A/N: Episode 200.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE: DROP OF TIME

An old woman was sitting by herself as a waitress walked up to her. "Would you like more coffee?"

"I suppose I'll have some."

"Did you sleep well last night?" The waitress asked, pouring some coffee into her cup.

"Yes... Like a log."

"Did you watch the Grand Magic Games?"

"Oh, yes. Indeed."

The two women glanced up at Domus Flau. "It was an amazing battle, wasn't it?" The waitress questioned. "I was rooting for Mermaid Heel, so I was let down a bit. But my co-worker on the other hand, was cheering for Black Sun, so she won in the end."

"Is that right?"

"How about you, ma'am?"

"I'm not especially partial. Though if I must choose, I suppose I'd say Fairy Tail."

The waitress began fangirling. "They're great, too! That ice wizard, Gray, is so handsome, don't you think?"

"Yes. I wouldn't disagree with you."

Black Sun's inn...

"I can't believe it's time to head back home already." Orion commented.

"It does feel like we've been here an extremely long time." Raden agreed.

"The masters have already left, right?" Aster questioned.

"Yeah. They wanted to get a head start." Massorao responded. "Although, some people are still out celebrating."

"I heard Master Souta gave the reward money to Fairy Tail." Raden stated.

"That's correct. We didn't really need it. So Master decided to give it to them." Sebastian explained.

The Fairy Tail members looked in shock as Souta held out a large brown pouch to Makarov. "W-We couldn't possibly-!" Makarov started to say.

"It's fine, Makarov. In all honesty, I wouldn't know what to do with 30 million jewel." Souta smiled at him. "You and your guild would probably find better use for it than we would."

"Will you guys hurry up? If we don't leave now, we'll miss the train."

Everyone turned to see that Nox and Maxim had entered the room.

The Black Sun members boarded the train, placing their stuff away and sitting down in a compartment. "You know, we've been through a lot." Aster mumbled to himself, looking out of the window as he waited for the train to depart from Crocus.

"There's no sign of Ul." Meredy informed as her and Jellal were walking through the ruins of the dragon battle with their hoods up.

"No."

"I just hope she isn't hurt." Meredy stated.

"Yes, it seems 'time' doesn't heal wounds." Jellal said as Meredy looked down. "We heard that the portal was destroyed and 'time' is back on track. Rogue, Orion, and the dragons returned to their rightful time periods. I don't know what happened to the Future Lucy who lost her life in this age, but our memories, injuries and the wrecked town are all still here. By rights, everything should have been 'erased' as if it never happened."

"There were too many disruptions in the time stream for everything to go back to normal." Meredy realized.

"Certainly, it helps that our memories are intact... but there are negative aspects as well." Jellal stated as the two looked at the destroyed Eclipse portal. "Of all things, the royal family's use of Dark Magic has been reported to the Council. If this isn't handled carefully..."

Footsteps were soon heard from behind the two, making them turn to see Doranbolt walking towards them. "Doranbolt..." Jellal muttered.

"You wiped the memories of the Council members?" Jellal questioned in shock.

"That's right. I altered all the memories of everyone who was here." Doranbolt responded.

"I'm surprised. I didn't know you had such power."

"It's my job to use that Magic for undercover investigations."

"Still, why would you go through all that trouble?" Jellal asked.

"Eclipse is one form of Magic from the Books of Zeref. It'd be a disaster if word got out that the royal family was involved in Dark Magic." Doranbolt replied.

"Don't tell anyone else about this!" Doranbolt scolded Toma, Hisui, and Arcadios.

"You scolded the king?!" Meredy questioned in shock.

"Think about it. The public would lose faith, and at worst, the monoarchy would be in danger." Doranbolt explained.

"I see."

"I want no part in undermining the royals. As a member of the Council myself, I did have second thoughts, but sometimes you just need to turn a blind eye." Doranbolt said.

"I'm surprised you managed to convince Lahar." Jellal commented.

"I didn't. I revised his memories, too." Doranbolt confessed. "He's got a bright future ahead of him. I didn't want involve him in my skullduggery."

"I didn't know there were people like you on the Council."

"There are probably villains like you on the Council, too."

Jellal sent him a smirk in which Doranbolt returned. He then looks at Meredy, who had a distressed look plastered on her face as she sighed.

"You haven't found Ultear yet?" He questioned.

"No." Meredy answered.

"She isn't the type to disappear without saying anything." Jellal added.

Doranbolt turned around. "Well, it's got nothing to do with me... If I'm worrying about people like you, it probably means I'm losing my edge." He claimed.

"Wait."

"I'll do you a solid. I hate things that are a pain in the ass. We never met. Got it?"

"I appreciate that."

"Don't get the wrong idea. This is a one-shot deal."

"What about Cobra?" Jellal questioned, causing Doranbolt to stop. "What happened to him?"

"He turned himself in." Doranbolt replied.

"What?"

"It was right after the dragons vanished."

Anti-Magic cuffs were on Cobra's wrists. "You really don't need to bind me with this." Cobra informed.

"Oh, don't be like that. A lot of people insist on the bound and helpless look."

"You call me out here, and I don't even get to dispatch even one dragon. Jeez, it's pathetic." Cobra said.

"I'm surprised he's going back without a fight." Lahar admitted.

"I guess even a scoundrel like you keeps his promises, huh?" Doranbolt asked.

"I like being outside. I haven't absorbed so many voices in a long time. I could hear your voice too, Cubellios." Cobra responded.

"Voice?" Doranbolt repeated.

"For now, I'll return quietly to my beloved cell." Cobra turned around. "To save the Demon Generals." He added in his head.

"Cobra!" Doranbolt called out. "What did you hear?!"

Cobra turned to look at him. "Who knows? The gate of the underworld is going to open." He replied. "Until then, you won't be able to fiddle with my memories."

"He didn't say anything after that. I don't know what's gonna happen, but consider yourself warned. See you around." Doranbolt said before teleporting away.

"The gate of the underworld..." Meredy mumbled.

"Tartaros!" Jellal realized.

The train stopped at a station to let more passengers on. Sebastian groaned as he leaned across the seat. "Why did Master Souta think it was a good idea to place our guild hall in a far town?" He complained, clenching his stomach.

Nox scoffed. "I cannot believe I have to listen to this for the whole train ride."

Orion chuckled. "What are you guys planning on doing when we arrive back home?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Go back to work, probably." Massorao replied as Maxim nodded in agreement.

The train starts up again, causing Sebastian to hurl.

Jellal and Meredy were walking down a path with their hoods up. "The gate of the underworld, Tartaros. One of the three Balam Alliance guilds, along with Grimoire Heart and Oracion Seis. I don't know what information he got, but does he mean to use it to negotiate immunity?" Jellal questioned.

"Tartaros..." Meredy muttered.

"The scary guild that's a complete mystery. Will it make its move?" Jellal wondered.

The clouds moved in the sky as Jellal and Meredy walked past a windmill. As they continued walking, an old woman stopped in front of them.

"Are you..."

Jellal and Meredy quickly turned around. "Oh, no! Someone's coming!" Jellal said.

"Right!" Meredy nodded.

"...Jellal-san and Meredy-san?"

Hearing their names, Jellal and Meredy turned back around as the old woman reached into her bag. "A woman entrusted me with a letter for you."

"A letter?" Jellal quoted.

"Don't tell me..." Meredy started to say, opening the letter. "This letter... It's from Ul!"

Jellal... Meredy... I'm sorry. In this last battle, I tried using a certain spell and failed. Because of that, I only have a short time left to live. But I just had to bid you farewell.

Meredy widened her eyes.

My journey ends here. Although I'm passing on before you, never forget Crime Sorciere's spirit. It means never forgetting your crimes. It means never letting your past crimes overwhelm you. It means believing in a day which you'll be forgiven for your crimes. It means never stop loving people.

The true battle has just begun. If Zeref isn't defeated, wizards will once again become steeped in grief.

Please live on for me. And battle on. It is my hope that this journey of yours will bring happiness to all.

Meredy began sobbing as tears dropped on the paper. "Ul..." She choked out, wiping her tears.

"Old woman, when did you get this...?" Jellal started to ask. But when he turned, the old woman was gone. The wind blew, causing Jellal's hood to fall off.

Meredy sobs in Jellal's arms. "Magic that robs someone of time..." He muttered.

A/N: Another chapter is completed!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.