After zipping up her black, leather boots over her equally black tights, Kurisu slipped on her lab coat over off-the-shoulder tan jacket and white button-up shirt. She loosened her red-tie and brushed her black shorts, then crossed her arms and smiled, "Just like my clothes back home."

"Well," Meliodas commented, "at least we know for sure that this isn't Diane. I DID like that jumpsuit, but she could never pull off an outfit like this," he smiled, closed his eyes and scratched his chin, "Stylish, yet sophisticated. I dig it. How about you, King?"

"That's just it, it's not Diane," King turned away and disappointedly mumbled. He hesitantly glanced back and tried to force smile, "…Though, I admit, it IS stylish."

"Wasn't exactly pining for approval," the giant sighed and shook her head, "But, screw it, I'll take the compliments," then, she returned to her sitting position against the wall and gazed down to Merlin, "Now, down to business. You said you've cracked the code to all this, right?"

"Indeed, for the most part, at least," the magus nodded. She stated plainly, "If my deductions are correct, then the consciousness of Makise Kurisu is not from this time period."

This shocked everyone present, but Meliodas calmly shrugged, "Merlin, you know I trust your judgements on this stuff, but don't you think this is rather out of left field?"

"The Captain's right," King furrowed his brow, "Not even the greatest mages alive can use magic strong enough to manipulate time."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Gowther interjected emotionlessly, "I've seen some potent magic in my time. It wouldn't be out of the entirely out of the realm possibility."

"If you don't believe me, just look at our giant friend," Merlin shrugged and pointed at Kurisu. They all obliged and glanced her way.

The latter, whose shock wore a clear vein of worry, asked hesitantly, "…I won't say whether or not this is the case, but just how did you come up with that hypothesis?"

Merlin smirked, "Mainly, I gleaned most of the information from your conversation with Harlequin earlier. You weren't exactly quiet about it."

Kurisu blushed and turned away, "Well, I…."

The magus continued, "What you told him, as well as all your reactions since you awoke, are all evidence of someone with their own fully formed memories and experiences, ones you won't find in a simple amnesiac. You had also mentioned failed experiments. Once again, given your aforementioned reactions, it's reasonable to assume these experiments dealt with transferring one's consciousness to another. Is this incorrect?"

No longer blushing, the still-worried giant continued to avert her gaze and remain quiet.

"I picked up the final piece of the theory when you had asked for the date," Merlin stated.

"She's got a point," Meliodas commented, "Who in their right mind doesn't remember what year it is? I understand forgetting few days or so, but a whole year? That'd just be ridiculous."

"Precisely," the mage nodded, "and, despite how you first awoke, all your words and actions thus far do not appear to be manic. This leads me to one, albeit rather incomplete, conclusion. Your failed experiments with transferring consciousness from one being to another somehow led to discovering time travel. That leaves the only question, how is this possible?"

"I…" Kurisu hesitated as her pupils bounced back forth within her eyes, "I can't answer that."

"You don't trust us, I presume is the issue," Merlin frowned.

"I mean, not particularly no," the giant glanced back her and replied, "but that's not the biggest thing I'm worried about."

"If that's the case, then you'll take up Diane's mantle and fight the Ten Commandments as the Serpent Sin of Envy?" the mage scowled.

"What? No!" Kurisu furrowed her brow and exclaimed in denial, "I'm a scientist! I don't know how to fight!"

"Then, we are at an impasse," Merlin huffed as she turned towards the entrance to the hall, "If you will not help us understand, we cannot help find a solution. This means we are down a Sin, and we'll need to find someone to replace her, if that's even possible," she stopped to turn a cold glare back to the scientist, "It also means you will not be able to save your lover."

As the mage turned back to exit the room, Kurisu gasped, "N-No, wait…!"

Merlin paused and glanced back again, "What is it now? Haven't you wasted enough of my time?"

"No, it's just," the giant grabbed her upper arm nervously, "This information is dangerous. If it falls in the wrong hands, people could die," she looked to the floor, closed her eyes and grimaced as vague, sickening images flashed in her mind.

Merlin paused, before giving a quick nod to the guards around the room, "Guards, leave us, and seal all of the doors." After the guards quickly acquiesced, Merlin stared at Kurisu and waited.

"I suppose it's unavoidable, then," Kurisu sighed. She reopened her eyes and hesitantly explained, "You've got it backwards. We were actually researching time travel from the start. We found that the only way we could do that was open a small singularity to pass information to a fixed point in the past."

King's eyes widened as he muttered, "You opened…."

"…A black hole?" Merlin finished for him. Equally shocked, she reprimanded, "Surely, you understand how dangerous that was! Harlequin was right before; not only would you have to be amongst the most powerful mages in existence to even have the ability to accomplish such a feat, you would have to be also the maddest to follow through!"

"Sometimes the pursuit of science must break conventions," Kurisu chuckled emptily, before frowning and continuing, "At least, that's what I told myself. We eventually found a way to condense brainwaves into that same type of information by connecting headgear to the machine housing the singularity, which would then allow us to pass that information through the singularity."

"'Brainwave'?" Merlin furrowed her brow, "I must admit, I unfamiliar with the term."

"Hmm, right, then," the giant bit the tip of her thumb as she thought of an explanation, "For the sake simplicity in this conversation, you can think of brainwaves as our consciousness. It's not an exact definition, but the end result is essentially the same."

King gasped in understanding, "Wait, does that mean you sent your consciousness back in time?"

"I did," Kurisu nodded, "The theory was that the brainwaves we condensed and transferred through the singularity were supposed to overwrite the ones of our previous selves."

"Thus, creating time-travel," Merlin's eyes widened in understanding, "I see now why you did not want to share this information. If the Ten Commandments or some other nefarious organization were to come into possession of this knowledge…."

"She said that's what causes World War III…." Kurisu muttered to herself.

"This has happened before?" King asked worriedly, "It caused some big war?"

"No," Kurisu stated definitively, "Well, not necessarily; not yet, at least," she shook her head, "Look, forget I even mentioned it."

"But wait," Meliodas tilted his head and asked, "You said that your brainwave thingies were supposed to replace the consciousness of your past self. Why did it take over Diane's then?"

"I admit, that's where the theory falls apart," Kurisu pondered, "In fact, due to the instability of the black hole, any further back then forty-eight hours should have torn my brainwaves to shreds. Unless," then, an idea popped into her head, and she glanced down at Gowther, "Wait, Gowther, was it? You said you erased Diane's memories and left her open to suggestion, right?"

The man adjusted his glasses and nodded, "Indeed."

"Then, I think I have a new theory," Kurisu's eyes lit up, "If we think of brainwaves in the terms of digital data, it would be easier to save in an empty space rather than to overwrite and reallocate over existing data."

Meliodas commented, "I only understood some of those words, but it's sounds to me that your consciousness said, 'It's free real estate' and jumped at it."

The giant nodded, "That's the basic gist of it, yeah. However, this is the next part that I don't know for sure; with my brainwaves moving beyond the safety net of forty-eight hours, something would need to act as a tether of sorts. Maybe a jolt to the neural synapses in the brain to act as a magnetic, pulling force, or something."

Nibbling her finger, Merlin gasped, "…The battle with Galand!" She shot her eyes up to Kurisu and explained, "Just yesterday, Diane had suffered a powerful concussive blow to the head in a battle with a strong enemy. Now, again, you've lost me slightly with terms like 'neural synapses', but, if I'm following the general essence of what you're saying correctly, then her concussion could have…." Her voice trailed.

Kurisu added with a gasp of her own, "…served as the tether for my consciousness!"

"Well, if that is all that is tethering you to us," Gowther adjusted his glasses, "Then, all we need to do to bring Diane back is to erase your memories and reopen her to suggestion."

Scowling at the man, Kurisu crossed her arms and scoffed, "If that's your attempt at a joke, don't quit your day job, guy."

But, as he raised an open palm at her, it was clear that Gowther was deadly serious. He was immediately crushed by a giant hand.

The remaining four gasped, Merlin being the first to exclaim, "Lady Kurisu, do not hurt him!"

Elizabeth worriedly added, "Lady Kurisu, please!"

Meliodas instinctively reached for the sword that was supposed to be on his back and glared, "Christina, don't…!"

"I—" now leaning forward to apply pressure, Kurisu worriedly focused on her hand, "I can't let that happen. If this theory is true, then I'm a consciousness without a body. If you erase my memories here, my brainwaves won't have anywhere to go and will be completely destroyed in the process! Makise Kurisu will die! I did not risk my neck to Time-Leap to just be killed like it's nothing! And if I die, then Okabe…." she hadn't realized it, but tears began to drip from her horrified eyes onto her hand. She pushed harder as she began to shout, "Okabe will be trapped forever in limbo between worldlines! I can't let that happen! He'll be as good as dead!"

Merlin turned to Elizabeth and ordered, "Princess, quick, grab the guards. We need to remove Gowther from the premises."

"Right," the princess quickly nodded and dashed to the entrance.

"Hey," King flew up in front Kurisu and waved to get her attention, "Lady Kurisu, hey! Look at me!"

The giant slowly raised her terrified gaze to the fairy boy and muttered, "I have to…!"

"Easy, easy now!" King held his hands in front of him to try to calm her down, "I understand what you're feeling, I do. When he told us that he had erased Diane's memories earlier, I wanted to strangle right there him on the spot. However, we need Gowther for the fight against the Ten Commandments," he glanced away to try to hide his following biting remark, "It'd be a death wish to be down two Sins against them."

"Listen," Kurisu fired back, "I don't really get this Commandment-Sin thing, but this guy is legitimately trying to wipe my memories somehow with that weird ability he mentioned. He's going to kill me!"

"No, we're not gonna let him do that, I swear," the Fairy shook his head, then nodded to the guards surrounding her hand, "See? The guards will take care of him. Let him go."

The giant stared back down and slowly lifted her hand. After watching the guards escort Gowther out of the hall, she stared at the front of her trembling hand for just a moment, before closing her eyes and sliding back into her sitting position against the wall. Shadows covered her eyes as she tilted her head downwards, breathing deeply in an attempt to get a hold of herself. She then rubbed her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"So, um," King asked hesitantly as he flew near Kurisu's head, "What's he like? This Okabe person, I mean."

Kurisu sniffed and forced a smile, "Hey, take a seat, King. Not sure what kind of strain flying puts on the Fairy King, but one of us should be able to relax, at least."

"O-Oh, alright, I suppose," the Fairy nodded and complied, sitting next to her against the wall.

The giant sighed and stared forlornly out the same window as earlier. She gave an empty chuckle, "He's completely obnoxious and a total snob, prone to boorish and insane flights of fancy that are always more aggravating then amusing. To say we butted heads would actually be an understatement, many times to my chagrin."

King furrowed his brow in shock, "Hold on, what? You nearly crushed Gowther over a guy you didn't even like?"

She shook her head, "Nm-mm. It's not like that. Yeah, he's irritating, but on the flipside of that coin, he's always stuck in your mind in a good way. You just couldn't push him out of your mind even if you wanted to. He's persistent and tenacious. According to him, he's the one who time-traveled first to bring us to our perfect worldline. As strange as that sounds, I have bits and pieces of memory that corroborate this. If there's a hope for something, he'll grab a hold of it and never let go, no matter how grim the odds seem," she frowned, "But because of all the Time-Leaping he did to get us to where we are, his memories of all the failed worldlines are crowding in on each other, causing him to slip between worldlines until he just vanishes entirely. It's because of this that I have to save him."

"I think I get it, for the most part," the Fairy King nodded and glanced up at her, "Well, not so much the parts about time-traveling and worldlines and things like that, but I understand wanting to save your lover," he smiled warmly, "You'll save him, I know it. Chock it up to Fairy King's Intuition."

Kurisu cracked a small grin, "I see what you did there, kid," she sighed and as her smile faded and her eyes grew dim, "From what I've little been able to gather, it's clear that this worldine is centuries, if not millennia away from the technology we would need to even begin considering time-travel," she closed her eyes, rested her head against the wall and muttered, "Right now, it's seems our Intuition couldn't be further from it's mark. Looks like both Diane and I just ran out of luck."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Merlin commented as she stepped into the conversation, "I have a theory."

"Oh?" Kurisu opened one eye.

"Now, this 'science' of yours does not sound too much different then magic, in my opinion," Merlin mused.

The giant closed her eyes again and scoffed, "Equating fantasy to cold, hard facts? Yeah, right."

The mage retorted, "From what I understand, your 'science' is akin to studying the world and bending it to your liking, correct?"

"More or less, I suppose," Kurisu opened her eyes and furrowed her brow as she stared down at the magus, "Just what are you getting at?"

Merlin smirked, "Well, it just so happens that my magic and I are quite good at world-bending, much like you and your science."

The giant sighed, "Fine, I'll bite. What's this theory of yours?"

"The same as yours," Merlin remarked coyly, "We're going to send a message back to Diane and warn her about Gowther."

"You can't mean…." King gasped.

Merlin nodded, "I do. Ideally, she won't have her memory wiped at all, but even if she does, hopefully we can throw off the timetable enough for your original experiment to be a success, thus, never trapping you in Diane's body."

Kurisu questioned, "Okay, but how do you intend to pull this off? Like I told King, this worldline is centuries away from having the necessary tech, at least."

"That is a good question," Merlin grinned and turned to the large exit to the hall, "And why I need you and Harlequin to accompany me to me to my lab."

The giant and fairy glanced at each other in shock for a brief moment.

"Well," the mage stopped to glance, "Why are you hesitating? If there is a way to wrap up this issue quickly, should we not pursue?"

Kurisu shrugged at King and they both hopped up to their feet and followed the magus.

"So," Kurisu leaned against Merlin's tower with arms crossed, glancing down at the mage atop the structure, "What exactly is the plan here? Like, I said, we don't exactly have the tech for this."

Ignoring her question, Merlin levitated a small glass flask filled with strange purple liquid, "Here, drink this."

Grabbing the flask, the giant scowled at liquid in the palm of her hand, "…This looks disgusting. I'm not into drinking strange substances without prior testing."

"Oh?" Merlin stated amusedly as she turned away to the staircase that descended into her lab, "Diane's used it multiple times, and as you can clearly see, she was okay," she paused, turned back and smirked, "Or would rather not return to your time period?"

As the wizard began stepping downstairs, Kurisu bargained, "Now, wait, hold on—" but it was no use, as Merlin was already gone. The scientist moaned and grimaced, "I swear, if there are any ill side effects, I'm going to sue."

She took the flask between her index and middle finger, tilted her head back and hesitantly dripped the fluid onto her tongue. She gasped in surprise as a sweet taste spread across her taste buds, "Hey, that actually doesn't taste awful—"

Just then, she fell her body grow warm as she began to shrink within her clothes. She exclaimed, "What—WHAT THE HELL?"

Meanwhile, inside the lab, Merlin waited a few minutes before nonchalantly chuckling and snapping her fingers as she read a dusty tome.

King, who was sitting on a counter across the lab, sighed, "You could've at least warned her."

The mage nodded, "I could have, but then I would've run the risk of her still not taking the potion anyway. At least I gave her new clothes."

The fairy shrugged, "I suppose I'll give you that."

Then, heavy, angry knocking repeated on the door.

"It's unlocked," Merlin called.

The wooden doors creaked open to reveal a human-sized, agitated Kurisu. The girl stomped inside right up to Merlin and glared up at the mage (who now stood about six inches taller then the scientist). Kurisu growled, "Seriously woman, what the hell was that? You can't just mess with a girl's body like that! It's—" a hot blush reddened in her cheeks, "It's unethical, to say the very least!"

Merlin mused, "I thought it best if I could get your hands-on assistance. It IS your base theory after all. It'd be a shame if I were to miss something and get both you and Diane killed."

With her cheeks returning to normal color, Kurisu paused and blinked, before adjusting her tie and clearing her throat, "Well, whatever I guess," she tried to give a small smile, "I suppose this size does suit me a lot better."

The mage nodded, "Good, as I hoped, that should help us work more efficiently. With the dose of the potion I gave you, we've only got roughly eight hours before it wears off."

"Oh," Kurisu mumbled disappointedly, "Only eight hours?"

Merlin turned the worktable at the center of the lab and replied, "I suppose we could pursue a more permanent option, but with the threat of the Ten Commandments looming, I would rather have an inexperienced Sin of Envy rather than nothing at all, should it come to that. I know you said you were no fighter, but I now worry that we may not have that luxury."

"Fair enough, I guess," Kurisu moaned before stepping beside the mage. Leaning over the table, she examined the different plants, minerals and other substances scattered atop before asking, "So, you never explained the game-plan on how we're doing this without the necessary tech."

"Also," King asked from across the room, "How do I fit into all this? I barely understand Kurisu's situation as it is."

"To answer both of your questions," the mage smiled coyly, "There's a shortcut for every impossibility in this world. They just need to be found. Lady Kurisu, you had mentioned the key piece of your theory required the opening of a singularity, correct?"

"Well, yes, but—"

Merlin held up a finger to silence her, then turning to King, "Harlequin, are you aware of how a singularity is created?"

He nodded, "Matter must be condensed to the point of collapsing in on itself," he furrowed, "but creating black holes is difficult for even the most powerful of mages—"

The mage interrupted him, "Exactly how do you teleport from one place to another?"

Confused, King tilted his head and explained, "Well, as Fairy King, I use my ability, Disaster, to expand a point in matter to the point of tearing open, ripping through the fabric of the physical—" his eyes immediately widened as he gasped in understanding, "You want me to use my Disaster in reverse, don't you? Instead of expanding matter, you want me to shrink it to the point of collapsing, right?"

Merlin nodded, "When I mentioned shortcuts, you are whom I had in mind."

The Fairy glared, "But my father told me never to reverse Disaster. He said it could cause catastrophes on a cataclysmic level."

"Well yeah, sure, if you left the singularity uncontained for even a second too long," Kurisu stated matter-of-factly. She turned to Merlin and asked, "Which, I assume you wouldn't have even brought us here if you didn't already have a method contain it."

The mage nodded, turned and stepped towards one of the cabinets in the wall, "Indeed; furthermore, I think I may have an idea on how to stabilize the singularity as well."

As Merlin levitated a small wooden bowl from the cabinet and brought back to the table, the scientist furrowed her brow and question, "Hold up, what? You can't just stabilize a singularity! That's what makes it a black hole!"

With a smirk, the mage chuckled, "Shortcuts, Lady Kurisu," she showed Kurisu the bowl filled with cyan, jello-like ectoplasm, "Soul dregs, the remnants of the spirit of dying warrior on the battlefield. Souls are the hardest substances to destroy after all. If anything can hold a black hole together, it's this."

Kurisu just glared in disgust, "First of all, ew! Second of all, why do you have this? This has to be breaking some sort of law, not to mention some code of ethics."

"None that I'm aware, and knowledge and application of Magic is kind of my whole specialty," Merlin stated as she floated the bowl above the table. She then levitated her crystal ball adjacent to the bowl and muttered, "Perfect Cube."

Immediately, a transparent, crystalline barrier surrounded the bowl, cemementing half of the crystal ball within, and half of it without.

"Seriously?" Kurisu moaned and rubbed her head, "Creating barriers out of thin air now? I swear, magic gives me headaches."

Merlin mused, "I'm sure you'll get used to it. Now, Harlequin," she turned to the Fairy and requested, "Please funnel your reverse Disaster through my crystal ball and into the Perfect Cube. Once the singularity is open, I will attempt to send a mental message through it to Diane."

King nodded and approached the cube. Placing his hand on the conduit, he hesitated and glanced back worriedly at the two women, "Lady Merlin, Lady Kurisu, are you sure this will work?"

The latter shrugged, "Who knows? This isn't exactly the setup I had back home. I honestly don't know what's gonna happen."

The former stated, "Regardless the outcome, this theory is our best shot at sending Lady Kurisu home and bringing back Diane."

King moaned and deadpanned as his shoulders slumped and he turned back to the cube, "And here I am at the epicenter of calamity," with a sigh, he gave up the ghost, "Whatever. If it's to save Diane, I have to try," he took a deep breath and focused his energy into the ball as he whispered, "Disaster, Condense Power."

As he spoke, the space in the cube began to warp and twist in on itself before tearing into a small hole void of light. The hole expanded swiftly until it sucked the bowl of Soul Dregs into its core, causing its growth to slow exponentially.

"Good!" Merlin grinned and placed her hand on King's shoulder, "I'll attempt to force a message through."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a few short minutes, the mage reopened her eyes. She glanced at Kurisu and frowned, "I don't think it worked."

"Since I'm still here, I'd wager that it didn't," the scientist bit her finger, "I mean, primitive and otherworldly as it is, this is still the same set up I made in my time. Just, what's missing this time—" just then, her eyes widened as she gasped, "Electricity! Electricity was the catalyst! Miss Merlin, is there anyway you can harness electricity with that magic stuff?"

She nodded, "Simple. Harlequin, I apologize in advance."

King furrowed his brow and asked confusedly, "Huh? What do you mean—"

His body seized as a strong electric shock passed from Merlin's hand into his shoulder. The shock ran along his arm into the crystal ball. After leaping from the ball to the singularity, the lighting danced and reproduced quickly. Then, the singularity reacted to the electricity, and caused the room to start quaking violently. In the next instant, cyan ethereal globes began pouring from the black hole and filling the Perfect Cube.

Kurisu grabbed onto the table to try to help keep balance. She worriedly shouted over the quaking in her ears, "This isn't supposed to happen! Miss Merlin, something's very wrong!"

As the Perfect Cube began to crack, Merlin nodded and yelled, "Harlequin, shut it down!"

King grunted and pulled his arm away from the crystal ball.

The quaking stopped, but not before the perfect cube shattered and released the myriad of ectoplasmic globes that were trapped within. Before any of the three could react, the spheres immediately shot out and escaped, disappearing through the walls of the towers.

Standing to her feet, Kurisu was the first to speak, "I get that we failed the experiment, but what the hell were those?"

With a long sigh, Merlin rubbed her eyes irritably, "…Those were lost souls, looking for bodies to inhabit."

Alarmed, both King and Kurisu exclaimed simultaneously, "What?!"