The Second Chance
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Hello! It's been a while since I posted anything here, and this random idea came to me, so I decided to make it a story! I'll expand it as it goes along, or even revisit my old fanfics to update them, but for now, enjoy!
Chapter 1: Final Hope
Lucy Heartfilla squatted down, shivering. The cold penetrated her skin, chilling her to the bone. The celestial mage exhaled a long sigh of despair as she fixed her gaze out of the grimy window of her ramshackle hut. Visibility had been so poor recently, with the hail and sleet teeming down endlessly, she would not have been able to walk within an arm's length without colliding with something.
"Come on... Please, come back soon. Don't leave me here alone..." The blonde whispered to herself, gripping her key of the celestial spirit, Aquarius, her eyes not leaving the window. Her companion had been gone for approximately seven hours now, and showed no signs of returning yet.
Desperately, she scanned the dingy room for the umpteenth time, searching for anything that might keep her warm. Apart from a damaged, miniscule, space heater which was dangling from the wall, only being held by a few threads of plastic, the hut was virtually empty, save for a rotting oakwood table, and a foldable chair that Lucy was resting on, which threatened to collapse at any given moment. A calendar which Lucy hadn't noticed before lay on the table, collecting so much dust that the dates were all blocked out. Sighing, she dragged her chair over to the table and plopped herself onto it, resting her head on the table. She lightly blew onto the calendar, and as the dust scattered, the year X792 was revealed, in reddish ink.
"Ten years old..." She muttered, flipping the calendar over. That number only brought bad memories to her; there wasn't any point in looking further.
It was the year X792, the year which everything went wrong. A year after the disbandment of Fairy Tail, Natsu and Lucy sought to rally the guild members back together, and succeeded in doing so. After the revival of Fairy Tail, and saving Makarov Dreyar from the hands of Zeref with Erza taking the reins as the temporary guild master, things quietened down. The guild had begun its preparations for the invasion from Zeref and his Spriggan Army.
And as expected, the Spriggan Army arrived, ready to snatch Lumen Histoire from Fairy Tail's hands, the thing they have been protecting since the first guild master passed on. The major guilds of Fiore banded together, ready to defend the country from the series of onslaughts that the enemy was sending out.
But it wasn't enough.
Countless droves of soldiers advanced, one after the other, relentless in their attacks. The mages from Fiore had the capability to fend off the opening waves, even managing to defeat a few members of the Spriggan Twelve. However, with an army of at least two million strong, experienced soldiers being well trained in the usage of Magic Power, there was little that could be done to counter them. All mages contained a capacity which limited their usage of magic to a certain extent, and most of the ones from Fiore ran out of gas before the real fight had even begun. Lucy witnessed the culling of most of the Fairy Tail members in the process, including the S-Class mages such as Erza and Mirajane. Natsu was not spared either, and was in fact forced into a trance state by Zeref himself, and was brought back to the empire of Alvarez.
Zeref eventually took control of Fairy Heart, and promptly pulled his remaining troops out of Fiore, where he began his devious plans. Combining the power of Lumen Histoire with his own Dark Magic, he became unstoppable, and began the summoning of his demons, which would later scatter across Earthland, spreading their darkness. Zeref was gradually bringing the world to its end, just as he had promised.
Back in Fiore, Lucy had managed to find Levy McGarden, one of the few survivors left from the defenders, and had fled from the town of Magnolia. The demons had arrived there just days after Zeref's return to Alvarez, and ravaged the town. Guild halls, markets, and hospitals were demolished within seconds. The life force of the remaining inhabitants, mages and non-mages alike, were absorbed from the deathly aura the demons were exhibiting, resulting in even fewer survivors than before.
In the years that followed, Lucy and Levy had been travelling constantly, keen to avoid any sort of contact with demons. Even the weakest demon possessed a power level similar to Erza, so they were not to be trifled with. That was until, while hiding out in an ancient library in the city of Crocus weeks ago, Levy had chanced upon a book, written in an ancient language, about the powers of time travelling.
"Lucy," The bookworm gave the celestial mage a nudge, pointing at a paragraph. "Maybe this is it. We could revert things back, and we could find a way to stop this mess before it even happened!"
"Do what exactly? I can't read the symbols on this book for starters."
"Oh. Right. I forgot." She jabbed at the page. " This spell here allows us, or should I say, our state of mind to travel back into the past, whenever we want. We could use this to go back and formulate a new plan to stop Zeref, or even just to warn the others, and be prepared way earlier in advance!"
Lucy knitted her eyebrows into a frown. "Yes, it sounds good and all, but how are we going to cast the spell? We're not like Ultear, we don't have the proficiency in Time Magic to cast a spell of this calibre. And what about the side effects? Surely a spell this powerful would cause something bad to happen in return..."
The blue-haired girl shrugged. "Relax. No side effects. I was surprised myself when it was stated in the book. It also doesn't require us to be able to cast Time Magic as a prerequisite, weirdly enough. We don't need to be experienced for this spell in particular. We only need the ingredients. It's almost like making a medicine from herbs actually."
"Now I wish we had Porlyusica's prowess..."
"It's fine, the ingredients aren't difficult to obtain. Finding them in the East Forest outside Magnolia should be a piece of cake, provided we don't run into any demons, of course," she was saying, more to herself.
Their goal had thus changed, and was no longer the simple tasking of surviving. They were now putting their lives on the line to save Fairy Tail, Lumen Histoire, and the entire Earthland.
As what Levy had predicted, securing most of the elements for the spell was rather effortless. Then came to the part where they had to extract an essence of a demon, which Levy had conveniently forgotten to inform Lucy about till the last minute to prevent her from backing out.
"We can't back out now, Lucy! Two more ingredients and we'll be done!"
"I know that," the blonde said through gritted teeth. "But I would appreciate it if you'd told me about this earlier! I'm totally unprepared to fight against Erza right now."
"It's not a problem. We don't have to kill it. You distract, and I'll extract. Cool?" Levy asked cheerfully.
In the end, the mission was a success, albeit Lucy having most of her Magic Power being absorbed by the demon while carrying out the distraction, which rendered her being unable to summon most of her celestial sprits, draining her physical energy in the process too. Levy had quickly wrapped up the extracting, and dragged her to safety, while endlessly apologising for underestimating what the demon had to offer.
And then, finally, there was the last ingredient.
Lucy gave a small shriek as a bolt of lightning flashed past her eyes, abruptly ending her recollection of the past. She instinctively brought her hands to her ears. The clap of thunder rumbled seconds later, shaking the fragile branches that brought the roof of the hut together.
Those hands, coated with soil, with dirt trapped under her awkwardly bitten fingernails, were now covering her face. The blonde allowed a sob to escape through her dry, cracked lips, as the thoughts swimming in her mind assumed control, overwhelming her emotions. She wanted to give up, but she was so close. Forsaking her responsibilities was not an option anymore.
"You look depressed."
Lucy whipped around, alarmed, but almost immediately calmed down when she saw the spiked, orange hair, fluttering against the chilly wind.
"Oh for God's sake, Loke! Don't scare me like that! I could have died from fright, you idiot!"
"Oh? On the contrary, you seem energetic now that I'm here. You were wearing this tired, lacklustre complexion just seconds before. I can only conclude that my good looks made you feel better."
"Very funny..."
Loke merely smiled in response. He was wearing the same elegant dark suit he always wore since Lucy took ownership of his key, coupled with a zebra-striped tie, and dark shoes to finish. About to start a new conversation, he leaned against the oakwood table, which instantly split into two clean halves the moment his rested his weight upon it. He gave a yelp before crashing onto the floor bottom first.
Lucy shook her head in mock disapproval, barely containing a feeble laugh. "Seriously, did you come out just to cause more trouble?"
The celestial spirit shot her a scowl, dusting himself off as he rose to his feet. "You could have warned me earlier about that." He suddenly frowned, face turning serious. "I shouldn't be here though. You are already weak as it is, and you were supposed to be recuperating. My existence in the human world is going to constantly drain your energy, since I barely have any of my own left to use. I summoned myself because you looked like you needed some company, but this isn't right. I should go-"
"No."
"But-"
"Stay. Please. I don't think I can handle another moment alone by myself."
He hesitated, ready to disobey his master's orders if necessary, but the crushed look on Lucy's face told him otherwise. Slowly, he strode towards her, and placed himself behind the chair. Reaching out his hand, he patted her on the head lightly. "You did well so far. It's going to be fine, Lucy."
A single tear rolled down the mage's cheek. Her shoulders started shaking. "I... I'm just so tired. Making it this far was a miracle by itself. What if the plan doesn't work? All of this would've been for nothing. I'm scared, Loke, I really am."
"We have nothing to lose at this point. Earthland is now at a point of no return, that is why the both of you are carrying out this plan, correct? It doesn't matter if you fail, just know that you have tried your best. That is more than enough for all of us." He said gently.
Lucy nodded. Loke's words had done its job. "Thank you." she said quietly, composing herself once again.
He shook his mane of hair. "If we do make it," he said slowly, "Promise me - Actually, never mind."
"What?"
"No, it's nothing." he repeated, shaking his head again.
"C'mon, tell me! An order from your master."
"Damn," he grumbled. "No fair. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Well? Spit it out."
His face flushed red. "Fine. I want to go on a date with you when this is all over."
"WHAT?!"
"See, I told you, it was nothing." The red on his cheeks deepened. "Forget what I said."
"Wait. Why do you want to go on a date with me?" Unexpectedly to Loke, her initial shocked demeanour had instead been replaced to one of pure curiosity.
"Well... Ever since I broke up with all my girlfriends back then and made the contract with you, I could only ever watch you from afar, occasionally protecting you from harm. But my interest in you has grown since then, and I want to know you more. That's all." He looked down and pretended to examine the decomposing carpet so that he would not have to see how Lucy was reacting to his explanation. "You don't have to think of it as a date, something like hanging out will suffice," he added defensively.
Lucy said nothing. He regretted expressing his feelings straight away. Things were going to be awkward between them now. Not that it mattered at that point of time, but he wanted to diffuse the uncomfortable scene as quickly as possible. "Like I said, it's fine. You don't have to think about it too much. Besides, it's not really appropriate for a celestial spirit and his master to be engaging in such activities, and-"
"No," she interrupted for the third time.
"I'm sorry?"
Loke allowed himself a glance upwards, and felt his heart melt as he caught sight of Lucy's captivating smile. The only thing that was running in his mind at that moment was how cute she was when she was happy.
"I like your idea. We should do it. We'll go on a date if - when this is all over. I want to know more about you too. How you live as a celestial spirit. What you do in your spare time. Your hobbies, interests. This was surprising, but thank you for asking me."
"I - Uhh, of course, no problem," he answered quickly. "I really should be going-" He froze, turning his head to face the door.
"Loke? Is something wrong?"
His eyes had narrowed, fixing a steely gaze towards it. "Look sharp. We're not alone anymore. Someone's heading towards this hut. And that person isn't Levy."
"W-What should we do then?" Lucy whispered, not wanting to make any noise to reveal herself.
"I can't stay here. You'll pass out from the deprivation of your Magic Power at this rate. I shall re-summon myself using my own magic if necessary, and I'll inform Aquarius in the meantime. You just stay put. If he turns hostile, don't worry, we have your back. Hopefully he passes by."
Lucy wanted to protest against the idea, but the spirit of the Lion had already vanished. She could hear the footsteps from outside, trudging through the thick layer of snow, steadily increasing in volume as he approached. Swiftly, Lucy locked the door with the single bolt available, positioning herself in a corner after, and held her breath, not daring to release. A disfigured silhouette took shape onto the broken pieces of glass on the window moments later. It paused, the dark outline of its head magnifying against the window. Lucy could only assume that whoever it was, was trying to peer through to see if the hut was uninhabited. She shut her eyes, hoping that he could not spot her, and would just move on.
Her prayers went unanswered. The handle of the door started to rattle. Lucy was covering her mouth at this point, her panic switch turned on, tears streaming down her face silently as she watched the door closely. She wanted to summon a celestial spirit for protection, but she had not recovered from the ordeal with the demon earlier, and attempting to do so would only result in her losing consciousness.
Is this how it's going to end? Am I going to die here? Wild thoughts tormented her mind as she sat there, watching the shaking bolt, the only form of protection between her and trespasser.
A mumble from the outside, and the bolt exploded.
A burly figure stood in the doorway, facing the direction Lucy was huddled at, a sack held over his shoulders. Acknowledging her presence, he started his advance towards the trembling Lucy.
"Please... Please, I don't mean you any harm. I beg you, leave me alone!" Lucy wailed, flailing her arms and legs prematurely, expecting an incoming assault, or worse, being groped.
The man stopped. Muttering another few words, his figure started to shrink, his hair started to become more wavy, more curves begun to take shape, and him had transformed into her.
"Levy?" Lucy asked timidly.
Chortling, the mage replied, "What a warm welcome you had for me there, Lucy."
Lucy sprang up and embraced her, squeezing tightly. "I thought you weren't coming back. You took forever! And you're going to be the death of me one day, I swear, with all those scaring tactics you pull off."
"Ouch ouch, I believed you would have more faith in me than that," Levy wagged a finger towards her as she chided jokingly. "We have a slight problem though."
"Was there a problem with the last ingredient?"
"You could say that. The last ingredient was supposed to be the heart of a Dragon Slayer, but ten years has passed since we even saw one. I went back to the guild... To try and find either Laxus, Wendy or Gajeel," she explained, Lucy noting that her voice had the tiniest shake when pronouncing the latter's name. "I managed to get a hold of Wendy's heart, or what was left of it."
She dropped the sack onto the carpet, and emptied its contents. The demon's essence, trapped in a magical cylindrical container, some herbs, substances, and a palmed sized rock-like object tumbled out, Levy catching it just before it rolled off. She held it up for Lucy to take a look. "We should observe a minute of silence for Wendy."
Lucy nodded, "It's the least we can do for her."
They fell silent in remembrance of the young, heroic, Wind Dragon Slayer, who perished too early with a promising life ahead of her. She could have accomplished so much more, but the war had to end that potential. Fate could be cruel sometimes.
"Well then, let's continue." Levy said briskly. "Most of it has degraded, but I managed to scrap some bits and combine them together. The issue here, is because the heart holds control over the link between the past and present minds, and that our heart is not complete. Therefore the completed spell will show a major side effect."
"Which is?" Lucy asked.
"My main guess is that you wouldn't be able to take control over your past self so well. What we want is to shut off our past consciousness into another part of the body. Not to a point where it'll face any harm, but you'll force it to sit back and watch you do the work. Due to the heart being unstable, your control over your past self will similarly be unsecured. Although, I'm sure your past-self will understand once you've given her the full rundown." She had already started mixing the ingredients together, hastily dumping them into the magical container.
"Alright, sounds manageable."
"Oh, and one more thing."
Lucy tilted her head. "What's that?"
"There's only enough for one of us," Levy said, shooting her a sad smile as she continued mixing.
The celestial mage's eyes widened in horror. "What? But you promised that there would be enough for the both of us!"
"I know. I lied. I'm sorry," Levy said softly, maintaining her smile. "It was when we were retrieving the demon's essence. I couldn't let you suffer another second from your Magic Power being sapped. You would have died from the deprivation."
Lucy's face was white. She was having trouble forming words. "So now what?"
"I'll go. I brought this upon you. I should take full responsibility for this." Levy said, refusing to look at the blonde mage.
"No! I'll go! I've been sitting around for weeks, being a burden, not being useful at all. It's about time I did something for once."
"But my selfishness caused that."
Lucy stood up, a slight rage building up inside her. "If you want to make it up to me, then let me travel to the past! If you leave me here, how would you expect me to survive all by myself without using magic? I haven't even came close to recovering a single bit of my Magic Power in weeks, it's unlikely I will recover fully in the months to come. Let me do it, Levy. Please."
The blue-haired teenage looked up slowly. She contemplated the look on Lucy's face, full of conviction. Sighing, she held the magic container up. "Alright. You win. Come here."
Lucy noticed that the container was no longer dark. Instead, a white, shimmery substance was floating around the insides, and it did not attempt to escape, even though the container was open. "I just need to consume this?" She asked.
Levy nodded. "It'll automatically go inside your mouth, you don't have to swallow it."
Lucy took the jar from her, and brought it to her mouth. "I guess this is it then."
"Wait." Levy held her hand. Her cheeks were glistening with tears that Lucy had not noticed before. "Please send my regards to Gajeel. He'll probably not understand, but it's more than enough for me."
Lucy clasped her arm. "Of course. See you soon, Levy. Thank you for everything."
Everything went black. Visions started pouring in, like a slideshow, right in front of Lucy, as her mind swivelled around a space she was unable to comprehend. Stuff that she had done with Levy throughout the previous ten years, the war, the Grand Magic Games, the S-Class promotion trial in Tenrou Island. It was all coming back to her now. And yet, these memories seemed unfamiliar as much as they were familiar, it felt like something weird was happening...
"Oi, wake up."
Lucy's eyes jerked awake. She was lying on a bench in the guild hall, and a crowd of people had gathered over, trying to find out what had happened.
"Move over, get lost, nothing to see here," A rough voice said, chasing the observers away. "You okay? Don't scare me like that, fainting out of nowhere. I didn't really want you dead even though I've said it a million times, y'know."
"Huh?"
"Oh, stupid, you seem fine now, why did I even waste my time on you..." Gray Fullbuster grimaced, picking up a shirt that he had stripped off seconds earlier. "I'm going on a mission now, and you just made me late. Bye."
As he dashed off, Lucy picked herself up, groaning. The guild was bustling with activity; it was probably dinner time, where most of the members would gather for a meal and some drinks. She shook her head, trying to get a clearer picture of her surroundings. Everything seemed so blur.
Did Gray just call me stupid? She never recalled him being this rude to her, ever.
"Don't be sad, this isn't the first time Gray's treated you like this." A motherly voice popped out from behind the bar, her hands loaded with pints of beer to be served.
"Oh, Mira..."
She stopped. Her throat felt itchy. Placing her hand on it, she could feel a lump.
What the hell...
She looked down. Normally, looking at her feet without bending down was impossible because it was blocked by her voluptuous, curvaceous chest. But now, she could see her veiny feet, fully unobstructed.
Veiny...
She rushed over to the mirror at the corner. This couldn't be happening, this wasn't what Levy said would happen as a side effect! Praying to nobody in particular, she faced the mirror, and could only gasp.
The astonished face of Natsu Dragneel on the glass returned the look of bewilderment on her face.
And we've come to the end! Do leave a review or any constructive criticisms to help me improve my writing, and as always, thanks for reading.