Wizard King
Alex and Mira escorted the excitable Mavis off the teleport pad and out of the tunnel that housed it. They had just made it on to the continent of Alikitasia and were located somewhere at the edge of the Alvarez empire. Mavis had been a bundle of excitable energy and questions. She didn't seem to want to believe how different the current technology of the world was compared to what she had known when they founded Fairytail. She was also fascinated by all the stories and the rumors going around about the members of her guild, Alex and Mira especially.
They were known throughout Ishgar as the Demon King & Queen of Fairytail. They had gained these monikers after starting a war with the dark guild Tartaros and practically obliterating them. Alex didn't know who had given the information to the magazine and newspapers, but at the rate it was spreading and the details involved, he guessed it was the councils doing.
They had been asked many times by the magazine, sorcerer's weekly, to do interviews and photo-shoots. Had it not been for Mira actually wanting to do that, Alex would have kept declining. The first interviewer had gone well off topic and started asking about the 'Industrial Empire' Alex had started, almost causing Alex and Mira to walk out. It took the flamboyant reporter/photographer, Jason, kicking the first guy out and veering back on topic that kept the interview alive. People had been dejected to find out the rumors about Mira being 'unavailable' were true, and Sorcerer Weekly even did a post about them being the 'Hottest New Couple' in the Wizard world. The photo-shoots were fun, but that was mostly because of the very eccentric Jason.
Looking around the beautiful untouched landscape the trio found themselves in, Alex couldn't help but once again marvel at the natural beauty of the world. The atmosphere was pleasant and Mavis acting like a child made him chuckle from time to time. One would never be able to tell that Mavis was actually a very smart and full grown lady, from her actions. She was running around smelling flowers and even trying to talk to various critters that showed up to look at the odd ball of energy that was Mavis Vermillion.
Alex gave Mavis one of the 'Aera' flight packs, so she could fly with them. There was never a concern about her magic running out of energy and even her control over magic was so high that Alex didn't even need to teach her how to operate the flight pack. They flew towards Vistarion at a decent speed. They mostly flew in silence, but there were often comments about something particularly exciting within the landscape.
Approaching the city, they could see the wall of castle-like skyscrapers that completely surrounded it. One also couldn't miss the massive palace at the center of it all as it towered well above all the other structures within the city. Alex got Mavis and Mira to fly closer to him before wrapping them up in his {Stealth} domain. They didn't bother to go to the front gate and check in properly, instead choosing to head straight for the palace.
The last time Alex had been near Vistarion, the Aura's of the Spriggan's within the city had been a little terrifying to him. After the war with the Demons and his own power sky-rocketing as a result, he did not feel the same. They were still very powerful and individually were stronger than the Demons of Tartaros, but aside from two of the Spriggan's, all the rest wielded magic. Magic would be nullified by his shield completely and there was only one of the Spriggans that could remove the shield, and even he couldn't do it unless he actually knew what Alex was doing or had watched him cast the shield. The two Etherious Demons that were part of the Spriggan Twelve were the only real threat to him right now, but they were not within the city. Alex didn't know why that was, but he wasn't going to complain.
They walked through the palace in general silence, just appreciating the construction of the place. Mavis was stunned at Alex's ability to go unnoticed and even thought it was a complete cheat. Alex could only agree with her, he knew it was a cheat too but wasn't the only one in this world that could do it. His was just the most advanced. Funnily enough, his magic sight made this same 'cheat magic' completely useless against him. He was able to confirm this after they had walked past the hidden form of the assassin, Jacob Lessio. Alex didn't know what the man was doing except being creepy as he didn't seem to have an actual goal, choosing to just skulk around the palace in stealth.
After a few hours of walking around the unfamiliar Palace, they eventually made it to a room closer to the top of the main keep. Sitting at his desk doing paperwork was the 'Wizard King' himself. The trio just stood there and watched him silently for a few moments so Mavis could get herself under control. Alex sent pulses of magic though the area to see if the room was being watched or they would be interrupted. Finding nothing of note, he turned to Mavis to see what she wanted to do. She was still staring at August with tears in her eyes.
Feeling the Gaze on himself, August looked up and eventually sent out pulses of detection magic when he couldn't sense anyone. "Is that you Jacob? What are you doing?" the old man asked calmly. Jacob had been one of the only ones to remain undetected by his magic. August could use the Stealth magic too, but never felt the need to. Nobody but the emperor and Irene were his match anyway.
Not getting a response, but clearly still feeling a gaze on his body he started getting annoyed. Channeling an Ice spell that would freeze everything in the room, August waited for the intruder to show themselves. Alex took a few seconds to study the spell August was holding before using {Mana Manipulation} to cancel it mid-cast, startling August and increasing his curiosity. "Won't you show yourself?" he asked, Jacob did not possess the ability to cancel his magic. Alex turned to the open door they had come in and shut it. Locking it for good measure he turned back to August. The old man's attention had been drawn to the door, but he still showed no signs of fear or even confusion. Just simple curiosity.
Alex dropped his {Stealth} domain and Augusts' eyebrows shot up in surprise. Whether it was from his inability to copy Alex's stealth domain or the fact the magic had been hiding three people he couldn't detect, was unknown. With his years of experience dealing with powerful people, August could tell right away that in terms of sheer power, both the male and the little girl were a massive threat. The young lady standing next to the man, while possessing a decent amount of strength herself, was not someone he would have to fear. Trailing his eyes once more over the two he perceived as threats, August stopped at Mavis. His pupils dilated before he narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you, and why have you taken that form?" he practically growled. His immense magic power at birth had given him eidetic memory, allowing him to remember everything from the day he was born, this was also how his 'Copy' magic had become so strong. He knew who his parents were and even how he was abandoned at birth by the, at the time, master of Fairytail. How could he possibly not recognize his own dead mother?
Seeing August start to prepare his magic to attack, Alex stepped forward and allowed his {Fel-Fire} to play over his body. He knew of August's ability to copy magic, but had absolute faith he couldn't copy this one. {Fel-fire} was just too unnatural. Like he had hoped, feeling the incredibly dangerous flames that he couldn't copy had stopped August cold. "If we were to fight, I can promise that most of this city would go up in flames. This fire is very special, now sit back down and just listen to her. You might actually not hate what is going on here", Alex said calmly, though his words came off more as an order than he had intended.
August did as instructed and sat back down. Mavis sat across from him and they just stared at each other in silence for a while. Mavis eventually began speaking, she was telling her story from her own point of view and the fact that she had never known of him. She explained how she had regained 'life' and even how she had wanted to come here to meet him as soon as she had learned of his existence. Alex and Mira had stayed off to the side, not wanting to interfere in the conversation. To give them the feeling of being alone, he had even re-activated his {Stealth} domain.
Alex and Mira had been keeping an eye on Mavis while at the same time trying their hardest to not eavesdrop on the sad conversation taking place in front of them. Mavis and August had been speaking for hours now, with August doing most of the talking. From an outsider's point of view, it appeared August had accepted the fact this was real. Alex didn't know how he would take the news if he was in August's position and was silently impressed how the old man kept his cool. Their conversation was beginning to die down when something unexpected happened.
A swirl of multi-colored light appeared in the room. Alex would have missed it if he wasn't using his mana-sight periodically to keep himself entertained. When the light dispersed, an invisible Jacob took its place. 'He teleported in so he didn't have to use the door, interesting. I wonder if he was called by August or if this is standard practice for the guy', Alex thought as he watched the form move near August. Alex watched what appeared to be Jacob and August having a telepathic communication before Jacob started moving around the room, slowly scanning it. 'Is he looking for us? Was August only listening to Mavis to buy time for this dude to show up?' Alex thought curiously. He sent out a pulse of magic to scan the area and was happy to note that there hadn't been any other preparations made. This told him that the whole encounter with Jacob was either random or the assassin had great faith in his abilities to handle the situation alone.
Seeing that nobody else would be coming, Alex changed his domain. Removing the Stealth aspect of it and making it isolate only sound before covering the entire room. Having Mira appear alone confused Mavis and August but Jacobs eyes widened in delight. Alex watched as Jacob moved toward Mira with a glint in his eye. August put his hand to his head quickly in what Alex could only associate with telepathy. He knew the target had been Jacob as the invisible dude stopped in his tracks. A minute went by before he shook his head and continued for Mira. Alex wasn't sure what was happening, but if this guy thought he was going to touch Mira he was dead wrong. When Jacob got within grabbing distance of Mira and made the first attempt to touch her, Alex acted. A clawed demonic hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Jacob by the throat. "I am going to give you only one chance to explain yourselves before I kill this man", Alex said in a dark voice, his eyes glancing between August and the now scared assassin.
Alex didn't let the assassin talk, and after only one attempt to get out of the situation he was in, the assassin found himself completely unable to use magic at all. Alex had sealed it and even added a cursed lock to keep the seal there forever unless he removed it. Effectively making him a mundane civilian. Once Jacob had his magic sealed, Alex threw him to the side of the room. He knew the guy had steel weapons on his person and even guns but without his magic to augment them or hide them, he wasn't a threat to anyone in this room. Alex hadn't taken his eyes off the Wizard King, letting him know that he still hadn't answered his question.
August was a little stunned that he had seen yet another magic that he was unable to copy, not realizing that this one wasn't magic at all, but a curse. When he snapped back out of his stunned state he started berating Jacob for doing the exact opposite of what he told him to do. Jacob had come to check on August when he had missed his scheduled meeting, something August had never done before. August had told him that he was fine and that Jacob should leave. It had been an off-hand comment about the young ladies 'guards' still being in the room and using a similar magic to him that had caused Jacob to try and seek them out. It wasn't for any malicious intent and according to the assassin himself, was supposed to be a challenge for himself. Even though he was going against his leader's orders.
Alex didn't know how much of that he believed as the man had clearly tried to put his hands on Mira after she had come out of Stealth. He did give them the benefit of the doubt but still refused to give the guy his magic back, letting him know that he would remove it only after they were well away from the city. After a brief inspection of what Alex had done to Jacob, August sent him out. He was able to tell he wouldn't be able to remove the seal even with all his vast knowledge of magical matters.
The interruption by the magic assassin had completely changed the mood of the conversation between Mavis and August. They were not going to automatically become close like mother and son should be, but at least they had somewhere to start and Mavis was actually eager to get to know him. She had greatly enjoyed hearing about his life even though it was mostly sad. When she had asked why he didn't tell Zeref about himself, August had gone quiet. Simply stating "It didn't feel right", and leaving it at that.
The trio of Ishgar wizards eventually had to leave, but not before Mavis told August that he was more than welcome to come visit her whenever he wanted and that she would absolutely come visit him again in the future. Though hopefully in a setting where they could talk longer. August seemed non-committal but still nodded and thanked Mavis for coming to see him. He gave Alex a very pointed look before the trio once again disappeared from his senses. As Alex, Mavis and Mira were leaving the palace, August couldn't help but feel like his life had just gotten way more complicated.