Black Flames tower over a forested landscape burning with a drive to consume all that they touch. A bare foot, blonde haired girl in a pink, frilly dress wearing a red ribbon around her neck curls her body up against the dirt nearby and sobs. She does not want to believe it but Zeref the Alvarez Emperor has come to Magnolia Forest intent on ending the Fiore guild Fairy Tail with his Spriggan 12. He should not have come for her so quickly, but it felt like someone's magic shrunk the world they all lived in allowing him to do that. She always assumed she was his target but now that thinks about it she realizes Fairy Tail has always had a stubborn disposition towards protecting her. Mavis Vermillion watches her guild die for her and feels guilty seeing them attack, defeat, or capture the Spriggans yet fail against Zeref. She was unable to fight due to her weakened state after leaving the Lacrima crystal that protected her though wishes she could fight back against them. A black and white plaid scarf flutters through the air landing at Mavis' feet and she realizes it may already be too late.
"Na-Natsu, anyone," she whimpered upon lifting her head to see if by chance someone survived. There was utter silence then the soft, crunchy padding of sandals across the forest floor.
"Mavis only I am here." Zeref announces with a dull smile on his face as he exits the fire. The flames dissipate and Zeref's words become a sweet lie. Behind him, a voluptuous woman with long red hair appears too. Her hands glow with red magical energy and Zeref snaps his fingers. Mavis feels her entire body roll over, finds herself lifted off the ground and shackled to a stone slab with rock cuffs.
"You've forgotten me your majesty. Are you daft?" The woman tells him with a scouring frown.
"Well, I suppose I have," Zeref states looming over Mavis with only the slightest acknowledgement that this other woman was present. "I hope you are comfortable here because my plan is almost complete Mavis. I've brought this particular Spriggan to extract something I need from you." He then bent over and grabbed the scarf off the ground while also stepping aside to let the woman come forward.
Mavis was a little shocked such a brusque woman was still alive after all the people whom they caught or defeated in battle. Her long, scarlet hair braided and held together by straight golden clips did give Mavis any indication she's strong. She is wearing a black halter-top with a diamond-shaped opening across her bosom and a black loincloth. She was clearly more of an immodest looking woman in Mavis' bright green eyes.
Zeref's right hand then wrapped the scarf the black and golden trimmed collar off his robes and draped it down over his white toga. He gave a toothy grin akin to Natsu's own and stated, "This is Irene Belserion."
Mavis rolled her eyes in a childish way and asked, "She's going to torture me, right?"
Irene nodded and removed a big brimmed witch's hat with a pointed top split into three parts. Then she reached over Mavis' boy to place it over the blond locks resting atop her head. "Don't move. You remind me so much of my daughter Erza Scarlet."
Mavis was not going to listen to her though. She pulled against the earthen table restraint, using her right hand, only to break one with a sudden spurt of recovered magic. White light scattered over the tabletop only to stop when red sparks surged through her left arm and shocked her.
Mavis screamed but it was not in her own voice. The hat on her head tightened over her scalp and she got the strangest feeling she was screaming with Erza's voice. More than one form of enhancement was active here.
"How cute you look Erza or should I say Mavis." Irene cackled while holding up a pocket-sized mirror to Mavis' face. Mavis gawked at her waist length red hair and her astonishing brown eyes. She remained the same height as her original body's size making her look like a child version of the S class mage she knew.
Mavis' teeth clenched making Irene respond by flicking her nose. "You should be honored I did this. I have always wanted to enchant myself into my daughter to erase that mistake Mavis and get a new body. You're going to fulfill two roles here."
"Yeah right, you're not getting Fairy Heart and you're not killing me to prove your wish to take someone else's life." An older, sterner voice stated. Mavis craned her neck around to one side to see a woman with a matching hair and eye color standing in silver-gray knight's armor with large cross along the breastplate. A blue skirt draped down her down her thighs almost to her knees and on her feet were tall black boots that almost intersected with the skirt she wore. The real Erza Scarlet was alive and Mavis' capture irked her as she took to drawing her sword and running forward with it towards Mavis, the table, and Irene. On approach, Mavis noted the woman's body had a few bruises on it but she did not look too badly hurt despite what Mavis personally believed happened to the guild and could see that Erza intended to gut Irene through the side of her ribcage.
"HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?" Irene screeched as she turned her head and thrust her palm forward towards the point of Erza's sword. The magician was quite upset with how Erza might still be alive since it now made her have to focus on her instead of starting the extraction process for Zeref of Mavis' heart. The end of Erza's sword met with Irene's palm but did not go through it, instead, Erza's sword snapped off against the hardened surface of dragon scales the magician made grow over her hand.
Erza grit her teeth knowing the true nature of what those scales meant. Irene might be a dragon in human form. She pulled back her sword to try to thrust higher to pierce her heart but Irene simply responded to this by breathing in and out to unleash a miniscule Dragon's Roar. Said technique created a shockwave that threw Erza back and made Mavis wriggle in agony in her captive state as the high-pitched sound waves reverberated next to her. Mavis closed her eyes and looked away from Erza hoping she was all right but now tried focusing on bringing forth her own attack.
Mavis' body tingled feeling her power grow once more in her pained heart. Energy began to form around her and expand outwards from the table. Zeref noticed this and cried, "Stop her!" Mavis did not want to stop resisting though for if she did she felt she might die and never come back.
Irene reached over and with her scaly hand grabbed at the left side of Mavis' chest. She was not sure whether Erza might get up and try to stop her again but she was definitely going to stop this. She could, like Mavis, feel a strong shock of good magical power flow through her arm and burn it as it tried to push her away. Above the bubble's green shell the Fairy Tail guild's symbol appeared and the bubble grew quickly swallowing Irene's arm completely. She grits her teeth and screamed, "Deus Zer-" a disenchantment that might cancel the protective shield if she was not interrupted.
The bubble continued to expand though and Erza who had ended up flung into the ground a few feet away struggled up from the ground and rushed over to Mavis. "Don't you dare try to cancel that Fairy Sphere you beast." She stated pushing out red magical energy from her hand to add to the glowing sphere's power. If it was successful these two mages, Erza and Mavis, would be safe in a protective area from all harm, but be unable to move as it stopped time for all those within it. Irene sensed this now and saw it for her own eyes for no matter how much she pulled her arm would not come out of the sphere. She turned to Zeref feeling her leg freeze and stated, "Stop Mavis. We cannot get her heart if I'm frozen."
Zeref scowled at his bad luck and with red in his eye unleashed black flames upon the magic with the whisper of "Dark Predation." If he could not have the heart in a normal way, he was simply going to have to kill Mavis, take it when she was temporarily dead with another mage's power, and finally complete his plans before she revived. He did not need Irene for the job if she was incapable of completing it. Instead, the colliding black miasma, the realized form of his spell and the full green sphere she created to protect herself and others did not interact well together. All four wizards found themselves trapped in a vortex of green, red and black colors and all parties disappeared from the face of Ishgar that day in a flash of light that followed. Wizards that came to investigate the scene later found no traces of them, however, did come across some not so badly injured wizards on both sides.
