AN: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor do I claim ownership.
"Natsu, your left!" Lucy quickly yelled out to her partner. The fire mage didn't react quickly enough, getting hit with the magical blast full on. He toppled into a wall, resulting in it crumbling on impact.
"Natsu!" Erza dealt with her combatant with haste, before rushing to her teammate's aid. Natsu got up, shaking off the attack and then concentrating at the mage who shot him. "I'm going to turn you into ashes!" He yelled out, the mage didn't hesitate to shoot another blast at him. The dragon slayer stood still, charging his roar.
The discharge was picking up speed; Lucy knew Natsu's attack wasn't going to be ready. She dove in front of her partner, taking the spell wholly. She flew backward, Natsu caught her accordingly. "Luce! Why'd you do that?!" She was unresponsive; her consciousness had been sapped away.
"You bastard, you'll pay for doing this to Lucy!" He focused his glare on the mage in front of him. Setting Lucy down, flame enshrined his body, adding a thunder layer on top.
"Thunder-Flame Dragon Art: Crimson Lightning Blade!" A swirling vortex of voltage and flames were sent hurling toward Lucy and his assailant, pushing him back into a wall, knocking him unconscious consequently.
Gray spontaneously came back into the room where Erza, Natsu, and Lucy had been fighting in, glancing over at the stellar mage with concern. "What happened?"
Natsu remained silent kneeling down to his partner, Erza responded with a saddened tone, "She was hit with one of the mage's attacks."
Gray frowned, walking over to his blonde teammate.
They gasped as they watched Lucy begin to shrink out of her clothes. "Lucy!" Natsu began to hysterically panic watching his partner minimize to the size of a little girl. The armored mage's eyes widened at the sight, while Gray sat speechless.
Lucy's body had seemed to jump back in time, reducing her figure to that of an 8 year old. "It seems that Lucy has been reverted back to when she was younger." Erza analyzed the still unconscious mage.
Natsu quickly took off his scarf, adorning his small partner with it and swaddling around her body. It was a perfect fit.
He picked her up and let her head lean on his chest. Gray walked over to the caster of the spell, shaking him awake. "What have you done to Lucy?!"
The caster smiled smugly. "Time Flux."
The ice mage's temper flared even more, seeing the enemy mage's smile only provoked him. "What does it do?!" Natsu watched Gray interrogate the caster, before turning to the small child in his arms. Lucy's breathing was steady; Natsu could feel her chest rise and fall.
"Heh heh."
The ice make wizard raised his fist; the glare he was giving could pierce through anything. "I'm not asking you again."
"The spell sends the victim back to a child form; the age however, is randomized. That's all."
"Tell us how to fix it!"
The caster maintained his smile, soon disappearing when Titania darkly stared at him from behind the ice wizard.
"Uh uh, it's temporary! It'll wear off soon!" Gray pondered what made the caster change his expression so quickly, before dismissing it and continued.
"How long?!"
Erza stepped closer, the caster shuddered as fear spread across his body. "I don't know! It varies!" The red head wasn't satisfied, closing in on Gray and the dark mage.
"Please! I've told you all I know! Please don't hurt me!" His eyes began to tear up at the presence of the Queen of Fairies. Erza stopped her pursuit and let out a sigh, realizing that they were not going to get anymore information out.
"Let's head back to guild. We'll see if Master Makarov knows anything."
Everyone turned their heads to the guild doors slamming open with a screaming Salamander running in. "Master! Something happened to Lucy!"
Eyes watched Natsu cause verbal chaos throughout the guild, then noticed the little blonde girl he was holding. Everyone's eyes widened at the realization of who it was.
Makarov soon emerged on the second floor, rushing down to see what all the commotion was about. "Calm down child. Tell me what happened."
Natsu laid his partner down on the table, Erza began explaining. "Lucy was hit with a spell known as 'Time Flux', which caused her body to regress into the state you see now." Makarov peered over the young Heartfilia on the table. He closed his eyes in thought. "I see." He said grimly.
"Is she going to be okay?!" Natsu's worried expression had grown worse at his master's dour frown. "She'll be fine. I'm just going to miss seeing her hot bod around the guild." Makarov was soon hit across the head by Mirajane.
"Master! This is serious!"
"But no need to worry child, the spell's effects will soon wear off. There's no telling when though." The elder of the guild said while rubbing the back of his head.
All the talking silenced when they noticed Lucy stir. She quietly opened her eyes and sat up; rubbing away any sleep that she might've had. Her small expression froze, seeing all of the guild members watch her with probing eyes.
"Where… Where am I?" Her voice was shaky, and the look on her face resembled that of fear.
"You're in Fairy Tail, Luce. Don't you remember?" Natsu frowned when she shook her head, then deepened when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.
"Who are you people?!" Her voice rang in everyone's ears, tears streamed down the little blonde's face from unfamiliarity. Her small form was soon hugged by her former bestfriend.
"No one's going to hurt you." Levy slightly tightened her embrace on Lucy. The blonde soon stopped crying, feeling a little at ease in the presence of the bluette. Levy soon unfastened her grip, and looked at the stellar mage.
"Luce! Snap out of it! It's us!" Lucy's re-composure was soon ruined when the dragon slayer shook her violently.
"Natsu! Stop it!" Mirajane cut in, effectively causing the frantic dragon to cease his action.
"Her memories have been reverted as well it seems." Erza kept scrutinizing the situation at hand.
"Na… Natsu." Everyone turned their head back to Lucy, who walked up to the pinkette and hugged his abdomen. "I remember you." The guild members furrowed their eyebrows at the sight.
"Ah, I see. Natsu, were you hit with a blast before Lucy?" Makarov watched Natsu as he put his finger to his chin, reminiscing on the battle that took place less than an hour ago. He finally remembered, "Yeah, I got hit with something, why?"
The guild watched their guild master piece together the mystery behind Lucy's acquaintance with the dragon slayer.
"Natsu, you were hit with a spell known as 'Time Channel', which enables the victim to transpire above time relativity in terms of memory. Lucy remembers you specifically because not only have you spent the most time with her, but Time Channel let's her remember all the missions she's gone on with you." Makarov stated matter-of-factly.
Erza, once again, had to explain to the confused dragon. "Lucy remembers you because of the spell the mage hit you with before her."
The intertwining of Natsu's mind began to shift, "Then why can't she remember you guys, or Fairy Tail?" Lucy clung onto Natsu's vest as she watched the unknown mages talk.
"She only remembers what happened on the missions and you specifically, not knowing what she was on the mission for, nor the people that accompanied her besides you. It's one giant blank to her." Makarov answered.
And that's the chapter. I'll continue it if it gets good feedback. this was just an idea I had, so I just sampled.