2nd Chapter

The both Fairy Tail mages and the two children sat down around the table in the corner of the room while they waited for their ice cream to arrive. Laxus kept staring at the younger child and tugged on his grandfather's sleeve. "Gramps, why doesn't she speak?" he asked innocently.

"She speaks since today … but only a few words," Gildarts explained. "Say, Laxus, shouldn't you be on a vacation with your father at the moment?"

"Ivan ditched him – again," Makarov said darkly as he crossed his arms. "He is up to something and I would love to send you to figure out what he is doing. I somehow don't think that it will be something I will be happy to hear."

"I promised Cornelia that I would stay for at least a month to connect with our daughter and to make it possible for her to go on a few S-class jobs to stabilise her financial situation," he replied. "I would do it anytime – but not right now. I cannot break my promise. I am sorry."

"And there is no way you could combine this?" his master asked slowly.

"As long as you don't want me to get in serious trouble with my wife, I see no way."

"I could babysit Cana-chan while you investigate my son," Makarov suggested. "And I could try to contact your wife personally to explain our current situation. Maybe it will work."

"Daddy, daddy!" Cana said brightly as she mentioned towards the ice creams the waitress brought. "Look! Shiny, colourful!"

"She likes shiny and colourful things – like her mother's magical cards," the proud father explained while he placed the girl on his lap. "Cards was actually her first word."

"So your wife is a Card Mage?" Makarov asked as he mentally went through the card mages he knew – which were only a few.

"Probably the best out there, yes," Gildarts said with another proud smile. "Cornelia is one of the three S-class mages of Mermaid Heel. You might have met her at the annual meeting of guild masters since her master usually simply sends her because she rather stays at home. She made bad experiences from earlier trips away from her guild and so she rather stays with them."

"I think I do really remember her," the old man said slowly as he looked back at the girl who was happily eating her ice cream. "Brown hair in a messy bun and blue eyes, correct? Yes, she was the representative for her guild the last few times … which reminds me that I need to say hi to Alen since I am in the area because she would kill me if I would forget to greet her."

"She is quite scary, I agree," the Crash Mage nodded. "But she cares a lot about her mages … and I think that this is what matters the most. As long as she is fiercely protective about her own people, she can afford being a little bit … bitchy towards other guilds."

"True, true," Makarov agreed as he leaned back. "You know that I hate to beg, Gildarts, but please … take care of this issue, will you? The guild – that means me – will treat this like an S-ranked job and we would take care of your daughter since you obviously can't take her with you…"

"Cornelia will have my head if I leave our daughter in the hands of our guild," Gildarts said as he paled. "She doesn't have a problem with Fairy Tail in general but we do specialise in property damage and she might fear that Cana will end up damaged…"

"Ah, c'mon – we never damaged Laxus," Makarov said as he tried to pout.

"Um, you do see the band aid around his head? This scream brawl in the guildhall…"

Cornelia Alberona was a powerful Card mage and she had not become an S-class mage for no reason. It was quite the opposite, really. She had become an S-class mage because there was hardly anyone inside her guild who could hold a candle to her. But for her fellow mages – and the two other S-class mages Mermaid Heel had – she was a good friend and therefore she took care of her nakama. Seeing that her guild was a women-only one, they had quite a few mages who had children and when Cornelia herself had been pregnant, she had babysat the children of her nakama. (She had considered it practice and since she believed in good preparation, it had seemed to be a great idea to her.)

As an S-class mage, Cornelia was used to long train rides and as she travelled to the town where her current job was set, she toyed around with her magical cards because she had to control herself as the adrenalin ran through her veins. It had been a while since she had been on an S-ranked job and she had missed the thrill. S-class meant danger. It meant to be one with the rawest kind of magic – and this was just what she had missed for so long.

"Miss Alberona?" her employer inquired. "That's you?"

"Correct," she replied with a sincere smile. "I heard that you have trouble with a bunch of criminals. I am here to change this."

No member of her guild would willingly admit this but they had all taken classes in being self-confident and showing this to the clients. As a women-only guild, they had often encountered sexism and so it was their goal to show their competence wherever they could.

"Are you sure?" the man asked. "You do know that they are very dangerous, yes?"

"Otherwise it wouldn't be an S-class job," she shrugged.

"You are pretty confident," he sighed.

"Mermaid Heel's S-class exam equals Fairy Tail's and outmatches Lamia Scale's and Blue Pegasus' likewise – that's why we have only a few S-class mages," she explained. "Anyway, where can I find them? I dislike wasting time."

"In the caves in the South," the man muttered.

"Great," she said cheerfully as she skipped away. She had not chased any bandits in quite a while and so she considered this the perfect return into her life as an S-class mage. And she could not even remember the last time she had been outmatched by mere bandits. Usually, it took more than this to be dangerous for her but those people were only dangerous because of their number and according to the description of the mission, they could not even use magic.

"…Gildarts, it's either me or you," Makarov said calmly. "You are the only S-class mage."

The Crash Mage fell silent for a moment as he wondered how he was supposed to convince his guild master to let him off the hook. The last time around, Makarov had been the one to catch Ivan and therefore, in order to uphold the original timeline as far as possible, it would be smarter to let Makarov catch Ivan all over again. On the other hand, Ivan's excommunication had been part of the reason why Laxus had become antisocial and dangerous as a teenager. Gildarts knew this and he also knew that Cana would end up inevitably in the crossfire as soon as Laxus would make a move against his grandfather which would probably still happen … unless Gildarts himself would to something to prevent this. But this would require acting very much out of character and acting out of character might tip at least Cornelia off.

He was in a trap – only one day after going back in time – and he prayed for some help. He looked from Cana at Laxus before he looked back at Makarov. "In the end, we are both biased," he said calmly. "You are biased because he is your son and I will be biased because Ivan has been my rival since I joined the guild. He did swear eternal enmity after all. I am not sure whether I would be able to leave my personal emotions out of this to be honest. Therefore I advise to ask another guild for help in this case, make it an S-class job and ask Lamia Scale or another strong guild. If Ivan is really walking on dark paths, it doesn't only concern our guild."

"I would owe Serena-dono a favour and giving an S-ranked job to her guild might do the trick…"

"Mermaid Heel has three S-class mages … they would be able to do the job…" Gildarts agreed.

"But what would happen just in case that Ivan attacks and hurts them? I have known Serena Alen for a very long time and she would murder me for endangering her mages…" Makarov sighed. "No matter how much I agree with you, Gildarts, it has to be one of my own mages to investigate whatever Ivan is up to lately. All my fellow guild masters would never forgive me if my own son who also happens to be one of our S-class mages would attack their mages."

Gildarts silently apologised to both Cana and Cornelia because while he had tried to avoid this job, he knew that he would end up doing it anyway. From the last timeline he remembered quite well what Ivan had been up to and proving this would take only a few hours. It was still bitter because Laxus would never understand why his father would do such a thing and it would forever create a resentment between the boy and his grandfather – because Makarov would never find the right words to explain Ivan's wrongdoings.

"Very well," the Crash Mage sighed. "I can do this, Makarov, but there is one condition – if Ivan is truly up to something evil … when Laxus is old enough to understand, you have to explain him why you treated his father the way you will have to treat Ivan…"

"You are talking about a possible excommunication, I gather?"

"Yes," Gildarts nodded. "Because there will be no other way to treat Ivan, correct? Fairy Tail might be a guild of outlaws and people who tend to go to far … but we got rules … and even Ivan has to respect those rules. If he is guilty, you have to excommunicate him – instantly."

"You tell me to give him no third chance?" Makarov asked as he frowned.

"Yes – because the wasted two chances and never changed. Fairy Tail is about second chances, I know, but … if someone truly turned his back to the light and chose dark paths, we cannot allow him to poison the mind of our nakama."

"You grew up and lost a lot of your former idealism," the old man said with a shrug. "But you are right, Gildarts. While Fairy Tail is obligated to give those who lost the light from their sight a second chance to find the light once more, we have to show those who leave the light on their own accord that we cannot allow everything. Very well, Gildarts, I accept your condition. Please, investigate Ivan's strange behaviour as soon as possible. I would be more than happy to hear that I am wrong about my son … but I don't think so."

The both mages looked at the children who sat on the bench while Laxus showed Cana a few lightening tricks to the little girl's gleeful delight.

"It's to protect Laxus," Makarov said after a moment of silence. "I am his grandfather and it is my duty to keep the bad things away from him … he is such a good boy…"

"As a father, I can understand this opinion," Gildarts said calmly. "Cana might be very well a mage … and when she is old enough to decide, she might choose Fairy Tail. I want my guild to be a safe place when this day comes."

"That's an understandable choice, yes," Makarov said. "It's not like me to pressure someone but … I would like this issue to be solved as soon as possible – before Fantasia, at least."

"Knowing Ivan's recklessness, it wouldn't take more than a day or two," Gildarts stated. "But there is still the issue with Cornelia … I really don't want to make her mad at me for abandoning my duty as father on the first day to chase after Ivan. And Cornelia is someone who gets a little bit aggressive when she gets mad … and as a card mage, she is great at throwing things at me."

A shadow fell over the table as Serena Alen, blond and angelic but with the lethal aura of a mage who had seen more battles than anyone else her age, stepped over to them. "It has been a while, Makarov," she said softly as she patted Cana's head. "And hello, Gildarts. Cornelia mentioned that you are back before she left for her S-class job. Anyway, there seems to be something you are currently discussing, yes? Would you mind to share it with me?"

"Actually, it's a Fairy Tail issue but seeing that I try to get Gildarts to deal with it and seeing that he is currently taking care of the daughter of one of your mages, I can tell you as much: we need your advice," Makarov said cheerfully but he remembered just too well how powerful this mage could be when she was pushed too far. "Gildarts is currently refusing an order from me because it would interfere with his duty as father. What's your opinion on this?"

"Cornelia would kill him for letting Cana-chan down but she would also murder him if he were to let his nakama down. It's a tricky situation, that's for sure but … I believe that I have the solution. While I cannot expect you to leave this issue alone until Conny gets back from her job because as a mage of Fairy Tail, you never let anything drop – even if it would be only for a few days – I can expect you to have enough common sense to do a covert operation," the female master said as she toyed around with her scarf. "Back in the glorious days when I was with Lamia Scale, we often did covert operations by making it look like we were simply having a vacation. We took poor civilian guys with us and when we got caught, we made it look like we had stumbled coincidentally over the place of crime."

"I believe that this was the reason why you had to leave Lamia Scale, right?" Makarov asked.

"I left on my own accord and I had the goal to create a women-only guild since female S-class mages and guild masters are ridiculously unrepresented," the blonde snapped. "Anyway, I gave you an advice there and whether you take it or not is your problem. Anyway, see you at the next meeting of guild masters, Makarov. It was nice chatting with you, Gildarts."