Just finished fighting off a cold. Due to that, I ended up not putting Blake's stuff in this chapter, but I actually think it's better off for it. Blake and Weiss' twin climaxes will form the climax of the Volume 4 arc as a whole, so their stuff will be better paired together. This will serve as a decompression chapter for Ruby's group and a good breather before everything goes down.

Also, SPOILERS for the latest chapter of Fairy Tail Hundred-Year Quest.

If you wish to support me and my college tuition, please check out my P a treon for future chapter summaries, story ideas and more: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

"The first time I saw them was… at least twenty years ago, now? Damn," Qrow said. "Oz had sent Raven and I to scope out the Grimmlands, see what Salem was cooking up. We'd only just gotten our magic and like any rookies with a new toy, we thought we were invincible. Made it to the castle without a single Grimm looking at us sideways."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head to block out the memory. "Of course, once we were there, we learned that Oz's warnings about her having those who could sense magic on her side weren't for his health. The sky was lit up with so much fire… I'm still amazed we made it out alive."

They'd made camp about half a mile from Oniyuri. Qrow had wanted to go further, the Ophiuchus was still far too close, but Wendy and Jaune were simply too beaten up from the fight to go any farther without rest. Even now as he told his story, the two were engaged in a healing loop, fixing each other up through magic and aura.

The fact that the two were capable of doing so after what they'd just gone through spoke volumes of their capabilities. Especially the girl, given what Qrow was able to surmise of what they'd just learned.

"Fire," Carla muttered, collapsed against a tree trunk. "Natsu."

"It might not be," Ruby suggested. His niece nervously glanced at her guildmates. "I mean, he's hardly got a monopoly on fire magic. It could be anyone."

"Happy wouldn't be so loyal to just anyone," Carla pointed out.

"He said it was complicated," she countered. "Maybe she has him hostage."

Carla shook her head. "Ruby, you know Happy. You know Natsu. If one of them was held hostage, they wouldn't work for whoever had taken them. They'd burn the prison to the ground to rescue each other."

"But why else would they be working for Salem?"

"I don't know." Carla's gaze turned to Qrow. "Why would they?"

The huntsman sighed. He'd figured this was coming. "I don't know. From what you've told me, they don't seem the types to want to wipe out humanity."

"But is that what she's trying to do?" Carla inquired. "Happy brought up some good points. Why would the master of the Grimm need to stir up negativity to get them to attack somewhere?"

Ruby frowned. "Carla, how could you say that? She ordered Cinder to sack Beacon."

The white Exceed held up her paw. "I'm not saying she doesn't need to be stopped. She's clearly willing to commit atrocities to get what she wants and that cannot be allowed. But Happy, and if he is involved, Natsu, would never side with someone like that without exceptional circumstances. And what we've been told doesn't necessarily line up with what we've seen."

Qrow snorted. "You think I lied to you?"

"No. You're not the type," Carla assured him. "But that doesn't mean you yourself haven't been misled."

"What are you talking about?"

"Who told you that Salem controlled the Grimm?"

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Ozpin. Plus, you know, I've seen her make Grimm before. She raises them up out of pools of mud or manufactures them in her lab."

"Then why hasn't she won already? Why hasn't she wiped out the human race?" Carla asked. "She has an infinite army, and for the last few decades she's had this Ophiuchus, who is clearly more powerful than any wizard Ozpin can muster. Whatever the Relics or the maidens are capable of, she should have overwhelmed humanity by now if she was even the slightest bit a competent strategist."

"Ozpin is the only reason she hasn't," Qrow argued. He sighed, rubbing a frustrated hand down his face. "This... this is what she wants. She wants us to doubt each other, to turn on each other. And once we're divided, she'll tear us apart."

"Which is why we won't let ourselves be divided," Ruby declared. She stepped in between her uncle and her guildmate, her silver eyes pleading with both of them to calm down.

It took a few moments, but the pair nodded.

Ruby sighed. "We've all been through a lot today. But it wasn't all bad, right?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Um, Ruby, we nearly died, and we found out that two of your friends are working for Salem. What's good about that?"

Qrow couldn't help but agree with the kid. Sure, they'd killed the Nuckelavee, but dangerous or not, it was only one Grimm. Salem could replace it whenever she felt like it. In contrast, her forces now knew where they were and her most powerful Servant was on the hunt, with only his whim keeping him from sweeping in and obliterating them now. And at most, that whim would only last until Haven. No matter what defenses Lionheart had prepared, they would be outgunned if the Ophiuchus led the attack.

Ruby's optimism was usually a breath of fresh air, but right then and there, Qrow couldn't help but be reminded of Summer. She'd always had faith that everything would turn out fine as well. Right up until the day Raven, uncharacteristically shivering, had appeared before him and reported that her semblance bond to her had been broken. That their leader was dead.

He feared her daughter's idealism would lead her to the same fate.

She turned to Jaune and Wendy with a grin on her face. "Because now we know they're alive! And we know that Gray is with Weiss in Atlas! They'll find a way to meet up with us, and then we can track down the rest of the Spheres before Salem even gets the chance—"

"And then we'll all be lost together."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Wendy?"

The Sky Dragon Slayer sighed. She looked up at Jaune. "Are you okay to walk?"

"Me?" Jaune asked. Wendy nodded, and the blond boy rose to his feet. "Yeah, I think I'm good. What about you? Do you need any more healing?"

"I'm alright," she said, standing as well. "I just… I think I need to be alone, right now."

"Wendy," Carla murmured.

The blue-haired girl flashed her partner a small smile, but Qrow could tell it was strained and wasn't surprised when she wandered off into the forest.

Ruby made to follow her friend, but Qrow caught her arm and shook his head. Sometimes, the best way to help someone was to let them work through their own business, no matter how much you wanted to take their problems away.

"Well," Jaune said. "I should probably go and find Ren and Nora. Make sure they're okay after everything. You want to come Ruby?"

"Yeah," she said, staring miserably at the ground. "Let's go."

The two strode off in the opposite direction of Wendy, where the other two members of Team JNPR had run off to earlier. Well, more like Nora dragged Ren off to. Poor bastard. Qrow was going to make sure he was okay, but he suspected his partner had more of a right to reprimand him than he did.

Besides, he figured there was someone else who needed his help more.

He trudged over to Carla and took a seat beside the white Exceed. "So, Happy? I've been fighting the bastard for years and I never knew his name. How'd he end up with something like that?"

"I don't know," the glum cat said. "I never asked. I never thought I needed to ask. To me, he was always just… Happy. A foolish, childish, gluttonous… brave and devoted tomcat."

"It seems you're of two minds about him."

"Happy could be the most juvenile prankster you'd ever met, but, when it counted, there was no one more loyal to his friends," Carla declared. "There was a time, back when Wendy and I had only just joined the guild. Most everyone had been captured in another world called Edolas. And I was so sure of myself, that I knew how to keep Wendy safe and save everyone."

Qrow could see where this was going. "You were wrong, I take it?"

Carla nodded. "Horribly wrong. I led everyone into a trap and nearly led Wendy, Natsu, and Lucy to their deaths. And then the rest of our kind told Happy and I that we had been working towards our friends' deaths the entire time we'd known them. After everything that'd happened, I was distraught enough to believe them, but Happy… he knew who he was, who we both were, even at our lowest point. Fairy Tail wizards."

Qrow wanted to crack a smile. It was a good story, one that clearly meant the world to Carla. But he couldn't help but remember the dozens of times he'd crossed swords with the very same guy she was praising, how many times he'd pushed himself to the limit to protect his targets from the wrath of his Buster Sword. He couldn't reconcile the two different versions of the same Exceed in his mind.

And the saddest part was, he knew what Happy was in Carla's mind, the strength that the memory of his best inspired in her. Because he remembered a time when a pair of bloodthirsty bandits had snuck into the greatest huntsman academy in the world, so certain that they knew how everything worked, that the strong lived and the weak died. Only for a silver-eyed brat in a white cloak to turn everything upside down.

Summer's memory inspired him every day, willed him to do whatever good he could, help Oz push back the darkness. Carla had that same memory of Happy, only now she had to deal with a present-day version that was a twisted mockery of those same virtues, her heart struggling to keep the enemy of today separate from the friend of yesterday. It was one hell of a kick in the can, one he didn't know if he could handle if he had to do it.

So instead of smiling, he offered the best help he could and held out his flask.

Carla curled up her nose at it. "Thank you, but no thank you. I don't partake."

"Why not? Too dainty to partake?"

"More that the few times I have were not the most pleasant of experiences. Besides, it tastes awful."

Qrow chuckled. "You don't drink it for the taste."

He downed a quick swig, but when he pulled the flask away, he found the Exceed staring at him.

"What?"

"Will you kill him?" she inquired. "If you get the chance, will you kill Happy? Or Natsu, if he turns out to be this Ophiuchus?"

"I wouldn't count on me getting that chance."

"But if you do?"

Qrow sighed, twisting the cap of his drink back on. "Yes. I know you Fairy Tail bunch aren't exactly fans of lethal force in general or this case especially, but if it comes down to it, I will choose their deaths over ours, or the deaths of innocents. I'm a huntsman. I can't shirk that duty."

Carla didn't reply, merely staring off aimlessly into the grass. Her eyes were not broken, but they were exhausted.

Far up above, the shattered moon shimmered as its pale light twinkled down from the night sky.

"This world, it's our world," she murmured at last. "What happened to it while we were gone? What could have broken it so horribly?"

Qrow found he could provide no answer. After all, this broken remnant was the only world he'd ever known.

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"So, how are you doing?" Jaune asked once they were in the thick of the trees. "I mean, really?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I'm fine. Things are bad, but like I said, we've got some things in our corner." She gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. "Among them, someone's brand new semblance. Bet you can't wait to tell Pyrrha about that!"

"I know! All that time working on it at Beacon and now she's going to be so proud—wait a second," Jaune's cheer disappeared as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I see what you're doing!"

"What? I'm not doing anything!"

"You're getting me off-track of helping you by making me feel better about myself!"

"I'm not trying to get you off-track from anything," Ruby protested. "I just think it's great that you've unlocked your semblance."

Jaune sighed. "Ruby, it's me. You don't have to worry about keeping me positive. Cynicism and sarcasm are my thing."

Ruby glanced away. "I'm a leader. I'm not allowed to fail. I have to do what I can to keep everyone's spirits up. Plus, you know, it is awesome that you unlocked your semblance."

"Thanks, but I'm a team leader too, remember? You can't fail me," he said, giving her a nudge. "But that means I'm in a unique position to be your sounding board. So come on, Crater Face, what's wrong?"

"What isn't?" Ruby pointed out. When Jaune didn't respond, obviously waiting for her to elaborate, she groaned. "You already said it. We nearly died, and Happy was the one trying to kill us. I want to try to keep everyone positive, there is some bright side to this, but there's a lot more that isn't. I've never seen Wendy like this before, and Carla is questioning Uncle Qrow and we don't even know if the others are still alive or if they were released from their spheres centuries ago or how many there are and... Everything feels like it's falling apart, and we haven't even gotten to Haven yet."

"Yeah, it is."

Ruby glared at him. "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to try to make me feel better?"

"How? You'll know if I lie to you," Jaune replied, a far too cocky grin on his face. "I said I'd be a sounding board. Can't tell you that things are pretty terrible when they're stacked against us."

"Fair enough," Ruby sighed. "Still not doing a great job."

Jaune shrugged. "I can't lie to you. But I can ask questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"Well, weren't the odds stacked against us every other time we've been in trouble?" he asked. "At the Breach? At the Vytal Festival?"

"We were only fighting Roman and the White Fang at the Breach," Ruby reminded him. "And if Wendy hadn't shown up at the Fall, we would have been crushed. By Cinder. And she's just one of Salem's minions, not even a Gate. Now, Salem's sending out the big guns. What chance do we stand against them, especially if one of them is Natsu?"

"Depends. What were the chances of you guys going to and coming back from another dimension?"

"Salem sent us there. And it wasn't another dimension, it was time travel."

Jaune chuckled. "Debatably, that's even more impressive. And I don't remember you saying anything about Salem sending you guys back here."

"Well… she was obviously counting on it."

"But you did it. Whether it was by skill, or strength, or teamwork, or even luck, you did it," Jaune repeated. "All those incredible stories you and Wendy have told us about Fairy Tail: Grimoire Heart, Tartaros, the Alvarez War, the Hundred-Year Quest, do you think the odds were in their favor then?"

"Um… probably not," Ruby confessed.

"Then that's it!" Jaune clapped. "The odds are against us, but when are they not? The odds haven't been on humanity's side since the first Grimm crawled out of hell or wherever they come from. But we're huntsmen. Beating the odds is our specialty. And I'm willing to bet that its one of Fairy Tail's as well. Maybe it's just the semblance high, but I think we'll be able to do it."

"Why?" Ruby demanded, suddenly halting in place. She stared at Jaune's back as her first friend paused ahead of her. "Why do you think we'll be able to do it?"

For a moment, he just stood there, his tall, white and yellow form contrasting against the surrounding green and brown environment, a pillar of light among the dull verdant. Finally, he turned around and spoke.

"Because you're here," Jaune declared. He strode up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There was this weird guy that Ren and I met in Kuroyuri. He asked me what my purpose was, if a huntsman was meant to destroy their enemies. I disagreed, told him that a huntsman's purpose was to protect people. And part of that, is because of you. Because you're here, talking about all the doubts you have, about all that we're up against. And yet, you're still trying to be a leader, to inspire people, just like you always have. Because, whether you know it or not, you haven't given up hope yet either. And that gives the rest of us the courage to keep going as well. You haven't failed anyone, not Team RWBY and not Fairy Tail. In fact, Salem or no Salem, something tells me you're going to be the thing that brings us all back together."

Ruby couldn't do anything else but stand there. Then, she pulled Jaune into a hug, a gesture her fellow team leader eagerly reciprocated.

"Thanks, Vomit Boy," she said. "You've gotten pretty good at speeches."

"I learned from the best," he replied.

"Pyrrha is a great public speaker."

For some reason, that sparked him into a round of giggles. "You're not wrong. And yet, you are."

What the heck did that mean?

She sighed and just enjoyed the feeling of her friend's closeness. "I promised Wendy that we'd get her home, that she'd see Fairy Tail again."

"I don't see how needing to travel in time is different from having to cross dimensions. As long as you don't cause a time paradox that erases yourself from existence."

Ruby nodded, a small smile crossing her face. "John Binding; The Future is Grimm was weird."

"Definitely not Spruce Willis' best," Jaune agreed. "But you already know how to get back to Fairy Tail's time. The same way your team got there in the first place."

"The book," Ruby noted, a wry chuckle crossing her lips. "We'll have to go after Salem eventually. Might as well take back what she gave us."

Jaune grinned. "Another odd against us."

"Indeed."

The two friends pulled apart, Ruby's smile feeling far more at peace on her face. "Let's find Ren and Nora."

Jaune nodded as they resumed their walk, noticing a splash of pink clothes and orange hair in a nearby clearing. "Looks like we don't have far to go."

The two of them came upon Ren and Nora, but the partners didn't seem to notice them, focused entirely on each other. And given the former was usually the most attentive of them all, that was quite unusual.

"I'm sorry, alright," Ren insisted. "I'm not sure what else I can say."

"You can talk to me," Nora begged. "Ren, please. I know why you were that way back there, I know better than anyone—"

"And I'm sorry for it. I shouldn't have lost control like that, I put everyone in danger," Ren cut in. "But you don't have to worry about it happening again. That monster is dead, I killed it with my own two hands—"

"We both know that's not how these things work! You can't just kill something and not feel all the pain it caused you anymore!"

"Well then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Talk to me!"

Ruby looked to Jaune, who was only able to give her an uncomfortable cringe. Should they have been here for this? This seemed really personal, and not in the way that team leader speeches could help.

Ren and Nora panted hard, both of them short of breath from shouting. The green-robed huntsman looked away from his partner, an expression of shame on his face. A familiar shade of gray began to form over his body.

Nora promptly slapped him. The monochrome glaze shattered.

"No!" she scolded, gripping the lapel of his jacket. Tears began to well in her eyes. "No! No more hiding! No more shoving everything down until it explodes!"

"It's not your problem," Ren protested. "I'm not going to burden you with my issues."

"So, you'll just turn yourself into a time bomb? How is that any better?" Nora grabbed his hands and wrenched them in front of his face. An ethereal white glow was humming from his palms. "You're keeping everything bottled up, just like you always do, but it's still there. I know what that's like, even with good feelings—"

"How?" Ren cut in. He took several deep breaths and slowly but surely the light of his magic faded. "How is it going to make anything better? We just fought the weakest of Salem's circle and we nearly died. The time before that, Beacon was destroyed and our team was splintered. How is… thinking about it, going to make anything better?!"

"I… don't know," Nora admitted. "But talking about it stands a better chance of helping than not."

Ren glanced away. "You know I've never been good at talking."

Nora looked down and scowled. "Practice what you preach," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing… no, not nothing."

She grabbed onto Ren's shirt once again and dragged his head over to face her. But instead of stopping there as she had before, she tugged him down into a kiss. For the first second, Ren's eyes were wide with shock, but it barely took any time at all before his arms were wrapped around his partner and pulling them ever closer.

Ruby's eyes widened, a quick glance at Jaune informing her that he was in similar straits. As one, they slowly began backing up, knowing that this was not something they should intrude on.

But still, as happy as she was for her friends, both Nora and Ren brought up good points. They were outgunned, they were outmatched. But letting that pressure build up and destroy them from within wouldn't help. Their greatest strength was each other, and not letting each other bear part of the burden would just isolate them from that. None of them could stop Salem alone.

But together, even together-together, no odds in the world could stop them.

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Wendy had known darkness before. She'd known sadness and despair and hopelessness. She'd even known what it was like to get flung centuries into the future with nothing but the clothes on her back.

In hindsight, her life had consisted of far more traumatic events than she liked to think about.

But whatever she had been through before, she had never lost so much as she had now.

When she'd woken up one day and Grandeeney hadn't been there, she'd been lost, adrift without a raft or island until she'd met Mystogan. But she'd been a child. Her mother had disappeared, but she had only been able to comprehend it from a four-year-old's perspective. It was raw, and emotional, but with time, and Carla, and Cait Shelter, she'd healed from the wound by the time of Nirvana. It wasn't something she was happy about, she'd searched for her mom as fervently as Natsu had for Igneel, but she could still move forward with her life, find new people to care about. And when other threats came to take those people from her, she was able to fight back with all her strength! They all did!

But now… there was no enemy to defeat to get them back. There was an enemy, Salem had to be stopped. But saving the world from her wouldn't get her back to the guildhall. It wouldn't get any of them back to the guildhall. Time was their foe in that regard, and it had bested them without even trying.

Master, Mira, Gajeel, Juvia, Levy, Elfman, Lisanna, Laxus, everyone at the guildhall. They were gone. Not because of some demon or dark guild, but simply because their time had passed. They'd lived their lives, and she'd missed all of it. She'd never see Asuka take her first job, or know what Gajeel and Levy named their child, or know if Chelia's magic came back completely, or a thousand other things that were crashing down around her.

That was the cruelty of an adult's perspective over a child's. When Grandeeney had disappeared, one day, out of the blue, she had only a vague understanding of what had been taken from her, awful as that sensation was. Now that she understood, had developed her bonds of friendship that required a more mature understanding and recognized exactly what had taken it from her, she was confronted with the cold hard truth of reality. In some ways, it was a greater torture than her childhood experience ever was, because this time she knew exactly what she had lost.

Earthland was gone. Remnant, with all its horrors and hopelessness, was all that was left.

It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. She'd suspected since Patch after all, since Ruby had been unable to supply a feasible reason for why the Fairy Sphere would take them across dimensions. But she'd held out hope, a small, flickering spark, that she was wrong, that her worst fears, waiting in the dark, were just shadows, no more capable of hurting her than the light they hid behind. She'd prayed to find something to fan the flames. But Happy's confirmation had blown it away. And his very presence had extinguished her other fervent wish.

She'd meant what she'd said on Patch. If Remnant truly was the future of Earthland, then she'd hoped she and Carla had been the only ones trapped there, that the rest of her friends could still continue on their eternal adventure with the guild. Alas, her hope had gone unanswered. Natsu and Happy were trapped by Salem, and even if Gray was safe with Weiss, he'd never see Juvia again, never find out if their burgeoning romance would go anywhere. And who knew what had happened to Erza and Lucy. For all she knew, if they had been put in spheres as well, they might have been released centuries ago, their lives lived and their corpses buried, the bonds they'd held entombed with them.

She sank to her knees, the cool grass of the forest providing no comfort under the light of the shattered moon. A moon she knew should have been whole. A single group, together and happy, not broken and scattered.

It was all her fault. If she'd reacted faster against the White Witch, been more aware and dodged her attack, she and Carla wouldn't have gotten injured. She could have healed Natsu and Happy where Sitara couldn't. There would have been no need for any Fairy Spheres! They could have fought off their brainwashed guildmates, they could have won!

But then guilt struck her from the other angle. Because if she and Carla hadn't been stuck in the Fairy Sphere, then they wouldn't have been above Beacon Tower when Ruby's Fairy Glitter had gone wide. And if they hadn't been there, Cinder would have killed Ruby and Pyrrha.

No matter what she had done, her friends would have suffered. No matter what choice she had made, people she cared about would have been lost. Perhaps that should have been a comfort. After all, she'd done all she could.

Instead, all she could focus on was the fact that she'd made a choice, that she hadn't moved fast enough, and because of that, none of the Strongest Team would ever see the guildhall again. And then she was drowned in guilt for wishing she'd been faster, because if she had, then Ruby would have never left Beacon alive.

The conflicting guilts surged inside her, twin raging hurricanes, each laying waste to the land around them as they warred. Tears flooded down from her eyes and a broken, guttural scream pierced the night. It was only several minutes later that she realized it had been her own.

And long after that, when she finally noticed a familiar, eerily foreign pinprick in the back of her mind.

"I… I didn't know if you were still in there," she said, choking through her tears. "You haven't said anything since we got here."

For a moment, there was nothing, just the far-off chirping of some chattering crickets. Then, she appeared, materializing in the air like some ghost summoned by moonlight. Tall, voluptuous, beautiful, with cascades of scarlet hair tumbling across her chest in elaborate braids, some would feel themselves blessed to behold such a vision. Wendy wasn't sure if she could go that far, but in her state, anything of Earthland was a welcome sight. Even one of the greatest foes Fairy Tail had ever faced, the only person she could ever recall defeating Erza in physical combat.

Fitting that it was her mother who had accomplished the task.

"I told you that I would only come out in moments of need," Irene Belserion, the Mother of Dragon Slayers, reminded her. "Though, I suppose with how things are going, you're in one great big continuous moment of need. My sympathies, I am more than familiar with such a situation."

Wendy sniffled, pushing down her sobs and wiping the liquid from her eyes. Here she was wailing about her troubles and yet before her was a woman who'd lost far more than she ever had, endured a living hell for four hundred years.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I wouldn't wish something approaching my former fate upon anyone. Certainly not you," the mightiest woman of Alvarez assured her. "However, do not lose yourself in your despair, little shrimp. The question remains: what will you do next?"

"Next?" Wendy muttered. "What can I do next? Natsu and Happy are gone, Gray is in Atlas, I have no idea if Erza and Lucy are even still alive… and even if they are, we'll never see Magnolia again. Unless… you worked with Zeref. Did he tell you anything about time travel?"

"A great deal. I worked quite closely with him on his ambitions to make use of Fairy Heart and the time rift," Irene said. The spectral enchanter cocked an eyebrow. "Though, as I recall, you lot took quite a bit of issue with his majesty's plans. Will you abandon your previous ideals now that they are inconvenient?"

Despite how much it pained her, Wendy shook her head. She knew enough about time travel from Future Rogue's invasion to know that changing the past erased the future one came from. As soon as the Eclipse Gate was destroyed, it became impossible for him to have used it to return to the past, and so he and his dragons were erased. Zeref had only confirmed it when he'd told Natsu that his returning to the moment he became immortal would erase the world he came from. Which meant if Wendy returned herself or her friends to the past, Remnant would never have come to be.

And whatever its faults, this world had given her Ruby. It had given her Weiss, Blake, and Yang, and all the new friends she'd made since she'd arrived here. She would not sacrifice them for her own desires.

But if there was a loophole…

"There isn't," Irene succinctly informed her. Apparently, she'd said that last part out loud. "Time can be rewritten, but something must be erased to make room."

Wendy sagged back, once again unsurprised by the inalienable truth before her. "Then what can I do?"

Irene's ghostly form shrugged. "What is it you Fairy Tail types are always going on about? Keep moving forward?"

"On our eternal adventure," Wendy murmured. Such a simple task never seemed so daunting before.

"Yes, that. Though, I suspect it shall be significantly more difficult than previously," Irene noted. A proud smirk blossomed across her face. "In which case, I'd like to offer my more… active services."

Wendy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you used the last of your magic power against that Sticky Dragon Slayer?"

During the course of the Hundred-Year Quest, the Strongest Team had faced off with the dark guild Diabolos, a group completely comprised of Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers, those who achieved their power by eating the flesh of dragons or cannibalizing other dragon slayers. Wendy had been pushed to her limit against one of their number, the Sticky Dragon Slayer Nebal. In desperation, she'd attempted to access the small fragment of magic power Irene had left behind when they'd switched bodies, inadvertently awakening the Queen of Dragons' soul that she'd enchanted into Wendy upon her 'death'. The fallen wizard had then taken over the Sky Dragon Slayer's body to finish the fight, even using nonlethal means upon her host's request.

In exchange, Wendy had honored her request to keep quiet about her presence to her friends. Especially Erza.

Irene nodded. "I did. But while I won't be able to provide you with any firepower, I will be able to assist in other matters."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at how much stronger Erza became once you taught her enchantment," the ghostly woman said. "You are a prodigy, my little shrimp. Perhaps not in power like my daughter or his majesty's brother, but not just anyone could use a body swap enchantment just from having it used upon them. You've learned to imbue objects and others with slaying attributes, even if only temporarily. That is a feat few of our kind ever accomplish."

Wendy scratched the side of her face, a bit embarrassed by such praise. "It's not all that impressive. I just… figured it out as I went along or studied whenever texts I could find."

"Precisely," Irene declared. "If you've come this with just what you've been able to pick up on your own, imagine what you'll be capable of under the tutelage of a proper teacher." She glanced down at her ghostly visage and chuckled. "Well, close enough."

"A proper teacher?"

It was true. Ms. Porlyusica had helped her with her healing magic and given her Grandeeney's notes, but as far as enchantments went, arguably the most versatile aspect of her arsenal, she'd had to figure it out on her own. She'd never really taken issue with that fact, a lot of the guild was self-taught. But those who had benefited from the training of a master, Natsu and Gajeel with their fathers, Gray with Ur, even Erza with her, they were among the most powerful Fairy Tail could field.

She didn't know how strong Salem was, but if Happy's hints were anything to go by, then it would take everything they had to surpass her, especially if these Gates were as strong as Qrow was building them up to be. She was handicapped on Remnant, unable to maintain her Dragonforce unless a maiden was nearby. She should have been able to stop that Jupiter Cannon. But as she was, she failed, and everyone was put at risk.

She could not fail again. Not when her friends' lives hung in the balance.

"How do we start?"

So, full disclosure, Irene Belserion is one of my favorite characters in Fairy Tail, both as an antagonist and as a person. Her backstory is heartbreaking, her psychology is complex, her interactions with others (especially Erza and Wendy) are interesting, she exudes menace matched by only August among the Twelve, and her fight is one of the highlights of the final arc for me. However, I have always believed that the needs of a story should govern what characters show up and in what roles in it, not any personal feelings of my own. Thus, this was my only Fairy Tail involved story that didn't have Irene involved, as there was no logical reason from canon she would have been and no great role that required her to be worked in.

Then Hundred-Year Quest practically gift-wrapped me both of those, and unintentionally set her up to align with certain themes I plan to explore later on. Funny how these things work out. Wendy and Oscar can bond over having centuries-old uber-powerful wizards in their heads.

An extra huge thank you to my patrons: ArcherMcMuffin, Gregg Tracton, Keith Traction, Annaya Chan, Nora Okonus, Paula mandel, KefkaesqueXIII, Christian Howard, SanyaBane, Matthew Blevins, and David Wayman.

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!