Summary:
"The war is over, the true dragon king festival has come to an end. Natsu had emerged atop the defeated Acnologia. The war was won, but too many were lost. All his friends, the slayers, the guilds, fairy tail, all of them had sacrificed their magic and their lives to fuel the fairy sphere. But an unlikely and forgotten ally has come, offering Natsu a second chance. Will the slayer be able to save his friends and family this time around? Only time will tell, for Fate is a fickle mistress and fickle she truly is..."
The story :
Speak. He couldn't speak. No no that wasn't it. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't feel. He had done it, he had defeated Acnologia. He had done the impossible, Fairy Tail style. But for what? For the second time, no, the third time in his life, Natsu Dragneel was numb to the world. Sure they beat Acnologia, but the slayers had put everything they had in Natsu's final hit. All their magic. All their lives. And now they were gone. Cobra, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, Laxus and their sweet little Wendy. Gone. Just like the rest of his friends. And if that wasn't enough, Natsu was forced to watch his friends disappear into ethernano, one by one. All the guilds that had helped them. All his friends that had helped them. Gone. Just like his family. Fairy Sphere had sucked their magic along with their existence to trap Acnologia. Nab, Reedus, Max, Vijeeter, Warren, Jet, Droy, Alzack, Bisca, little Asuka, Laki, Kinana, Macao, Wakaba, Romeo, Freed, Bickslow, Evergreen, Elfman, Mira, Lisanna, Levy, Cana, Gildarts, Gramps, Juvia, Gray, Lily, Carla, his little buddy Happy, Lucy. All gone.
Natsu choked. "Lucy." She was gone, just like the rest. His Fairy Tail was gone. Natsu was suddenly bombarded with intense pain.
"Lucy..." He wanted to scream, to shout, to cry, to do something. But he couldn't. He couldn't feel, couldn't breathe. He could still see her smiling face as she disappeared. 'Natsu, please don't forget us, okay? Please live on.' she had told him.
'Live on, yeah right.' What was the point? What was left? Nothing, that's what. Everything was gone. Everything except Lucy's keys.
"Lucy..." He breathed out. With shaking hands he scooped them up. He could still feel her magic in them. He could feel her spirits crying their heart out. 'How can I live on Luce? How can I, when everything I was had disappeared right in front of my eyes?' He mused. For the first time that day, Natsu felt his tears. Crying freely, he clutched her keys to his chest, as if relishing in their warmth for the last time. That's when he heard it.
'Swipe my key young one, feed it with everything you have and swipe, for I have seen enough death, seen enough sadness, that even my immortal self cannot take anymore. Swipe it slayer, so that you can once again see your friends, so that you can save them. Swipe it. Natsu.'
Natsu was shocked still, "I can save my friends?" He asked to the air. Then he felt the magic, Lucy's magic, filling up a single broken key. "This Aquarius's key, what the hell is happening?"
'Swipe it Natsu, save them.' The voice implored.
"Alright, I will. If I can see my friends again, if I can save them, all of them, then I'll do anything. You want me to swipe this key? Then I'll put everything I have into it, AND OPEN YOUR GATE!!"
With a scream, Natsu poured every ounce of his magic into the key and swiped down. And as if guided his Lucy, he screamed out, "SUBSTITUTE SUMMONING; OPEN THE GATE OF THE GREAT RULER, SPIRIT KING." The flash of golden light that followed was blinding, Natsu had to look away. When the light faded Natsu suddenly found himself pulled into a hug by the now human sized Spirit King. "Natsu my boy, you have no idea how thankful I am for hearing my voice."
"Moustache guy? I-I mean Spirit King? That was you? You can save 'em?" Natsu asked, no begged through his tears.
"No Natsu, but I can help you save them. I am the Spirit King. And I promise, I will help you save them, I will help you in seeing them again."
Natsu would never be able to explain the profound happiness he felt at that instance for as long he lives. He fell to his knees, the dams breaking and cried, truly cried. "Thank you, thank you so much Mous-Spirit King. I'll do anything that you ask me to. Just please, let me see 'em again." Natsu choked out.
"I will gladly help you Natsu. This is the one thing I will never hesitate on. I owe Lucy at least that much. Now listen carefully young one, for the magic I am about to do is the greatest taboo in existence. But it should be possible with the intense amount of ethernano in the air right now."
"Wait, wait, taboo? And what's with this ether thing? I don't get it. Should I know about these details?" The Spirit King sweat dropped. "No need to rush slayer. Just listen to me with an open mind. There is only one way to truly save your friends, which I will now perform. With the help of the Stellar Memory which is under my command, and the mutated ethernano caused by the time rift, I will turn the flow of time by 400 years. Which pretty similar to what Zeref had in mind, but this world will not disappear. Instead it will fuse with the new time line, as your soul will fuse with that of the younger version of yourself."
"But how does this help me? Dammit you told me you'll save 'em. Sending me back after turning back time won't help. I'm not- I'm not strong... I-I won't be able to-" he stammered.
"What's this?" The Spirit King mused, "Salamander Natsu of Fairy Tail not strong enough? Don't sell yourself short young one. You have already defeated the dragon king Acnologia, you can do it again. But this time you'll be stronger. You lived an entire lifetime gathering strength. You know the way by heart. Which means with enough time, you can be even stronger. Believe in yourself Natsu, just like how your friends believed in you. You can save them. I know it. She knows it. Lucy is waiting. Go to her."
Natsu took a deep breadth. "You give one hell of a pep talk old man. Fine I'll do it. I'll save 'em. I swear it."
"Good slayer, now prepare yourself. Heed my words, bend to my will, with the power that I am, I command you. Oh Tetrabiblos... I am the Ruler of the Stars, the commander of its legions. Open the gate of the Stellar Memory, oh 88 Stars of the heavens, SHINE!!! TRUE URANO METRIA."
Natsu watched in awe the spectacle that unfolded in front of his eyes. The Spirit King swung his sword deep into the skies, piercing through the clouds, opening up the world to the full might if the celestial realm. And then he struck the earth.
The last thing Natsu saw as the light engulfed him, was the smiling if his friends.
Chapter end.