The sight before him made Gildarts instinctively take half a step forward. "Th-this... is the First Master?"
Makarov walked slowly up to the magic crystal. Gazing at the girl slumbering inside, his eyes brimmed with complicated feelings. "That's right. She's one of our guild's founders, the First Master known as the 'Fairy Strategist'—Mavis Vermillion.
The underground chamber fell into a brief hush, the only sound the soft glow emanating from the magic crystal.
Hope stared at Mavis's serene sleeping face. Even through the crystal he could sense the faint vitality radiating from her small body.
Mavis's body was still alive!
In that instant, Hope remembered the dark secret Ivan had once hinted at—the one that must never be revealed. He'd never imagined it was the First Master herself, declared dead by the Second Master eighty-eight years ago.
Wakaba had told him that after Mavis's death, Precht the Second Master had buried her on the guild's sacred ground, Tenrou Island.
Yet it seemed Tenrou Island held only an empty tomb; Precht had secretly sealed Mavis's true form here beneath the guild.
"Master, preserving the First Master's body hardly calls for spatial magic this elaborate, or such extreme secrecy."
Hope cut straight to the heart of it. "This magic crystal—or rather, the First Master herself—must be tied to some power, some secret."
Makarov shot him a long look; the young man's sharp perception no longer surprised him.
"You're right, Hope."
He sighed, awe and deep worry mingling in his gaze. "The First Master's body is Fairy Tail's greatest secret—Lumen Histoire!"
Lumen Histoire was also called Fairy Heart.
It was one of the world's rarest 'Perpetual Magics'.
Eighty-eight years ago, Mavis had died for reasons unknown, but Precht—Makarov's teacher and the Second Master—had detected a faint spark of life still clinging to her remains.
Precht thought of the magic crystal said to revive the dead, buried deep beneath the guild. Quietly, he sealed Mavis within it.
No miracle of resurrection occurred.
The crystal could only preserve a corpse, preventing decay and the ravages of time.
Yet that same trait let the faint spark in Mavis endure, giving Precht Hope he might yet bring her back.
He tried every resurrection spell, even forbidden black arts, but nothing worked.
Still, genius that he was, Precht eventually discovered the truth behind Mavis's strange condition.
It was the curse of Ankhseram from ancient legend—granting eternal life yet eternal spiritual torment. Because it bestowed immortality while inflicting unending pain, it was known as the 'Curse of Contradiction'.
Mavis's mind had perished, but the curse kept her body ever alive.
Realizing the danger, Precht buried the truth, announcing her death to the world.
After erecting a cenotaph on Tenrou Island, he continued his quest to revive her while shouldering the burden of the guild.
In the thirtieth year of his tenure, that research took an unforeseen turn.
Precht's peerless knowledge and talent fused with the Curse of Contradiction to birth a miraculous spell.
A magic great enough to overturn the entire magical world.
That was the Perpetual Magic—Fairy Heart.
Precht felt uneasy at what he'd unwittingly created; instinct warned that pressing on would spell doom for himself and all of Fairy Tail.
So he halted the research and sealed the chamber away from the world.
Not until he passed the guild to Makarov, the Third Master, did a second soul learn the truth.
Listening, Gildarts's jaw dropped. "A curse from a legendary god... a Perpetual Magic called Fairy Heart... incredible."
Hope merely quipped, "Master, compared with the Second, his pupil seems a bit lacking outside of brawls, don't you think?"
The solemn atmosphere shattered at once.
As Makarov rolled up his sleeves, Gildarts quickly changed the subject. "Why spar with the kid? More importantly, what does Fairy Heart actually do that made the Second Master abandon thirty years of research?"
Makarov turned to the crystal, his expression graver than ever.
"Fairy Heart holds limitless magic power."
"What?!"
Gildarts's eyes bulged.
No wonder Precht had been uneasy; once word got out, chaos would erupt.
An endless font of magic would draw not only dark guilds but so-called righteous mages, all baring fangs of greed.
And Fairy Tail would stand at the very center of that storm.
Hope wasn't worried.
Bluntly put, with him around, no force in Ishgar could touch Fairy Tail.
Reading that confidence, Makarov sighed. "A terrible power has already set its sights on Fairy Heart."
"The Alvarez Empire that rules the western continent."
Gildarts's eyes narrowed. "Then the sudden western invasion a few years ago... its real goal was Fairy Heart?"
Makarov nodded. "Though the Council stopped the war with the threat of Anima, something felt off, so I sent Mest to infiltrate the Council and gather intelligence on Alvarez."
"I see."
Now Hope understood Mest's covert mission. "Don't worry, Master. If it comes to it, I'll stroll through the west and drag their emperor back to dance for the guild."
Such crude disrespect... Makarov's eyelid twitched, yet facing Hope's overwhelming Magnetic Field Power, he could only sigh—times had changed.
"By the way, there's one thing I forgot to mention."
Makarov stroked his beard, eyeing Hope and Gildarts with mischief. "Fairy Heart is a secret only the guild master may know. Are you two ready to become the Fourth Master?"
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