Acnologia found it nearly impossible to catch a good moment with Mavis. She deserved some explanation for his actions and likely required support: something akin to an in-depth conversation about her, Zeref, Zera, and everything else. While Acnologia rued the thought of such heavy dialogue, he was willing to shove that personal vice aside to grant Mavis some sort of closure. Of course, the universe loved to spite him, because while he was open to the idea, any chance of having a one-on-one conversation with Mavis proved to be impossible.

She had decided to stay. This world was full of life and wonder - a vacant Tenrou would only be an open wound at this point. The mere mention of it darkened her eyes and tightened her fists. No, there was so much to do - so much to see (nothing to go back for) and Mavis thrust herself headfirst into it all as if every day was her last.

She had decided to create a guild to replace the gaping hole Blue Skull's presence left in Magnolia's economy. It was the prime opportunity to take advantage of that vacuum, or so Mavis claimed. It was a good idea, but it required mountains of paperwork and confounding legal matters. There was also the repair of the town and the construction of the guildhall to worry about, which she had also decided to shoulder with a grin and a giggle. She'd adopted the town and all of its problems which was a decent amount of responsibility for someone sub-sixteen, but she seemed happy, overjoyed even, to be relied upon. To be in a community again. To work and succeed and struggle and fail in a way that she'd never been able to before.

 Perhaps that was it. Perhaps each day was proof that she wasn't alone anymore. The townsfolk loved her, naturally. She learned their names, their stories, and always remembered birthdays or anniversaries. She was always greeted and showered with gifts or adoring hugs. It was as if the entire town had adopted their miracle child, and who could blame them? It wasn't like Acnologia had any right to be envious.

She was clever. Kind. Fierce but in a safe way. She made children laugh and soothed worried hearts. She cast illusions for toddlers to giggle at and organized neighborhood builds to share the workload. Everyone loved Mavis, Acnologia was just the worrisome shadow usually drifting at her side. And yet, they seemed to learn to like him too. Or at the least stop cowering in his presence.

The apocalypse dragon form was fairly handy when it came to construction and while it scared the townsfolk the first few times, they grew familiar with the all-powerful, terrifying entity that was Acnologia as he helped fly supplies across town.

The great King of the Dragons... reduced to a construction worker. 

Somewhere, Metalicana and Wiesslogia were cackling. Cackling.

Between Mavis' mind and the town's determination, it wasn't long before Magnolia was restored to its former glory and the guildhall construction was in full swing, pulling in more jobs and laborers from nearby cities. They'd also placed Magnolia back on all the maps, much to Acnologia's chagrin. It had been a nice fantasy, imagining they could continue to live in some secrecy. 

"We need notoriety, Acno," Mavis had giggled at the foot of the guild's skeleton. "We can't run a good guild in secret."

He had scoffed: "We could, actually."

"Well, we're not Blue Skull. We're not Red Lizard. We will do this right," she vowed.

And so they did.

With the city back on the map and now open to trade, there were demands to renovate the port and work on the roads. Such things brought more workers which brought more people which brought even more jobs and even more people and - you can picture it. Acnologia was slowly falling into a personal hell of urban life.

But it was good for the guild - for Mavis' guild.

The guild was named before the hall was erected. It was to be called Fairy Tail. There was some profound reason that made Warrod, Yuri, and Precht all smile but Acnologia felt a little... well... underwhelmed. It just didn't seem like a name that would strike fear into common people's hearts. It didn't scream power or skill or prowess. It just... It didn't mesh well with his image: then again, he was just a brief sentence in the history books, so perhaps his aesthetic was already long dead and forgotten. 

It was Mavis' guild in the end, so if she called it Fairy Tail, then Fairy Tail it would be.

They were approved, legalized, and recognized, with the founder being Mavis and the first four members being Yuri, Precht, Warrod, and... against all odds, Acnologia (What was he going to do, say no? Sure, try saying no to Mavis, see how it goes). They had a list of members before they opened the guild hall, all eager to join such a young guild and prove their worth. The three punks were no exception.

The three left their old treasure hunter guild, coming into their power as new mages and training endlessly to perfect their magic. Perhaps they weren't punks anymore, but the nickname worked well enough when Acnologia had to get the three's attention. The Dragon King learned a little more about them through the guild's formative moments: Warrod was peaceful, considerate, and even a bit shy - not unlike Skiadrum, though Skiadrum had possessed a sharper level of sarcasm. Precht was curious - but not in the same ways Mavis was. He was quietly curious, satiating his questions by listening and observing where Mavis would approach it with loud but earnest questioning. Yuri was sincere, wearing his heart on his sleeve, his generosity on his chest, and his arrogance in his mouth. If Igneel's heart and Wiesslogia's arrogance took human form, they would've been Yuri's best friends - or worst enemies, hard to tell.

It wasn't unpleasant to get to know the young mages as they set about repairing and integrating into the city. It wasn't unpleasant helping the townsfolk: building up a community. None of it was unpleasant, but Acnologia truly just wanted to talk to Mavis for a moment without being interrupted by some legal loophole, village catastrophe, brutish lawyer, or collapsing roof. At some point, he began to think the girl was avoiding him. She'd dismiss herself from their conversations - always busy or distracted. The thought hurt him a lot more than he thought it would.

"Child," Acnologia caught her one day before she went off to the seamstress, her mission was deciding on the final design for the guild's flag.

"What is it, Acno?" she asked him with a grin that he didn't trust.

"We need to talk," he murmured. She stared up at him from his shadow, smiling familiarly. 

She was trying to placate him... as if he was something to avoid and fear all over again; "Oh... sure!"

"No, Mavis. I mean we set a date and time now because we truly need to talk," he pressed. Then he hesitated and allowed a bit more earnestness: "I need to talk to you."

She tilted her head, her gaze falling into a fret: "What about?"

He had a list. A long list.

"You," Acnologia began with a huff: "Me, Zeref, our history, your curse, what to expect, what to prepare for -"

"Oh... yeah... we can do that," she was still smiling but it was far less joyous than before.

"Mavis... " Acnologia breathed an apology: "I am... remorseful, I know my reaction to Zeref was..."

"Really... really bad?" she offered with a wince.

"To put it lightly."

"Acno -"

"There is much I wish to tell you and I do not want you to feel that you have to suffer through your curse alone, especially seeing as there's much you do not know -"

"I know what my curse is," Mavis explained softly. Heavily. Curt, even.

And Acnologia understood.

"...Oh."

"The Curse of Ankhseram..." she recited. Usually, Mavis Vermillion's eyes lit up when she referenced something she'd learned. There was always some excitement in sharing something new; in teaching what she'd been so happy to be taught.

That light was doused by the topic.

"Yes..." Acnologia admitted slowly: "How... how did you find it?"

"The library had some texts on it," Mavis managed with a wry smile. "Turns out I'm not the first to be cursed. There's not a lot, just a book of historical curses, with some good citations... it just didn't say anything very...constructive."

"Well, what did it say?"

"Oh, just the basics. Really, though, don't worry about me! We'll have that talk, promise! I have to go - or I'll be late!" Mavis grinned.

"Mavis!" Acnologia tried to call, but she was already skipping down the street far too joyously for it to be real.

He was left to rub his head and sigh. What was he going to do with her?

────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────

He finally caught her at a good time - well, she'd stumbled into him was a more accurate statement. It was just after the guildhall's construction. He'd been admiring the lofty ceilings he'd so expertly helped raise when the door creaked open and her soft bare feet pattered against the floor. She too was smiling to see it completed, oblivious to his presence before he spoke.

She wandered around the empty floor, smiling wistfully at the tall walls and sturdy roof.

"It seems to be a good hall," he started softly, so she'd only startle a little. She jumped, at first, but smiled when she recognized him, brooding in the corners like a familiar wraith.

"Yeah! Nice and big for all the members we're going to get!" she beamed.

"How ideal," Acnologia nodded. He was drawn to Mavis' form, the way light seemed to reflect off of it, and how her smile seemed so fragile in this dream of hers.

"You should talk about it," he murmured as he walked up to her side. "Get it off your chest."

She laughed, understanding what he meant: "It's nothing."

"Anskhseram's curse is far more than a simple 'nothing'."

She tensed at the words, looking down at the floor in something more painful than a pout.

"Mavis -" he had a sort of speech planned out. Some messy fumblings about how carrying your burdens alone was a dangerous crushing weight and all that. Something akin to one of Grandeeney's lectures or Metalicanna's cursings, but Mavis cut him off before any such wisdom could be spilled out of his clumsy hands.

"I am going to kill everyone close to me. It will start once I truly understand the value of life... and can only end when... when I forget the meaning of life" She breathed, her voice faltering where it mattered.

"...So I understand it to be," he concurred, softly placing a hand on her head. It was frizzy; wild from the busy day.

"I... I don't really understand," she murmured, and he could feel her tremble, walls crumbling beneath his gentle hand. "I thought I understood life - valued it... but... but no one's dead. I - I don't want to understand it if - if it's going to... to kill..."

"You will understand it one day," Acnologia murmured regretfully. "There is no stopping that."

"But... but then I could kill Yuri or Precht or Warrod or you -"

"Not me," Acnologia assured her softly, cracking a small smile. "I am immune to most magics - your curse included. Worst comes to worse, I will eat it. If I wanted to I could eat Zeref - save the world a lot of trouble."

She smiled at that, giggling softly as her gaze deepened in its sorrow.

"I apologize - that was a bad joke," Acnologia soothed, kneeling so he could look up at her. "You are right to be scared. It is not a kind fate or a fair one... but... it will not take me from you."

"Why?" Mavis asked with a sudden strain. 

"What?"

"Why have you stayed? I don't need looking after anymore."

"You never need looking after," Acnologia chortled. But his mind was in a harrowing place after that question.

"You don't have to stay with me. You don't have to -"

Acnologia forced his answer to be resolute. "Yes. I do."

"But why?"

Why stay? Why cling to her? Why, why why. Did she know what she asked of him?

"Where else do I have to go?" Acnologia chuckled ruefully. "And besides, you are the best company I've had in two hundred years."

Mavis smiled weakly to that before her expression fell into something far darker.

"No." It was a simple word, but she shook with renewed resoluteness. It took him by surprise.

"What?"

"No," she stated again, softly. "You can't stay with me."

"Of course I can, you pose no danger to me -"

"I want you to look over the guild."

It was like someone was ripping off a new shed - fresh scales that weren't ready to breathe fresh air screaming from his skin.

"Mavis, no -"

"You're the strongest mage in the world," Mavis stated, a light sparking in her green eyes. "I want this place to be a haven for mages - I want it to be a home and a family. A real guild. I want people who are lost to find it, like me... like Zera. I want to bring people together for an adventure... and I want this place to be good. Safe. Real.  You're the best one to protect that. Maybe the only one if I... can't..."

"Mavis... I can't -"

"You took care of me for so long -"

"It was five years - a blink of an eye. And besides -"

"Look after them the same way you looked after me... please. Find new company. You need to move on too."

"No."

"Acno... please."

Acnologia took a long sigh and went to speak, but Mavis interrupted him once more.

"There will be other good mages. Other friends."

"Not you," he denied. "There will never be another you."

"No... but you're the Dragon King," she smiled softly, something deep in her verdant colored soul. "So make this your kingdom."

"Where did you hear that name?" Acnologia scoffed.

"The library," Mavis smirked. "You're him, aren't you; the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse. The one from the Dragon King Festival. You're the strongest dragon slayer - the slayer of Kings."

Acnologia bowed his head in a chuckle momentarily before he met her gaze again. It seemed he was actually in the history books. And more than a simple line.

"Yes... Yes, I am."

She smiled, softly this time.

"You know what I want for this guild." She looked at him, her form heavy but sparkling with something he'd been missing. Hope. She looked to him for hope.

He bowed his head to that mantle: "I... do."

She wanted a home. A haven. Something where the abuse she suffered would never fester. Where Blue Skull's tyranny would never nest. She wanted someone to watch and tend to this garden of mages... but that required someone with a kinder heart and gentler hands...

And yet she looked to him.

"So, then, Dragon King... you'll look after the guild after I leave?" 

He licked his lips, finding them dry and his throat closing. He was an aimless ship without a rudder, and yet being given direction felt akin to a noose. But... Mavis' expression was hiding tears and her form was so small, hiding dreams larger than anything the sky had to offer.

So Acnologia sighed in defeat. "If that is truly what you want, then... yes, I will. I can protect this guild for you... only so that once you break the curse you can return to it. I will keep this home, for you."

Mavis' eyes sparked with something beautiful as her face lit up in youthful joy. She threw herself into his arms with a laugh and a few hidden tears. Acnologia held her close and sighed.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll break it one day. I'll come back"

"I'm sure," Acnologia murmured. "If anyone can, you will."

────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────

The years passed surprisingly swiftly. The trade wars helped with some of that. A sharp, brutal war between guilds declaring independence and trade factions warring for sovereignty. The different factions and frantic state of affairs allowed guilds to prove themselves to the crown and country, and none proved themselves more readily than Fairy Tail.

Mavis became renowned for her brilliance - the Fairy Tactician feared by everyone and anyone; friend and foe. Acnologia was something straight from nightmares and slowly he gained a new title for himself; Dragon of the Fairies. He did his best to stay as far away from conflicts as possible, but those he did partake in ended swiftly with horrific certainty. Those that came too close to home, those that strode on Fairy ground... they learned quickly the guild's defender was not to be trifled with, and never to be crossed.

He was their shield. Not their sword. He would not be another weapon, and Mavis never scorned him for it. She was quick to condemn anyone else who demanded it from him.

"Is it not right for older mages to make room for the upcoming ones?" she'd taunt. "This is a chance for new mages to prove themselves, take advantage of that instead of hiding behind an old warrior who deserves some rest."

He'd breathe in relief and she'd take his hand, smiling up at him with that childish youth he'd always remember. Strange... how he felt safer next to someone like that. How her words soothed old fears. 

Her guild took her words to heart, happy to jump into the fray but happier still to have a safe place to come home to.

Precht, Warrod, and Yuri all proved themselves in their own right. Every mission they went on returned with at least one loyal fan or mentee. Fairy Tail carved its way into the history books and nestled into the kingdom Fiore where it would forever stay, locked in the continent of Ishgar and its tales. With fame came attention. With notoriety came greed. With greedy attention came trouble. Members joined in mass and Mavis had to chase out a choice few, forcing the guild to stay true to the ideals that formed it.

Family. Trust. Friends. Good. A constant search to do good. It would not fall into the pitfalls of the Red Lizard guild, she refused to let it, and Acnologia ensured to do the same, stopping some malevolent mages before they even got blessed with the guild marks. It was worth it, somehow, as the years passed.

The guild felt alive... that was strange after so long in quiet seclusion. Acnologia would find a corner to sit in and spend his time watching the life that flourished on the oak boards. He was known but respected. Remembered, but not demanded of. Some would stop for idle conversation, pulling a small tale from him or two, usually about Mavis. Some would get an impromptu magic lesson after a particularly disastrous misfire or explosion of wild magic. Some would simply sit next to him and share a meal in silence. He learned their names and they learned to give him a small smile and a respectful distance.

Well... most of them respected his comforting isolation.

"Ey, Acnologia!" Yuri shouted through the crowd, pushing through the swarm of people with a woman giggling at his side as she greeted everyone, shaking hands, bowing, and smiling through snippets of conversation.

Acnologia sighed into his coffee, long and painfully, at least until Yuri wrestled his way over.

"What?" he asked with no shortage of exasperation, looking over to the young man who was accompanied this time.

"A new member wanted to meet you!" The blond beamed proudly as he gestured to the brunette beside him. She smiled politely and waved, perhaps with trepidation.

"Hi! I'm Rita, I'm going to be joining the guild!" she managed. "It's - uh - very nice to meet you."

Acnologia gave a small hum and a nod, but that wasn't good enough.

"Aww don't be grumpy, say hi, introduce yourself," Yuri grinned, taking a seat next to him and grinning with his teeth as he invaded Acnologia's very sacred personal space.

"Does it give you some satisfaction to know I contemplate throwing you through a wall at least once a day?" Acnologia asked simply.

"No... not really..."

"Well, I do."

Rita snorted and devolved into laughter. "You're right - he is funny!"

"Funny?" Acnologia questioned, raising a brow at Yuri.

"Okay - In my defense, I didn't use the word funny - "

"Well, you better pray to your god that you didn't call me silly."

"I didn't say silly!"

"Then you will live," Acnologia muttered, taking another sip of his coffee. "For now..."

It wasn't the most wholesome of bonding experiences, but threatening Yuri's life became the running gag around the guild and the two of them bought into it. Yuri would say something misconstrued as insulting, and Acnologia would threaten to punt him into the sun. Yuri would make a terrible pun, and Acnologia would slap him in the back of the head. Yuri would see Acnologia trip on a stool, and Acnologia would threaten to eviscerate him should he tell a soul.

Bonding??? Maybe? It had been a while since he'd so casually taunted someone and had them taunt him back. Longer still since someone could get him to bark out a laugh like that.

Yuri's fearlessness of Acnologia rubbed off on his friend Rita. When Yuri wasn't subjecting the Dragon King to his newest "adventures", the Dragon King often found enjoyable conversation with Rita. She loved to garden and would eagerly tell Acnologia all about her balcony greens and her perennials. They would end up falling into some discussion of ancient flora that Acnologia would know distantly and she'd find fascinating. They did have quite a bit to talk about when it came to herbal remedies. Though it had been a while for the Dragon King... medicine felt like an entirely new magic to him now, especially seeing what Rita knew.

He'd missed out on more than just human growth - innovation had come with it. But to digress, Rita made better conversation than her partner (their announcement of courting came as little surprise). More than anything, Rita loved to make Yuri smile and he loved to make her laugh, between the two of them, Acnologia began to empathize with Metalicana for all those times he and Anna flirted with no remorse for their third wheel. It made him wildly uncomfortable when the two digressed into pure double entendres. Even worse when they started cuddling in his immediate presence. It was like being with Skiadrum and Weisslogia all over again when they started preening one another. Like he was intruding on something even though he was there first!

Warrod and Precht were always away on some sort of mission involving the clean-up of the Trade Wars but Yuri never seemed to leave Magnolia anymore, not since meeting Rita. Everyone knew why. Everyone suspected. The engagement was inevitable, but still, the news sparked the guild into a celebration like no other.

Fairy Tail did not mess around when throwing a party, in part because Mavis spared no expense. There were fireworks, streamers, live bands, seventy different contests, enough food to feed three cities, and about seven hundred gallons of the most expensive booze she could get her hands on. What followed was chaos and set the standard for all Fairy Tail celebrations to come. Mavis didn't stop beaming, laughing, and clapping through the night as they toasted to Yuri and Rita. Acnologia had to help drag more than a few drunken members back home before they could go off and do something stupid. And plenty more did something stupider. Still, the Dragon King helped the fools he could willingly... sort of.

"How did I get stuck taking you home?" Acnologia grumbled, and Yuri laughed in his arms, reeking of whatever booze he'd spilled on himself and the oak tables of the guild.

"Well 'cause Mavis had ta-take Rrrritaaaa," Yuri slurred, emphasizing Rita's name like he was a sport's announcer.

"I truly cannot believe you are to be married," Acnologia sighed. "You are an immature CʀEᴛMɪИɢ."

"She tells me I'm vry att-er-active annnnd funny," he beamed proudly.

"Oh yes: a hot joke then," Acnologia nodded.

"EYYY. Dat's not veryyy nice -"

And they both laughed for a moment in the night air, Acnologia's a weak chuckle as Yuri devolved into a drunken cackle, at least until he forgot what he was laughing about. The young man was a terrible lightweight, and it wasn't unusual he got this... wasted. Acnologia reached the small apartment building the blonde had holed up in and it was right about there that Yuri opened up to him.

"I hope I'llbe a -a goodhusssband," Yuri slurred.

"You are intoxicated Yuri, do not get emotional on me. I will drop you down the stairs to sober you up," Acnologia deadpanned.

"I want her - ta behappy... Rita, ya know?"

"Good news. You have some control over that."

"I don't wanna mess it up."

"Then do not."

"You-eva been in love, Acno?" 

Acnologia had made it into the complex and was walking up the stairs. The question stopped all that. He froze for a minute and looked down at the blonde who was way too drunk to coherently remember any of this in the morning.

"Awwww you have," Yuri recognized. "I gotchu. Knew you werera big ol' softy."

"I am still considering throwing you down these stairs," Acnologia muttered, but there was no bite to it.

"Sooo, wha happened??? Did ya get your heartbroken or somthn... Is'that why you're alwayssso grumpy?"

Acnologia thought about it for a moment, slowly beginning his ascension again before he sighed at the ridiculousness of it all. His sigh died into something more somber as they neared Yuri's apartment door.

Yuri narrowed his very drunken eyes as he dedicated all his remaining brain power to putting the context clues together.

"Did... did somthn happen?" he asked with a murmur.

Acnologia looked at the man seriously for a moment. He let a silence too long and too heavy hang before managing a small silent smile.

"Yuri... If it is love you feel for your partner, truly, that partnership will never end. Be a light for Rita. If you two are in love then the two of you will work for it, and you will find it, and it will never leave you. Just know if you mess it up, it will haunt you."

Yuri was silent as Acnologia kicked his door open and draped him on his couch. The dragon slayer brushed off his hands and was about to leave the poor man to his eventual hangover when Yuri murmured again.

"M'sorry, bout the love-shit."

Acnologia paused in the doorframe and looked back slowly, trying to wrestle with responses.

"Do not waste your breath, you will not remember it tomorrow," Acnologia supposed.

"Wha was their name - dat person o'yours?"

"Rest, Yuri," Acnologia ordered before shutting the door behind him and taking a walk.

The night was long and the stars were out. Mindlessly, Acnologia wandered the streets of Magnolia until he came to the seaside. The sand was cool beneath his fingers as he sat and slowly, began to study the stars. He found Taurus easily enough, then Gemini on the horizon. He counted the sister stars and the grand dragon that stretched halfway across the horizon. He found the otter and the clock, the swan and the eagle. He breathed their names to the wind and traced their forms with his finger subtly.

He hardly noticed Mavis until she walked up behind him. She must've just finished helping Rita get home but clearly wasn't as impacted by the celebrations as the other guild members. Perhaps she hadn't drunk at all.

"Hi," she greeted warmly. "Could I star watch too?" 

Acnologia gave a small nod as the girl settled down next to him, leaning on his arm as she had all those years ago back on Tenrou. The stars were so bright and the sea was so calm that for a moment, Acnologia was elsewhere.

"I'm happy for them," Mavis murmured after a moment. "I think they're going to be happy together."

Acnologia hummed in agreement, his gaze fixated on the lights in that inky blue above.

Mavis must've recognized something because she sat up and stared intently at the Dragon King.

"What's wrong, Acno?" she asked softly.

"You asked me once... about Anna," he murmured and he felt Mavis startle. He looked out to the horizon and found his chest clenching as her name rolled on his tongue. "I realize that I never answered... She and I were old friends, and if not for her and Zeref, I never would have been able to become Dragon King."

Mavis cocked her head and pulled her knees up to her chest as she listened intently.

"She..." Acnologia struggled for a moment. "She was my best friend... I used to call her Dawn, because she could light everything up - like the morning sun. She was smart and powerful - probably the strongest celestial mage there has ever been, the only celestial mage I've known who could summon all twelve golden keys."

"At once?" Mavis asked softly, in awe.

"At once," Acnologia nodded with a breath that could've been a prayer as the memories of golden starlight and a commanding voice echoed in his soul. "It wore on her and she could only do it for a few minutes... but she was incredible."

Mavis scooted closer.

"What happened to her?"

Acnologia opened his mouth for a moment and then snapped it shut when his vision began to fog. His teeth grated together as he fought for breath and sanity. Mavis leaned on his shoulder and listened.

"She - " he broke off for a moment as the image fought for his mind once more. He managed a taught laugh that rued every day that had passed without her. "Maybe that is the worst part of it all; I - I do not know... and I do not know what did it... but I found her... and it was too late..."

"And Zeref was there?" Mavis supposed softly.

"He - they had worked together, his knowledge of ancient magic paired with her mastery of the celestial. I do not think he had anything to do with it, but - but I just will never know. I wasn't there... He was."

"Is that why you don't like him?"

"No - " Acnologia fought back a residual growl. "I just - I know him. We're too similar. I didn't like him before, and then when she... If he had been there, maybe I would at least have a clue what happened. But he was not. And then when I found out what he had done to you -"

"What I did to myself," Mavis corrected.

Acnologia took a long breath and looked to the sky.

"I just... I know if he had made better choices, things would be different."

"Anna would be alive?" Mavis asked.

"No. Maybe - I don't know," Acnologia seethed. "But you would not be... you would not have to suffer this..."

"Curse?"

"Yes."

"But then, maybe things would be worse too," Mavis offered gently, snuggling close. "We wouldn't have Yuri... or Rita... the guild or Magnolia..."

"Perhaps," Acnologia relented, placing a hand on her head. "Perhaps..."

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the waves lap at the shore and the stars sing silently.

"Thanks... for telling me," Mavis murmured.

"I probably should have told you a long time ago," Acnologia supposed.

"Is she why you were flying for so long?"

Acnologia nodded slowly and Mavis's gaze sparked with sorrow.

"I'm sorry."

"Do not waste your breath on such things. It is not something you've done. It's nothing you can control."

"But you were sad for so long."

Acnologia smiled a bit at that because for a moment he did hear Anna, murmuring in the wind. "Perhaps... but I have also loved that long. Not everyone gets a chance like that."

The girl stared at him, something pained in her expression.

"Well... I guess not," she murmured.

The night stretched out before them and Acnologia found himself sighing, a strange relief settling in his bones.

"Hey, Acno," Mavis murmured.

"Hmm?"

"This curse means I'll live as long as you."

"Well, yes. You may."

"I will," Mavis announced resolutely. "And... I'm glad for that..."

She looked at him, grinning.

"You won't be alone again," she vowed.

Acnologia looked to the stars, and couldn't find anything more meaningful than the silence.

────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────

Mavis was twenty-one when Rita and Yuri returned from their honeymoon. She wasn't a day older than thirteen physically but her gaze gleamed with an older wisdom. She held herself taller, prouder. Anger would dance on her face with a dangerous strangeness when she was challenged or disregarded. Her smile was softer, no longer showing off her teeth or grinning with her whole face. She'd still giggle when Acnologia threw Yuri into a wall, but it would be behind one of her hands, the shadows under her eyes just a little too apparent.

"Acno! Don't break the guildhall!" She laughed at one of those happenstances, a scold in her playful tone.

"And now I know where I stand... guild hall comes first, then Yuri," Yuri sighed, picking himself up and dusting himself off as Acnologia snickered. It hadn't been a hard throw - the wall hadn't even cracked.

For a moment, Acnologia had found a new normal. Mavis too. It was a nice normal... a kinder one.

Mavis was twenty-two when Rita gave birth to her and Yuri's son. The guildhall was the town's main source of most resources including groceries, carpentry, toolsmiths, and medical care. Rita gave birth in the guild's back room and Mavis was more excited than a bluebird at dawn. 

A birth, in her guildhall. Not any birth, but Rita's.

"Come on Acnologia! Come one, come on!" Mavis smiled as she pushed him towards the guildhall.

"I really have no desire to be present," he tried to resist. He began already hearing the cries of labor from the distance which made him want to fly away and plunge his head into some rock. The sounds and smells were torturous and he would've happily gone his whole life without witnessing them. 

"Come on!" Mavis squealed, and once again Acnologia recognized he was fighting a losing battle.

Blessedly, he didn't have to go into the actual backroom and was allowed to wait in the main hall with the other members in silent anticipation. Precht and Warrod waited anxiously, well - Warrod waited anxiously, Precht was reading some book, looking up now and again at the sound of a fretting doctor.

Yuri was a frantic wreck. He paced the halls, dipping in and out of the labor room as he became progressively more frazzled. Finally, Acnologia stopped him by grabbing his shoulder and squeezing.

"Do me a favor and breathe so you avoid falling unconscious," he instructed. "We only need one of you to be seen by a doctor right now."

"I'm so fucking scared," was all Yuri answered, pale as a sheet and tight as a bowstring.

"Good. You have a baseline for how Rita is feeling, now breathe," Acnologia instructed simply before pushing him back toward the room. Mavis was sitting nearby, swinging her legs and biting her lips.

"She'll be okay, right?" Mavis asked once Yuri vanished behind the door again.

"I do not smell anything amiss," Acnologia answered simply. "The doctors seem calm enough, I do not smell any fear, either."

"Can you smell fear?" Warrod asked suddenly, horror dancing on his face.

"Yes," Acnologia nodded. "You knew that."

"I thought you just said that to scare us."

"I did. But it was also true," Acnologia shrugged. "For your safety, assume that if I said it, and it scared you, it is probably true."

"Well, you haven't skinned us yet," Precht supposed as he flipped a page of his book. "Or pulled out our spines."

"Those are threats - a different statement entirely - and sometimes I still consider it," Acnologia corrected sharply summoning a small chuckle from Mavis, Precht, and Warrod.

They were subjected to that purgatory for another hour before the air seemed to hold its breath. Acnologia learned into the moment, listening to the heartbeats and the breaths around him until a piercing cry broke through the air and he managed a very small smile.

"Is it over?" Mavis asked eagerly as she jumped off her seat.

Acnologia didn't have to answer as Yuri kicked the door open and grinned wider than Acnologia thought possible.

"I'm a DAD!" he grinned, raising a crying baby - a healthy breathing baby, bundled in rags - over his head.

A cheer resounded through the guild before Yuri raced back into the room with his new kid and the laughs of the doctor.

Another thirty minutes later, Warrod, Precht, Mavis, and Acnologia were allowed inside.

Rita was smiling from the bed, holding the babe in her arms and grinning through her exhaustion and pain. Yuri was right at her side, wiggling in finger in front of the child and laughing as he kissed Rita over and over again.

"Look at him! He's so cute! Hi!! Hi, I'm you daddy! Hi lil' guy!" He whispered as Rita chuckled.

"He doesn't understand you," she laughed weakly.

"He will if I say it enough. Hi! Hiii!" Yuri beamed. "Oh you're so pretty, you get that from your mom."

Rita beamed.

"Your beautiful, beautiful mom," Yuri grinned as he kissed Rita's forehead.

"He is making up for the panic attacks he had outside," Acnologia supplied and Rita laughed softly at that while Yuri stammered denials.

"I know he's new... but could I say hi?" Warrod asked softly as he came to Rita's side.

"Please!" She exclaimed weakly, and surprising Warrod she offered him the baby with a pure smile. "All of you! Say hello!"

Warrod gingerly took the baby from her arms and bounced him, smiling broader than Acnologia had ever seen him. 

"He's so small," Warrod spoke as if a loud noise would shatter the baby.

"He's a healthy size," the doctor assured.

"So small," Warrod murmured again. 

He came closer to Precht before handing the baby off. The man's face was stony and serious as he studied the baby carefully, gently checking its appendages and head before wrapping the blanket a bit firmer around the baby.

Then he handed it to Acnologia who very quickly passed it over to Mavis.

Everyone laughed to see the Dragon King so panicked but Mavis quickly became enraptured with the child in her arms. While she cooed, entranced by the chubby face and small arms, Acnologia studied his hand that had brushed against the kid. The magic potential held within the child was incredible. It had just been a momentary touch and Acnologia could tell there was a large pool of possibility held in the kid's small figure. It was... familiar, somehow. 

So familiar... so much power.

"He'll be a strong wizard," Acnologia murmured to the room. 

"Like his father," Rita smiled.

"Maybe," Acnologia supposed slowly flexing his hands and shaking the prickling discomfort off of them. Though the babe already had Yuri beat in raw magic potential. It would take Yuri years to train his magic pool to hold as much as his son contained at a day old. What on earth had encouraged such a large mana pool in such a small child? Proximity to Acnologia? To Mavis? Some other phenomenon? Genetics?

"I chose you for your raw power," a cold voice hissed with hunger, from behind him. He did not move, he knew better than to stir. He stood. Like he was strong. Like he was blessed. "So much magic potential in such a pathetic form. Some are truly just born to be blessed... or in your case my apprentice, you were born to be cursed."

"So... what'll his name be?" Precht asked, jolting Acnologia out of his memory prison.

"Oh, well," Rita looked to Yuri with a small smile - a shared exchange between the two - before they both looked to Mavis. "We were actually going to ask you to name him, Mavis."

"Me!?" Mavis looked up in shock from where she'd been rocking the child. "No, no, no - I can't name him!"

"It would be an honor to have our son named by Fairy Tail's first master," Rita beamed; "The Fairy Tactician herself."

Mavis's eyes pooled with tears as her smile pulled into a sob of joy.

"Oh... Rita..." she warbled shakily as she looked back at the child. "I - are you sure?"

"Very sure."

"Then... oh...I - I would name him... Makarov..."

"Makarov," Rita echoed, testing the name and finding it soft in the air. "It's beautiful."

"Makarov," Yuri tested it out. "I like it."

Mavis's murmur was near reverent as her attention stayed fixed on the child: "It's the name of a brave prince in a story I read when I was little."

"Then... everyone, say hello to Makarov," Rita announced breathlessly.

The room was silent in awe and respect as all bore witness to the newest member of the guild. Makarov wriggled in his blanket but stayed surprisingly quiet, his eyes squinting shut as he fell back into slumber.

Gingerly, Mavis handed Makarov back to Rita, her eyes pooling with tears as she squeezed Rita's free hand. The two women laughed through happy tears and full hearts.

"He's beautiful, Rita," Mavis breathed.

"Thank you... Mavis" Rita managed, but her voice had gotten airy, distant.

Something washed over the room, something darker than death and colder than ice. Everything in Acnologia bristled as a magic ancient and powerful swept over them all. It moved in like a draft and vanished just as fast, taking Rita's last breath with it.

The room froze as the woman's head leaned back and her hand fell limp in Mavis' grasp.

"Rita?" Mavis asked softly, her tone beginning with worry and ending in panic.

"Rita!?" Yuri pressed when there was no response, gently grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. 

Makarov had begun to cry.

Acnologia stood perfectly still as he tried to convey what his senses told him. Rita's heart had stopped. Her lungs had paused. Her body was growing cold and it had been Mavis' magic that had made it so. He stared in perfect stillness as the room devolved into chaos.

A nurse plucked Makarov out of limp hands. Yuri was calling desperately for Rita as the doctor rushed to her side. A nurse ushered Warrod and Precht away from the bed as vitals were checked and Yuri's cries grew more desperate.

"She's... dead.." the doctor breathed in disbelief, looking at them all with his fingers resting on her still pulse.

"No!" Warrod cried.

"Rita!" Yuri sobbed desperately.

The nurse began explaining shock - the sudden effect birth can have on new mothers, but the door had slammed closed and Mavis was gone, the crashing of a powerful wave moving with her. Acnologia snapped out of his trance and followed swiftly, trying to ignore the wails of grief behind him.

It had happened.

It had finally happened. It took Rita. It had only taken one, but it had taken Rita.

Acnologia moved swiftly, following the dead patches of grass that led to the forest, and to Mavis. She'd collapsed on the forest floor, tears streaming down her face and a wail in her throat that tore at Acnologia's chest and scratched at the very fabric of the cruel world.

"Mavis," he soothed, quickly coming to her side.

"I - I killed her," Mavis wailed, hiccuping through her sobs as she hugged herself and doubled over. Acnologia wrapped his arms around her and grimaced.

"You did not." A lie.

"I did. He - Makarov was just so beautiful and he - he's going to grow up and live and - and I just..."

"I know," Acnologia breathed mournfully. She was so young. Not yet - Mavis was so bright... not yet...

"And I killed Rita!"

"You did not mean to."

"I can't - I can't stay -"

"Mavis, please, - ΓɪꓕᴛΓᴇ ᴏИᴇ breathe."

"I have to go, I have to go!" She tried to break away and run but Acnologia hugged her firmer.

"Just breathe!" he ordered. "You cannot hurt me so breathe. Let it go."

She paused for a moment, her breaths coming short and fast as she clenched his clock, wringing it as if it were a neck to break. Her body trembled visiously once more and she let it go: she screamed. She collapsed in his arms and wailed, unlike anything the heavens and hells had heard. The cruelest fate of all was to make the kind ones into monsters.

"Ɐᴛ ᴄⱯʟW, Ɐᴛ ᴄⱯʟW, you're alright," Acnologia found himself breathing. "Just HᴏΓᴅ. It was not your fault."

His arms were too big and he was too clumsy. He had forgotten how to hold people, but he held her. He held her because she was young and kind and good.

He held her until her sobs died down into whimpers and her tears slowed from a torrent to a trickle. The two of them relaxed and Acnologia began to realize that the entire forest around them had withered. Trees had become skeletal and the ground was painted in withered browns. The grass crackled under them as Mavis sat up, her eyes red but her face seemingly made of stone.

"Mavis..." he began.

"I can't be here anymore," Mavis murmured. "I can't stay."

"I can go with you," Acnologia pleaded.

"You'll keep your promise?" Mavis pleaded, finally looking Acnologia in his eyes. All he could do was stare into those green windows, growing darker by the moment like rot to an old tree. "You'll watch the guild? You'll keep it... you'll keep it good."

Acnologia sighed, grimacing as he grit his teeth and bowed his head, unable to look into her wide, haunted gaze.

"Mavis... There is no reason for you to suffer this alone," he breathed.

"You'll keep your promise?" she demanded, tears threatening her vision once more as she grabbed his cloak.

Acnologia clenched his teeth so hard he felt the tip of his molar break, but still, he bowed his head and steeled his heart.

"... Yes," Acnologia rasped. "If that is what you want."

She rubbed her eyes and smiled, it was a broken one, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thank you... I... I won't be alone, I'll keep you in my heart," Mavis beamed, the tears flowing once more. "And I'll be careful this time."

Acnologia nodded: "If you ever, ever, need me - you know where to find me. No matter what. Never hesitate. Never forget - I will answer if you call, always."

Mavis nodded viciously, fruitlessly wiping away her tears. They sat there for a few seconds before Acnologia sighed again.

"Mavis, what will you do?"

"I'm... I'm not sure," she admitted. "I - I need to find a way to break the curse. I need to get away from everyone, first. Everyone."

Acnologia hung his head before making an unfortunate choice. "Then... try to find Zeref."

Mavis looked at him, perplexed but hopeful.

"He knows your suffering... You two should not be a threat to each other. He knows more about this curse than I. Besides, the two of you together may find a solution. Your brain and his... experience."

Mavis laughed sorrowfully and nodded. "Do you know where he could be?"

"Well, he walks and massacres forests wherever he goes, so I cannot imagine he is that hard to find. Still... I have heard rumors of his presence to the north, I can fly you if you -"

"No," Mavis smirked weakly and the two stared at each other for a long moment. "I - I can do it."

"Walking would put you at risk -"

"Leaving would only cause you more problems - the guild more problems. You need to stay."

"You don't have to -"

"I need to go," she breathed again, firmly, and Acnologia nodded reluctantly, bowing a final time.

"I... I will take care of them," he vowed. "Until you get back: Do you understand? You are going to come back."

"I know," Mavis beamed sorrowfully, so many contradictions tied into one girl. "I know you'll keep your promise."

And that's where she left him, disappearing into the dying woods like a shooting star in the night. Acnologia stood, watching her go until he couldn't even hear her footsteps. He watched and waited with a heavy heart and regret in his throat.

"I am trying Anna," he breathed to the wind that rustled the millions of dead leaves at his feet. "But all I seem to do is fail..."

[Everyone: Damn, who put an eight-year-old in charge of a guild?

Mavis *in the Vine voice*: I'm twenty-two, so shut the fuck up.

Mavis: *activates her curse* *has a "minor" mental break*

Zeref: *several miles away, sitting straight up from his bed of leaves, eyes wide*