Inside the quiet shelter of the cabin, Rudra sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, resting his back against the wall. His eyes casually tracked the Fairy Tail mages sprawled across the room around them, watching them writhe and groan as the Second Origin process tore through their bodies.
His thoughts were drifting when a sudden, icy chill pressed against his cheek.
Turning his head, he found Ultear leaning down beside him, a faint, knowing smirk on her lips. She held two cold bottles of alcohol—one gripped in her left hand, the other still resting against his face.
"Want me to unlock your Second Origin while I'm at it?" she asked softly, pulling the bottle back and extending it to him.
He took the bottle, popped the top, and took a long, heavy gulp before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "No need. I don't use magic."
She sat down right next to him, pulling her knees up slightly, and blinked at him with genuine confusion. "Are you joking?" She gestured vaguely toward the suffering mages filling the room. "I've seen you spit massive torrents of fire. I've seen you disperse into a flock of crows and reform out of thin air. If that isn't magic, then I don't know what is."
The word alone was enough to silence him, his eyes fixing on the amber liquid sloshing inside his bottle.
When he had first unlocked the original Rudra's memories, he realized the boy had possessed magic once—a basic Requip magic that allowed him to store and summon a limited collection of swords. But after the kidnapping, the brutal experimentation, and the force-feeding of Sparda's blood, his body had been fundamentally rewritten. The ordeal burned away his ability to wield magic or even sense the Ethernano in the air.
Everything he commanded now—chakra, haki, and the lethal abilities granted by the system—were completely distinct forces, while his body itself had simply adapted to the demon blood, manifesting the Yamato to channel his true power.
Noticing his sudden silence, Ultear's playful expression softened. "You're actually serious, aren't you?"
"Let's just say shit happened," he replied dryly. "Gained some things, lost others." He flexed his left arm, watching the demonic blue-and-red light flicker beneath the skin of his Devil Bringer.
She didn't probe further. Instead, her eyes lingered on his arm. Reaching out, her fingertips gently brushed over the glowing patterns before her fingers slowly slipped between his, lacing their hands together on the floor.
He didn't pull away, just took another sip from his bottle. "Anyway... why are you over here with me?"
"Is there somewhere else I should be?" Ultear raised an eyebrow.
"You're done with your work," he said, tilting his head toward the door. "Shouldn't you be outside with Jellal?"
At the mention of his name, the light in her eyes dimmed slightly. She shifted her gaze down to their joined hands. "He wanted to talk with Erza. Alone."
"Ah." He gave a slow nod. "Makes sense."
Silence settled over her, her gaze blank against the far wall.
Inspecting her downcast profile, he asked, "Why so quiet all of a sudden?"
She hesitated, her grip on his hand tightening just a fraction. "It's just... remember back then, after you kissed me?" She let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "He actually started paying attention to me after that. For the first time, he really saw me. I thought... I thought I actually had a chance."
She paused, taking a slow drink from her own bottle before continuing, her tone laced with quiet bitterness. "Then Fairy Tail returned after seven years. And now? It's all 'Erza this' and 'Erza that' again."
A faint cloud of breath escaped him. "Must be heartbreaking."
"You have no idea," she murmured.
A slow smirk crept onto his face. "Tell you what... how about we kiss again right in front of him? That ought to drive him crazy enough to pay attention to you again."
She turned her head, giving him a flat, unamused look. "Just admit you want to kiss me."
His smirk softened into a lazy, dangerous grin as he met her gaze. "Maybe."
He leaned in close, his breath brushing against her lips. She didn't pull back. Closing the distance, she met him halfway, bringing their lips together.
What began as a slow, deliberate provocation quickly shifted. The kiss deepened, growing more urgent by the second. His free hand slipped from the bottle, tracing up her waist and pulling her body flush against his. A soft gasp escaped her against his mouth, her fingers tangling into his hair as the heat between them spiked.
Just as his hand began to wander further down her curve, she suddenly broke the seal of their lips. Panting lightly, she pressed two fingers against his chest, holding him back.
A trace of confusion crossed his eyes.
"We can't," she whispered, her voice slightly breathless as she motioned with her head toward the rest of the cabin. "There are people right here."
He let out a disappointed sigh, rolling his shoulders back. "If you say so." He glanced over at Natsu, Gray, and the others, who were far too consumed by agonizing muscle spasms to notice anything happening across the room. Picking his bottle back up, he took another long swig, letting the cool liquid settle the heat in his chest.
She smiled softly at his reaction. Shifting her position, she rested her head gently against his shoulder, letting her dark hair spill over his chest.
"Hey," she said quietly. "Do you remember what you asked me that day in the forest?"
He hummed in response, his eyes fixed on the ceiling rafters. "I remember."
"I didn't give you an answer back then," she said, her voice dropping into a soft, honest register. "But I can give it to you now."
He tilted his head down slightly, looking at her. "And what's the answer?"
She closed her eyes, letting out a long, quiet breath as she leaned into his warmth. "My answer is no. I don't love him."
A low hum of acknowledgment was all he gave in response, making no move to pull away. Around them, the muffled groans of the guildmates continued to echo through the cabin, but between the two of them, a quiet, comfortable silence settled in.
____
Not far from the cabin, a sharp, violent slap cracked through the open air.
Jellal's head snapped to the side, his cheek instantly flushing a deep, angry red. He remained seated on the grassy slope, his eyes fixed blankly on the ground, making no move to touch the sting on his face.
Standing over him, Erza's breath came in hot, furious hitches. "Is that really what you want?" she demanded, her voice cutting through the quiet rustle of the trees like a blade. "A coward's way out?"
Jellal didn't look up. "I don't have the strength to overcome this, Erza. Not like you."
"You think this is about strength?!" She threw her hand back, gesturing wildly at the sky, the forest, the world around them. "You're wrong! Life itself is what gives us strength! The struggle, the burden, the simple will to keep moving forward!"
He stayed motionless, staring down at the dirt as if he were already a ghost. She dropped to her knees in front of him, grabbing his shoulders with a grip so tight her knuckles turned white.
"Look at me," she pleaded, her voice cracking. "I don't see the man I used to know standing before me. That man was full of life. He would never give up before a fight."
A bitter, self-loathing smile crossed his lips. "Maybe that man is dead, Erza."
"Snap out of it!" She seized his collar and yanked him to his feet, standing with him, refusing to let him sink back down. "Stop hiding behind your sins!"
"It's too late," Jellal muttered, his eyes dark, drowning in guilt. "It was always too late—"
"It is only too late if you—"
Her heel slipped on the dew-slicked grass, and the ground dropped out from under her. She grabbed instinctively for something to hold and found only his collar, dragging him down with her as they tumbled together down the incline and crashed into the soft earth below.
When the world stopped spinning, Erza found herself flat on her back, Jellal hovering above her, his hands braced on either side of her shoulders. The fall had knocked the wind clean out of her, and for a moment she just lay there, staring up into his startled face.
"You always know what to say, don't you?" he said quietly.
"That's not true." She swallowed, her hand coming to rest against the earth. "I just stumble through life one step at a time. That's all this is."
"Erza." Her name came out of him like it had cost him something.
Looking into his eyes, a single tear slipped free before she could stop it. "I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered.
Jellal reached up and brushed the tear away with his thumb, his fingers lingering against her cheek. His gaze drifted down to her lips, and something in it shifted—hesitant, hopeful, unmistakable.
Erza felt it before he moved. She didn't wait to find out what he'd do next.
She braced a hand against his chest and pushed, firm enough to break the moment cleanly, and got to her feet before he could recover. Wiping her eyes with the back of her wrist, she looked away toward the treeline instead of at him.
"It's getting late," she said. "We should head back."
Jellal sat where he'd landed a moment longer, then nodded slowly and rose without a word.
Neither of them spoke a word on the long walk back. The silence hanging between them felt far heavier than anything they had actually said, suffocating and thick with unspoken thoughts.
When the cabin finally came into view, Meredy was standing alone on the porch, shifting her weight anxiously. Erza approached her first, keeping her voice tight.
"Is Ultear finished with her spell?"
Meredy sighed, crossing her arms. "I don't know. She hasn't come out yet."
Erza gave a stiff nod and pushed the heavy wooden door open. Stepping inside, she froze dead in her tracks.
Her grip tightened on the door handle. Sitting side-by-side near the fireplace were Rudra and Ultear. Ultear was leaning gently against his shoulder, her fingers wrapped intimately around his demon hand.
Erza closed the distance between them, her footfalls deliberate and heavy. "Ultear," she said, her voice dropping into a hard, flat tone. "If you're finished here, Jellal is waiting outside. It's time to leave."
The interruption broke the quiet moment. Both of them turned, and Ultear slowly pulled back, giving Rudra a soft, lingering smile as she stood up. "It was good catching up with you," she murmured.
Rudra offered a brief nod. "Yeah. Take care."
They filed out of the cabin together. Outside, Jellal turned toward them, his eyes searching Ultear's face as she approached, but she walked right past him, offering only a cool silence. A few quiet words were exchanged, and then it was time to go. Ultear paused, looking back one last time over her shoulder to offer Rudra a bright smile and a wave.
Rudra raised his hand, waving back until they disappeared into the tree line.
"Looks like someone had a wonderful time," Erza remarked from behind him, her arms tightly crossed, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
Rudra glanced over, catching the dark scowl pinched across her face. "What's with that look? Don't tell me you're upset because you didn't get a proper goodbye with your childhood sweetheart."
"It isn't about that."
He slowly looked her up and down, then replied lazily. "Right... don't tell me you're on your period or something?"
Erza's fist was already moving.
Wham!
Rudra reacted on instinct, throwing his hand up just in time to catch her knuckles with a sharp slap. "Hey, hey! Calm down, I was just joking—"
Before he could finish, Erza swung her booted heel down hard, stomping straight onto his foot.
"Ouch! My leg!" Rudra winced, pulling his foot back and nursing his crushed toes.
Erza didn't stay to check on him. She threw one final glare over her shoulder, sharp enough to cut — before turning on her heel and marching back into the cabin. The door slammed shut behind her.
Rudra stood alone on the porch, rubbing his sore foot, staring at the shut door.