After their training, the two of them followed their usual routine and soaked in the hot spring out back.
With misty steam clinging to them and the clean, post-bath scent still lingering, Shane and Erza moved quietly to the guest room.
Ultear was already asleep on the bed.
But she wasn't sleeping peacefully.
Curled on her side, her body drawn tight, her brows were knotted even in her dreams. The lips that usually spat out icy words were pressed into a stubborn line.
No matter how calm and rational she tried to appear, she was still anxious deep down.
"Can't you be just a little more honest…?" Shane stood by the bed for a moment and sighed silently.
A soft rustle of fabric sounded beside him. He turned—and met a pair of eyes so clear they seemed completely unclouded.
Erza was staring at the black-haired girl on the bed. That faint, instinctive wariness she always carried toward Ultear was gone. All that remained was pure worry.
No matter the situation, Erza always found it easy to empathize with someone else's suffering.
"In this state… are you sure she'll be okay?" Erza asked softly.
"She'll be fine. She's just exhausted." Shane met his girl's crystal-clear gaze, and a quiet feeling rose in his chest.
Compared to Ultear—who chewed her emotions to pieces and swallowed them, who bristled like a hedgehog to protect herself—Erza's straightforward, blank-page honesty always made things feel lighter.
Without thinking, he took her hand and let the warmth of his palm seep into hers.
"Come on. Let Ultear rest. Tomorrow… is going to matter more to her than anything."
"Mm." Erza answered obediently and let him lead her away.
They slipped out of the room and closed the door gently.
In the hallway, the yellowish light stretched their shadows long.
Erza suddenly stopped, turned, and stared straight at Shane with bright eyes.
"By your logic, we have to stay in 'power bank mode' until tomorrow morning, right?"
Chin propped on her hand, she looked deadly serious—like she was confirming a battle plan.
"In other words, to make up the time, we have to be together all night, not separated for even a second. Right?"
"Yeah. Why?" Shane didn't get it at first and nodded automatically, ready to emphasize how important it was.
"We have to keep it strictly under twenty hours, so—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
In the lamplight, he saw the fireworks bloom in Erza's eyes.
"So then…" She stepped closer. The clean scent of soapberry washed over him, surrounding him completely.
"Are we going to sleep now?"
"…" Shane instantly understood.
If they needed enough contact time by morning, then obviously they couldn't sleep in separate rooms tonight.
Looking at her "this is only natural" expression—and the tiny spark of anticipation—Shane turned his head away in silence, retracting everything he'd thought earlier.
Who said she was innocent? Erza had learned some bad habits too. She wasn't as cute as she used to be.
…
After enduring another night of being treated like an "extra-large body pillow," morning finally came.
When Shane, yawning, was dragged into the living room like luggage by a bright-eyed Erza, he found Ultear already dressed and waiting, sitting upright on the sofa.
Hearing them, the black-haired girl lifted her head.
Her gaze paused briefly on their tightly clasped hands, then slid thoughtfully toward the bedroom they'd come out of together.
Ultear's pretty eyebrows lifted slightly. "You two usually… rest like this?"
She stared at Shane, her tone carrying a mix of disdain, faint contempt, and something harder to name.
Shane wanted to shout, I slept terribly! He'd spent the whole night suffocating under an octopus-like grip!
But Erza was in an amazing mood.
And especially in front of Ultear, she seemed more than happy to show off that "lady of the house" intimacy.
Before Shane could explain, she tugged him toward the kitchen with a victor's smile.
"Ultear, what do you want for breakfast?"
"Whatever." After a brief flicker, Ultear forced herself back into her usual coolness.
Sensing the atmosphere turning sharp, the dragged-away Shane grabbed the doorframe and poked his head out, survival instincts blazing.
"I only need to keep this up for about two more hours. After breakfast, once Gray gets here, we'll be done."
He meant it sincerely, but paired with the pathetic image of him being hauled along by Erza, it wasn't exactly convincing.
"Haa…" Ultear sucked in a long breath.
At a moment like this, she couldn't afford to say anything harsh and add pressure.
So she closed her eyes—out of sight, out of mind—and chose to trust that Shane would be as reliable as always when it truly mattered.
Thankfully, everything after that went smoothly.
They finished breakfast under Erza's spring-breeze smile and Shane's slightly stiff cooperation.
And when Gray—hair a mess—came pounding on the door in a hurry, the "Lancer" vision progress bar in Shane's inner sea finally filled completely.
"Alright." Shane stood up, like he'd just completed some kind of ritual, and released the hand he'd been holding.
Ultear hadn't said a word, but the occasional sideways glance from her had felt like needles on his back.
If he didn't let go now, he was pretty sure he'd get stabbed full of holes by that look alone.
"We can leave."
"H-How do I do it?!" Gray stood at the door, tense, unaware of the room's subtle tension.
"You don't do anything extra." Ultear rose and shot him a cold look.
"When the time comes, just open the book."
"…."
No prior coordination—yet she delivered the exact same warning Shane had given.
Gray's confidence crumpled instantly.
Just how useless and disaster-prone did they think he was?
But this was about saving his teacher. He couldn't get angry. So he swallowed it and followed along like a scolded kid.
Before they left—
Shane stopped and looked back at the red-haired girl standing in the entryway to see them off.
"You really aren't coming?"
Erza shook her head, smiling gently. "Go early, come back early."
With the answer unchanged, Shane didn't push it.
The three of them headed straight for the guild library.
With intel from the future, they didn't waste time. Deep in the very back, on the third shelf, they found the unremarkable gray old book—
Time of Memories.
Its dusty cover was printed with a faded clock design, steeped in the smell of years.
Even with the book in hand, Shane didn't tell Gray to touch it yet.
"Start," he said to Ultear with a nod.
Ultear didn't reply. She simply pulled several magic lacrima from her coat and began drawing intricate formations in the air, hands moving fast and precise, her focus absolute.
"With how complex this book's spell structure is, I can't copy it or recreate it right now," she explained as she maintained an exacting flow of magic.
"All I can do is 'trace' and preserve the spell's trajectory and structure as it activates."
"As for whether we can reproduce it in the future… we'll have to see."
"That's already amazing," Shane said, trying to reassure her.
"They're from year 784. That's five and a half years away. With a baseline like this, we have time to research and decode it."
Then he smiled, his tone lightening.
"And besides… even if it fails, you're not the type to hold back out of fear of changing the future, are you?"
"…."
Ultear's lips curved ever so slightly, and her hands sped up.
A moment later, the dense formation was complete and vanished into the air.
"Ready."
Shane and Ultear exchanged a look, then stepped behind Gray and placed their hands on his shoulders—one on each side.
Two heavy gazes locked onto the black-haired boy.
Whether the plan to save Ur would succeed… came down to this moment.
Everything depended on whether Gray could perfectly recall that scene and use it as an anchor to land in the right time.
"Hah… hah…" Gray held the old book—why it felt so strangely heavy, he didn't know—and his hands trembled.
Shane had hammered in the importance of "remembering," and for the past ten days Gray had done nothing but replay that moment in his dorm room, again and again.
But now that it was here, the pressure made his mind go blank.
"Calm down!"
Thunk!
Shane's fist landed on Gray's head without mercy.
Gray winced, his eyes clearing a little, but the stiffness and daze still clung to him.
"This won't work." Shane released his grip and shook his head, expression flat.
Too many stray thoughts. Too unsettled. If they jumped like this, there was a real chance they'd miss the coordinates.
He grabbed Ultear beside him and shoved her in front of Gray.
"If you're going to see the most important person in your life, untie the knot in your chest first."
Then, close to Ultear's ear, he spoke in a voice only she could hear.
"I'm not going to lecture you about forgiveness."
"But Gray's been drowning in guilt for years. He thinks he killed Ur. That guilt is basically his demon."
"Whether you forgive him is up to you. Don't worry about the jump. Even if you say nothing, I believe he can steady himself."
—It was a lie.
Shane wasn't sure Gray could clear this hurdle alone. He just refused to use that as leverage to force Ultear into forgiving anyone.
With that, he didn't wait for an answer. He turned and walked out of the library.
"Five minutes."
The thick wooden door shut with a heavy thud, sealing out the noise.
In a silent corner, the air seemed to freeze.
Ultear stared at the boy she'd once seen as her mother's "killer," the one who stole all of Ur's love.
Gray kept his head down, eyes locked on his toes, not daring to look at her—like a criminal awaiting sentencing.
A long time passed.
In the end, her longing for Ur overcame the resentment she'd carried for years.
Ultear let out a soft sigh. She felt like she'd become weak.
That obsession—so intense it had once seemed impossible to dissolve—suddenly didn't feel quite as all-consuming.
That mother, gentle down to her bones… how could she ever blame the disciple she loved?
If Ur saw her daughter lashing out at Gray for her sake, she would only be heartbroken.
…
Five minutes later.
When Shane pushed the door open, Ultear was still the same—expressionless, cool, standing alone.
For a second, he thought she hadn't let go at all.
Then he noticed Gray facing away, wiping his face roughly with his sleeve.
Seriously, you're this old and still crying? Shane muttered to himself—then, for once, didn't say it out loud.
Even without hearing the words, it seemed these two disasters had reached some kind of quiet understanding.
"If you've said what needs saying, then we start over."
Shane walked up and put a hand on Gray's shoulder again.
"You ready?"
"Yeah!" Gray nodded hard. His eyes were still red, but the fog was gone.
Once he'd confirmed both of them had contact, he inhaled sharply and snapped the book open.
"Vrrrr—!!!"
Magic surged.
The instant the pages flipped, a blinding white light burst out, swallowing all three of them whole.
Their vision vanished. Gravity seemed to disappear.
Then—
A piercing cold slammed into them.
The kind of brutal, ice-slashed wind and snow you only found in the far north.
~~~
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