"Where is the girl?" Max asked as he searched their surroundings while running alongside the others.
"She went ahead. I'll go first and see if I can find Natsu and the rest!" Jet said before dashing forward at incredible speed.
Watching Jet quickly disappear into the distance, Max, Warren, and the others followed after him.
"But still, I wonder where Yuuki suddenly disappeared to?" Warren suddenly said, causing the others to look in his direction.
Max thought for a moment before answering. "He's probably looking for Natsu and the others too, right?"
However, Bisca didn't seem convinced.
"I doubt it. Judging by his expression earlier, it seemed like he had another goal in mind. And from what he said before, it sounded like he was looking for someone in particular." Bisca said.
Alzack looked at his wife and said, "Someone? Then, is it one of our guild members who's trapped here?"
"I don't think so…" Bisca shook her head. She couldn't explain why, but she had a feeling that the mysterious girl they saw earlier had something to do with Yuuki's sudden departure.
Droy still had another drumstick in his hand and took a bite before asking, "Nom, nom… How are you so sure about that, Bisca?"
"Erm… woman's intuition?" Bisca replied with a playful wink, causing Max and the others to look away speechlessly.
"Well, let's talk about Yuuki later, I'm sure with his strength, he would be fine. For now, let's focus on finding everyone first." Alzack suggested.
"Okay!" everyone agreed.
Just as they said that, they heard Jet shouting from somewhere ahead, causing them to quicken their pace.
When they arrived at the place where Jet had been calling them, their eyes immediately widened in disbelief.
Buried beneath a pile of soil was a familiar head of spiky pink hair.
"Natsu!"
Max and Warren immediately dashed forward and began digging and quickly pulling the pitiful Natsu out of the dirt.
"Natsu! Get a grip!" Warren shouted in Natsu's face.
When Natsu still didn't wake up, Max grabbed him and shook him violently before smacking him on the head in frustration. "Natsu! Wake up, you bastard!"
BAAAM!
"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep here!"
After being smacked, Natsu yelled as though he had merely been disturbed from his sleep. Seeing that Natsu was alive and still as lively as ever, everyone immediately became excited.
"Natsu!" Max, Warren, and Jet even jumped onto Natsu in thrill.
As he was being ganged up on by the three of them, Natsu looked completely confused as he pushed them away.
"Eh? What the heck is going on? What are you guys doing here? And wait… you look older!"
As Max and the other two felt like crying upon seeing their long-lost friend again, a small voice suddenly sounded from behind Bisca and Alzack.
They turned around and exclaimed in surprise upon seeing another familiar face.
"Happy!" 2x
Happy was still feeling groggy as he rubbed his eyes while drool was hanging from his mouth.
"Is it morning already? Do I have a fish to eat?" Happy said drowsily.
"Hold on a minute… I remember we were fighting Acnologia, and then it…" At that moment Natsu suddenly remembered what had happened before he passed out. His expression turned tense and nervous.
Recalling the scene where they had all gathered together to face Acnologia, Natsu's face turned pale as he suddenly became worried about Lucy and the his friends.
"Ah! Where are the others?! Where is everyone?!" Natsu grab Max's shoulder and shook him.
"Calm down Natsu! They are—" Max said and stopped Natsu.
However, before Max could answer, a young girl's voice suddenly came from nearby.
"They're over here." The girl said while looking at them with a smile.
"Eh?" everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Who are you?"
Everyone wore bewildered expressions, especially those who had come to search for Natsu and the others. They immediately recognized her as the same mysterious girl they had seen on the sea earlier.
However, the girl didn't reply. Instead, she simply floated toward the location she had pointed to.
Bisca and the others were confused by her strange action, but they decided to follow her. After all, she was the same girl who had led them to Tenrou Jima in the first place.
As they arrived at the area pointed to by the mysterious girl, they began finding the rest of the lost Fairy Tail members one by one. Max and the others who were searching for them couldn't contain their happiness as they were finally reunited with the core members of Fairy Tail.
"Lucy!"
"Levy-chan!"
"Erza!"
"Master!"
After a few minutes of searching, Max and the others finally found everyone. They were so overwhelmed with joy that they were nearly in tears.
However, before they could properly celebrate their reunion, the mysterious girl appeared once again. This time, she finally introduced herself and explained what had happened during their battle against Acnologia.
"My name is Mavis." Mavis with a faint smile.
"Fairy Tail's First Master, Mavis Vermillion."
Mavis calmly looked at everyone as she introduced herself.
"EHHHH?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
Mavis looked quite amused at their reactions but her face didn't change as she said. "Once everyone had gathered together, I transformed the bonds of trust and friendship they shared into magical energy. Those heartfelt emotions gave rise to Fairy Sphere, one of the Three Grand Fairy Spells."
The members of Fairy Tail listened intently as their First Master continued to explain.
"This absolute defensive spell protects the guild from every form of evil. However, the spell came with a price. Everyone trapped within its protection was left in a state of suspended animation, and the seal remained in place for seven long years." Mavis said and looked at everyone's faces.
Makarov was overwhelmed with gratitude as he gazed at Mavis, the founder of Fairy Tail, with deep respect. Tears welled up in his eyes and said. "So, in the end… it was the First Master who protected us."
However, Mavis shook her head as her body began to be enveloped in a gentle golden light, slowly turning ethereal. "No, I am incorporeal. Converting your power into magic took everything I had."
Glancing at the current members of her guild, a trace of happiness could be seen in Mavis's eyes. "Unwavering conviction and powerful bonds can also create miracles."
She then cast one last look at Makarov and smiled warmly. "You've built a wonderful guild, Third Master."
"First Master…" Makarov's eyes grew misty as he gazed at Mavis with deep respect.
The rest of the Fairy Tail members, including Natsu, Lucy, and Erza, also felt deeply grateful to their First Master for protecting them in their final battle.
Mavis was bidding farewell to this lovely juniors of hers when her eyes suddenly widened. A flicker of surprise crossed her face as she muttered to herself before completely disappearing. "Someone made contact with my grave…"
"Huh?!" Although Mavis's words had been faint, many of them had still heard her, especially the Dragon Slayers.
"Someone else is here!" Makarov immediately became vigilant as he looked into the distance.
"Who? Who is it?! Do they have evil intentions?" Natsu gritted his teeth, clearly worried that someone might be trying to harm their First Master.
"I'll go!" Natsu immediately decided to head toward Mavis's grave, even though he wasn't sure where it was. However, before he could take a step, Max and Warren stopped him.
"Wait, Natsu!" Max and Warren shouted simultaneously.
"Why should I wait here and let something happen to the First Master?!" Natsu became emotional as he yelled at Maxa and Warren, pushing away the arms restraining him.
However, Erza stepped forward to calm Natsu. "Natsu, calm down for a second. Max and the others seem to know something."
"Eh? You guys know who this person is?" Lucy asked curiously, her question was also reflecting the thoughts of the other members of Fairy Tail as well.
Being as perceptive as she was, Erza immediately realized that Max and the others who had come searching for them might know who this person was. So hearing Erza's words, Natsu finally calmed down and turned toward Max and Warren, waiting for their explanation.
With his arms akimbo, Max then said "Actually, besides us, there's another person who came with us to find you. However, he entered Tenrou Jima ahead of us, which is why we aren't together right now."
Makarov raised an eyebrow at Max's words before asking, "You let someone who isn't part of Fairy Tail enter our guild's Holy Ground?"
Everyone became tense at Makarov's question. Warren quickly waved his hands in reassurance. "No, no! He's actually one of our guildmates."
When Warren clarified that the person was actually a guild member, Makarov and the rest finally sighed in relief.
"Phew… I thought it was an outsider again. I've had enough of Grimoire Heart." Lucy let out a dry laugh as she recalled the chaos caused by the Dark Guild. Levy, Lisanna, and Wendy also had a exhausted looked as they recalled the mess that dark guild caused.
"So, who is it? Macao? Wakaba? Laki? Geez, they actually got lost, how pathetic." Makarov hurriedly asked with a laugh.
"It's actually not any of them."Warren had a wry smile as he said that.
"Just hurry up and tell us!" Natsu couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and urged Warren and Max to reveal the answer.
Max stood up straight before answering.
"He's a new member who recently joined the guild. His name is Tenma Yuuki."
"Who?" Natsu was the first to respond, a visible question mark seemingly appearing above his head.
"Never heard of him." Gajeel shrugged at Natsu.
"I hope he's manly enough!" Elfman laughed, only to receive a smack on the head from Evergreen.
SMACK!
"Shut up, you giant gorilla!" Evergreen yelled at Elfman in annoyance as he was too loud.
"Ugh…" Elfman's shoulders slumped as he became depressed.
"Tenma Yuuki, huh?" Erza murmured to herself. She was curious about this new member, especially since Max and the others seemed to hold him in such high regard.
Noticing Erza suddenly spaced out, Wendy gently tugged at the hem of her shirt.
"Erza-san?" Wendy called her.
"Ah, sorry about that. I dozed off for a second." Erza smiled at the worried Wendy and gently patted her head.
"New member means a new family member." Gray said with a grin, still standing there without a shirt.
"Gray-sama! Does that mean Juvia is also part of your family? Kyaa!" Juvia suddenly appeared behind Gray, squealing excitedly while swaying her butt.
"Uh..." seeing Juvia suddenly appear behind him, Gray's face immediately formed dark lines.
"Gahaha, we have a new family member." Makarov laughed in a good mood with his arms on his hips.
"Hmm, he sounds strong~" Mirajane cupped her cheeks and smiled.
As soon as she said that, everyone turned their attention toward her, causing her cheeks to flush.
"Geez~ Stop staring at me, otherwise I'll get embarrassed~" Mirajane said shyly though she didn't really look embarrassed at all.
"This woman…" Erza could only stare at Mirajane with a sigh at her antics. Fortunately, Bisca came to Mirajane's rescue and spoke up.
"Actually... to describe him as strong is an understatement." Bisca said.
Bisca's words immediately caught everyone's attention, especially the stronger and more battle maniac members like Natsu, Gajeel, Erza, Gray, Laxus, and several others.
"Oh? How strong are we talking about?" Natsu asked, a clear battle intent burning in his eyes.
Bisca took a deep breath before answering.
"He might be comparable to Gildarts…"
"..."
"Hoh?" Gildarts, who had been standing at the back with Cana, raised an eyebrow in interest.
A moment of silence fell over everyone.
Then—
"Nani?!" they all exclaimed in unison.