Date: June X787
Location: West Magnolia Border — Perimeter Forests
Two months had passed since Teresa walked out of the eastern vault. She looked unchanged to anyone who saw her — the same quiet stride, the same sharp eyes. But those who knew her felt it: a silence, deep and wide as a canyon, settled behind her gaze.
No official report was ever filed. The Council pushed out a placeholder statement about "seismic irregularities." Fairy Tail said nothing, agreeing in that unspoken way only guilds do.
Yet the message still spread.
Not through newspapers or broadcasts.
Through shifting patrols. In the hush of guild hallways. In this way, requests started avoiding Magnolia altogether. And most tellingly, in the sudden disappearance of Raven Fang.
Not scattered.
Not defeated.
Simply... gone.
And that was how Teresa knew they were closer than ever.
Location: Perimeter Forest, 12 kilometers from Magnolia
She crouched low by a narrow stream, studying the pale wound on an alder tree's bark. The cut was clean — a single, deliberate stroke. Recent. Precise.
No blood.
Just a message.
She rose without a sound, leaving her sword sheathed. Her movement slipped between the trees like breath, her cloak catching only the faintest edge of wind drifting west.
Task Force Nine had gone silent two days ago.
Not compromised. Not attacked.
Waiting.
She had told them to.
This wasn't their fight.
Not yet.
Location: Abandoned Outpost — West Ravine Faultline
The hideout had once belonged to the Council — a border outpost during the Rune Conflicts. Now, it rotted under moss and rain, its once-bright sigils rusted and cracked.
Perfect for Raven Fang.
Inside, Vareth stood hunched over a wide map of Fiore. Scars of clawed lines marked each major ley point. At least six bore harsh X's.
These sites had once pulsed with vault energy.
All had been accessed.
All now sealed.
Not by the Council.
By her.
A scout stepped into the room, breath sharp from running.
"She's here," the scout whispered.
"Alone?"
"Yes."
"Good," Vareth said, rolling up the map without looking up. "Bring her in."
Location: Outpost Entrance — 12 minutes later
The door swung open on quiet hinges.
Teresa stepped inside, sword untouched.
No traps.
No wards.
Just torchlight, and Vareth waiting at a table with two empty chairs — one across from him, one at the side.
A silent invitation. A measure of her.
She took the side chair. Deliberate. Controlled.
Vareth's lip twitched in something almost like amusement.
"Still no interest in appearances," he said.
"I've seen what lives behind them," she replied.
"Then you know what this is."
She stayed silent.
He set a small stone glyph token between them. Its glow was weak but steady — marked with an unfinished vault sigil.
"You broke the cycle," he said.
"You misread it," she corrected.
He nodded slightly, as if pleased.
"That's why I wanted to talk."
Location: Lamia Scale — Hidden Guild Channel
Lyon leaned over a glowing crystal shard, watching a line of script scroll across.
"She's meeting with Vareth," Jura's voice confirmed.
Lyon frowned.
"They'll talk?"
"They'll speak," Jura said. "That isn't always talking."
"And if it turns violent?"
Jura was silent for a moment.
"She won't start it," he said at last. "But if it ends... only one will leave."
Location: Outpost Interior — Main Table
The token's faint light scattered odd shadows across Vareth's face.
"The vaults aren't static," he said. "They adapt. You know that."
She didn't move.
"But they aren't neutral, either. You think they only observe?"
He leaned forward.
"They choose."
She stayed silent, watching.
"When you entered that eastern vault, you didn't just leave magic behind," he said. "You left thought. Motion. Pattern."
"And?"
"Now it can project you," he said. "Not an illusion — a reference. An imprint can overlay on any active field."
"Only if accessed," she said.
"Exactly."
A thin silence stretched between them.
"And that's where we come in," he continued.
"You want to weaponize it," she said.
"No," Vareth said softly. "We want to prove it already is one."
A flicker passed in her eyes.
"I've seen what the vaults can become," he said. "They aren't just memories. They're warnings. Promises."
"From who?"
"Whoever built them. Whoever predates even Zeref."
She regarded him carefully.
"You believe that."
"I don't believe anything," Vareth said. "But the vaults do. They believe in you."
She stood.
He didn't move to stop her.
"You'll find more echoes soon," he called after her. "South of Oak Town. West of Era. But they aren't tests."
She paused at the doorway.
"Then what are they?"
His gaze met hers, sharp but almost reverent.
"Reflections of war."
Location: Forest Edge — Return Trail
Teresa stepped back into the forest shadows without looking back.
No pursuit.
No ambush.
Only the hush of leaves brushing against each other in the dusk.
She paused once by the alder tree, the wound in its bark now softly glowing.
She pressed her hand to it.
A single phrase played back in her voice, low and unmistakable.
"Do not follow."
She withdrew her hand, cloak sliding behind her like fog.
And she was gone.