"She's a ghost, after all. It's probably something like, only Fairy Tail members can see her, or she has to want someone to see her before they can."
Before Ultear could even finish her thought, Mavis spun around lightly and drifted back over.
"That's exactly right. Only people bearing the Fairy Tail emblem can see me. Kabe, not only is your ability quite unique, your mind's sharp too. No wonder Ultear thinks you're qualified to take over as Fourth Master."
"Thanks for the compliment, but the whole Fourth Master thing really isn't for me. Someone else should take that on."
Kabe accepted the praise gracefully, but flatly refused to have anything to do with the damn Fourth Master title, wanting nothing to do with it whatsoever.
Seeing Mavis about to press further, confused, Kabe raised a hand to stop her, a teasing look crossing his face as he turned the question back on her.
"First Master, you even caught that bit about the Fourth Master? Sounds like you've been watching us from the trees for quite a while now."
"Ah, well, that's..."
Mavis went momentarily speechless and quickly turned her head away, avoiding Kabe's knowing gaze.
Fortunately, they'd just arrived in front of Fairy Tail's guild hall right then, and Mavis's eyes lit up as she seized the opportunity to change the subject, staring up at the guild building that looked nothing like the one in her memories.
"Look! We're here! Wow, it's a whole new building, so much grander and more beautiful than the wooden one we used to have, and it's expanded so much too."
Not pushing the earlier topic any further, Kabe nodded along, reflecting.
"When I first joined, the guild was still the old building from your time. But under the Third Master's leadership, our membership just kept growing. On top of that, the original building ended up destroyed at one point, so the Master had no choice but to tear down what remained and build the current one on top of it."
Recalling the day Fairy Tail was first founded, then looking at the guild hall before her now, entirely transformed yet unmistakably new, Mavis felt a pang of wistfulness, but nodded in understanding all the same.
"It's fine. No matter how much the guild's appearance changes, our hearts remain connected. As long as the ideals Fairy Tail was founded on haven't changed, it's still the same guild."
"Heh, that part definitely hasn't changed. The Master's done a great job keeping that spirit alive and well."
"Is that so. Then I can rest easy."
Just as Kabe and Ultear stood there reminiscing with Mavis at the entrance, the guild's front doors suddenly burst open with a violent kick, and Erza came storming out fully armored and radiating hostility, with Mirajane, Sorano, Lucy, and a whole crowd of others trailing behind her.
"Erza?"
"Kabe?"
The two groups came face to face in front of the guild, staring at each other in mutual surprise.
"What's going on here?"
Kabe frowned, taking in Erza and Mirajane's murderous expressions, along with the worried faces of the guild members behind them.
At that, Erza's jaw clenched, her fists tightening as she spat out through gritted teeth.
"It's Natsu, Happy, and that idiot Gray. The three of them went and took an S Class job on their own. We're heading out to hunt them down right now."
"An S Class job?"
Hearing that, both Kabe and Ultear's brows furrowed.
"Those three idiots. Are they that impatient to get themselves killed?"