Mystogan's Return

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

September 17, x785.

"Today's the day." Mystogan, who just stepped through an Anima gate into the living room of his house in Magnolia, said. Then, after looking at the clock on the wall, which read, 4:15 a.m., he nodded in satisfaction. "And I'm right on time, too."

A moment later, Coco, who was also invited to attend the wedding stepped through the Anima gate, as well.

"Is this really the world where Lily and the others were sent to?" Coco asked as she looked around.

"It is." Mystogan replied with a nod while making his way over to the coffee table. "You should be able to see him later on during the ceremony and reception."

Hearing that, Coco smiled brightly as she stepped away from the gate. Shortly afterwards, the gate closed. Though, the sound of a female voice asking to be brought along could be heard until the gate closed completely.

"I can only imagine the trouble Captain Knightwalker would cause if she were to attend the wedding, as well." Mystogan said while shaking his head as he picked up the magic item lying on the coffee table.

"So, what are we supposed to do now, Your Majesty?" Coco asked. Though, it was obvious she was more interested in seeing Elicia and exploring than anything else.

"Wel…."" Mystogan replied as he looked up at the clock on the wall. "It looks like we have an hour or so until I'm supposed to act. So, I don't see why we can't explore the town for a short while. Though, at this time of day, there won't be much to see."

Hearing that, Coco's eyes lit up immediately. Then, she nodded her head vigorously, not caring that most, if not all, of the townsfolk would still be fast asleep.

After putting on his mast, hood, and cloak, Mystogan, with the magic item in hand, led Coco out of the small house. Then, he showed her around the dark, quiet town. And while there were a few people moving around due to coming home from the few bars in Magnolia, like Mystogan told Coco, there was not much to see. Still, Coco was enamored by everything she saw.

"Oh, and Coco…" Mystogan said as he reached the central plaza.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Coco asked, excitement still shining in her eyes.

"While we're here, you can't call me 'Your Majesty'." Mystogan continued. "You have to remember, in this world, I'm not a king. I'm just an S-Class wizard from a Legal Guild."

Hearing that, Coco frowned slightly. AT this point, she could not imagine Mystogan being anything other than royalty. However, because she understood the situation, her frown smoothed out a moment later before she nodded her head in understanding.

"Then, what should I call you?" coco asked curiously.

"Call me Mystogan." Mystogan replied. "Just like everyone else."

"Understood, Your Majes… I mean, Mystogan." Coco said with a salute.

"You should probably not salute me, either." Mystogan replied with a wry smile. "Anyway, it should be about time for me to act."

As he spoke, Mystogan pulled one of the magic staves off his back. Then, with Alfonzo's magic item in one hand, he used the other to slam the end of his stave into the cobble stone at the center of the plaza.

"[Sleep]." Mystogan chanted.

A moment later, mist began to spread from the contact point of the stave and the cobble stone road. Then, at high speed, it spread towards the edges of the central plaza. And as the mist spread, Mystogan bent forward and placed the magic item on the ground next to his stave.

Once the magic item was on the ground and had absorbed a small amount of the mist, the mist began spreading even faster, eventually covering all of Magnolia, including the Fairy Tail guild hall, Alfonzo and Elicia's mansion, the Seto Families' mansion, and the whole of Lake Sciliora.

"That Alfonzo truly is a genius." Mystogan said as he marveled at the increased power of his spell.

*Thud!*

Meanwhile, as Mystogan watched his spell spread, Coco, who had no magic power to speak of, fell unconscious before falling to the ground.

"I didn't think it would affect Coco, too." Mystogan said as he leaned down to pick up Coco in one arm. "The spell was calibrated to only affect those with magic power flowing through their bodies."

In fact, Mystogan's assumption was completely wrong about why Coco fell asleep. Instead of the spell causing her to pass out, it was because of her taut nerves.

Ever since Mystogan asked her to accompany him to Earth Land, Coco had been bouncing off the walls in excitement. And as the day drew nearer, so did her excitement increase, having not slept the night before departure.

Finally, after more than a full day of anticipation, she finally fell asleep.

"I hope she wakes up in time for the wedding." Mystogan said as he held Coco in one arm. "It would be a pity if she were unable to see Elicia get married."

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Fiore Airspace.

At the same time, a gigantic structure covered in brick and stone, with a metal base, a magnificently maintained lawn, and an artificial shoreline, was flying towards Magnolia from the direction of Cedar. However, it seemed as if no one on the ground noticed it passing by. And the reason for that was simple. Thanks to Alfonzo's control over the visible light spectrum, because of his [Electromagnetism Magic], the entire gigantic structure was invisible from the ground.

"I can't believe this is really happening." Laxus said from the edge of the structure that would act as an artificial island once it was placed in the center of Lake Sciliora. "Your crazy ass is really flying this big ass mansion over Fiore."

"Yeah, this is incredible." Alzack added. "I always knew you were strong, but this is more than I could have ever imagined."

"Seriously." Gray said with astonishment in his expression. A moment later, however, he looked back to Alfonzo with concern. "But how are your magic power reserves? This can't be easy, right?"

"Yeah, it's pretty taxing." Alfonzo replied with a proud smile. "But if we continue at this pace, I should still have a quarter of my reserves left when we touch down."

"Damn, how much magic power do you actually have?' Laxus asked, turning his attention away from the scenery.

"Only a little more than you." Alfonzo replied. "But mine is much denser than yours."

"So, it's because of that compression exercise you told me about, huh?" Laxus muttered. "I guess I should work on that seriously, too."

"You mean you haven't been doing it?" Alzack asked in a surprised tone. "But Alfonzo told you about it… Almost a year ago, right?"

Hearing that, Gray also looked at Laxus incredulously.

"Seriously, even Fried, Bickslow, and Evergreen have been doing it." Gray muttered.

"Look, old habits die hard, alright?" Laxus said, looking away to hide his blush as he did so. "I'm still getting used to taking advice from Alfonzo."

In response, Alfonzo, Alzack, and Gray could not help but laugh. Then, after a few moments, they noticed that there was someone missing from the conversation. Simultaneously, the four turned their gazes towards the last member of their little group, Elfman.

When they finally laid their eyes on him, Elfman, with his eyes bulging and his fists clenched, was staring at the scenery below. At the same time, he looked like he was really struggling with something.

Naturally, Laxus, Alzack, and Gray were thoroughly confused by Elfman's expression and behavior. Alfonzo, on the other hand, had a pretty good idea of what was wrong with him.

"*Sigh* You can go on ahead and say it, Elfman." Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone. "Just make sure to put a lid on that shit during the ceremony, alright."

Hearing that, Laxus, Alzack, and Gray had the light of realization flash through their eyes. Meanwhile, Elfman took a deep breath. Then, he breathed out a sigh of relief. A moment later, he clenched his fists tightly, raised them over his head, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"There's nothing like flying through the sky on an island!" Elfman shouted, his voice echoing through the surroundings. "This is how you travel like a real man~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

"I don't' even know why I didn't see that coming." Gray said in an exasperated tone.

"Seriously? Can't he say anything else in a situation like this?" Alzack added.

"Even though he's right…" Laxus continued. "But when I hear him say it, I just wanna kick him off the edge for some reason."

In response, Alzack and Gray nodded in agreement.

"We're almost there." Alfonzo said, breaking up the atmosphere. "I can even feel his spell. And just like I thought, my new amplification magic item worked like a fucking charm."

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

Hearing what Alfonzo said, Laxus, Alzack, Gray, and Elfman all stopped what they were doing to look in the direction of Magnolia. And to their surprise, it was completely covered in mist as high as the top floor of the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"What the hell is up with all that mist?" Gray asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, is the town under attack?" Alzack asked, reaching towards his holsters as he spoke.

"We gotta get down there!" Elfman said, flaring his magic power to cast his [Take Over Magic].

"That mist, it feels kind of familiar." Laxus said, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at the town. A moment later, after opening his eyes wide in realization, he looked back at Alfonzo with a shocked expression on his face. "So, he's the last groomsman, huh?"

Hearing that, Alzack, Gray, and Elfman were taken aback and pulled out of their battle ready states. Then, like Laxus, they looked in Alfonzo's direction to hear an answer to Laxus' question.

"I'm not surprised you were the only one who recognized that mist, Laxus." Alfonzo said with a smile. "The other three always fell right to sleep whenever it came into the guild hall in the past."

"So, it really is him, huh?" Laxus said while rubbing his chin.

"It really is who?" Alzack asked, releasing his pistols in the process.

"Yeah, stop acting all mysterious." Gray added.

"Exactly, real men just say what's on their minds." Elfman said loudly.

*Sigh!* x 4

In response, and while feeling that the atmosphere had been shattered, Alfonzo, Laxus, Alzack, and Gray sighed in unison.

"He's talking about Mystogan." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head with a wry smile on his face. "He always used this spell whenever he came to take a quest. I gave y'all the same hint earlier, before we took off, remember?"

"Oh, now that you mention it…" Alzack replied.

"Yeah, but before we could think about it for too long…" Gray said, continuing from where Alzack left off.

"This moron shouted that shit about being a real man and broke our concentration." Laxus said, finishing the thought.

"Did I?" Elfman asked, confusion evident in his tone.

*Sigh!* x 4

Once again, the other four sighed in unison.

"It's to the point that he doesn't even remember saying it anymore, huh?" Alfonzo muttered while shaking his head.

In response, Laxus, Alzack, and Gray nodded their heads in understanding while Elfman continued to be confused.

Eventually, the flying artificial island flew over the town before reaching Lake Sciliora. A few moments later, after lining up the long pedestal at the bottom of the island with the base he had buried under the lake floor, Alfonzo lowered the island into the lake.

"Gray!" Alfonzo shouted as the floating island broke the surface of the lake. "I need you to freeze the displaced water! Fast!"

"On it!" Gray shouted back as he made his casting gesture. "[Ice Make: Rose Garden]."

In the next instant, All the water that overflowed from the lake was frozen before being molded into giant ice roses that surrounded the lake.

"Not bad." Laxus said with his arms crossed. "Nice touch."

"Yeah, it's really fitting for the occasion." Alzack said while nodding in agreement."

"Tch! Don't treat me like I'm as dumb as Natsu." Gray replied with a scoff while clicking his tongue.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo was focused on fusing the base with the pedestal extending down from the rest of the floating island. Then, once he was done, he could finally release his tension.

"*Sigh* It's finally done." Alfonzo said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead as he did so. Then, he looked over to Laxus before continuing. "Laxus, can you send up a bolt of lightning to get Mystogan's attention? That way, he'll know that he can stop his spell."

"Sure." Laxus replied with a shrug as he raised his right hand into the air.

"But why don't we just go get him?" Alzack asked in a curious tone.

"Yeah, I'll go get him." Elfman said as he prepared to leave the island.

"If you want to fall asleep before you can even get to the shore, be my guest." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "But this time, Mystogan's spell is strong enough to even put Gildarts to sleep… I think…"

With that, Elfman came to a complete and sudden stop. At the same time, Laxus lightning bolt lit up the sky, drawing Mystogan's attention.

About half an hour later, as the mist produced by Mystogan's spell slowly dissipated, Mystogan arrived at the shore of Lake Sciliora with Coco fast asleep in his arms and a completely dumbfounded look in his eyes.

"Is this what he was talking about when he came to ask for my help?" Mystogan mumbled while he gazed upon the floating island with the giant mansion standing atop it. "This is even more impressive than I had imagined."

Shortly after Mystogan arrived, Alfonzo brought Laxus, Alzack, Gray, Elfman, and Mystogan to a room where Mystogan could lay Coco down and they could discuss the plans for tomorrow.