Mavis was indeed miserably working to undo the magic.
It was not because she wanted to release the members of Grimoire Heart, but because Tenrou Island was important.
This was Fairy Tail's sacred ground, and also the place where she had stayed for so many years.
No matter what, Tenrou Island could not just be left here and ignored. In any case, she was a ghost.
She had plenty of time, so she could slowly work at it. Even if it took a few years, she would eventually undo it.
Buzz!
Marco's figure appeared, standing directly on top of Fairy Sphere.
This golden Fairy Sphere had already been visited by others before. That had also been done to verify Marco's words.
The existence of Fairy Sphere did prove the truth of Marco's claims to a certain extent.
Of course, Fairy Tail's First Guild Master Mavis and the others could not be seen.
"Marco-chan! You finally came to help!"
Sensing Marco's arrival, Mavis's soul appeared beside him as well, shouting excitedly.
The First Guild Master always looked cheerful, a happy little ghost through and through.
"Mm. There's also something I have to tell you."
Marco smiled and nodded.
He did not keep her in suspense and directly told Mavis about Fairy Heart.
"Huh?"
Mavis's eyes widened.
This news was indeed far too shocking for her.
She had never imagined that her body had actually been turned into something like that.
What exactly had Precht done?
"He was probably trying to revive you. In any case, he definitely messed around with your body quite a bit. Otherwise, he wouldn't have created something like Fairy Heart."
Marco could not help making a comment.
It had to be said that the Second Master Precht really was a little abnormal.
Was this what happened to every "Second" in line? Did they all have this much research spirit?
"..."
After hearing Marco's words, Mavis's expression became complicated.
Precht had become "Hades," the Guild Master of Grimoire Heart, a Dark Guild that was one of the three pillars of the Balam Alliance.
The original Second Master of Fairy Tail had ultimately become a wicked evildoer.
For Mavis, this was undoubtedly a heavy blow.
After all, Precht had been her companion who created Fairy Tail together with her. They had experienced many things together and shared a deep bond.
Seeing Precht become like this naturally made her sad.
Especially because the reason Precht became this way might have been inseparably connected to her.
It was very possible that Precht had ultimately become what he was now because of her death.
"Grandpa Makarov said Precht was still quite normal when he left the guild."
Marco spoke of the information he knew.
However, he was somewhat doubtful about that point.
Perhaps Precht had already been somewhat abnormal back then, only he had not gone completely mad yet.
"Maybe his last bit of reason made him hand the guild to Grandpa Makarov before leaving Fairy Tail himself."
Marco did respect the rational version of Precht.
Just as Grandpa Makarov remembered him, the original Precht should have been a learned and kind elder.
He had simply ended up walking down a mad and twisted path.
"Immersing oneself in Black Magic... will eventually twist the mind."
Mavis sighed.
This was not a joke. The aura of evil magic truly could influence a person's mind without them noticing.
"Your death probably dealt him a very heavy blow."
Marco also sighed, feeling some pity for Precht.
A person with firm willpower might be able to resist the corrosion of Black Magic, but this was like the saying about thieves. It was not the thief stealing once that was frightening, but the thief constantly thinking about it.
You could not guarantee that your mind would never waver.
Once something sudden happened, that weakness might be taken advantage of.
To make "influencing the mind" easier to understand, it was like using an extremely violent cheat tool in a game.
Why was Black Magic called Black Magic?
Because it could do things normal magic could not.
Monsters that normal magic could not defeat, levels that normal magic could not clear—once Black Magic was used, perhaps those monsters could be beaten and those levels skipped.
But once one used that kind of "violent cheat tool," it became very difficult to put down. One would want to keep using it and keep feeling that thrill.
The thing was, if a game file got corrupted, one could delete it and start over. One could even clear the game once with cheats, then start another file without using them.
Life was different.
Life was a one-life clear game with no restart.
If you used a "cheat tool" and corrupted your save, then it was truly corrupted.
There was no chance to start again.
At first, Precht had only wanted to revive Mavis.
But later, he had already reached the point where he no longer knew his place in the world.
He had completely immersed himself in the world of Black Magic, obsessively researching forbidden knowledge. He even fell out entirely with his old companion who tried to warn him.
Step by step, he sank into the abyss and became someone completely different from who he had originally been.
If he had not relied on his final bit of reason to exile himself and leave Fairy Tail, then Fairy Tail might have gone through even more suffering.
It was even uncertain whether Fairy Tail would still be the Fairy Tail it was now.
"It's all my fault..." Mavis looked dejected.
If not for her, Rita would not have died, Yuri would not have passed away so early, Precht would not have gone down the wrong path, and Warrod would not have left the guild...
"How can that be your fault? Did you kill yourself?"
Marco looked helpless.
As for Mavis's cause of death, no one knew it. Mavis herself had never mentioned it either.
But looking at this First Guild Master's personality, one could tell that she definitely was not the kind of person who would take her own life.
Marco did not know much about the grudges, bonds, love, and hatred among these seniors, who were even older than Makarov's generation, but First Master Mavis's character could truly be understood at a glance.
"I... of course I didn't kill myself..."
When the topic of "death" came up, Mavis became somewhat silent again.
"I died because of a curse."
After staying silent for a while, Mavis continued speaking.
This was the first time she had spoken of her own death.
"The Curse of Ankhseram? Zeref?"
Marco raised an eyebrow and immediately understood a little.
This matter was connected to Zeref again.
That guy really did feel like the source of all evil. Every troublesome thing could somehow be connected to him.
There were even claims that the Black Dragon had been born because of him.
"That's right."
Mavis slowly nodded, admitting that she had died because of Zeref.
"I remember you saying before that the Curse of Ankhseram kills through love. The more one values life, the more one harms others."
Marco's expression gradually became a little strange.
Did that not mean Mavis and Zeref had actually been involved with each other?
"It's... the more one loves life, the more life one takes. That is the Curse of Ankhseram. Zeref and I were both cursed. Makarov's mother, Rita, your great-grandmother, died because I suddenly understood the truth of life at that moment..."
Mavis once again spoke of that past.
This incident had indeed affected her greatly. Her heart was filled with guilt. This was also why she had exiled herself to Tenrou Island all this time.
Or rather, this incident was the beginning of everything that followed.
After Makarov was born, Yuri's wife Rita begged Mavis to name the child. Mavis named him Makarov.
At that moment, Mavis suddenly understood the truth of life and released the energy of death, taking Rita's life.
In order to avoid taking even more lives, Mavis fled the guild.
It was fortunate that Mavis had only just understood the truth of life at the time, and it was the first time she had released death energy.
If she had released such powerful death energy like Zeref did, Fairy Tail might have been wiped out right there.
After all, under those circumstances, who could have expected Mavis to suddenly "strike ruthlessly"?
Even Mavis herself had not expected it.
When Zeref had previously told her that she had also been cursed by Ankhseram, she had not believed him. She had thought Zeref was speaking nonsense.
However, the facts proved that Zeref had not been wrong.
If she had believed him earlier, if everyone had been prepared earlier, perhaps Rita would not have died.
"After that, I began wandering, avoiding all living things. One year later, I met Zeref again. Because the two of us were in the same situation, we traveled together for a while. In the end, I died because of his love..."
Mavis did not deny what had happened between her and Zeref.
Although she looked like a child, her age was definitely enough, so it was definitely not illegal.
There was nothing she could not say about it.
"Died because of love? Then why were you the one who died?"
However, Marco noticed the key point.
Both Mavis and Zeref bore the Curse of Ankhseram.
Both would produce death energy strong enough to kill every living being around them when love arose in their hearts.
So why was Mavis the only one who died at that time?
"I've been thinking about that too. Perhaps... at that time, I didn't love him. Maybe I only admired him. In order not to harm others, he bore the Curse of Ankhseram and exiled himself for hundreds of years. At that time, perhaps I simply admired and looked up to him greatly, and hoped that I could do the same as him."
Mavis's expression also seemed somewhat confused.
She had found this explanation for herself and used it to cross that hurdle in her heart.