The archives turned out to be just a fancy name for a library. While Lahar had said it was in Era, the reality was the place wasn't in the official government building used by the magic council. More accurately, it was a secure library that had been built in the nearby town belatedly once the council realized they needed a place to store information on magic of all kinds. The building had a floor that was open for public use right in the entrance.

It looked like what Meredy would have expected from a government's library there. The books were old, with some falling apart on the shelves. The room had a stale smell, feeling stuffy with more humidity than she thought there was outside. A spiral staircase was on the left side of the library, beyond the tables set up to allow people to remain and read the books. A magical barrier blocked people from walking onto it. When they approached, Lahar raised his hand and began to rewrite the enchantment that was keeping her out. Once finished, he waved her on ahead of him before following after her.

"Spread out and begin here." Lahar directed her and Doranbolt towards a nearby section of the library. "We have historical records on spells created during the era of the dragon wars here. Nirvana falls into that category, which unfortunately means…"

"We have to dig through these shelves to find the dark magic spells unrelated to Zeref, don't we?" Doranbolt sighed. "Always the most annoying part of the job - while it's true that there's plenty of others out there, all the history from that era focused on him."

Nodding, Meredy approached the shelf and began skimming the titles. A few she immediately ignored, recognizing them as Zeref's spells as Doranbolt had suggested. She spotted him pulling down a book titled Awakening and stopped him. "That is likely a dark ritual regarding Zeref."

The teleportation mage raised his eyebrows at her. "What makes you say that?"

Looking away, she focused on the books. "My guild was researching something of that nature. It was supposed to be a means of awakening Zeref's latent magic."

The other man put the book back without comment, continuing to grab other titles that seemed to hold potential. Meredy wasn't seeing much that sounded like it related to what she knew of Nirvana though. She found some books that sounded like generic principles of reversal spells, hoping it contained some sort of premise to gain information on Nirvana itself. Then, she also grabbed a few on the Nirvit, feeling a vague sense of familiarity from the name.

They sat down at a table together, quietly beginning their research. Meredy pulled at the collar of her new robes as she sat down, still adjusting to the heaviness of her new uniform. It wasn't that uncomfortable, but it was unfamiliar. She shifted it around a bit before dropping her hand, returning her focus to the book on the table and reading in silence.

Having started with the books on the Nirvit, she began to realize why the name was familiar. They were the group that created Nirvana. Yet, it didn't have much on the spell itself. Mostly, they focused on their culture and history, talking about the rise of their clan, their neutrality during the wars, and then how they eventually fell to internal fighting. Few knew the cause of the civil war that ended their clan, but it was rumored to be some sort of war for control over the clan. Some theorized that a division grew within their people of those who wanted to remain neutral and those that wished to join in the conflict to bring it to a conclusion.

The reversal spells were unrelated, though Meredy still found herself engrossed in the book quickly. Most books on magic provided descriptions of how to unravel existing spells and little else. This one went in detail on that, but also went on to theorize about the reasoning behind why the spells were constructed as they were. It gave explanations for the placement of runes in specific areas on the magic circle, as well as calculations that modeled exactly how much energy was needed for specific results.

Continuing on, it began to get even more theoretical as she reached the final section of the book. Rather than just focusing on the structure of existing spells, it seemed to theorize about growing the subject of reversal spells as its own field of study. Countering magic of all kinds was useful, but as explained by the book, most spells require very specific runes and magic circles to reverse their effects. As one begins investigating more complex reversals, it may even fall into the realm of ritual magic or the more difficult to control chanting to find success.

Closing the book, Meredy found her eyes skimming for the author. Dragneel. No additional name was offered and Meredy was left assuming it was just the author's last name. However, her curiosity had her walking back to the shelf to see what else they'd written about. Perhaps if she found more books on theoretical concepts, she might be able to make some deductions herself on Nirvana's functionality. Rather than stopping it, they could try and come up with a counter spell like the book she'd just read had suggested.

She skimmed the books, only to grow still as she found the name on a book she'd initially thought to ignore. The R-System: A Theory on Overcoming the Barriers of Magic. With wide eyes, she slowly reached out to grab the book. This time, she didn't bother reading all of the details. Her eyes skimmed the details, seeing familiar runes and structures as what she'd seen in person at the Tower of Heaven. While she didn't know why it was here, she suddenly had a realization as to the author of the other book.

Approaching to grab another book of his own, Lahar frowned over at her. "That has nothing to do with our situation." Meredy looked up, closing the book. "The R-System is banned magic for a reason. Not only is it impossible to use, it also is unnatural in its attempt to bring the dead back to life. Don't even think of attempting it."

"Who wrote this?" She frowned at him, confused. This was a government building. It made sense to study dark magic for protective reasons, yet a book by Zeref himself simply made no sense.

Shrugging, the rune knight captain turned back to the shelf. "Unknown. We have a few books in our collection by Dragneel, but the author never published under their full name. The books have offered invaluable information on all sorts of magic during many crises, however."

She nodded, slowly pushing the book back into its place on the shelf. It made an odd sort of sense for Zeref to have such an in-depth understanding of magic. He had lived for far longer than anyone else and likely had the chance to study far more about magic than wizards today. If he were around, perhaps she'd have a lead on where to search next. He would have some sort of suggestion at least on how to reverse Nirvana, if not block it from activating entirely.

Then, she blinked. "Moon drip." Lahar turned towards her with a frown, but Meredy was realizing she actually did have a lead. "I'd forgotten about it. The spell should theoretically be capable of reversing any magic. It would reverse the effects of Nirvana."

"That won't stop the Oración Seis though."

She frowned. "And it can only be used under specific conditions." She hadn't been involved directly with the mission, but she'd learned some of the details from Ultear. "The demons on Galuna Island - they might have more information."

"Demons?" Lahar stared at her. "I understand you are used to other methods, but as a rune knight, we are expected to follow certain procedures and protocol. We do not consult with beings made of dark magic."

As he spoke, another possibility occurred to her. She nodded silently when he finished, thinking about how Zeref had just vanished into nothing along with all of Magnolia. Like all spells, magic was tied to the person who cast it. She doubted his living magic was any different. If that were the case, the demons on Galuna Island were no more. So, she quietly grabbed another book, returning to the table and not quite finding her focus again.

After a few hours and no answers, Doranbolt rose to his feet. "Alright, I'd say we've had enough of this for today. It's time for lunch at the very least."

"We cannot be wasting time." Lahar stubbornly remained seated.

"Come on, we can't focus on an empty stomach." Doranbolt got up, walking over to Meredy's seat. "See? Even Meredy's wilting over here and she's a scary, former dark wizard."

"I'm thirteen," she said. It likely should be something they knew, since this technically was a job.

Both rune knights blinked at her. Lahar closed his book and swallowed. "You must be joking. A wizard in Grimoire Heart would be at least fifteen, especially one with a reputation like yours."

"My reputation is gained from my rank within the guild, not my actions." She shrugged. "I joined as a child. It gave me the chance to learn well."

"Well." Doranbolt cleared his throat. "Regardless, my suggestion remains. I'd say we get food and then come back to this mess."

With a sigh, the captain rose to his feet. "Very well. If you insist on going, we will get a quick lunch and then return to our research." His eyes flickered between the two of them as he headed towards the stairs. "Have either of you come across anything useful?"

"Not particularly. Unless you find some information on how to remove the surgically inserted dragon lacrima from a dragon slayer to be useful," Doranbolt said.

"Cobra has one." Meredy looked over at him. "Though, I doubt you'd be able to manage to get close to him for any sort of surgical procedure."

"And you?" Lahar attempted to get them focused again, turning towards Meredy.

"All my my theories were ones you refused to pursue." She folded her arms over her chest. "My connections are unlikely to ever be helpful if you insist on ignoring that they exist."

"What suggestion did you have?"

"She wanted to interrogate demons," Lahar answered.

"Considering they're probably dead, it wasn't important anyway." Both rune knights frowned, but Meredy was walking ahead of them.

"Why would any demons just suddenly die? They're tough creatures that the council has spent years trying to seal." Doranbolt shook his head. "The last one that got away was way in the north and we still haven't found it again."

"Deliora?" They both blinked and slowly nodded. "He is dead." She paused. "As for the others, it is a long story."

"Well, we're getting lunch and have some time to listen." Doranbolt reached over, tossing an arm over his shoulder. "Why don't you tell us about your old demon connections?"

It likely wouldn't look good if she did. Frowning, she debated what to say when she found herself running into someone as she stopped paying attention to her surroundings. Stepping back from the collision, she looked up to see a familiar distant expression on a face she never expected to see around Era. "Crow?"

"Good afternoon, Meredy." The man smiled, rubbing his chest as he stepped back. "I am glad to see you are well. You took our advice regarding Nirvana then?"

Behind him, Sara was entering the library with two other girls, one stranger and one even more surprising than the other. "You!" Sherria pointed at Meredy with wide eyes. "You were from the place that wanted to fight all the time." She placed a hand on her hip. "I'm not going back, just so you know. I found Sora and I'm not gonna leave her again."

Sora, she assumed, looked over at Meredy with a frown. "You were one of the ones that gave her that book?"

"Sora." Sara's voice held a harsh tone. The blue haired girl went silent, not continuing. Letting out a sigh, Sara looked over at Meredy. "Find us if you get desperate. We'll be in town for one more day. Things are about to go to hell here so I highly advise relocating soon."

"Meredy, who are these people?" Doranbolt looked at the group with a frown. "Are they…former associates of yours?"

"They own a coffee shop." She glared at him. "I worked there for a few weeks."

"And she did a horrible job with anything that wasn't the basic task of making coffee." Sara shook her head at them.

Rolling her eyes, Meredy turned towards her former bosses. Then, she frowned as she realized just how strange this truly was. "Have you been following me?"

"No." Crow paused. "I mentioned we were looking for some old friends, did I not?" Meredy looked over at Sora. Sherria was clinging to her leg, refusing to leave her side. When she turned back to Crow, the old man was smiling. "We were hoping to find a few more, but I fear we are severely lacking in time to manage anything further."

"And you're sure she'll be able to help?" Sara looked over at him. "She's gonna be pissed, you know."

Sighing, the elderly man nodded. "We have no other options." He looked over at Meredy.

"I want answers. You predicted this would happen," Meredy said. They'd always been odd, but the fact that they were right and had acted in preparation for Nirvana being activated was unnerving.

"If you want answers, learn to do something for a change and stop asking so many questions." Sara looked around at their group. "Finish whatever it is you're busy with for now."

"We were going to get lunch. You could join us if you'd like." Doranbolt smiled at them. "Meredy was just about to explain her theory about Zeref's demons to us."

Sara narrowed her eyes at them. "And exactly what theory is that?"

"She seems to think someone managed to destroy some of them," Lahar said.

Shaking her head, Meredy sighed. "No, I don't." She looked around, a bit uncertain as to who would be listening. Either way, Crow, Sara, and their group were following Meredy and the rune knights back into town. "They are sustained by his magic. Naturally, they'd cease to exist along with him."

Snorting, Doranbolt shook his head. "Well, he's been gone for centuries now so there's no question about that theory being false."

"That is incorrect." Sara folded her arms over her chest. "Trust me, he's harder to kill than you'd think."

Nodding in agreement, Meredy looked over at the other rune knights. "I've managed to meet him, recently."

"Admittedly, I have as well." Sora looked over at Meredy. "How did you get involved in his quest to end his curse? I honestly thought we were out of people involved in that arrangement."

"Curse?" Lahar looked around at them. "Exactly how do all of you know so much about a dark wizard that history says died years ago? Are you attempting to pull a prank on us?"

"Don't believe me then." Sara shrugged. "Doesn't bother me in the slightest." Her eyes flickered towards Meredy. "As for your theory, like I said, he's not dead."

"The entirety of Magnolia disappeared in a matter of minutes." Her eyes locked with Sara. "He was in the city when it happened."

"Hm." She frowned, staring at the ground. Then, she looked over at Crow with a raised eyebrow.

The older man smiled. "I suppose this is good news, of a sort."

"What are we expecting now?" Sara asked.

"Returning when the time is right."

"That's always what you suggest."

With a smile, Sora shook her head. "Don't argue. We'll figure this out, alright?"

"Are you all forgetting we have company?"

"They'll be joining us," Crow said. His eyes turned towards Meredy. "You are intending on gaining allies to make a plan to destroy Nirvana, are you not?"

"What have you heard about that incident?"

"They…came to our home." Sherria spoke quietly. "I was scared. Sora told me to get out of the way and we started running together. Then, these two were there and Sora said they were our friends. So, we went with them." Her eyes turned towards Meredy. "A big spider thing blasted our house with a bright light. Then, people started fighting."

Patting her head, Sora gave her a small smile before turning to Meredy. "They blasted right through our town before starting on a path towards Crocus. I wouldn't be surprised if they've converted the royal army at this point."

"The…royal army of Fiore?" Lahar went pale. "But we have plenty of rune knights. We…"

"Are we really going to start a war with Fiore?" Doranbolt clasped his hands together. "Let's face it, even if it is because of Nirvana's influence, that's what this would be. We don't have the authority to do that. Even if we did, we haven't recovered enough from Siegrain's betrayal to win."

Nodding, Meredy turned towards the others. "We need allies." Her eyes flickered towards Sara. "You had ideas on how to do that?" She didn't even know they were wizards at all.

"I have a connection we can use to start," Crow answered instead. "From there, we will need to begin recruiting efforts." His eyes focused on Meredy with a small smile. "Gather allies and we will form an independent guild of sorts. Together, we will return and destroy Nirvana once we have sufficient numbers."

"Exactly where were you planning to start with this recruitment effort? We aren't going to be able to succeed with just a single member or two helping us out," Doranbolt said.

Sara turned towards them. "We're not idiots." Her arms folded over her chest. "This isn't our first war either. You want an army? Consider it done, if we can get his old friend on our side." Smirking, Sara looked over at them. "He's got connections with someone high up in the government of Alvarez."

"The Alvarez Empire?" Lahar blinked at them. "You're going to use them to start a war on our behalf?"

"Well, it's that or just give up and run away." Sara looked over at the others. "Either way, it is a place to go for now. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"We'll join." Meredy spoke quickly. "This is larger than us." Her eyes turned towards Lahar and Doranbolt. "My arrangement still remains, but please understand - I will prioritize attempting to protect the friends I made."

"Then I suppose we should officially offer introductions." Crow nodded towards her companions. "Meredy knows me as Crow, but that is merely a nickname. My real name is Chronos, the god of time." He gave a bow to the others. "My powers are weakened and will unfortunately be limited in our upcoming conflict similarly to my companions."

Nodding, Sora offered her hand towards the others. "I'm Sora, god of the wind and sky. We're making our comeback soon and trust me, we'll be back to our full strength when that happens." She gave them a smile, seeing the disbelieving looks on the faces of the nearby wizards. "Yeah, I got that expression with the last person I told too. I get it if you can't believe it, I really do. But we're honestly telling the truth."

"And I'm Sherria!" The small girl smiled at them. "I love hugs and magic. I want us all to be the best of friends." Her eyes flickered towards Meredy. "Especially you! You were nice and didn't force me to stay and fight. The others kept saying I wouldn't be able to leave." She hadn't noticed when that happened, but she nodded and accepted the request calmly. Then, Sherria nudged Sara. "Your turn! You gotta introduce yourself too."

With a sigh, the girl looked away. "Sara." She looked over at them. "More commonly known as Ankhseram, the god of life and death."

"You expect us to believe the three of you are gods?" Lahar asked. Sora nodded along with Crow. Sara just looked away, folding her arms over her chest. "This is absurd."

"I mean, we're already looking at an insane situation." Doranbolt looked around at their group. "I say it doesn't matter if it is true or not. We need the help and they've got a way for us to get more." He looked over at Lahar. "I'll start gathering the knights that I can. Did the three of you have a plan for how we were getting out?"

"By boat." Sara raised her eyebrows. "How else did you expect to cross the ocean? Swimming?"

Meredy smiled faintly, shaking her head. "We'll figure things out." They would have time. She just had to believe that. Together, they'd find a path back to this place to free everyone from Nirvana's influence. Until then, she'd learn how to make do with the people she had around her. Now that she had at least two familiar faces, she found herself relaxing. She still had friends and she wasn't alone. Wendy would be saved, she'd make sure of it.