"Do you think Astro has remembered everything by now?"
Aurora's voice was quiet as she lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Arthur was beside her. He hadn't let her stay outside in the cold for long and brought her back to the guest house almost immediately. They had planned to find an inn, but every place in town was already full because of the event happening later in the morning.
"I guess so," Arthur replied calmly.
Aurora turned her head slightly to look at him. "You seem far less troubled than I am."
"Well…" Arthur shifted onto his side, resting his head on his hand as he looked at her. "When a beautiful woman is lying right in front of a man, his thoughts usually stay focused on her."
He gave her a playful wink.
Aurora stared at him with a flat expression, completely unimpressed. For a moment, she genuinely wondered how he could look so relaxed while their son might be facing something life-altering.
Arthur let out a small chuckle. "Relax. We shouldn't interfere in everything. If we keep stepping in, he'll never grow. Back in my day, I used to—"
He stopped mid-sentence when Aurora's deadpan gaze sharpened. Seeing that Arthur finally shut up, she let out a deep breath.
"If it weren't for the side effect of the Imperium Eye… I wouldn't have interfered with his current happy life at all." She paused briefly before continuing. "I do want him to remember us… but remembering means reliving everything. All that pain."
There was no exaggeration in her tone. Only fear and uncertainty…
Arthur watched her carefully. Then he lifted his hand and gently stroked her cheek slowly.
"Painful memories aren't meant to be erased," he said in a soft voice. "They're meant to be understood. We grow when we face them instead of burying them. Pain reminds us why we fight for a better future. It was like that for us… and it'll be the same for Astro and Siegrain whether we like it or not… this is just the world we live in."
His eyes didn't leave hers when he said it.
Aurora blinked a few times before nodding slowly. She knew he wasn't wrong. It just didn't make it easier.
Arthur's expression softened further, and he pulled her gently into his arms.
"We're not young anymore," he murmured. "It's time to let the next generation walk their own path. They'll have their own journey, their own adventures, their own story—just like we did. We will step in when they truly need us."
Aurora rested her head against his chest and held onto him quietly.
She didn't know how everything would unfold. Astro and Siegrain's path would not be smooth. There would be conflict, mistakes, maybe even suffering.
But deep down, she believed in them.
No matter how hard it became, they would endure.
They would make it. As they say, the new generation will always surpass the previous generation.
Meanwhile
Astro stood in front of the mirror, holding the basin tightly as he stared at his own reflection. His left eye was still in its Imperium Eye form, glowing orange faintly as he kept steady eye contact with himself in the mirror.
It was impossible to tell what was running through his mind, but the aura around him had shifted slightly from before. His thoughts were drifting through memories he had just seen.
He was born a prince. He had a happy family—his parents, his aunt, his brother, everyone. It wasn't perfect, but it was warm. And in the end, all of it was taken away by some people who attacked their kingdom out of greed.
'And that guy was the one Mom was talking with too… so Vindex is behind tonight's attack at the gala as well…'
Astro's gaze hardened slightly. He remembered there was someone else with Vindex that night, another figure who attacked alongside him that fought Mom, but the details were blurry. He would have to inquire about that later. Right now, there were bigger issues to deal with.
"Anantea…"
Alvemak's low voice echoed inside his mind. Astro snapped out of his daze almost immediately.
"That demon? Her name was Anantea?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah… though calling her a demon isn't entirely accurate. She was a devil. Like me," Alvemak replied with a bit of pride in his voice.
Astro frowned faintly. "What's the difference? Aren't demons and devils the same thing?"
Under a purple sky somewhere far away, a man in a black windbreaker sat alone at a round table. He lazily raised his head, red eyes flashing as he looked at the empty seats surrounding him.
"Demon is a broader term," Alvemak explained. "All beings living in demon realms are demons, including me. But among us, there were ten who were different. The ten of us held the title of Devils. We were the rulers of the demon worlds."
"Different how?" Astro asked.
"We were far stronger than the rest. Our lifespans surpassed theirs to the point you could consider us immortal. And once a year, we could open gates to other worlds—gates only we could pass through. Though…" his gaze shifted to the vacant chairs around him, "…I'm the only one left alive now."
There was a quiet melancholy in his tone.
"I see…" Astro studied his reflection. "You don't seem that surprised she was involved in my life."
"I sensed traces of her power lingering inside you back then," Alvemak admitted. "There's none left now, so you don't have to worry. I didn't understand why at the time… but now it's obvious. It was meant to help your body grow and stay alive—to keep up with the growth of your soul, which was elsewhere most of the time."
Astro's brows furrowed. He remembered the diamond-like lacrima she had placed inside his body when he was a child. His father had removed it, saying it wasn't dangerous since nothing was powering it. But Astro clearly remembered feeling it shatter inside him when he escaped from Golvax.
Which meant…
His father must have powered it and put it back inside him to save him.
And his father's specialty was energy-based magic. The only thing he knew was capable of powering something like that.
"Is that why you decided to save me back then?" Astro asked quietly. His previous memories in Earthland started in the Inca Kingdom. He had no recollection of his time in the Sin Kingdom. It still surprised him that Alvemak had chosen to save him at all.
"I was interested," Alvemak admitted without hesitation.
He believed Anantea was probably dead. He never knew how she died or what truly happened. So when he saw a human boy who had some of Anantea's power lingering in him, he decided to finally interfere with the human world as well.
But after seeing the fragments of Astro's mind, he couldn't help but think…
Maybe this was what she always wanted.
But why? Her actions ultimately led to the deaths of the other Devils, hunted down one by one by Devil Slayers who gained their powers. Why would she orchestrate something like that? She cared for her kind more than any of them… And the other demons and devils liked her too…
Alvemak's thoughts drifted back to her voice.
"Fate cannot be changed, no matter what we do. Our lives will go as they were meant to… but there is always an exception. If I can only find the child of stars…"
Was Astro that child? Did she not do anything because she was forced to submit to her fate?
"By the way… Mom used some kind of magic so I wouldn't feel that pain. Do you think she… is alright?"
Suddenly, Astro's voice broke his stupor.
Astro remembered the soul-crushing agony he felt when he was young, trapped inside that lacrima—right when she erased his memories.
Astro's grip on the basin tightened as he remembered when she lied to him and said that he erased his memories himself.
She made it sound harmless. As if nothing truly terrible had happened.
What bad thing could have been done by him, right?
He erased his own brother's memories. Even if it was under the influence of that mark, it didn't change the fact that he did it. He had the Imperium Eye even back then. If he had just been a little smarter…
Then he took Maria's brother's identity. Maria's real brother probably died in that accident with their parents, and he shamelessly stepped into that role.
Astro's grip tightened further. Cracks began forming along the surface of the basin.
His father most likely overused his own magic to keep his body functioning.
His mother erased his memories so he wouldn't drown in grief. She even took his pain onto herself to protect him. She probably would have kept him in the dark for the rest of his life if there hadn't been a side effect of the Imperium Eye—those affected by it would suffer memory instability and be extremely vulnerable to illusions and mind-based magic.
His mother probably wouldn't mind even if he never got back his memories. Especially as long as he could be happy without any worry of his past… but she needed him to reawaken the imperium eye because if he didn't, his situations with delusions and false memory would have gotten worse…to the point where others could take advantage of it anytime…
"Damn it…"
The basin shattered completely in his hands. Pieces fell to the floor, clattering loudly. Astro looked down at the fragments, then at the blood running from the cuts on his palm.
"I don't know what her current situation is," Alvemak said with a frown, "but I'd be more worried about you right now."
"About what? The next closest person I'll end up making suffer?" Astro replied, his tone half-bitter, half-mocking as he stared at his injured hand.
He was about to heal it when he paused. The sensation was different. It felt a bit….Slower. Was he imagining it?
"Well… it's more about your Sky Devil Slayer Magic," Alvemak said seriously. "I told you that you can use my magic because I enchanted myself onto your body back then."
"And that enchantment is wearing off," Astro finished calmly. "Probably because it's starting to clash with my original magic… or curse."
"Magic and curses are different power sources," Alvemak explained, "but they're still power sources. They'll naturally clash, trying to occupy the same space inside a being."
"Is there a solution?" Astro asked lightly, watching as his wound healed more slowly than before, though it eventually closed.
"If your magic were permanent like the curse, it wouldn't matter as much. Your body would adapt over time, and the internal conflict would settle."
Astro's expression didn't change hearing it. He simply continued in a soft voice…
"I see. And the way to make my Devil Slayer Magic permanent would be to take the Sky Devil Slayer lacrima. And to get that lacrima… I'd need your heart."
"Yes. I wouldn't say that I am completely against—"
Alvemak honestly didn't care about it that much… He liked Astro and If Astro was really the child Anantea bet on, then…
"SHUT UP."
Astro's shout exploded through the bathroom.
"SHUT THE HELL UP. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF PEOPLE TRYING TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR ME."
His voice trembled with anger. He rarely lost control like this, but this time he couldn't stop it.
What was wrong with everyone around him? Why did they all keep trying to throw their lives away for his sake?
He didn't want it.
He hated it.
He truly hated it.
Inside the Magic Council headquarters,
It was almost dawn. The sky outside was slowly losing its darkness, and through one of the tall windows, two figures could still be seen inside a lit office, working without pause.
"By the way, Master Siegrain… why did you ask Her Majesty lie to your brother about your current situation? Wouldn't he be worried about you?"
Cedric asked as he organized a stack of documents. Across from him, Siegrain was still reviewing reports without slowing down. Cedric had only seen one other person work this tirelessly before—and she was the queen of an entire nation. Then again, Siegrain's position as one of the Ten Wizard Saints practically placed him on a similar pedestal.
"Hm… maybe I just want him to suffer a little for what he's done to my life?" Siegrain looked up with a light smile.
Cedric stared at him with a completely deadpan expression, as if he had just heard the driest joke imaginable.
Siegrain chuckled softly. "Alright, alright. I guess I can't lie to you."
Cedric was the son of Julien and Agnes—two of the strongest individuals in the Sin Kingdom other than his parents. He had grown up alongside Siegrain and Astro. He knew better than most that despite how often the twins tried to outdo each other, they were still as close as siblings could be.
Maybe it was because they were twins, but when they were children, in Cedric's eyes, they cared about each other more than they cared about their own parents.
"It's because I still have too many things to take care of," Siegrain said calmly as he leaned back in his chair. "Too many people I need to make things right with. That responsibility is mine, and I'm not going to run from it."
He closed the folder in his hand and continued.
"Only after I make up for every wrong thing I've done… can I stand proudly beside my family again. Before that, it's better if Astro stays away from me to not get in the crossfire with my enemies."
Cedric looked at him quietly. Siegrain had changed a lot. The boy who grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth was gone. The young man sitting here now wasn't even afraid to shoulder the weight of an entire continent.
The title of Ten Wizard Saint wasn't symbolic. Sure, there were some rumors that Astro had the strength to be a Wizard saint candidate too… but the real wizard saints…the mages who held the title stood at the peak of magic on this continent. Sure, some unaffiliated wizards rivaled that level of strength, but Siegrain's position carried more than just power.
He wasn't only one of the Ten Wizard Saints. He was also one of the core members of the Magic Council, holding one of the top eight seats. His influence shaped decisions that affected kingdoms across the Ishgar Continent.
"How will you know when you've made up for everything, Siegrain?" Cedric asked after a moment. He dropped the formal tone and his title. He didn't ask as a subordinate but as a friend.
Siegrain paused. His thoughts drifted from face to face.
Astro.
His mother. His father. His aunt. The people of the Sin Kingdom. The children in the Tower of Heaven.
And then… a figure with bright red hair.
"Probably when she can forgive me," Siegrain said with a small chuckle. "And maybe… be proud of me."
Cedric tilted his head slightly. Was he talking about Queen Aurora… or someone else?
"And also," Siegrain continued in a steady voice, "I want to make sure that on this continent, no child has to go to sleep wondering if they'll wake up to dark wizards destroying their home for some twisted belief or selfish ambition."
He said it with a smile, but there was nothing light about it.
"Well… getting forgiveness from one person sounds easier than that," Cedric muttered.
Siegrain shook his head slowly.
"I wish it were easier," he replied, a faint bitterness surfacing beneath his smile. "I really wish…."
Inside the forest near Magnolia,
Deep within the forest, a lone figure trained without rest. A woman clad in armor swung her wooden sword again and again at the dummy in front of her. Every strike came from a different angle—precise, sharp, and filled with relentless ferocity. The sound of wood colliding echoed through the trees. With each swing, her movements grew harsher, faster, as if she were trying to cut down something far beyond the lifeless target before her.
But it wasn't the dummy she was fighting.
The more intense her strikes became, the more the memories she desperately tried to bury forced their way back to the surface.
—
"I'm Jellal Fernandez."
A young blue-haired boy stood among a group of children, smiling innocently as he introduced himself.
"Whoa, that'll be hard to remember," one of the kids said as he tried to repeat the last name.
Jellal's mouth twitched slightly. "The same goes for you, Wally Buchanan. I'll forget that right away."
Wally grinned, clearly not offended, before turning toward a red-haired girl standing quietly nearby. "What about you, Erza? What's your last name?"
The little Erza, who was listening to the two boys talking, hesitated. Her expression dimmed for a second, but she still forced a small smile.
"I'm Erza… just Erza."
"Well, that's kind of sad…" Jellal tilted his head before stepping closer. He reached out gently and gathered a strand of her red hair from behind.
"H-Hey, what are you doing?" Erza asked, blushing faintly as she tried to pull away. No one had ever touched her hair so gently before.
"It's such a pretty scarlet color," Jellal got out of his stupor and said brightly. "How about it? We'll give you the last name Scarlet."
"Give her the name? You don't have the right to—" Wally protested speechlessly.
Erza stayed quiet for a moment. Almost unconsciously, she touched her own hair and whispered,
"Erza… Scarlet…"
It….sounded nice….
"It's the color of your hair. Nobody will ever forget that," Jellal said with a bright, proud smile.
Seeing that bright smile, Erza felt her heart tighten in a way she didn't understand back then.
Back in the present, Erza's wooden sword struck the dummy harder. Chunks splintered off and fell to the ground, but she didn't stop. Her grip tightened as the floodgates in her mind burst open. That bright smile from before twisted into something unrecognizable. Something that chilled her to the core.
"Jellal?"
The little Erza looked at the boy walking ahead of her. He didn't turn back even after hearing her.
"What are you talking about? We have to go together and get off this island," she said, confused.
Jellal stopped walking.
"Erza… freedom does not exist in this world," he said coldly.
"Huh?"
He slowly turned around.
"I figured it out. What we need isn't some fleeing freedom… true freedom is only found in Zeref's world."
Erza froze. His smile… it wasn't the same. There was no warmth in it anymore. It wasn't the smile that she liked so much anymore…
Jellal walked toward one of the fallen guards.
"I have come to understand a little about how these people feel. They were trying to revive Zeref… but they were believers. Believers could never feel Zeref's existence."
He stepped on the guard's head.
"Am I right?"
The guard groaned in pain, unable to respond.
"I will take possession of this tower. I will complete the R-System and see Zeref's rebirth."
"What happened to you, Jellal?" Erza asked, her voice trembling.
"I don't understand what you are saying—"
Before she could finish, the mark beneath Jellal's eye glowed faintly. He stomped his foot down. The guard's head shattered instantly.
Erza covered her mouth in horror.
Jellal didn't stop. He raised his hand slightly. Another guard nearby suddenly lifted into the air, his body twisting unnaturally before exploding from within.
Jellal stared at his hand.
'Is this the power of Zeref…'
It felt natural. Effortless. It almost seemed like…he was born with it…
He moved his hand again. More guards died instantly.
"Stop it, Jellal!" Erza shouted.
Erza's current strikes grew even more violent. The dummy's wooden arms snapped under the impact of her blade, but she didn't stop swinging.
"I don't believe I need you anymore. But I won't kill you… I owe you that much. You took care of the fools that got in my way."
The little Erza looked at Jellal, who raised his head again and looked at her trembling figure. He frowned briefly before forcing that twisted smile back onto his face.
"But you'll have to leave this island… You must get your fill of that freedom of yours…"
"Jel… lal…" Erza whispered weakly.
"I think you understand the rules, but just in case… You are forbidden to speak of this to anyone. If the Council finds out about the Tower of Heaven, all of this would go to waste…" Jellal said calmly.
"The moment word gets out, I will destroy all of the evidence… this tower and everyone within it."
He continued without hesitation.
"You are also forbidden to approach this tower ever again. At the first sighting of you… I will kill one person."
Erza's eyes widened as Jellal's words… Jellal would kill…other kids?....the kids who depended on him….trusted him…saw him as their elder brother?....
"Hm… I think that one person should be named Sho…" Jellal said with a twisted smile.
"Jel… lal…"
Erza finally broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the boy who once gave her hope… and who was now the one destroying it.
"That will be your freedom," Jellal said, his smile twisting further, not caring about her sufferings at all…. "Go… and carry the burden of the lives of all of your friends with you, Erza…"
"Ha… ha ha ha…"
"Nooo!"
In the present, Erza screamed at the top of her lungs and swung with everything she had. The dummy shattered into pieces instantly, fragments scattering across the forest floor.
She stood there breathing heavily. She wasn't physically exhausted, but mentally she felt drained, as if those memories had taken something out of her all over again.
"My, my… if anyone in the guild saw this, they would faint in fear."
Erza stiffened at the voice behind her. She turned and saw a beautiful girl around her age wearing a maroon dress. She had striking white hair and deep blue eyes; her gaze was calm as she observed the destroyed training ground.
"Mira… what are you doing here?" Erza asked softly, still breathing heavily from training.
Mirajane didn't answer right away. Instead, she walked to the makeshift bench where Erza had placed her belongings. She picked up the folded newspaper lying there and casually flipped it open.
"Come on," she said lightly while scanning the page. "We both used to come here to fight and train together, didn't we? Am I not allowed here anymore? …Wait, this newspaper is from last month."
"Give it back, Mira."
Erza's tone sharpened as she stepped forward quickly, but Mirajane had already found what she was looking for. Her eyes stopped on an article, and she read it out loud without hesitation.
"The youngest Wizard Saint destroyed a five–dark guild alliance in the Minstrel Kingdom all by himself. Peace returned to the region because of his effort—"
Before she could finish, Erza snatched the newspaper out of her hands.
"I didn't expect you to still keep tabs on your boyfriend. You're so romantic, Erza."
Mira's smile looked sweet on the surface, but Erza only heard the teasing underneath. Erza's face flushed red for a second, but the warmth vanished just as quickly when that twisted smile from the past resurfaced in her mind.
"You know it's nothing like that," Erza said quietly, her gaze lowering to the photo printed on the page. Her fingers tightened slightly around the paper.
"And yet you still keep all of his photos in your drawer…is it just a crush then….. Mmm."
Before Mira could continue, Erza covered her mouth quickly and glanced around the forest to make sure no one else was nearby.
"I told you not to talk about that anymore," Erza muttered in a low voice. She still regretted letting her guard down enough to allow Mira to find out in the first place in her room back then. Thankfully, Mira kept her words and didn't tell it to anyone… But she also ended up teasing about it a lot when they were alone.
Mira inhaled deeply as she got out of Erza's clutch, exaggerating the recovery as if she had just escaped danger. "My Erza has grown so much. She even learnt to keep secrets… I never thought I'd see the day."
Erza stared at her, speechless. Even without her delinquent personality, Mira was still a menace. In some ways, Erza felt she was even more dangerous now that she acted sweet all the time.
"I miss the old Mira sometimes," Erza sighed as she sat down against a tree.
Mira blinked before tiptoeing to Erza and quietly sat beside her. "I don't," she said with a small smile, resting her head against Erza's shoulder.
Erza glanced at her for a second, then sighed and silently dismissed her armor into storage so Mira wouldn't have to lean against hard metal.
Mira didn't react much to Erza taking her armor for her. Maybe it was because they had fought each other so fiercely as children, sometimes even more intensely than Natsu and Gray did. Somewhere along the way, that constant clashing built a strange sense of trust and understanding between them. To the point where they feel safer with others around.
"That Mira couldn't protect the people she loved," Mira continued, her voice softer now. "She was weak. All she could do was make a mess and let her siblings clean it up. No one is going to miss that Mirajane."
There was a bitterness behind her smile that Erza recognized instantly. Erza's eyes lowered to her own palm.
That sounded painfully familiar.
Like running away from the Tower of Heaven because of being weak. Like still running, even now, because she felt she wasn't strong enough to face everything head-on.
Mira noticed the shift in Erza's breathing, but she didn't stop. They rarely had moments like this anymore. After Lisanna's death, the distance between them had only grown. Erza didn't want to bother Mira while she was grieving….and Mira didn't know how to approach Erza anymore with her new self…
"You know, Erza… I couldn't help but hate you back then."
"What?" Erza stiffened.
Mira let out a small laugh. Erza's shoulders slumped slightly, unsure whether to be offended or confused.
Mira turned her head just enough to look at Erza's face from close range…
"I hated you…I hated how similar we were. I wore the delinquent girl mask to hide my pain and make sure no one dared hurt Lisanna or Elfman. You wore your armor to hide your insecurities. Our shields pushed people away instead of letting them get close. I hated that we both knew it… and still couldn't change."
Erza's lips curved into a faint, nostalgic smile as she looked at Mira's current self. "But in the end, you did."
Erza couldn't say the same about herself. Taking off her armor in public still made her feel exposed, like that helpless child who can only run when encountering danger.
"Not before I lost Lisanna," Mira replied quietly. "My shell didn't protect me. It only made me and Lisanna drift apart. She probably thought I was just an annoying sister who got in her way to the very end."
Her smile trembled slightly before she continued.
"So don't make the same mistake I did. I know you're harsh to others because you want everyone to stay sharp, to stay strong. But you don't have to be Titania all the time. You can just be Erza sometimes, too, you know, in front of the other guild members."
Erza didn't respond immediately. They sat there in silence, leaning against each other as the sky gradually brightened and the first rays of sunlight began to filter through the trees.
After a while, Erza let out a chuckle. "I did think you were annoying when we were kids."
"How cruel," Mira pouted.
"I hated you too," Erza admitted honestly, "Even with your clumsy delinquent act, everybody could tell that you are a caring person on the inside.. And they listened to you without you forcing them to. It made everything I did…every act I put on… feel… unnecessary."
Mira absorbed those words before smiling softly.
"I guess we were both terrible, so we hated each other. But we were surrounded by good people who only saw the parts worth loving inside us."
Erza nodded slowly. Natsu, Gray, Lisanna, Elfman, Cana, and everyone else in the guild—even the newer members… they never judged them by their worst moments. No matter how flawed they both were, they were still loved in Fairy Tail.
"We always fought over who would be the big sister of the guild," Mira said gently. "But in the end, it's the younger ones that took care of us…."
Erza rested her head lightly on top of Mira's as they leaned into each other.
"But you know, Mira… despite everything, even with so many great people in Fairy Tail, if I had to choose someone in the guild as my best friend… it would always be you."
Mira's eyes widened slightly before a genuine smile spread across her face.
"Same for me."
"As long as you do a little less teasing…."
"Now that I think of it, doesn't that Siegrain guy kind of look like Astro? I mean the nose and the eyebrows…."
"Stop talking about him already."
"hehe"