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Ur.
A kind yet distant name.
A name that Ultear both loved and hated.
Turning her gaze to the scenery outside the train, her long hair obscuring her undisguised sorrow, Ultear composed herself before speaking. "How did you guess my relationship with Ur? Was it just because of my name?"
Ultear, meaning Ur's tears.
A name that directly reflected Ultear's relationship with Ur, but it wasn't the first clue Noah had to connect them.
"Do you remember the Ice-Make you used when we fought on the Tower of Heaven island?"
Noah didn't look at Ultear, speaking to himself. "That Ice Magic move, like a rose garden, left a deep impression on me."
Noah had once used Makarov's connections to look up information on past Ten Wizard Saints.
Nine years ago, Ur, who was then a Ten Wizard Saints candidate, died during her Ten Wizard Saints examination while fighting the Demon Deliora, and thus never officially received the title of "Ten Wizard Saints."
For this woman who protected the peace of northern Ishgar with her life, this Mage who sealed an evil Demon with her life, the Magic Council, out of respect for Ur, recorded a part of her life and stored it with the records of deceased Ten Wizard Saints, acknowledging her "Ten Wizard Saints" status.
But that was all the Magic Council did for Ur.
So many years had passed, and few remembered Ur's name. Even Makarov's impression of this female Mage was limited to the feat of "sealing the Demon Deliora with her life."
Ice-Make: Rose Garden was Ur's signature move.
This Magic required one to be an Ice-Make Mage, to create special plant constructs, and to possess powerful Magic Power.
These three conditions made Noah realize at the time that Ultear had a close relationship with that bravely sacrificed Ice-Make Mage.
"So that's it, Ice-Make…"
Ultear wore a wistful, bitter smile. If she hadn't been pushed to her limit by Noah in that battle, she would never have used this Magic inherited from her mother.
She never expected that the only time she'd used it in all these years would connect her to the deceased Ur.
"Ultear, do you think there's a possibility that Ur never abandoned you?"
Noah's voice came again, and Ultear's expression froze, then a surge of anger rose within her.
The two years she spent as a test subject in Brain's laboratory were her personal experience!
Ur's brilliant smiles when she was with her two disciples were something she witnessed firsthand!
"Stop with the sarcasm!"
"You don't know anything, so what right do you have to be so self-righteous?!"
Ultear was angered by Noah's unreasonable conjecture, and even more furious at her birth mother, Ur, who'd cruelly abandoned her, and at Ur's two disciples who'd taken her place and stolen her mother's love.
Noah didn't care about the enraged Ultear; after all, she couldn't beat him. He just said casually, "Do you really think someone like Brain is one hundred percent trustworthy?"
A simple sentence, yet it made Ultear's heart tremble.
Over the years, Ultear hadn't been without the thought of being deceived, but Brain had insisted that Ur had abandoned her, and Ur had long since died, leaving no way to verify.
"Evidence? Without evidence, your words are just wishful thinking!" Ultear was agitated, both afraid to believe what Noah said and desperately wanting Noah to provide proof that she hadn't been abandoned.
Evidence? Noah did have something that could barely count as evidence. "I once saw Ur's life records, and there was an entry like this."
"Ur's daughter, due to inheriting her powerful Magic Power at birth, her body couldn't bear the burden, and after failed treatments, she unfortunately died young."
"By my calculations, that was about twelve years ago."
Twelve years ago! Ultear was startled. Wasn't that when her mother sent her to Brain's laboratory for treatment? But why did the records of Ur's life say she died young in the same year… Could it be?!
The answer in her heart made Ultear's eyes widen, her body trembling uncontrollably. She hugged her shoulders tightly, lowered her head, and curled up in her seat.
Seeing Ultear like this, Noah didn't hesitate to voice what she was thinking. "Brain, on the one hand, told Ur that her daughter died because she couldn't withstand her innate powerful Magic Power. Then, he deceived you, saying your mother abandoned you, a burden."
"Brain deceived Ur, and he also deceived…"
"Enough, don't say anymore!"
Ultear's voice was trembling.
If… if when she saw her mother and two junior disciples, she hadn't left, but instead gathered the courage to meet her mother, would everything be different now… It must've been different.
But regret was useless now.
The mother-daughter bond, severed by Brain's lies, would never be reconnected.
She buried her head even lower, but no matter how hard Ultear tried, she couldn't stop the swirling tears from falling from her eyes.
Noah sighed silently. Mira, Cana, Erza… and now Ultear. Since he came to this world, why did he always see girls crying?
Noah didn't know how to comfort Ultear in her situation. He could only hand her a pack of tissues and console her. "There's no one else here. Cry if you want to. It'll be better once you cry it out."
Ultear looked up at the white-haired boy's gentle face, her nose stung, and her eyes gradually blurred…
"Brother Noah! You're back!"
Wendy smiled and waved at Noah. She glanced at the empty train aisle behind him and asked curiously, "Where's Sister Ultear?"
"Oh, she had something to do, so she left first."
Noah sat down next to Mystogan, casually grabbing Snow the hamster and playing with her in his hand, but his mind was filled with the information Ultear had given him.
The strongest Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart, was targeting Fairy Tail's sacred ground, Tenrou Island, which was isolated overseas from the Kingdom of Fiore.
And the reason for doing so was that the Dark Mage Zeref might be going to Tenrou Island.
According to the information provided by Ultear, Grimoire Heart's Guild Master Hades had once met the Dark Mage Zeref and had been tracking the whereabouts of this Dark Mage for years.
But how did Tenrou Island get involved with the Dark Mage?
Noah frowned. He'd discuss this with Makarov when they returned. He hadn't been to Tenrou Island himself, so perhaps he could take this opportunity to visit.
Then there was the other matter Ultear had informed him of.
Thinking of this, Noah's mouth curved upward, and he tossed Snow, who was scrunched into a ball, in his hand.
He wondered if Gray, who'd mastered Armament Haki, could knock down his rebellious senior disciple.
He definitely could, easily.