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The memories came in like a tide, four hundred years of grief and blood and burdens all at once. Lucy quietly moved to Éclair's side and held her steady as her body trembled, offering her presence without a word.
Momon pressed close against her leg, watching her with worried eyes.
"I'm so late... so, so late..."
Éclair's voice broke, yet stayed strangely composed. Four hundred years had long since worn the sharp edges off her grief, leaving something deeper and quieter in their place.
Noah and the others watched Momon and Lucy comfort Éclair in silence, then slipped out of the basement without a sound, leaving the space to them. Before going, Noah quietly picked up the shattered recording Lacrima Kalard had left behind.
Back on the surface, Natsu and Gray were unusually quiet. Mirajane, caught in the same mood, simply started a fire and began cooking.
Erza exhaled slowly and looked at Noah.
Everyone else had been visibly moved by Kalard's final words and Éclair's story. Noah, by contrast, had the same calm expression as always, turning the broken Lacrima over in his hands.
After all the time they had spent together, Erza knew better than to mistake that for indifference. She made a careful guess. "Noah. Did you already know who Éclair was?"
"Yes. Anna told me. She had dealings with Éclair's father, Kalard."
Noah made no attempt to hide it. The reason he had come along to Boundary Forest was simple: if he had told Éclair her own history directly, she likely would not have believed him, especially given her amnesia.
Beyond that, he had suspected Kalard might have left something behind at his old residence, and as it turned out, he had, which spared Noah the trouble of explaining everything himself.
After he finished, the broken Lacrima in his hand emitted a faint magical glow at precisely the right moment.
"You fixed it?!"
Erza stared.
Noah handed it over. Restoring a recording Lacrima that had deteriorated over centuries using Magnetic Field Power was not a difficult task for him.
Erza turned it over carefully in her hands, then shifted direction. "Kalard mentioned demons, demon minions, and the truth behind the Phoenix's mutation in his last words. Whatever happened to the Fire Village may hide a darkness far deeper than what we can see on the surface."
Noah crossed his arms. He had already formed a working theory the moment he heard Kalard's final message.
Four hundred years ago, when the Fire Village sealed the last mutated Phoenix with the Phoenix Stone, the Human-Dragon War was at its peak. Natsu was, at that time, the only being created from the Books of Zeref. Demons of the Books of Zeref as a wider threat had not yet emerged, so they had nothing to do with this.
His strong suspicion was that the "demons" Kalard referred to were the Eighteen Demon War Gods, who had been operating in the shadows during that era. And their "minions" were the eighteen factions of Black Abyss believers, the Black Magic Cult, who now flew Zeref's banner in name while secretly worshipping the Black Abyss Demon.
If that was correct, then the sudden mutation of the Phoenix, transforming from a creature of beauty into something monstrous, was very likely the Eighteen Demon War Gods' doing. When Kalard stumbled upon that truth while researching how to eliminate the mutated Phoenix, the Demon War Gods took notice, and their followers hunted him until illness finally claimed him.
Erza listened to the analysis and found it difficult to argue with.
Noah ran a thumb across the smooth surface of the restored Lacrima. "But a theory without evidence is still only a theory. What we do know is that the mastermind is Prince Cream of the Principality of Veronica, which means our next destination is clear enough."
The group made camp in Boundary Forest for the night.
Éclair was stronger than anyone had given her credit for. After a night of genuine conversation with Lucy, she had recovered her composure by morning, which visibly relieved Erza and the others. After everyone had eaten the breakfast Mirajane had prepared, Éclair stood and bowed deeply to the group.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but I would like to formally request your help to put an end to the Phoenix."
Her eyes were steady. Four hundred years of wandering had led her here. She wanted to go to the Principality of Veronica and finish this, once and for all.
Momon stepped up beside her and bowed just as deeply. "We don't have any money right now, and I'm sorry for that, but I promise I'll find a way to make up the reward later. Please help Éclair."
"Forget the reward."
Natsu burst into flames, fire climbing from his fists. "We're going. Those people are going to find out exactly what Fairy Tail is made of."
Lucy took Éclair's hand firmly. "Natsu's right. And aren't we friends? Friends help each other. That's just how it works."
Mirajane smiled. "The Master always said a guild shouldn't just weigh up a request's pay and ignore the people who genuinely need help."
Erza nodded. "Besides, whoever is behind the Principality of Veronica may well be our enemy too. We were going whether you asked or not."
Gray said nothing. Every line he had thought of had already been delivered by someone else. He cast around for something to add, found nothing, and out of habit began reaching for the hem of his shirt, only to catch Erza's glare mid-motion and drop his hands awkwardly to his sides.
Noah smiled to himself. In this world, the only person who could reliably interrupt Gray's compulsive undressing was probably Erza. They said every troublemaker met their match eventually, but Erza managed two at once.
Lucy looked around at her companions, felt the warmth of it settle in her chest, and then remembered something. "Kalard lived and researched here for a long time and completed the magic to destroy the Phoenix. But we searched the whole basement yesterday and didn't find anything like that. Could it be that—"
"Don't worry. I'm here."
Noah's unhurried tone dissolved her concern without effort. With someone who had fought both the Black Wizard and the Magic King standing right beside her, what exactly was there to worry about? And even setting Noah aside, Lucy had Senior Anna back at the guild, and behind her stood Mavis, Zeref, August, and Precht.
The moment that thought settled, Lucy's confidence climbed to somewhere in the stratosphere.
In this world, connections mattered. Backing mattered.
A mutated Phoenix? Could it really fight?
If it could fight, it would never have ended up sealed inside a stone.