Earth Land, Ishgar, Era.
August 22, x791.
*Bang!*
The sound of a fist being slammed down on a desk resounded through the Magic Council's meeting chamber, drawing the attention of all of its occupants.
"Master Makarov, is something the matter?" Jura asked in a concerned tone.
"Damn that Acnologia!" Makarov, not even hearing Jura's question thanks to his rage, roared. "Wasn't attacking my children once enough?"
During a routine Magic Council meeting, one that was not discussing anything classified, Makarov received a message on his lPhone from Mavis. Since this was a rather rare event, Makarov turned all of his attention away from the contents of the meeting to the message. And when he read what Mavis had to say, that led to his, not so, uncharacteristic outburst that completely derailed the meeting.
At the same time, most of the continent of Ishgar knew that Fairy Tail faced off against Acnologia seven years ago. That event was part of the reason why the entire Magic Council system changed, after all. But when they heard Makarov's outburst, they were completely flabbergasted. How unlucky did a single guild have to be to encounter that dragon more than once in a lifetime?
"Which of your children faced off against Acnologia?" Retsu asked with her eyes narrowed. "And were there any casualties?"
Makarov then went on to tell those present in the Council's meeting room what he heard about Fairy Tail's attack on Tartaros, how the Dark Guild was completely wiped out, and finally the encounter with Acnologia after the mission was complete. And with every word, the Council member's eyes widened further and further.
"Wait! Are you telling us the Balam Alliance has been completely destroyed?"
"And Fairy Tail had a hand in all three subjugations?"
"Had a hand? Other than when Oración Seis was defeated, Fairy Tail took down the entire Balam Alliance on its own."
"Just where do you find so many monsters to join that trouble making guild?"
"Hey, we haven't caused trouble in a long time!" Makarov shouted back at the last question. "Fairy Tail is no worse than any other guild when it comes to causing property damage, now!"
"Maybe as a whole."
"Yeah! But you have three or four members that cause most of your guild's destruction on their own."
"In fact, why aren't we fining them more for the destruction they cause?"
Makarov wanted to argue more with the other Councilors. But when he remembered all the fines and reflection letters he was forced to write on behalf of Fairy Tail's wizards, he began to shudder while he started feeling phantom pain in his hands thanks to all the cramps he got from writing in the past.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Council began discussing the ramifications of a handful of Fairy Tail wizards being able to drive off Acnologia. However, no one seemed to realize that the acting guild master of Mermaid Heel had disappeared from the meeting room.
*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*
{"Hello, Master Retsu?"} Tsunade asked after receiving an unexpected call.
"How much longer until your preparations are complete?" Retsu asked in a no nonsense tone.
Currently, after slipping out of the meeting room, Retsu was on her way to where her motorcycle was parked. Originally, when she arrived in Era, she took a boat from Cedar. And to make getting around the area easier, she also brought her motorcycle with her. However, after hearing about Fairy Tail's run in with Acnologia, she had every intention of rushing back without waiting for the ship to return to bring her to Cedar once again.
Though the trip by land would take a few days, it would still be faster than waiting for the ship to return at the end of the scheduled meetings, bring her back to Cedar, then drive her motorcycle to Mermaid Heel HQ.
{"Um... To be honest, I'm not exactly sure."} Tsunade replied in an uncertain tone.
"No matter." Retsu replied in an uncaring tone. "I will be stepping down as the acting guild master of Mermaid Heel in a week. It will be up to you to have someone in place by then. Otherwise, you can take care of the guild's affairs yourself."
{"Huh? Wait! What are you talking about, Master Retsu?"} Tsunade asked, clear panic in her tone. {"Are you going back to the Soul continent? Why are you in such a hurry?"}
"You'll find out soon enough." Retsu said, her tone not changing in the slightest. "I've already said what I had to say. Just remember, you only have one week."
With that, Retsu ended the call, leaving Tsunade with an uncountable number of question marks floating around in her head.
At the same time, Retsu reached the area where her motorcycle was parked, put on her helmet, which was locked to the handlebars before she arrived, and mounted the vehicle.
*Vroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
She then started the magic vehicle and drove away at high speed.
Earth Land, Ishgar, kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
Meanwhile, in the living room of the Mansion on the Lake, Alfonzo, his wives and lovers, Mavis, Gildarts, Ur, and a few of the strongest members of the guild's current generation were gathered discussing what they should expect after Acnologia's attack in Bosco.
"Maki said they were discussing the incident in Era." Mavis said after reading the latest message she received from Makarov.
"Well, I doubt they'll come up with anything in the short term." Ur replied with a shrug.
"Of course not." Irene said. "When too many people gather to make a decision, it is never a quick affair."
Seeing as all the Councilors were now former guild masters and members of the Ten Wizard Sains, it was no surprise to anyone that they would take a while to come up with a plan of action in case Acnologia attacked again.
"Most of them probably don't even need to worry about it." Alfonzo said while lounging on one of the couches in the living room. "More than likely, Acnologia realized that he had met most of us before. And when he realizes that he failed to kill us back then, we're probably gonna have a big ass problem on our hands."
"What do you mean?" Ur asked with a frown creasing her brow.
"He's gonna have a training arc!" Elicia exclaimed with an exaggerated expression of shock on her face.
After Elicia's outburst, the room fell silent as all eyes slowly turned towards her while the expressions on the faces of almost everyone in the room turned blank. Naturally, there were a couple of exceptions. The first of which was Alfonzo, who could only smile wryly as he was probably thinking the same thing as Elicia.
'I was actually thinking the same thing.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'If Acnologia starts training like Frieza after he was brought back in Resurrection F, we're gonna be fucked.'
The other person who had a different reaction from the rest was Irene, who only thought that Elicia's outburst was amusing. But she knew that what Elicia said was almost impossible.
'After being a dragon for over four hundred years, I can confidently say that Acnologia will not go off to train.' Irene thought to herself while grinning at all the blank looks on everyone's faces. 'That rush of power you feel as a dragon makes you feel like every other lifeform is beneath you. So, even if Alfonzo was able to bounce his attack back at him, he'll think that he would just have to use his powerful body to attack. And even if he's more arrogant than expected, he'll just make sure that no one has enough time to set up a barrier like the one Alfonzo used that day. And without that, he would be able to wipe everyone out without much difficulty.
While Alfonzo and Irene were reacting to Elicia's outburst internally, the silence in the living room continued. And as time passed, Elicia started to feel awkward, nervously looking around at all the blank stares she was receiving until she could no longer stand it.
"What?" Elicia asked as she raised her right hand and awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
*Sigh*
Hearing Elicia's question, all those who were staring blankly collectively exhaled a tired sigh.
"Lici, you totes raised a flag." Marin said while shaking her head.
"Huh?" Elicia exclaimed in surprise as her eye shot wide open. A moment later, she put on a sheepish smile as she used the hand she was scratching her cheek with to knock on the side of her head while sticking out her tongue. "Tee-hee! Oopsie!"
"And Lici strikes again..." Cana said while shaking her head slowly. She then took a swig from a flask with the words "Take a Shot and Shut the Fuck Up" etched into it before she continued. "Now, we're all gonna have to train extra hard to make sur that when Acnologia shows up again, we'll be able to at least survive the encounter."
"And that's why none of us ever want to take quests with you, Lici." Ultear said while shaking her head in a similar manner to Cana. "You always raise flags. And every time you do, the things you say come true and the quests end up being harder than they should be."
"Hey! That has nothing to do with me!" Elicia objected. "It's not like I have some kind of foresight ability. I just sew, even if I'm really good at it. That's all."
'You're a world hopper, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But I'll keep that to myself since only the family know anything about that.'
"Lici's prophetic words aside..." Alfonzo began to say, trying to bring the conversation back on track.
"Fonzie~!" Elicia squealed at her husband's teasing.
"We still need to put everything we have into training." Alfonzo said. "Because regardless of whether Acnologia has his training arc or not..."
"Fonzie~~~!" Elicia squealed once again.
"Ahahaha!" Alfonzo could not help laughing at Elicia's reaction while everyone else giggled at Elicia's misfortune, as well. He then continued once his laughter was under control. "*Cough* *Cough* Anyway, like I was saying, regardless of Acnologia disappearing to train, he's definitely gonna want revenge on us after what happened. So, we need to be at the top of our games if we want to make it through the inevitable rematch."
"Agreed." Mavis said with a nod. She then let her gaze sweep over everyone in the room before continuing. "Because I know that, like me, no one present wants to lose anyone when Acnologia shows up."
Everyone nodded to Mavis' and Alfonzo's words with solemn expressions on their faces while waiting for Mavis to continue. Meanwhile, Mavis turned her attention to Alfonzo.
"And it's likely that Acnologia will find his way to Tenrou Island after he recalls the incident from the past." Mavis said solemnly. "Are you sure that he won't be able to detect the island if he were to check it out?"
"Don't worry about that." Alfonzo replied with a slow, dismissive wave. "I got that taken care of. I put up a barrier that supplements the anti-recognition barrier that was already on the island. So, no one should be able to see, feel, or hear the island unless their part of the guild."
Hearing that, Mavis nodded in satisfaction. However, when she heard Alfonzo's following explanation, she could not help but frown slightly.
"But if that big mother fucker decides to just carpet bomb the whole sea region with his breath attack, well..." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "... there really ain't shit I can do about that."
Mavis was not the only one to frown when Alfonzo's words ended, as everyone present, with the exceptions of Ur and Irene, had taken the S-Class Promotion Exam on Tenrou Island, thus creating unforgettable memories. So, the thought of losing the guild's birthplace was not a thought they wanted to consider.
"Well, I suppose that's the best we can hope for." Mavis said, her tone sounding even more solemn than most of the expressions on the other's faces.
"Not necessarily." Irene said with a shrug.
"What do you mean?" Gildarts asked curiously.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I could relocate the island with enough preparation." Irene replied. "The only issues with that are if we have the time and where we wanna move the island to. [Enchantments] are quite versatile, after all."
The dumbfounded expression on most of the room's occupants made Irene giggle to herself. Yet, before she could bask in the feeling for too long, Mavis snapped her head in Ur's direction.
"Ur!" Mavis shouted urgently.
"I'm on it!" Ur replied just as urgently as she shot to her feet and dashed towards the mansion's front door.
It was obvious to everyone present that Ur was heading towards the guild to get the Fairy's Tail prepped so that she could check the situation at Tenrou Island.
"Alfonzo, do you have a map of Ishgar?" Mavis asked after Ur left.
"Yeah, there's one in my workshop." Alfonzo replied while pulling his lPhone out of his pocket. "I'll ask Grayfia to bring it down."
Shortly afterwards, Alfonzo sent the request to retrieve the map to Grayfia. And only a few minutes later, Grayfia entered the living room and rolled out the map. From there, the group discussed where to relocate Tenrou Island, provided it still existed, when Ur returned.
All the while, Acnologia, who was still trying to recover from having his attack turned back on him, was raging in the mountains of Isvan because the Techno Organic Metal that seeped into his injuries from Alfonzo's [Linear Cannon] were proving harder to remove than he expected. As a result, even though his injuries had healed completely, parts of his body were stiffening, albeit at a slow pace, just like the initial victims of the metal back in Resenbool.