyes and scoff. 'Please, how is this more ruthless than instantly draining all magic through a full-scale reverse Anima?'
If magic vanished all at once, those massive floating islands would fall out of the sky. The casualties and destruction would be unimaginable.
'Seriously,' Rhodes thought, 'why would a magic-starved world waste energy floating cities in the air like some kind of fashion statement?'
With a sigh, Makarov gently placed a hand on Mystogan's shoulder.
"You said you'd take responsibility, didn't you?" he said softly. "Then this plan should be led by you. Be a good king."
"I…" Mystogan hesitated.
"You're a wizard of Fairy Tail," Makarov reminded him. "We don't run from our duties. And," he smiled gently, "you love this world, don't you? Otherwise, why would you have spent the last seven years running back and forth to stop its mistakes?"
Mystogan was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded with conviction.
"I'll give everything I have. Even without magic, I'll make Edolas even more beautiful than it ever was."
There it was, the spark had returned to Mystogan's eyes. A new goal, a new path.
But then, as if he remembered something, his expression dimmed. "It's just that… if that's the case, I…"
Makarov gave him a solemn nod. "I understand."