Family

Alex and Mavis talked for a very long time. She wasn't too sure how she felt about being alive again and also didn't really believe Alex when he said that her curse would no longer kill the people she loved. That part took the most explaining.

Mavis had used her ghost body to move around Tenrou Island as soon as the group had landed to start their trials. She hadn't been able to fully get it to gain full consciousness until Grimiore Heart showed up. The fighting spirit and the 'power of feelings' that suffused the island while they were battling for their lives had allowed her to move freely around the island. Even being dragged back into her real body she had kept all those memories and she was able to give Alex a little bit of a glimpse into what had happened on the island.

The members of Grimoire Heart had vastly outclassed most of the members of Fairy tail. Natsu, Gray, and Laxus had stood out though. Natsu beat their flame user to a pulp. The guy had boasted about nobody being able to eat the god fire, but Natsu hadn't even hesitated to eat it and claim it as his own. It didn't even have any negative effects on him. Laxus completely destroyed a Plant mage that tried to cut down the tenrou tree. It had been one sided from the get go as the guy didn't seem to be able to defend against him. Gildarts had straight up killed a guy with sideburns that tried to kill Cana, going full protective mode and not letting up until he was just many small pieces on the ground, leveling half the island in the process. Gray fought a goat man to a standstill while protecting Lucy and they beat him by doing something Mavis wasn't sure of, using spirit magic.

Mavis hadn't personally witnessed any of the other fights but she did mention feeling Makarov fighting with Prect, or Hades. She didn't know why her old friend was there or even how he was still alive but it made her very sad to see him trying to kill the members of the guild they had made together. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to speak with him before Grimiore Heart retreated, taking all of their injured members and leaving the dead ones.

Alex didn't know how he was supposed to feel about the fact that most of his guild members would have blood on their hands now as they usually made a great effort just to beat their opponents and not kill them. This battle had been different though. His own hands were soaked with blood at this point, but he didn't know how the younger members of the guild would handle it.

Mavis went on to tell Alex how she thought it was wonderful the bonds this new fairy tail had created with each other. The power that they could draw on when working together was immense and it stirred her soul in ways she couldn't explain. Alex asked her about the events that led to her casting Fairy-sphere and she told him of the battle with a black dragon. It had come out of nowhere and started attacking the dragon slayers on the island, though it seemed to just be toying with them. It took a combined attack with all the dragon slayers and Gildarts at full power before the dragon got serious and started charging its breath attack. Seeing no way to escape or defeat the now airborne foe, the group joined hands to accept their fates. Mavis was able to use the love they had for each other and their overwhelming feelings to cast the ultimate defense spell, Fairy-Sphere.

"Can you undo the spell? It has been active for almost 20 months", Alex asked when Mavis had reached this point in the story. "I can't yet. When I had cast it, I was in my projection form. Knowing that it would put me temporarily unconscious, I set a minimum of two years before it could be lifted. I'm afraid even I won't be able to change that", she said sadly. "The good news is, it should be only four more months though", she followed up a little more cheerfully.

"Hmmm, I guess that's acceptable. You might have to explain to the rest of the guild who you are and also tell them that. Their spirits have been quite down since the disappearance. I would also like to know what you plan to do now that you are alive again?" Alex asked.

"I will tell them. But I would really like to stay here and get to know the guild members. I have always seen the guild as my family and would love to get to know the new generation. So can I stay?" Mavis asked with puppy eyes. Alex laughed at the very young looking girl.

"It is totally fine with me. I also don't see any of the others having any issues with you staying on. You were the one who created this home for all of us after-all", Alex replied with a smile. Mavis' face brightened right up and she started cheering.

"Oh! By the way. How much of Prects' experimentation were you aware of", Alex asked curiously. He wanted to tell her something that was going to sound like bullshit, and needed to know if she was aware of it beforehand.

"Umm.. Not really any of the earlier stuff. Why?" she asked in confusion.

"Because I stumbled upon something odd in my travels and research. According to some questionable data I was able to find (memories of a past lives story), you had a child during the time Prect was trying to revive you. Since he assumed the father was Zeref, the very man that 'killed' you, he abandoned the boy instead of giving him a place in Fairy tail", Alex said. Upon reaching this point, Mavis was crying freely, sadness and confusion painting her features. She didn't interrupt but the thoughts of the man she had loved and a potential child seemed to crush her.

"I traced those stories back and even followed multiple leads that led me to the distant continent of Alikitasia. The boy lives and was even found and raised by Zeref, though Zeref doesn't seem to know of the relationship between the two of them. He is an old man at this point and is called August, the Wizard King", Alex said, still watching the crying Mavis. "I have made no attempts to meet him or even Zeref. The empire that he is a part of is highly militarized and doesn't play nice with others. So I never really had a reason to snoop past general curiosity", Alex finished.

Mavis cried in silence for a while before muttering, "Why would he abandon him? What harm could a child cause? He could have raised him properly".

"From what I could gather, it was because the boy possessed an immense magical power that he seemingly couldn't control. Though I have know way of knowing for sure the exact circumstances", Alex replied. He knew she wasn't actually asking him, but felt she would probably like an answer anyway. His words snapped Mavis out of her thoughts.

"We must go get him! Can you take me to him? I wanna see him!" Mavis asked frantically. Alex had to stop her and get her to calm the hell down.

"Look! I know you want to see him. He is your child, it would only be natural. But how are you going to explain that? Did you forget that he is practically a king? You can't just go to the castle and say he is your son, you look like you could be his great, great-grandchild", Alex said in a deadpanned tone.

"I... Well.. I don't care!" Mavis started, her voice becoming firmer. "I have to at least try. He is family. I could never turn my back on my family if I could help it", she said with conviction.

"Hmmm. That is a good mind-set. I'll make a deal with you. First settle the matters with the guild and grant them the hope they so desperately desire towards their own family, the missing members. And I will sneak you into a meeting with August. I am confident in my abilities to get you in unnoticed and to even keep the Wizard King from attacking us. Deal?" Alex said, making Mavis smile. She didn't know what his abilities actually were, but he had to be proficient in magic to be able to fuse Fairy-heart with her and also remove part of a divine curse. "Deal!" she shouted quickly while holding out her hand to shake on it.

Alex and Mavis made their way to the main guild room and instantly brought the semi-lively atmosphere to a silent halt. Alex started by explaining who Mavis was and how she was alive. He also told of how it was her projection that cast the fairy-sphere spell that had saved their friends. At that point, they had the undivided attention of the entire guild and Alex let Mavis go on to explain the circumstances surrounding the spell and the time limit on it.

Just knowing the members were truly alive brought massive cheers from the guild and the mood was rapidly rising. Mira joined Alex when Mavis was done with her speech and was socializing with the rest of the guild. "Is it all true?" she asked as she fought tears.

"Yes, all of it is. Your siblings are alive, our family is alive", Alex said as he wrapped Mira in a tight hug. The tension of the past couple weeks began bleeding off and he noticed a few tears falling from his own eyes. Mira noticed as well and they shared a happy chuckle before she kissed him deeply. She alone knew the effort he had been putting forward in this event. They were pulled out of the deep kiss by the cheers of the guild and they noticed they had drawn the attention of everyone. They laughed happily and threw the biggest party the city had seen since the disappearance of the rowdy members.

The atmosphere was rowdy and pleasant and even drew in many passing members of Magnolia's civilians. It had been a long time since the city had seen Fairytail so active and it brought many of the rowdier youngsters that had partied with them in the past. As more people joined, it just got better.

The wizards were shooting fireworks over the city and raising general chaos, though nobody got injured. At least not until the rival guild that shared Magnolia tried joining in the fun. Twilight Ogre showed up to see what the commotion was all about. Like the rest of the city, they were welcomed to the party.

Once they got a little drunk though, Twilight Ogre started issuing challenges to the members of Fairytail. They were good natured and were about even in the victories. One poor sap challenged Alex, the bet being that he got to take Mira home for the night. He apparently didn't believe the rumors of Alex's strength or his actual relationship with Mira, because he had made the challenge loudly making the whole party grind to an eerily quiet halt. Alex and Mira both frowned, this kind of thing tended to ruin parties and they were finally having a good time after many weeks of depression.

Alex could see a couple of the less violence-prone members start moving forward to stop any conflict but acted before they could. "You don't have anything that could match that bet, not even your life is worth it. But if you want to fight, I'd be happy to oblige", He said with an evil smile that made many people gulp and step back. Mira only chuckled darkly, as did a few other members of Fairytail.

The poor drunk fool refused to leave peacefully when his friends tried pulling him away. The drunk idiot charged at Alex with a roar as he channeled his very subpar magic power. Quicker than anyone, except Mira, could follow Alex kicked the man center mass and sent him flying with a sonic-boom of displaced air. He had intentionally held back a lot so as to not kill the guy, and with a little magic made it so his one way trip would end at the Twilight Ogre guild-hall. Hopefully taking a couple of the walls out.

Seeing how fast the fight was over, the rest of Twilight Ogre just stood there dumbly. "Looks like he was in such a hurry to head to bed that he took the express route back to your guild-hall. He will probably need some time to sleep off the alcohol", Alex said with a smirk. His words were met with cheers and the party started back up. Everyone was laughing good naturedly but the Twilight Ogre guys all left. The music started back up and people started dancing, Alex and Mira being no exceptions.