What Happens Twice...

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Akane Beach. 

November, x788. 

Early the next morning, just as the sun began ascending above the horizon. Ao was standing at Akane Beach's pier for visiting vessels. Behind him, a fairly impressive wooden ship equipped with the latest lacrima engine was docked. 

"They should be here soon." Ao muttered while looking towards the pier's entrance. "Then, it will only be a matter of time until the era of the Bloody Mist comes to an end." 

"I'm glad you have so much faith in us." Alfonzo, who was carrying Shizuka in a princess carry while Marin held on to his back, said as he descended in front of Ao in a flash of purple light. 

"Of course, he does." Laxus, who descended next to Alfonzo as a bolt of yellow lightning, added before glancing at Alfonzo with disbelief. "And just when the hell did you get faster than me? I literally turn into lightning to travel." 

"Why does that surprise you so much?" Alfonzo asked with a shrug as he lowered Shizuka to the ground. "I'm better than you at everything else, right? So, it was only a matter of time before speed joined that list." 

Hearing that, Laxus narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on the halberd strapped to his back. 

"It sounds like you're picking a fight, Kid." Laxus said in a combative tone. 

However, instead of rising to the challenge, Alfonzo raised his hands disarmingly as he put on a feigned expression of fear. 

"Oh no! Someone help!" Alfonzo said monotonously. "Laxus is returning to his old ways. He wants to beat me up just because I told a truth that he doesn't like." 

Seeing and hearing Alfonzo's actions and words, Laxus gritted his teeth. However, a moment later, he only turned his head away and snorted disdainfully. 

"You're off the hook this time, Alfonzo." Laxus said. "I know I wouldn't be able to fight you without Elexion. But he doesn't want a fight with you to be his return to the world." 

"I knew you already knew his name, but that's the reason you've never used your [First Release] before?" Alfonzo asked curiously. "Well, not that you probably need it to fight anyone on regular quests, though." 

"Yeah, Elexion is kinda particular about stuff like that." Laxus replied. 

'Well, he might get a decent opponent to how off his might to on this quest.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 

Meanwhile, Ao, who had no idea what Alfonzo and Laxus were talking about, could only look on in wonder, hoping to get more information about Fairy Tail for his village. However, with no context to go off of, what they were saying was just a bunch of random words. Still, he decided to remember them all, just in case he gained the needed context in the future. 

"Anyway, since you're already here, let's board the vessel." Ao said, addressing the four Fairy Tail wizards. "We talked about this yesterday, but we should arrive near the Village Hidden in the Mist around night fall. Hopefully, that will draw less attention from yagura's forces." 

'I seriously doubt that.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I'd be even more on the lookout for anyone approaching the area at night.' 

Despite thinking that, Alfonzo did not voice his thoughts. Instead, he, like the others, followed Ao onto the ship. Then, after a few minutes, the Mist vessel had set sail and was pulling away from the pier. 

Earth Land, Ishgar, Open Seas. 

A few hours after leaving the pier at Akane Resort, the ship reached a sea area that was not part of Fiore's territorial waters. However, it was not part of Caelum's waters, either. Instead, it was a small strip of ocean that would be considered to be international waters. 

"*Sigh* It's been a while since I've been to Caelum." Alfonzo muttered while leaning on the ship's railing and looking out at the water with an iron umbrella floating over him. "Well, I guess I didn't really go to Caelum last time." 

While remembering the destruction of the Tower of Heaven, Alfonzo was pulled out of his thoughts when a familiar weight clung to his back, making his back wet because it had just run through the rain. 

"You're too young to be reminiscing like an old man." Marin said as she wrapped her arms and legs around Alfonzo's neck and torso. "By the way, why are you out here by yourself, anyway?" 

"Just thinking." Alfonzo replied. "Coming to Caelum made me think about the Tower of Heaven, which made me think about my parents and my old village." 

Hearing that, Marin tightened her arms around Alfonzo's neck as she nuzzled her head against his. However, before she could say something to comfort him, Alfonzo sighed loudly. And that sigh was filled with exasperation. 

"Huh? What's wrong, Fonzie?" Marin asked in a confused tone. 

"*Sigh* I really need to stop taking quests that require me to go out to sea." Alfonzo muttered. "I swear, this happens every time." 

"What do you---?" Marin began to ask. However, before she could finish, something entered the range of her [Magic Power Detection], which was much smaller than Alfonzo's. "What is that? So much magic power." 

"It's a god damn Leviathan." Alfonzo spat out. "Anyway, I'll take care of it. Can you let Ao, the captain, and the others know what's going on." 

"Okay." Marin replied as she hopped off Alfonzo's back. 

Without delay, Marin started running towards the vessel's wheel house. However, when she noticed that she was not getting drenched by the rain, she looked up, only to see the metal umbrella that had been floating over Alfonzo following her. 

Even though, Marin did not slow down. Though, the smile on her face was so sweet that staring at it for too long could give people diabetes. 

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, cloaked in violet electricity levitated from the ship's deck. Then, while staring into the water below, he raised his right hand while a conical chunk of metal appeared in front of his outstretched arm. 

"I'm seriously getting tired of these things." Alfonzo muttered as he continued to look down into the water. "I mean, aren't these things supposed to be rare? Yet, this is the third one I've come across this decade." 

A few minutes later, Laxus, Marin, and Ao rushed out of the cabin onto the ship's deck. And when they saw Alfonzo floating over the side of the ship, they readied themselves for battle, as well. 

"Oh, you guys are here already." Alfonzo said without turning back. "Instead of getting ready to fight, you should do your best to make sure the ship doesn't capsize." 

"Are you saying you can deal with whatever's coming alone?" Laxus asked with his arms crossed and tracking the Leviathan's magic power signature with his [Magic Power Detection]. 

"Pretty much." Alfonzo replied. "In fact, if we had been on Sixth Sense, I wouldn't have needed to ask for your help at all. I would have just levitated the ship out of the water, fought the Leviathan, and put it back like nothing happened." 

After saying his piece, Alfonzo's eyebrows rose, as the Leviathan had changed course, moving directly below the ship. Then, he quickly spun around and positioned himself over the middle of the ship. 

"I don't' care how, just move the ship out of the way as fast as possible.!" Alfonzo shouted. 

Laxus and Marin knew why he shouted, but they could do nothing to help. Ao, on the other hand, was confused by Alfonzo's shout. However, his decades of experience as a shinobi honed his sense of danger to a razor's edge. So, he dashed towards the side of the ship while quickly running through a series of hand signs. 

"[Water-Style: Water Colliding Wave]." Ao shouted as he leapt from the deck. 

Turning in midair, Ao coated the bottom of his feet with his magic power. Then, he landed on the water's surface as if it were solid ground and slammed his hands onto the surface, as well. 

In the next instant, a large wave of water shot forth from the point of contact. However, instead of crashing over the ship, it gently lifted the ship and pushed it to the side without flipping it. 

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Railgun]." Alfonzo chanted. 

*Boom!* 

*Splash!* 

As soon as the ship was no longer beneath him, Alfonzo, with laser focus, flicked his index finger at the chunk of metal, sending it down towards the sea's surface. At the same time, the Leviathan, which was charging up at the surface too quickly to change its direction, shot upwards with his mouth open, ready to take a bite out of the ship that was just moved. 

Unfortunately, the only thing waiting for it was a superheated chunk of metal traveling downwards at eight times the speed of sound. Unluckily for the Leviathan, it was aimed into its open mouth. 

As a result, when the rest of the Leviathan's body flew out of the water, it was already dead, its innards completely destroyed by Alfonzo's [Railgun] with the end of its tail blown off. 

Then, as the beast reached the peak of its leap, a raft made from lightweight metal appeared below its carcass, stopping it from crashing into the water and creating another wave. 

"*Sigh* What happens twice will always happen three times." Alfonzo muttered as he looked down at the Leviathan floating on the raft he created. Then, he turned his attention to the ship as he continued. "Anyway, let's keep going. I wanna sell this thing to someone in Caelum." 

With that, Alfonzo floated over to the ship. Along the way, he created a sturdy chain to connect the raft with the ship so they could tow it along for him. 

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia. 

"Hmm?" Elicia hummed in confusion while feeding Amar'e. "Some of Fonzie's magic power is lying on the bottom of the lake. 

"Wha! Wha!" Amar'e clamored while reaching out for Elicia's hand, that had stopped before putting the spoon in his mouth. 

"Oh, sorry Baby." Elicia said with a smile. "I won't make you wait. Heck, sometimes I wanna take your food for myself. So, I know what you mean." 

Like Elicia, anyone who feeds Amar'e often had thoughts of eating his food for themselves. Why? Because Alfonzo makes all of Amar'e's food. 

Though he usually only makes enough for a week at a time. Because he knew he would be going on a quest that could take a while, Alfonzo made enough for a month before freezing it. And it had all kinds of flavors. And Amar'e love them all. He even gets mad in a really cute way whenever anyone takes a little nibble while feeding him. 

Continuing to feed Amar'e, while smiling at the enthusiasm with which Amar'e ate, Elicia pulled out her lPhone and scrolled through her contacts. Then, when she found the name she was looking for, she pressed the button to make the call. 

"Hey, Sun." Elicia said. 

{"Lici, what's wrong?"} Sun asked in a confused, yet concerned, tone. {"You've never called me while we were both at home. Did something happen?" 

"Sorta." Elicia replied. "I just felt some of Fonzie's magic power burrow up from the bottom of the lake, and I'm curious to know what it is. Do you think you could go down there and take a look for me?" 

{"No problem."} Sun replied. {"I'll go out in just a minute. Let me just change into something I don't mind getting wet."} 

"Then, I guess any pair of panties will do, huh?" Elicia asked with a giggle. 

["I guess?"} Sun replied, Elicia feeling that she was probably tilting her head in confusion. {"But since I'll be transforming into my Mermaid form, I probably won't be wearing any."} 

"Sun, please don't ever change." Elicia said, her smile widening as she said so. 

{"Okay?"} Sun replied. {"Anyway, I'll talk to you soon."} 

"Okay, I'll be waiting." Elicia said. 

With that, the call came to an end. Meanwhile, Elicia started scrolling through her contacts again. Then, when she found the name she was looking for, she smiled happily before pressing the button to start a video call. 

{"Hey, Lici."} Alfonzo said happily after accepting the call. {"What's up? Miss me already?"} 

Hearing the sound of Alfonzo's voice, Amar'e, who had just swallowed a mouthful of baby food, snapped his head in the lPhone's direction. Then, he started doing all he could to get to the lPhone. 

"Of course, I do." Elicia replied, her smile widening at the sight of Amar'e's attempt to get to her. "But I think someone else missed you even more than I did." 

Reaching that point, Elicia propped up her lPhone on the table in front of her. Then, she reached over to hold Amar'e in her arms before positioning herself and her son in front of the lPhone's camera. 

"Look, Mar'e, it's Daddy." Elicia said while smiling gently. 

Naturally, Amar'e cooed excitedly at the sight of his father while reaching out for the lPhone. 

Then for the next few minutes, Alfonzo focused all his attention on Amar'e, making funny faces while talking to him. 

"Although letting you see Mar'e was one of the reasons I called, it wasn't the only one, Fonzie." Elicia said without losing her smile. 

{"Oh yeah, what's up?"} Alfonzo asked curiously while still making funny faces at Amar'e. 

"I think you caught something underground." Elicia replied. "Sun just went into the lake to pull it up." 

Hearing that, Alfonzo's eyes narrowed slightly, though he continued to entertain Amar'e through the screen. 

At that moment, Sun, while drying her hair, and Maria, carrying another towel and trying to help Sun dry off, walked into the dining room where Elicia and Amar'e were. 

"Hey, Lici, I pulled that chunk of metal out of the water." Sun said as she took a seat next to Elicia on the couch. 

Sun then picked up Amar'e while she was still a bit wet and gave him a hug. Meanwhile, Amar'e started to giggle. Luckily, him getting wet wasn't such a big deal since he would be getting a bath after eating anyway. 

{"Hey, Sun."} Alfonzo said with a smile. {"Yeah, that was probably one of the guys looking to take Naruto."} 

"Thought so." Elicia said with a shrug. "And if it wasn't we'll have some apologies to make. So, where do you want me to put it?" 

{"Just throw it in the hangar."} Alfonzo replied. {"I'll take care of it when I get back."} 

"Okay, got it." Elicia replied. "Anyway, that was all I wanted. I don't wanna disturb you while you're on your quest. So, I'll talk to you when you get back." 

{"Okay, see you three later."} Alfonzo said with a nod. {"I'll see you when I get back. Love you."}