Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

Walking off of the road, Zeref began to approach where he assumed the rift was near. Granted, it wasn't a specific art, but it was what he could manage given the situation. "Limit any magic use while here…ideally, use none." He glanced over towards Jellal and Meredy, seeing them both nod. "At the moment, I'd simply like to make note of what I can determine by sensing it. Before…I was able to at least estimate its size. This time…I'm not certain what such an act will let me notice."

Even this much…could be dangerous. Jellal and Meredy were watching, and Zeref realized what might happen. Taking a deep breath, Zeref touched the locket at his throat. Then, he nodded, dropping his hand and gazing upward. He sensed outward, locating the rift with ease, unlike his first attempt to find it. The magic had a…strange way, of blending in to the atmosphere, usually by bathing the sensation of concentrated ethernano. Yet…that was absent from the air, making the rift blatantly obvious. Much like before, he could determine its size. That alone was enough to make him frown.

"It has grown, since he war ended." He opened his eyes again, glancing behind him. "Do you have something to write on at the moment? I'd like to…observe it over some time, if possible." Jellal nodded, handing paper out towards him. Taking it, Zeref sat down in the sand, as if meditating, and began to focus. He wrote down his initial size estimate, and after some thought, added another column to roughly create numbers to represent the amount of energy it held. It was by no means an accurate measurement of its energy, but it gave a baseline, as well as increases and decreases over time, based on what he could sense.

Meredy and Jellal watched in silence, while Zeref made notes on occasion. He lost track of time, sitting out in the heat, studying what this magic might be trying to accomplish. It seemed…to be gradually growing, though the energy levels were inconsistently shifting. There was a faint pattern, though. The energy would increase, slowly, for quite some time. Then, it'd drop suddenly as if the rift had just used, or attempted to use, a spell of some form. The energy shifts, however, seemed to have little to no influence on size at all.

Staring at the data, Zeref frowned, shaking his head. "I…I cannot quite determine for certain what this means." He rose to his feet, walking towards them. "If I had to guess…I would assume the time rift has somehow gotten trapped in this location. It is attempting to leave, as you can see by its use of energy, but is incapable of obtaining enough to…transport itself like usual."

"And that makes it unstable?" Jellal asked.

Shaking his head, Zeref gestured towards the other column. "Typically, no. However…the rift is growing in size, regardless of the energy levels." Jellal frowned, observing the values. "I will admit, these are not entirely accurate measurements…this is not the sort of thing one can carelessly approach to get accurate readings. However, the trend still remains. The time rift is concentrated energy, highly powerful but incredibly small. This…this is a sign that it is no longer capable of keeping that energy concentrated. As it grows, the energy will expand…and given the nature of that energy, the results will be unpredictable, to say the least."

"So, in essence, this trip has merely confirmed that it is unstable?" Jellal questioned. Zeref nodded. "Then how did it end up trapped here?"

Zeref glanced back, frowning. "I'm not certain. While I do not have the numbers with me…its energy absorption seems no different than it was when I last studied it. Well, beyond its inability to truly leave, that is." He shrugged. "I'd need to have observed the rift sooner, to understand that. But…at least we are not at risk of losing the rift. That alone would make studying it, and later attempting to stop it, nearly impossible."

"Well, why not ask your friend from before to finish dealing with it? You claimed someone already knew how to close one."

He paused, biting his lip. "She…rather specifically stated that she knew how to handle it while it was stable."

"And you didn't think that was an important detail to mention?" Jellal glared at him, and Zeref shrugged. "You're the one who created this thing! And you don't even care to stop it when you have the chance?"

"At the time, I thought my plan was the correct one."

Jellal sighed, shaking his head. "I just don't even know what to say anymore."

"Well, Ul will get here and be able to handle it." Meredy smiled, patting Jellal's shoulder. "And then maybe we can head back to Magnolia. I know there's a certain someone you'd like to visit…."

"Meredy, not now."

The girl grinned, laughing at him. Yet, seeing them made Zeref smile. Despite being wanted criminals…they were happy, and enjoying the path they had chosen. Oddly, it made Zeref think about his own life. He was gaining friends. Already, Fairy Tail had a small team of wizards that seemed interested in working with him…in befriending him, really. Plus, there was Levy and August…the Spriggan Twelve in general, if he so chose, that he could turn into companions more like this.

He was watching them when he noticed someone on the road behind them. Blinking, Zeref stared for a moment. With a sigh, realizing that the others were too busy messing with each other to focus, Zeref approached the stranger. Someone had to warn the person about the dangers of this path, especially if they were a wizard. "Excuse me—" He broke off, blinking in surprise. There, standing on the road in front of him…was Jellal. Glancing behind him, Zeref saw Jellal again, ensuring that the guild master had not truly left. Yet…both Jellals were really here, it seemed.

"Pardon me, but I must be on my way. I need to locate some old friends of mine…" The Jellal in front of him trailed off, frowning at Zeref. "Wait. Zeref? What are you doing out here?"

Yet, Zeref had other questions. "Investigating something…peculiar." Was this a result of the time rift? Strangely, this Jellal didn't seem nearly as hostile towards him. "In fact, something peculiar is standing right in front of me. Just…this may seem odd, but do you know today's date by any chance?"

Jellal frowned, glancing around and spotting the others behind Zeref. He blinked, before shaking his head with a sigh. "Ah…I suppose a wizard of this world would assume time travel before anything else." This world? Then…Zeref slowly started to see what was happening. "To make things simpler, you can call me Mystogan here. That's what Fairy Tail referred to me as, before I…returned home."

"Mystogan…" He trailed off, glancing behind him. "You…you do not know how you got to this world, do you?" The man frowned, but shook his head. Zeref had a sinking feeling, pointing behind him. "And when you arrived…did you appear somewhere within this area?"

"I…yes, I think I did." Mystogan glanced behind him, nodding to himself. "I remember seeing those mountains, before leaving down this road. It was mere chance that I happened to arrive in Vistarion, realizing where I was."

"And…was there anything with you that may have…been capable of some form of magic at all? It need not be much, but…"

"It isn't impossible." Mystogan sighed. "Mavis was fleeing on her Legion, and I chased after her. There's no telling what she had with her when she…"

"Vanished?" The man nodded, frowning still.

"You seem to understand a lot about what happened, for one who was not there."

Perhaps he did, but it was already making far too much sense. Levy had told him about the Legion, the animal that apparently was in possession of some form of teleportation magic which allowed for transport between worlds. "That is because I understand what it was she disappeared into…and what will be happening as a result."

"Please tell me Mavis' plans to flee here haven't caused you problems as well. That girl…"

"Oh, she's completely devastated her own plans, with what she has done." Mystogan froze, his eyes wide. "Mavis requires magic to succeed…and her actions? If she has done what I think she has…then she has just destroyed magic in both of our worlds." He glanced over behind him, inhaling slowly as he gazed at the rift. "She's brought the half of the rift that existed in Edolas into this world…and doubled its previous size, along with its energy in a sudden leap. That alone would do more than just destabilize it; it would empower it to become a vacuum for ethernano, all while it attempts to transport something well beyond its power to accomplish. Given enough time…it will drain away all of our energy, and every wizard in Earthland will die."

Behind him, Meredy and Jellal seemed to notice that he had moved. Mystogan remained frozen, his eyes wide as he inhaled slowly. "That…it can't be that bad? Surely, there is some magic out there that can stop it?"

"Holy…Jellal?" Meredy glanced between the two of them, while Jellal himself seemed to stare with wide eyes.

Glancing between the two of them, Zeref nodded. "Meredy, Jellal…this is Mystogan, a former Fairy Tail wizard and resident of another world known as Edolas." Jellal didn't seem any more comfortable with that, but Zeref wasn't concerned about comfort right now. "With him being here…I believe I have determined what has trapped the time rift here. And…the situation with it is far worse than I anticipated before."

"What do you mean?"

Zeref focused on them, his expression grim. "I mean that starting immediately, I am evacuating Kingston and Shishka. I will wait to do the same with Vistarion for now…but this time rift will not be slowed in its progress." Glancing at Mystogan, Zeref rubbed his forehead. "As I stated before…the magic energy of the rift is related to both space and time. It was connected to multiple worlds…and someone from a world with incredibly limited magic, managing to arrive in ours? The time rift would explain it, and the use of a creature that can draw upon the magic of our world as well…that explains its sudden growth and destabilization." The more he talked through it, the more Zeref was certain he was right.

"And why would understanding its origins cause a need for sudden action?"

"Because." Zeref met their eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "The time rift didn't merely grow; it combined with another, identical rift, from another world. In such a state…based on what it is capable of and the nature of that energy, this time rift will likely be capable of draining away all ethernano from the atmosphere. In other words…magic will cease to exist, and wizards that need that energy to survive…"

"We'll…die." Meredy blinked, turning back around. Zeref nodded, narrowing his eyes at the air. It looked…like nothing, really. No one walking by would realize there was a problem, and no one would have even considered something so small being so threatening. Yet, it still was the case. An invisible force was gradually draining away the life of this world, and if it was as powerful as he thought, he didn't know if even Dimaria could stop it.

This is a rather short chapter, but that may be the case with a few of these. Right now, with my goal to finish before my classes restart, I'll be needing to try to get out about two chapters a day...so I'm not going to be quite so concerned about getting more length into shorter chapters since most days, you'll see a second chapter anyway to make up for it. Anyway, I do hope you've enjoyed the escalation of the time rift problem here. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!