Earth Land, Ishgar, Bosco Airspace.

August 17, x791.

"How much further away is it, Lici?" Ultear asked urgently while sitting in the co-pilot seat of the Fairy's Tail.

"We're not far away." Elicia said, speaking surprisingly calmly. "It shouldn't take more than half an hour if we keep going at this pace."

Currently, several members of Fairy Tail, Elicia, Gildarts, Laki, Ur, Ultear, Sun, Ren, and Irene, were aboard the Fairy's Tail, the guild's airship, to extract Alfonzo and his team after their extermination of Tartaros and their encounter with Acnologia.

"But seriously, how unlucky are those kids?" Gildarts asked while lounging in one of the seats in the cabin. "I mean, isn't running into Acnologia once enough for a lifetime?"

"Says the guy who ran into him twice in less than three years." Ur shot back sarcastically. "At least they had a seven year gap between encounters."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Gildarts said while scratching his head awkwardly.

"Instead of focusing on the misfortune, perhaps you should pay attention to just how much they have grown." Irene said calmly while leafing through the pages of a book. "They did not just survive, they drove Acnologia away."

"Yeah!" Sun cheered excitedly. "Alfonzo's barriers are the strongest. They used to send Dad flying all the time."

"Hehehe." Ren giggled in surprise as she rested her right palm on her cheek. "*Sigh* That seems like such a long time ago. It feels like just yesterday when Ur and I ran into Marin outside of the mansion just to see Gildarts and Gozaburo fly over our heads after attacking the barrier."

"Ahahahahahaha!" Ur, in response to Ren's recollection, immediately burst into uproarious laughter. "Oh! My! God! That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. The looks on their faces was hilarious!"

Meanwhile, Gildarts, having one of his more embarrassing moments brought up was covering his face with his hands.

"Do we have to talk about that?" Gildarts asked in a dejected tone.

"I remember that." Elicia said with a giggle. "We were in the bath when it happened. We thought someone was attacking the mansion."

"Oh, I remember that, too." Sun said while tilting her head in thought. "I think it was right after I found out that I could... Uh... control my transformation."

"Transformation?" Laki asked curiously.

"Oh! Um..." Sun, having forgotten that not everyone on the airship could be considered family, found herself at a loss after Laki asked her question.

Sun then turned to look at her mother, Ren, with a panicked expression on her face.

"Don't worry about it, Dear." Ren said, patting Sun on the shoulder as she did so. "Laki is trustworthy. There shouldn't be any issue telling her."

Ren then turned to Laki with a smile. However, that smile also hid something that made Laki straighten her back when she saw it.

"But after you find out, you can't tell anyone." Ren said in a serious tone without losing her smile.

In response, Laki nodded her head before straightening her glasses.

"I understand." Laki replied solemnly. "The unknown will remain untold."

"Laki, never change." Elicia said with a smile. "If you ever started talking like everyone else, it would probably be a sign of the end."

Laki only tilted her head, seemingly not understanding what Elicia meant by what she said. A moment later, she returned her attention to Sun and Ren.

"Actually, we're merfolk." Ren said while continuing to smile.

To everyone's surprise, Laki only nodded her head.

"That's interesting." Laki said calmly while once again adjusting her glasses.

"Is that it?" Ultear asked in a surprised tone.

"Yes." Laki replied with a nod. "Regardless of the form they take, they are still members of Fairy Tail. That's enough, isn't it?"

Hearing Laki's calm response, everyone was surprised. Though, her understanding was not what surprised them.

"You know, I thought you might be more upset." Ur said without turning around from piloting the Fairy's Tail.

"Why?" Laki asked, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"For being left out... Or something like that." Ultear said, replying in her mother's stead.

"Oh..." Laki replied without any further explanation.

"*Sigh* I forgot how frustrating talking to you can be from time to time." Ultear muttered after not getting any further explanation.

"I'll take a guess at what she's not saying." Elicia said with a shrug after getting over her own surprise. "Even though we've all known each other so long, she, just like everyone else in the guild, doesn't poke into everyone's secrets. So, there's no reason to feel like she was left out. Am I right, Laki?"

"Mhmm." Laki replied with a casual nod.

"I guess that makes sense." Ultear muttered. "Still, she could have elaborated on her own.

"You would have just spent more time trying to figure out what she meant if she explained it herself." Ur said with a chuckle as she took one hand off the airship's controls to stroke Ultear's hair.

"Leave me alone." Ultear shot back as she swatted away Ur's hand. "Saying it like that makes it sound like I'm as dumb as Natsu."

"Natsu always understands what I'm talking about, though." Laki added.

Hearing that, Ultear recoiled like she had just been shot in the gut. She then turned to look at Laki with her eyes wide open in disbelief.

"You can't be serious." Ultear shouted.

Laki only nodded in response. And when Ultear saw that, the only thing she could do was stare at Laki dumbfoundedly.

Like that, the trip to retrieve Alfonzo and the others continued among light-hearted conversation. Though, there was still an air of underlying tension in the cabin. Because despite the fact that Alfonzo managed to drive off Acnologia with his [Reflection Barrier], there was no telling how badly the Dragon of the Apocalypse was injured or if he would return to finish the job.

Eventually, the Fairy's Tail reached the area where the battle took place. It then landed near the Blackbird before Ur led her team down to the ground.

Upon leaving the Fairy's Tail, the group found Laxus, Fried, Gray, Erza, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, and Panther Lily standing guard outside.

"You all don't look too bad." Ur said as she approached the younger members of the guild.

"Yeah, it definitely could have been worse." Laxus replied with a shrug.

"How's the kid?" Gildarts asked, a hint of worry hidden under his usual tone.

"According to Wendy, he's stable." Erza replied.

"But he'll be out of commission for a while." Fried added. "Wendy said that using up all his magic power so quickly put quite a bit of pressure on his magic power pathways."

"I can imagine." Ur said with a nod. "Still, he's really grown a lot. I still remember that cheeky little brat talking business with me the day I first came to the guild with Tear and Gray."

"Yeah, and Gray got mad at him because he wanted to charge you for the Automail leg." Ultear said with a smile.

"It's only because I was still feeling guilty back then." Gray said in his own defense. "My emotions were out of control."

"Anyway, Ren." Ur said, cutting off the topic of conversation. "Why don't you go and check on Alfonzo. Lici, Tear, and Sun, you three can go with her. I'm sure you're dying to see your husband."

"Uh... Lici and Sun are already gone." Ren said while smiling wryly.

"Huh?" Ur and Ultear intoned simultaneously.

"Damn it, they left me behind." Ultear said angrily as she turned towards the Blackbird and ran off.

As Ultear ran to catch up with Elicia and Sun, Laxus, Fried, Gildarts, Laki, Ur, Gray, Erza, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, and Panther Lily were left outside.

"*Sigh* She's not a young girl anymore." Ur said while shaking her head at her daughters antics. "She needs to learn how to be more composed."

"Oh yeah, because you're the poster girl for composure." Gray muttered under his breath.

A moment later, Gray's back straightened as he felt cold sweat forming. The temperature dropped as well. But thanks to his training, he did not really notice it. The others did, though.

'What is this feeling?' Gray asked himself. 'Did Acnologia come back? No, if that was it, everyone else would be on high alert, too. Then, what could it be?'

Looking around at the others, Gray saw that they were chatting as usual, talking about the battles with Tartaros and Acnologia. A moment later, he realized that everyone was shivering minutely due to the drop in temperature. On top of that, he also realized that there was one person who was not engaging in the conversation, nor were they shivering. In fact, she was staring at him with a menacing gaze while cracking her knuckles as if she were getting ready for a fight.

'Did she hear me somehow?' Gray asked himself, though he realized the answer to that question was obvious an instant later. 'But how, that wasn't even as loud as a whisper.'

"Say, Gray." Ur said, her smile spreading even wider across her face. "We haven't trained together in a while. And I think it's about time I check your progress. So, as soon as we get back, we're going into a training chamber to do just that."

"I guess no isn't an option, is it?" Gray asked while hanging his head low.

"What do you think?" Ur asked.

"*Sigh*" That was all Gray could do in response.

"What a dumb ass." Laxus murmured while watching Gray and Ur out of the corner of his eye. "If you're gonna talk shit about someone, at least don't do it when they're looking at you and can read your lips."

Meanwhile, on the Blackbird, Elicia, Alzack, Mirajane, and Sun were gathered around Alfonzo and Wendy, who were both lying down on beds that could fold out of the cabin's walls.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." Wendy, exhausted from trying her best to refill Alfonzo's magic power reserves, said weakly. "But Alfonzo just has too much magic power. And it's so dense, too."

"You've done more than enough, Wendy." Elicia said gently as she stroked Wendy's long hair. "Just making it so that Fonzie's body could start refining magic power on its own again was amazing."

"Exactly." Carla said with her paws resting on her hips. "You should have stopped as soon as Alfonzo could start processing Ethernano on his own again. Instead, you kept going, even after everyone, including me, told you to stop. And ow, you can't even move."

Wendy could only smile apologetically in Carla's direction.

"Lici's right." Sun said with a bright smile. "What you did was amazing, Wendy. Alfonzo was in even worse shape than that time he used up all his magic power in Resenbool. Actually, now that I think about it, you look a lot like he did that one time."

"That's because Alfonzo didn't use it all that time." Mirajane said quietly while staring down at Alfonzo, who was asleep after Wendy's treatment. "But this time, he really went all out. And it was to keep everyone safe."

"That's about what I expected from the man who was able to give me my humanity back."

Hearing that voice speak so suddenly, everyone who was awake, jumped in surprise.

"Jeez, Irene." Elicia said while patting her chest. "I thought Fonzie put up sigils that stop people from teleporting into the Blackbird. So, how did you get in here without anyone noticing?"

"My technique has been improving, too." Irene said with a smile. "This is a kind of game Alfonzo and I play. He makes all sorts of barriers with sigils and [Sealing Jutsu], and I try to break them with my [Enchantments]. It's actually quite fun and intellectually stimulating."

"It's no wonder the two of you get along so well." Mirajane said with a smile.

"Ugh!" Ultear, having just arrived in the Blackbird's cabin, grunted when she saw everyone sitting near Alfonzo. "it's bad enough that Lici and Sun left me behind. But you, too, Irene?"

Irene only smiled with sadism in her gaze.

"Um… but we did say something." Sun pointed out while tilting her head cutely. "But you were too busy arguing with your mom. So, we just left."

"Yup! We sure did." Elicia added with a wide smile.

"I heard it, too." Ren added from behind Ultear. "You really shouldn't let your mother get into your head like that. You know how much she likes to mess with you, right?"

After speaking her piece, Ren walked past Ultear and approached Alfonzo. Then, after casting a simple diagnosis spell, she moved on to Wendy.

"Elicia, Ultear, would one of you mind piloting us back to Magnolia?" Ren asked while checking Wendy's condition. "Although neither of them is in serious condition, I'd feel better checking them back at the guild hall where I have all of my instruments. Plus, Shizuka would be a great help, as well."

"Got it." Elicia replied as she spun on her heels and skipped towards the cockpit. "I'll have us back as fast as I can."

"*Sigh* I'll make sure she doesn't do something crazy." Ultear added as she, too, turned towards the cockpit to pilot the airship."

"Shouldn't we tell Ur and the others we're leaving?" Sun asked curiously while looking at the group of Fairy Tail wizards talking near the airship through one of the windows.

"They'll notice when they see us take off." Irene said while waving off Sun's concerns. "Instead, you should just enjoy the ride."

With that said, Irene decided to lead by example. Turning towards the mini-bar installed on the Blackbird, she quickly poured herself a glass of wine before taking a seat, making sure that she was finished before Elicia and Ultear took off.

The others followed shortly afterwards, with Mirajane making sure to strap Alfonzo down while Ren did the same for Wendy.

Meanwhile, things went just as Irene said. As soon as the Blackbird's engines engaged, the others ran to board the Fairy's Tail, as well. Though, that run was accompanied by quite a bit of cursing from the more irritable members of the group.