"F-f-first, First Master!!!"
Makarov stared, looking like he'd seen a ghost, at the blonde girl sitting on his own reserved seat at the bar, swinging her little feet back and forth. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, half convinced he was hallucinating.
How can this be? I'm actually seeing Lady Mavis, the First Master, right here in the guild. Don't tell me I'm getting so old my mind's finally going.
Little did he know, the words had barely left his mouth when Mavis answered him with a faint smile.
"Nope. I really am back at Fairy Tail, Makarov, even if I'm just a spirit right now."
As she spoke, she gave Kabe, standing behind Makarov, an odd look, tilting her head in confusion. "What, didn't Kabe tell you? I came back to the guild together with him."
Makarov froze in shock, then whipped around to glare fire at Kabe, who quickly looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.
"You little brat, I'll settle this with you later."
With that, he spun back around and, without another word, sprinted straight over, sliding smoothly to a stop right at Mavis's feet, throwing himself flat on the ground, bowing his head over and over in apology.
"Lady Mavis, I am truly, deeply sorry! It's all because I failed to keep the guild's brats in line, and now one of them's gone and disturbed your eternal rest."
"It's fine, really. I'm the one who asked him to bring me back. Being alone on Tenrou Island all the time gets so boring."
Mavis shook her head lightly, smiling like a flower in bloom, explaining it all as though it were nothing at all. But hearing this, Makarov didn't get up. If anything, he only bowed his head more fervently.
"I'm so sorry, First Master. I should have brought the children to Tenrou Island to pay their respects more often!"
Mavis went quiet, tilting her head as she looked at a visibly terrified Makarov, then said something out of nowhere.
"Compared to when you were young, you've gotten a lot smoother around the edges, Makarov."
That single line carried a great deal of weight, given that Mavis had died not long after Makarov was even born. And yet she spoke as though she knew him intimately, as if she'd watched every year of his growth with her own eyes.
Just as the exchange between the two of them fell into an unsettling silence, Natsu suddenly tapped Kabe's arm and asked in a low voice, hand cupped over his mouth.
"Hey, Kabe, who's that little girl? Gramps looks like he's actually scared of her."
No matter how absurd the question coming out of an idiot like Natsu's mouth, Kabe wasn't the least bit surprised by it.
"If you'd bothered to learn even a little about the guild's history, you wouldn't be asking a question this dumb. Her name's Mavis Vermillion. Go look it up yourself."
"Mavis Vermi-what? That's such a long name, never even heard of it."
Natsu had no recollection of the name whatsoever, still looking completely lost. Gray and Happy beside him, on the other hand, connecting the name with what Makarov had called her, both had the same realization click into place at once.
"Wait, are you saying this little girl is the guild's founder? The First Master, Lady Mavis?!"
Gray spelled out Mavis's identity in one breath. Natsu blinked at that, then pointed at Mavis in shock.
"Wait a second, you're saying that little girl is actually some old lady over a hundred years old?"
The words had barely left his mouth before Makarov flashed behind him and kicked him flat onto the ground.
"You bastard, Natsu! Apologize this instant!"
Having roared that out, the old man turned to Mavis, whose expression flickered unreadably at the bar, and bowed to her over and over in apology.
"I truly am sorry. I've failed so badly as Guild Master that I've brought shame on you, the First Master."
Mavis let out a long breath and looked over at Natsu, still sprawled on the ground from the kick, and at Gray and Happy, who were looking her up and down in astonishment.
"Kabe, are these three the guild members who snuck off and took an S Class request without permission?"
"Yep. The one who called you an old lady is Natsu. The one who doesn't like wearing a shirt is Gray. And that little guy is Happy. They're your suspects for the unauthorized quest."
Kabe introduced the three of them to Mavis one by one, just like that.
"Wait, when did that—" Gray looked down in shock at his own bare chest and scrambled in a panic to find his shirt.
Mavis's gaze swept over the two boys and the cat, and with a rare, serious expression, she held up a single finger to lecture them.
"You know, even back in my day, taking an S Class request without permission was considered an extremely serious offense. As the First Master, I believe I have every right to hand down the harshest possible punishment to the three of you."
Mavis said it with such gravity that all three of them couldn't help swallowing hard.
"For your punishment, you'll be cleaning the guild's bathrooms for the next week."
Kabe turned his head, bewildered, wondering if he'd heard that right.
"That's it? That's all? An S Class request is the kind of thing that can get you killed with one wrong move. A punishment that light isn't going to teach them anything."
"That's still too light?" Mavis frowned, her small face twisting with conflict. "Then let's make it a month instead. That should be harsh enough, right?"