Disclaimer! I don't own fairy tail! i only own this plot!
AN: I hate people who red every chapter and comment on how stupid it is, if you don't like the story from chapter 1 then don't go unto chapter 2
AN2: I hope you all like it! it's my 1st Nalu story, i've been meaning to write this for a while but was kinda stuck on my other stories, i got motivation after reading the latest manga release!
Chapter 1 Death and another Dimension
It was chaos, complete and utter chaos. The Grand Magic Tournament had all been a ploy. Eclipse had been a set-up used as cover and now the real plan was set into motion. The End of the Tournament had resulted in full blown war when it was revealed that all mages who had partaken in the tournament or were in the stands would have their magic sealed to make an example for the rest of the world…magic was being banned.
It was being banned from anyone not a part of the Magic council or of royalty. This had of course resulted in a fight….a fight that the mages were losing. A high tech Magic suppressant shield had been erected and only the really powerful mages still had enough magic to use. People were being picked off like flies and brought away.
Lucy was one of the few who still had a bit of magic left; she stood back to back with Natsu, Erza and Gray as they tried to shield Wendy who had been pierced through the leg by a guard, her magic was so low she couldn't heal herself.
"Lucy, Take Wendy and head for Gates" Erza said as she blocked a sword
"N-No way! I can't leave you guys!" Lucy began to protest only to have Natsu grip her arm and spin her to face him, a very foolish move in the middle of a battle but apparently he didn't care.
"You are not getting caught, do you understand me?!" He growled "I can't lose you…so please, just go"
She didn't want to listen, she wanted to stay and fight. But she knew that out of all of them, she was the greatest liability. She nodded reluctantly and quickly scooped up Wendy.
Natsu and Erza took up positions in front her while Gray guarded her back. They took off. Natsu shouted out his many attacks and Erza sent swords flying, Gray would block any attacks headed for them back. They made it to the gates where a combination of attacks only opened a small enough portal in the shield for her to get through.
"Don't worry about us Luce" Natsu said, Erza and Gray nodding in agreement "We'll be alright, just wait for a bit okay?"
Natsu was being rarely sweet and reassuring, which in Lucy's books was never a good thing. She nodded, despite her worries and quickly jumped through the rapidly depleting hole.
She stumbled, but managed to keep herself from falling, Wendy still safely in her arms. She looked back but didn't see any of her friends; they were no where in sight. With a stifled sob she ran through the eerily calm town, all the stores were abandoned. The shockwaves and cries of battle came from the coliseum.
"Lu-cy" Wendy's voice croaked, causing her to halt
"Hai Wendy?"
"We n-need to h-hide" Lucy didn't bother to ask what they were hiding from and quickly dived into an alley. Everything would have been so much easier if they had Happy or Charlie to scout the area but sadly the two exceeds had been captured.
Minutes passed and no one came, but Lucy refused to move from her position. After a few more minutes she heard the loud sound of boots hitting the ground. By the sound of it whoever was coming was wearing armor.
"Let us go!" She heard the female cry and wondered who was being held hostage "Don't hold Meredy like that!"
Her wonder was instantly answered. It was Ultear and Meredy. They had been captured.
"Men take them into the shield; your sacrifices will be carved into history along with everyone else on the inside as an example for all mages who disobey"
Ultear was still screaming and shouting, but by some bit of fate she saw Lucy in her position peeking from behind a crate. Ultear started to struggle even more and this time managed to get free. Without any of her capturers seeing, she threw a bracelet at Lucy.
Lucy caught the item and watched as Ultear was once again held captive and brought away with Meredy who was thrown over a guards shoulder.
Only one man was left and by the suit of armor he wore Lucy knew he was a captain. He stood still for a few minutes. "It's time" His sudden words held a sense of dread for Lucy, she didn't know what he meant but it couldn't be anything good.
The man lifted his hand to the sky and a huge magical circle formed in the air "Kurai shi ga kaishi " She watched as the circle changed from green to dark blue. Nothing of importance had seemed to happen and the sounds of battle still commenced…but of course she had thought too soon because after a few seconds, loud screams filled the air.
Oh My God. He was killing hem. He was killing everyone in the coliseum! She couldn't let him! She had to stop him.
She lay down Wendy quietly and drew a key; she didn't see which one and didn't care "Open the gate!" Loki appeared, he looked battered but that was probably because she had been using him a few minutes before.
"Kill him" She hissed, not at all caring that she had just ordered an execution.
Loki's eyes darken and his fist lit up, the man must have noticed the sudden light in the alley because he looked their way…it was too late though, he could not dodge Loki's fist through his chest. The circle flashed out of existence and Loki disappeared, her magic too depleted to sustain him any longer.
She lifted Wendy back into her arms and ran back towards the coliseum. "L-Lucy" Wendy once more croaked "I s-smell death"
Lucy hoped what she smelled was from the man Loki had just killed.
The barrier that was once up was completely gone and she easily entered. What she saw had her freezing in spot, not one person was standing, all were on the ground, and some bodies were a dull blue while others were turning blue.
She saw Gray and Juvia first, they were obviously dead, their bodies already a blue colour, they were holding each others hand, no doubt they had drawn comfort from one another during the last moments. Erza and Jellal were next, they were both a distance from each other and looked like they had been stretching to reach the other and failing as life left them.
Wendy began to sob, hiding her head in Lucy's tattered clothing "T-They should have left with us!"
"L-Lucy?"
The girl in questioned swiveled, coming upon the sight of Ultear, balancing against the wall, she was slowly turning blue "Ultear? H-How are you-"
"No time for questions Lucy" Ultear said, her voice surprisingly strong "The spell used drains the magic of anyone its affected, even after its stopped and you know mages can't live without magic…I won't last long, I'm only alive because I came into the barrier so late" She stumbled to Lucy's side and touched the bracelet on the blondes wrist "This is very important Lucy…I don't know if it'll work, it was a work in progress…it's suppose take you back in time" She turned a few beads that were lodged into the jewelry "It only…needs a bit of blood…Please be safe…it can take a maximum of 2 people so…Wendy..Can go…"
Ultear smiled at the blonde "This is…the…least I can…do for…hurting you so many…times" Lucy watched the life leave Ultear's eyes and felt sorrow wash over her…everyone was dead.
She looked down at Wendy, the girl had gone unconscious from blood loss and the shock of the situation. Lucy wished she could follow her lead but she had one last person to find.
Her arms ached under the weight of Wendy but she refused to put the girl down with the other dead bodies. Finally, after much searching, she caught a sign of spiky pink hair…and the person was still groaning.
She smiled "Natsu!" she shouted, running over to him. She fell to her knee's, placing Wendy beside her. The pink haired boy before her looked up at her blearily "Luce…you're alright" he smiled and Lucy felt the tears she had been keeping in fall full throttle down her face. Her hands covered her mouth as she stifled her sobs. His body was becoming so blue.
"I want you to have it" he said, raising his hand to touch her cheek. He was ice cold.
She shook her head, knowing exactly what was talking about
"Lucy! Come here!" Natsu shouted from his place on a cliff, they had just finished their latest mission. Erza and Gray were out looking for food while she was setting up the tents. They had decided to camp out on a cliff that overlooked the sea.
She paused in tying a rope to walk to the dragon-slayers side, Happy was circling above them "What is it Natsu? I have stuff to do, stuff that might I add you should be doing too"
He grinned up at her before grabbing her hand and pulling her down next to him. They stayed like that for a while, merely looking out at the sea.
"Well if this is what you called me for then I'm leaving"
"I want you to have it" he suddenly said
She paused in her actions to stand "What?"
He sighed before looking up at the midnight sky "When a Dragon or a Dragon-slayer dies, a fraction of their power is manifested in a gem…it's called a Hearts scale…I've never seen one before…but when I die…I want you to have it"
She looked at him, his face was completely relaxed and he was smiling at her, it made her assume he was joking "Okay, whatever you want! It's pointless though, you won't be dieing anytime soon"
She had thought it was a joke. Obviously it wasn't "I can't, you can't die! You weren't supposed to die until I'm 100!" she wrapped her arms around his freezing body, her body shaking with her sobs "Don't go Natsu! Please don't!"
"I'm sorry Luce"
Those were the last words he said. His body went still and she stayed in his arms for minutes, merely crying at her loss. She had loved him. They were supposed to be together! She had promised herself to tell him how she felt after the tournament and now she would never be able to.
"I love you" she whispered just before she felt something warm under her and rose to see a small red light about the size of a bottle cork rise out of Natsu's frigid chest. It flickered, as if it held a flame. The glow dissipated leaving behind a pretty red gem. She touched it and smiled at the warmth that ran through her. It reminded her so much of Natsu.
She had to stop crying. She had to be strong. She would see him again if Ultears bracelet worked. She dried her tears and pulled Wendy into her arms. She rubbed the bracelet across a wound on her cheek and watched as it glowed a bright gold.
It was working. She would see them again, she gave Natsu's body one last glance "I'll see you soon Natsu" Those were her last words before her world went black.
Lucy shot up. Was she back? Maybe it had all been a bad dream. She looked around. She didn't recognize the room she was in. In fact, upon looking down, she didn't recognize the clothes she was in. It was all lacy and revealed too much skin; many bangles were around her wrist and bare feet.
She rose from the small bed and walked over to the full length mirror on the wall beside a small closet. She didn't look any different…save for her weird clothing. She stepped back and looked around the room, it was small. It only held a bed and closet. It had two doors, one leading to the bathroom and the other outside.
She decided that going outside would be the best way to figure out where exactly she was. Had she gone back further in time than anticipated? Ultear had said it was a work in progress. She stepped outside and blinked. Apparently she was in an inn.
Another door opened and she turned to see Wendy walk out of the room parallel to hers, the girl was dressed in the same weird clothing as her…only less revealing. This was getting weird, if they were back in time and Wendy was with her then…shouldn't they be back at the guild or something?
"Wendy?"
The girl turned and instantly beamed "Lucy!" she ran into Lucy's open arms "What's happening? The last thing I remember was everyone being dead…"
Lucy sighed "I honestly don't know Wendy, Ultear told me the bracelet would take us back in time, but, things seem a bit weird"
Wendy nodded, her depression suppressed in order to better handle the situation "Let's check things out"
They walked down the hall, making note that anyone they saw was not dressed like them but didn't seem to mind their mode of dress. They went down the last step of the stairs and entered a tiny reception room. They were barely there a second when the doors were pushed open.
A woman with silky black hair and the darkest green eyes Lucy had ever seen entered. She was dressed just like them and seemed to know them too since her eyes had zoned in on them. "Lucy! Wendy! You over slept, the shows already started!"
She grabbed their hands and pulled them through the door with her. If Lucy had thought things were weird before, now she thought the world was out of balance. It was like they were back in the times of pirates!
They were in a coastline town; it bickered with people who went along the streets either selling or buying or in the case of the children, playing with wooden swords. They were going uphill so when she turned she saw the vast ocean. The town had a large port that docked many ships.
They continued running, taking many turns until they came upon a set of large gates guarded by two men with guns. Lucy made note that from their mode of dressing that she was definitely somewhere they had never been. Usually guards wore armor…not pieces of clothing and guards, even when she was younger usually wore armor.
The guards stepped aside and opened the gates once they saw the clothing. The woman, whatever her name was, had dragged inside the large mansion before pulling them through many doors. When they finally stopped they were in a large sitting room that held many other women dressed like them, they arrived just in time to see a set leave through the other large double doors at the same time another set came in.
"Hey Lucy, Wendy"
"You guys overslept?"
"You're late"
Apparently everyone knew them there, but Lucy for the life of her could not recognize one face. It was this fact that made her finally realize that she was not in Magnolia, Ultear's bracelet had sent her somewhere totally foreign to her.
Unconsciously she tightened her grip on her free hand, what if her friends weren't here? Warmth travelled up her fisted hand and she opened it to see Natsu's heart scale. Had it followed her through time?
The woman saw the gem "Wow, did your mother give you that one too?" she asked, Lucy gave her a confused look and the woman reached out to lift up a necklace off Lucy's chest, it had a gem just like Natsu's only it was a dark purple "You know, like this one? You said your mother left it in her will for you when she died remember…how did you get another one?"
"I found it" Lucy quickly lied
"Oh, well, give it here, I'll make this one into a bracelet, it'll be finished before it's your time to dance" Lucy was so focused on the word dance that she didn't notice the woman had taken the gem and gone over to a small table that held many trinkets.
"Lucy-chan, I'm a bit worried" Wendy said as she griped Lucy's clothes "This is not our world"
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked confused
"I can feel it in the air with my magic, we aren't in a different time Lucy…we're in a different dimension"
Lucy froze "What?"
"Grandeeney taught me about them, there are different dimensions with the same persons only in different lives…few people had ever travelled through them…we are obviously in a different dimension where we are…apparently…dancers"
Lucy would have thought it entirely preposterous if she wasn't witnessing these things first hand. If she was a different dimension then there was a chance Natsu and the others were still alive…right?
Lucy saw the woman coming back over and quickly looked down at Wendy "When this is all over we need to search our rooms for anything that might give us a link to our situation, okay Wendy?"
The wind dragon-slayer nodded…Lucy wondered if Wendy was still a dragon-slayer, maybe she was, because she could sense the shift in dimensions. Did that mean she could still use stellar magic?
The woman reached them and slipped on a small bracelet unto the many other bangles Lucy had around her wrist. Unlike the one around her neck that was held by a mere string, Natsu's heart scale was jammed into a socket on a gold bangle.
"Maria! Come and help me with this dress" The woman looked up and sighed "Well it's your turn next Lucy, do your best, just like you always" Maria pushed Lucy towards the door. They opened to let in the last batch of dancers.
"Good luck Lucy-chan!" Wendy shouted
Lucy sighed before walking out into the well-lit room. She stepped into a large clearing in a ballroom; people were standing around her in a circle Drinking champagne and chatting while others were taking to the refreshment table.
A small set of people were over to the side. They were dressed, a little like her and were using weird instruments to make beautiful sounds. It was time for her to dance and dance she would. She just wanted to get it over with.
She twirled around the space she got, never having both feet on the ground at one time. Her dance spoke of her emotions. It screamed her anger at the tournament that led to her situation, it screamed of her sorrow of watching Natsu die and it also spoke of the small glimpse of hope she held that everyone was alive in this world.
The music stopped and so did her dance. The claps ad whistles that rang were more than what the others had gotten.
"Amazing"
"I should get them for my wedding"
"Yes, the dancing sprites certainly live up to their name"
Lucy smiled and bowed. It was good to get all that off her chest. In a matter of hours she had lost everything and probably gotten them all back. The fact that she had to dance for a bunch of rich pompous fools after her near death experience was a small price to pay.
She would find them. Her friends. They would be a family again even if it was the last thing she did.
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