There isn't ever a point where Redcliffe town is prepared for a dragon to suddenly appear in the skies overhead, but it must be said that amidst a pitched battle with mages on both sides and an alchemist on one is a particularly unexpected time. There is a brief pause in the fighting as everyone looks up to assess this new threat.

And everyone remains paused as the dragon descends. Everyone, that is, except the person the dragon is descending to see.

"Hello," she says, shifting into a human form next to Bellona.

She eyes the frozen people around her - and the transformed dragon in front of her - suspiciously. 

"Hello?"

"Bellona Elric, yes? I'm Zera, and I'm here to rescue you."

"Eliana succeeded, didn't she?"

"She did. Or does. Is succeeding. This language is not good with time travel tenses."

She laughs. "I get the point anyways."

"Excellent! Now, there are a couple more instances of you I need to pick up, and then we can quit this little tangle of time."

"Lead the way." Especially if leading coincides with answering questions about how time works here, and about who she is (of secondary importance to the science, naturally).

If Bellona feels like asking questions from dragonback, she can do so. Though her alts are sure to have similar questions if she can stomach the wait.

Fine, fine - she can at least filter for productive initial lines of inquiry.

Ah, now that's thinking ahead.

Though she may find herself somewhat distracted as slip from the air into the Timeways, which render themselves as sand and stars and clockwork, stretching endlessly in every conceivable direction and some that are not. (And if Bellona happens to squint around in just the right Gate-ish mindset of analysis, she may catch a glimpse of geometries much, much less describable.)

Fortunately, as an alchemist (and one who has seen the Gate), she is very good at describing the indiscribable - and she also brought things to write with! Inconceivable dimensions are nothing before proper mathematical analysis.

They drop back out shortly in the sky over Redcliffe again, subtly different than the one they just left. Again, everyone who's not Zera or a Bellona is put on pause as she lands.

And the first Bellona is deposited safely on the ground as Zera switches forms again.

This particular timeline is significantly in advance of the others - the Bellona here had focused on researching on behalf of the others, including extending her own loop as long as necessary. She doesn't seem particularly surprised when the world freezes - she's more visibly worn than the first Bellona rescued, eyes tired, face perhaps aged subtly. She strides over to them confidently. "Figured out a rescue?" she asks.

The first Bellona nods - and gives her a hug. "Zera did," she says. "She wants to wait for us to rescue the other us, too, before explaining too much, but I've been doing preliminary filtering."

The second Bellona hugs back with a thin smile. "Then let's not waste anymore time."

"This one, I'm afraid, will need a little more finesse. She has to die, see, to maintain continuity."

"Bellona Final told us about that," the second Bellona says, "Before the loop on her end closed. She's the one I can't figure out how to save - even something like subtly making it only look like she died would be really, really tricky to pull off without a paradox."

"Luckily, I'm somewhat of a paradoxical expert. And I have a few more tools at my disposal than you do. The plan is this: when we enter her line, we do so invisibly. We infiltrate the site of the confrontation- and we let her die, so Eliana can make her escape to the proper time. Then I rewind her back to before her death, and you two, ah, help her reconcile that experience."

Both Bellonas nod, seriously.

"Do either of you need a moment before we proceed?"

The first shakes her head, and the second just says, "Let's get this all over with."

"All right."

Then again they go flying through time and strangeness, emerging into a Redcliffe much more battered than seen before. Invisible, Zera flies them to a balcony entrance near the throne room.