Gray was the first to shout at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing loudly across the silent riverbank.
"Marco! I still want to be called Happy!"
Happy immediately chimed in, causing Lucy beside him to stare wide-eyed with an expression that clearly said "What are you up to, you little cat?" But she didn't forget to deliver her own line.
"Marco! Please don't kill off Sherlock Holmes!"
"Marco! Catch!"
Seizing the perfect moment, Erza swung her arm and shouted as she precisely threw "Memory of Time" toward young Marco.
The book traced an arc through the air - her throw was crucial, serving as the key distraction.
"What? What's happening to Marco? Why are you all stepping on me?!"
Natsu, pinned face-down against the ground, was completely bewildered and out of the loop.
He struggled futilely against the weight of his companions who were firmly standing on him, unable to move and only managing muffled protests that emerged weakly from the dirt.
Amid the chaotic shouting, "Memory of Time" flew through the air toward young Marco.
He caught the book with a surprised expression, his attention completely captured by it.
"Bzzzt!"
An intense and peculiar magical fluctuation erupted, causing the air to ripple like water.
Time and space undulated violently as the surrounding scenery began to distort and warp, colors blending together like spilled paint from a palette.
Within this powerful magical disturbance, Erza and the others gradually twisted and faded into transparency before disappearing completely.
A few rose petals emitting faint light drifted down, only to be swept into the swirling vortex of rainbow-colored magical energy.
Marco had used a small amount of [Royal Magic Palace Roses].
The petals clinging to him provided only minimal concealment, but this allowed all the petals to be brought back.
"Thump!"
The scene shifted abruptly as the group seemed to be thrown from the void by an invisible force, reappearing once again in Marco's warm, bright living room filled with the aroma of black tea.
The soft wool carpet cushioned their somewhat disheveled landing.
"Get off me already!"
Natsu's roar was the first to break through as he felt himself being crushed.
This time Natsu's words actually worked - everyone stopped stepping on him and began checking their surroundings.
"No changes."
Marco's voice provided the answer everyone wanted to hear.
They all breathed sighs of relief - no changes were the best possible outcome.
Natsu also sighed in relief, greedily gulping down the warm indoor air.
He could finally breathe properly again - these bastards really hadn't treated him like a human being!
"We're back?!"
Natsu scrambled up from the floor, ready to confront the others, only to be shocked to discover they had returned to Marco's house.
"No changes, but only within my home."
Marco added this qualification, causing Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Happy's hearts to tense up again.
"Snap."
A soft sound drew everyone's attention to Marco.
At that moment, Marco had just closed the book in his hands - clearly a magic book with a four-leaf clover depicted on its cover.
The sound of the book closing was distinctly audible in the quiet living room.
"This this this! Why is this book still here?!"
Lucy pointed at the book and exclaimed in surprise, her voice rising with astonishment.
She had clearly seen Erza throw this book away!
"Was it Happy? Because he interrupted randomly!"
Lucy looked toward Happy.
The blue cat wore an innocent expression, not thinking it was his fault.
What impact could his words have? He had only said he still wanted to keep the name Happy!
"..."
Erza looked serious, already considering whether they needed to go back once more—to stop their past selves from their previous return trip!
The more she thought about it, the more her mind tangled.
Wouldn't that make things even more chaotic? What if they failed again? How many future versions of themselves would end up at the x778 time point, mutually preventing one another?
The final result would be like an endlessly looping deadlock!
"You ended up throwing it into my hands, so of course it would still appear here."
Holding "Memory of Time," Marco didn't find it strange.
The book being in his possession meant no problems had occurred.
"In the future... will we not need to use it anymore?"
Looking at the book, Happy shuddered.
He truly didn't want to experience such a thing again—he didn't want to die before hatching!
"Probably. At least we've passed this hurdle."
Marco smiled and used "Crystal Wall" to seal the book away once more.
A burden in his heart had finally been resolved; he wouldn't have to worry about this book causing trouble for at least six years.
"Have we really passed it?"
Lucy still seemed uneasy, her hands unconsciously twisting together.
She wasn't certain if they had truly succeeded.
However, she finally remembered now—finally understood.
The blonde bunny girl who had saved her in childhood, that member of "Fairy Tail," was actually her future self!
This realization made her heart surge with emotion, her cheeks slightly warm.
The hero who had saved her in childhood was actually her future self—so romantic, and perfect material for a novel!
Logically, she should have remembered when she put on that outfit, but the pressure had been too great, the tension overwhelming.
"Let's go out and see. Hopefully, this world hasn't changed at all. Your performance was actually quite perfect."
Marco smiled reassuringly at the anxious group.
Currently, he felt everything was fine—at least his memories showed no issues.
The past memories aligned with this experience; as the director, he had been quite successful.
"Alright! Let's go check!"
Erza straightened her back, her eyes regaining determination.
She took a deep breath and strode out first, followed by Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Natsu in single file.
Marco walked last, unconcerned about the outcome.
At least for now, their timeline showed no abnormalities, no changes whatsoever.
As for whether his childhood experiences had unfolded exactly as he had recreated them—whether there had been a future version of himself pulling strings behind the scenes—Marco couldn't be certain.
He had simply followed his memories instinctively.
Since the concept of "returning to the past" already existed in this world, Marco wouldn't find it strange even if multiple timelines existed.
With both "parallel worlds" and "time regression," the world of Fairy Tail was indeed remarkably complex - these were elements that could easily create disasters.
Right now, they hadn't even resolved the troubles from Edolas, this parallel world.
As for other timelines, Marco refused to even think about them - they felt far too distant.
Stepping out the main gate, Marco looked up at the starry night sky, temporarily suppressing his chaotic thoughts as he merged into the group of his companions.
They were heading back into the city for another look.
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