Tenrou Island
"Ouch! They just kicking me out like that?"
Raizel tumbled across the grass after being unceremoniously ejected from the barrier.
He sat up, dusting off his clothes, and looked back at the shimmering green dome.
Before he was kicked out, he had recalled a phrase.
'Holding hands while gazing with tearful eyes, too choked up to speak.'
Although usually reserved for romance, who could claim that familial love wasn't just as profound?
'These bastards just don't want me to watch,' Raizel thought, a wry smile touching his lips.
...
Inside the barrier, the silence was heavy.
Although their memories were now connected via the spell, Mavis still asked August to recount his life experiences.
There was no practical reason—she simply wanted to hear his voice.
August's voice trembled as he spoke.
His childhood had been a tragedy, a desperate struggle just to survive in a harsh world.
That was, until he met Zeref.
"I met Father," August whispered, his eyes downcast. "He said I looked very much like you did when you were young. And because he met you in the month of August... he gave me this name."
Mavis listened, tears streaming down her face.
"Father didn't recognize me," August confessed, the pain of suffering from his childhood bleeding into his words.
"I used to think that would be enough... that just standing by Father's side would be enough..."
He looked up, meeting his mother's eyes.
"But why am I the only one who has never been loved?"
A child born from love, yet never loved from birth.
A child whose very existence was a contradiction—if those he loved returned his feelings, he would die.
Mavis didn't speak.
She stepped forward and gently stroked the hair of the old man sitting cross-legged on the ground.
To her, he wasn't the King of Magic; he was just her boy.
She knew the truth of Zeref.
Although Larcade claimed to be his son, to Zeref, Larcade was merely a tool.
Zeref's heart held room only for Natsu and herself; everyone else was dust in the wind for him.
"It's alright," Mavis whispered, pulling his head against her chest.
"I understand now. My child... August."
"Mother!"
The Magic King wept in the arms of the girl who had given him life for a long time.
...
Sometime later.
Raizel was bored.
He had been waiting on Tenrou Island for so long that he had actually started meditating just to pass the time.
Finally, the barrier dissolved.
When August and Mavis emerged, they didn't offer any explanations.
They simply asked August to send Raizel back to the guild.
"I will send you to the outskirts. You will have to walk the rest of the way yourselves," August said, his voice was calmer and lighter than Raizel had ever heard it.
August tapped his staff, and space warped around Raizel.
In an instant, he was back at Hargeon Port, standing right next to a startled Ultear and Erza.
"Oh and this is for you."
August's voice echoed in Raizel's mind, though the old man was miles away.
ZING.
Before Raizel could react, two beams of pure information shot into his consciousness.
He stumbled, clutching his head as the knowledge integrated itself instantly.
"Archieve Magic and True Teleportation Magic," August's telepathic voice explained. "You wanted to learn them, correct? Consider this my thanks."
Raizel blinked, processing the influx of data.
Archieve was what August had used to locate Grammi—a search engine for the world that also allowed for telepathy and data transmission.
True Teleportation was the ability to cross continents in a heartbeat.
August had provided the theory and the methods, but Raizel would still have to master them himself.
"Oh, if possible, please try to persuade Irene Belserion," Raizel immediately shot back a message using his newly acquired Archieve Magic, keeping his face neutral so Erza wouldn't notice.
"I understand. I will try my best, but that matter is... difficult," August responded instantly.
Raizel grinned internally.
He had successfully shifted the responsibility to August.
At least he probably wouldn't be beaten to death by the Queen of Dragons.
It was all about give and take—everyone deserved a bright future, right?
...
"What is his relationship with the First Master?"
Ultear and Erza crowded Raizel, their eyes burning with gossipy curiosity.
"I can't say since it would be deadly. Unless the First Master herself is willing to talk about it, my lips are sealed." Raizel shook his head frantically.
Revealing the secret of the Magic King was a sure way to invite catastrophe.
"Alright," Ultear sighed, nodding helplessly.
She regarded Mavis as her mentor, so she suppressed her curiosity out of respect, though her mind was already spinning with theories.
On the walk back, Raizel described August's power to them properly.
"If he got serious," Raizel explained gravely, "all the Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar combined wouldn't stand a chance against him. He is in a league of his own."
He believed telling them the truth was beneficial.
Witnessing the peak of magic power would broaden their horizons and keep them humble.
As they arrived in Magnolia, they noticed the town had shifted into "Gildarts Mode"—the buildings had rearranged themselves to create a straight path to the guild.
Gildarts had returned!
Raizel stood before the guild's massive doors and took a deep breath of familiar air.
It had been a long, eventful day.
He pushed the doors open.
Whoosh.
A pile of clothes flew through the air, heading straight for Raizel's face.
He caught them without looking.
"Gray, your clothes," Cana commented dryly from a nearby table.
Gray and Lyon were locked in a standoff.
Gray had inexplicably stripped down to his boxers again—though, thanks to Erza's previous lectures, he had at least kept his underwear on.
"What are you all doing?"
Erza stepped out from behind Raizel, her arms crossed and her aura flaring.
"Erza's back!"
"We weren't fighting!"
Gray and Lyon immediately hugged each other, trembling. "We are best friends!"
"Good. Guild members should always be loving and harmonious," Erza nodded in satisfaction, her hand resting on her armored chest.
"Are you seriously pretending not to see they were just arguing?" Raizel muttered, holding back a mountain of sarcastic remarks.
Erza ignored him, scanning the room like a hawk.
"Gray, Lyon, you two caused damage in town again. I heard all about it on my way back."
"Vijstar! The tables are not for dancing! Shouldn't you be training? Every time I see you, you're dancing!"
"Wakaba, your ash is about to fall on the floor."
"Nab, do you think staring at the Request Board will make the missions complete themselves?"
"Reedus... your drawing is not bad." Erza's tone softened only when she saw Reedus sketching a portrait of her lecturing the guild.
Everyone called out by Erza hung their heads in shame.
There was no helping it—the Queen's authority was absolute.
The only ones who escaped her reprimands were Raizel, Laxus, Ur, Ultear, and Kagura.
Erza couldn't defeat Laxus yet; despite her Lightning Empress Armor, the age between them and their experience gap was still too wide.
However, when Makarov and Gildarts got drunk and rowdy, Erza would lecture them too.
Even the Master would shrink under her imposing gaze.
Raizel watched the spectacle while chuckling quietly.
Seeing an 11-year-old girl scolding grown ass men was endlessly entertaining.
"Stop laughing," Ultear whispered, swatting his arm.
She never interfered, preferring to let Erza finish her "discipline" before pulling her away.
After all, Gray and Lyon usually deserved it.
"Alright, Erza, you just got back. Have a seat first." Ultear finally stepped forward, guiding Erza to sit next to Cana.
She scanned the room but noted that Ur and Kagura were absent.
"Master Makarov said you went to teach children?" Cana asked, looking concerned.
She had been asking Makarov about them constantly during their two-month absence.
"Yes, it was quite interesting. The children were adorable. I'll show you their drawings later. I think you would be good at similar missions, Cana," Erza replied with a warm smile.
"You're still a child yourself, Erza," Ultear facepalmed.
Why did none of these kids consider their own ages?
"What mission did you and Uncle Gildarts go on?" Raizel asked Cana.
They had seen Gildarts leaving with his daughter before their own departure.
"An Extermination Quest," Cana said, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "But I'm not really sure what happened. Dad just punched once, and a small mountain vanished. I assume the Dark Guild and the Magic Beasts disappeared along with it?"
Cana felt like she had just been a tourist on a destruction tour!
"..."
A row of silent ellipses seemed to hang over Erza and Ultear's heads.
"Does that... actually earn any money?" Ultear voiced a concern she'd always harbored.
Raizel often mentioned how Gildarts tended to obliterate the landscape during missions.
"There should be... right?" A cold sweat dripped down Cana's forehead.
Gildarts took on SS-class and decade-long quests with rewards in the tens of millions of Jewel, but remembering her father's shabby little house, Cana suddenly felt very uncertain about their finances.
Ultear breathed a sigh of relief.
She was immensely grateful that Raizel always managed to resolve problems with minimal collateral damage.
Meanwhile, Raizel wandered over to the bar.
He ordered a cup of black tea and sat down between Makarov and Gildarts.
He clinked his teacup against their tankards of ale, chatting idly about trivial matters.
They didn't discuss August since there was no need for it.
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