The mountainous outskirts of Magnolia, on a remote mountainside.
The cold guild hall stood on a relatively flat clearing, surrounded by a fence meant to keep out mountain monsters and woodland beasts. Perhaps to "supplement the household income," chickens and ducks were raised inside the fence, and at the entrance hung a small iron gate with the words "FAIRY TAIL" on it.
At this moment, the guild was sparsely populated.
Future Makarov sat at the bar, watching the quiet guild hall and dozing off from boredom.
In order to win the generous prize money to keep the guild running, and even more so to vent the frustration for his comrades who had endured endless mockery and ridicule over these seven years, he had decided to enter the annual Fiore Grand Magic Games—the grand festival that would determine the strongest guild in Fiore.
Future Natsu and the others had thus begun a three-month training camp, with the goal of growing stronger to make up for the seven-year gap.
"Speaking of time, the training camp should be just about over. I wonder how those brats have been doing..."
Just as Future Makarov was thinking this, the half-closed door outside suddenly became lively.
"Master! Bad, bad news! Natsu, Natsu and the others are back!"
Future Kinana burst through the door, and upon seeing that the master was indeed sitting at the bar, her panicked expression grew even more intense.
"Calm down, Kinana. It's just Natsu and the others coming back. Why are you so flustered?"
Future Makarov calmly picked up the tea at his side. Then, thinking of a certain predictable possibility, he became somewhat alarmed. "Don't tell me those brats went and caused trouble again?!"
"No, no, it's not that. They, they—"
Future Kinana was clearly in a state of disarray. After confirming she wasn't hallucinating, she finally spoke in terror. "They're being led here by you, Master!"
"I see. As long as they didn't cause trouble, that's good. That's good."
Hearing that his greatest concern hadn't come to pass, Future Makarov let out a heavy sigh of relief and took a sip of tea.
Then—PFFT—the tea that hadn't even reached his throat sprayed out everywhere.
"What did you say? Who's leading them? Me?!"
Before he could ask Kinana for more details, the next moment, a string of familiar figures walked in from outside.
"This place sure was hard to find."
"At least the location is fixed. Not like Edolas where the guild moves around."
"Hey Chase, is it really okay for us to just walk in so openly like this? Didn't the master say we should be cautious?"
"Haha, it's fine. We're all Fairy Tail, after all."
"How reckless!"
"Look, Happy! There are two old men! They even smell exactly the same!!"
Natsu exclaimed in sheer amazement, his sparkling gaze darting back and forth between the two Makarovs.
"Hmph. Still hasn't figured out what's going on, has he?" Gray sneered with contempt.
"What did you say?!" Natsu immediately pressed his forehead against Gray's in annoyance.
Perhaps because this place had the feel of home, the two of them dispensed with pleasantries and started brawling on the spot.
Then, two giant fists descended from above, physically forcing them to cool down.
On one side, Makarov felt that it wasn't yet time for relaxation and entertainment. On the other side, Future Makarov was acting more on instinct.
"Natsu? Gray? And... me?"
As if looking into a mirror, Future Makarov stared at his own counterpart in utter bewilderment. "What in the world is going on?!"
"Just as I suspected. My counterpart's personality here hasn't undergone any major reversal," Makarov said, equally amazed, scratching his head in mild exasperation. "Now then, where should I even begin..."
After a thorough explanation.
The two old men sat at the guild bar like twin brothers, watching Natsu, Lucy, and the others crowd around Future Kinana firing off questions.
"A Fairy Tail that exists in another time and space... To think there are such miraculous things in this world..." Future Makarov couldn't help but sigh in wonder. "And on top of that, you actually defeated Acnologia!"
The despair of that black-winged descent upon Tenrou Island three months ago was still vivid in his mind. He truly never imagined that Fairy Tail from another dimension could defeat such a monster and even escape the encirclement of gods!
Ankhseram—that was a deity of legend. A single curse had created an immortal like the Dark Mage Zeref!
"I never expected that you would be sealed for an entire seven years under the First Master's protection," Makarov said, his expression slightly odd.
After exchanging their respective situations, he discovered a very important piece of information.
The two worlds shared a high degree of similarity, down to the guild's developmental trajectory and the order in which past members had joined.
The only difference—or rather, the factor that had led to two completely different outcomes—was—
"Speaking of which, I've been wondering about this since earlier."
Future Makarov tilted his head slightly, his perplexed gaze falling on Chase among the crowd. He spoke slowly, "That young man radiating magical power on par with Gildarts..."
"Who is he?"
Despite the Fairy Tail emblem on his right arm and his mature, composed demeanor, Future Makarov had absolutely no recollection of him!
In truth, the girl in the red shrine maiden outfit and the talking duck plush doll also gave him a strong sense of dissonance, but compared to Chase, Éclair and Momon were of lesser priority.
"So that's where the key difference lies, after all."
Makarov sighed and explained, "His name is Chase. He's a Card Mage who joined the guild in X782. The reason we were able to defeat the Black Dragon was largely thanks to his power."
"A Card Mage... defeated the Black Dragon?!" Future Makarov's eyes widened, unable to connect those two concepts.
After finally digesting the weight of that information, he suddenly felt that whether or not he knew Chase wasn't all that important anymore.
"If possible, could you let that boy join my guild?" The old man slyly tried to poach from his own counterpart.
With the Grand Magic Games just around the corner, with such a powerful mage on their side, wouldn't becoming the strongest guild in Fiore be as easy as turning over one's hand?
"Pfft hahaha! Is that really what you're thinking?" Makarov burst out laughing.
Future Makarov's expression froze instantly. "Don't tell me that guy is even worse than Gildarts—"
Who better to know oneself than oneself?
"Well, he's not that bad, I suppose. He just occasionally destroys a town or levels a forest, that's all," Makarov said calmly.
"Quit putting up a front in front of me. You've written your fair share of apology letters, haven't you?"
"Wahhh!"
Future Makarov's words hit the mark, instantly shattering Makarov's composure.
Meanwhile.
Hearing the two masters' conversation, Mira, standing behind the bar, and Erza, leaning against a pillar, lowered their heads with somber expressions.
Deep within their dim, lusterless eyes flickered unease—and a trace of fear.
In the future seven years from now... there was no Chase.
***
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