So, this was an idea that randomly popped up inside my mind. I'm gonna experiment with this one, see where it leads and look if people like it or not.
Oh well, let's find out.
:Chapter 0:
.Prologue.
The Grand Magic Games.
An event held in the capital of Fiore to determine who the strongest guild of the kingdom was. Participants ranged from unknown guilds to the most famous and strongest of them, competing with one another for the title of strongest guild. Every year this event would attract the eyes of not only eager spectators to watch their idols fight for glory and fame, but also the eyes of fighters self who were determined to achieve that glory.
In the year X791, it was no different than the recent years that had passed. This annual competition would be held in the capital city of Crocus as every year. Nothing special was expected aside the usual excitement that would come with it.
That's what they thought.
During the year X791, two very notable events happened that shook Fiore's very core.
The first one was the return of the Tenrou Team of Fairy Tail which vanished 7 years prior. This team consisted of what was known as the core members of the guild Fairy Tail. Without its most notable and strongest members, Fairy Tail soon fell from grace and was degraded to a third-class guild. Despite the efforts of the remaining members, Fairy Tail never recovered from its lose and they finally relented in the fact that they lost their precious family members. To honor the memory of their fallen friends, the rest of Fairy Tail's members decided to participate in the Grand Magic Games.
Every year ended with the same result.
They ended at the bottom of the ranking list. Hope seemed to be lost by the remaining members of Fairy Tail, and with good reason.
Until they returned.
7 years after Acnologia's appearance and the initial destruction that he inflicted on Tenroujima, the members who disappeared from the face of the earth returned home and news spread like a wild-fire, alerting the remaining top guilds that with them back, the competition would be a lot more difficult. Nevertheless, the people were more than joyous when the Tenrou Team came back to Magnolia.
Now with their family, more or less, complete the newly reborn Fairy Tail decided to participate again, confident now in their victory.
And victory they achieved.
During the last event of X791 year's Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail stood victorious in front of its enemies, defeating their opponents with incredible force and will. Everything seemed to be as it was before the disappearance of the Tenrou Team. Fairy Tail stood yet again at the top of the food chain and they thought they could resume their normal life again.
Until the second notable event happened.
After Fairy Tail claimed victory in the Grand Magic Games's final battle, a shocking discovery was made as a secret hidden deep within the catacombs of the Domus Flau came to light, discovered by a member of Fairy Tail. What man discovered there would be always imprinted in their memories.
The Dragon Graveyard.
A legacy left by those who participated in the legendary Dragon Civil War. An ancient relic that showed what kind of creatures dwelt the lands of Earthland once.
Creatures of tremendous power, wisdom and might.
Creatures that were once regarded as Gods.
Creatures known as dragons.
Following the events of discovering the Dragon Graveyard, another shocking revelation was made. A dead dragon's spirit was summoned and asked what the meaning of this place was. The dragon known as Zilconis was summoned, a reptilian-like creature with scales as green as jade, hence why he called himself the Jade Dragon, and revealed what happened 400 years ago.
With Zilconis explaining the until now mysterious Dragon Civil War, the origins of Dragon Slayer Magic and how the Dragon King Acnologia came to existence, the mystery regarding the dragons was, if slightly, unveiled.
But it didn't stop there.
Once the dragon Zilconis was laid to rest again, Arcadios, Squadron Chief of Fiore decided to enter the stage and reveal something else regarding the dragons.
The Eclipse Project.
A plan, rather, a gate to send people back to the past. The Eclipse Project was specifically designed so that said person would travel back in time before Zeref achieved his immortality which was during the Dragon Civil War as well as Acnologia's ascension as Dragon King and Bringer of the Apocalypse. Without his immortal life, Zeref could be beaten and with his defeat in the past, the entire course of time would change drastically.
The consequences didn't matter at the moment. Honestly, they didn't matter because they were unknown. Still, they were considered to be drastic and it would very well change the entire world as it is known today.
But one thing was for sure. If it meant stopping Zeref, the consequences didn't matter, for a world without Zeref was better than a world with him. With this thought in mind, the group proceeded through their actions, facing numerous obstacles in the process, but they pulled through eventually.
Until they faced him.
Never would they have thought to face him in battle one day. He, who they considered their dearest friend and comrade, who they considered the very embodiment of Fairy Tail.
Who they considered their guide through the darkness...
A guide who himself now turned into darkness...
The situation seemed to be hopeless. Natsu and co. were fighting off both the guards of Fiore and the Executioners and they were starting to get overwhelmed.
Natsu ducked under a swing of a guard's spear before delivering a punch engulfed in red flames into the man's face, sending him crashing towards one of his co-soldiers. As beautiful as that punched may had seemed to the pinkette, he had no time to be proud of his handy work as he noticed through the corner of his eyes that another one was charging at him from his right while two others were running in front of him.
"Tsk, these bastards don't now when... to... QUIT!" As soon as felt the guard to his right was close enough, Natsu jumped up and turned around before he heel-kicked the man's helmet, knocking it off in the process.
The pinkette's kick made him stagger a bit as he felt his head pound because of the kick his head received. The rose-haired Dragon Slayer jumped behind the guardsman and grabbed him by his nape and the belt around his waist before lifting him up above his head. The pink-haired mage grinned menacingly as he turned around again and faced the guards behind him.
"CATCH!"
The pinkette threw the guard with great force, earning him a yell of surprise from the soldier as he was sent barreling towards the two soldiers. The guard slammed into his fellow soldiers, halting their charge as they crashed into the ground.
Meanwhile, Loke's fists were illuminated with a golden bright glow, courtesy of his rings, and charged forward with a battle-cry. The orange-haired delivered a quick uppercut to an unsuspecting guard, making him drop his spear in the process. Loke then quickly raised his elbow above said guard's head and smashed it on top of the soldier's head, knocking him out completely. Readjusting his glasses, the Celestial Spirit smirked at the fallen form of the guard.
"These guys are a piece of cake. Don't worry, Lucy, I'll make sure they won't harm you or your future self." The spirit smiled charmingly as he stood protectively in front of his master and her future self, his fists still glowing brightly.
Despite his effort to calm Lucy, Loke knew very well that they wouldn't last for long; they were heavily outnumbered, roughly ten to one, and on top of that, the Kingdom's Executioners were also still present without a scratch.
This was starting to get ugly for them.
Loke clenched his fists, feeling a sense of dread because of the situation; as strong as he, Natsu and Wendy may be, it would be impossible for them to win in this situation. Their strength were depleting by the minute due to exhaustion. He also felt angry at himself for being unable to do anything. As Lucy's spirit, he swore to himself and the Spirit King to protect the blonde no matter what.
Now, it seemed that he couldn't keep his promise.
"Yield while you can, criminals! Execution is inevitable for traitors such as yourselves!" The leader exclaimed, his face calm and composed as he ordered more and more guards to apprehend Natsu and the rest.
"Like hell we'll yield, how about I execute you all by myself!" The pinkette rebuked, holding a guard in a head-lock while glaring daggers at the leader of the Executioners.
Frowning in response, the Head Executioner motioned with his hand to his underlings. "Very well, if you want to play it like that..." The man's face then morphed into a sneer full of malice as he said that. "Then die here as the filth you are!"
"Yes, you all gonna be executed~"
"Executed! Executed!"
Uosuke extended his hands and opened his palms, ready to activate his Terrain Effect Magic to destroy the floor beneath Natsu and the rest to completely bury them underneath the rubble that would soon follow. "Tai, Tai!"
As he was about to activate his magic, through the corner of his eye Uosuke noticed a small black ember on his pants.
"...Eh?"
Panicking, the black-haired dropped his hands and frantically tried to extinguish the black fire that started to increase in size and heat.
"TAI, TAI!"
The Executioner Leader turned to his underling with a confused frown on his face. "What's taking so long, Uosuke? Bury these traitors already!" The man barked before he comprehended what was happening to his subordinate.
Before anything else could be said, a large storm of black fire engulfed the entire hall where the two parties were fighting, completely swallowing the guards and the Executioners in a sea of fire as the place raged in an inferno.
"What's happening!?" Lucy panicked as she witnessed what just happened, shielding her eyes because of the heat those black flames radiated with.
"Ah! I'm burning! What's the meaning of this!?"
"It burns... IT BURNS!"
The guards were starting to completely panic as one by one they were engulfed by dark flames. All of the soldiers were desperately trying to put down those flames that were eating at their clothes, but to no avail.
The leader of the Executioners watched with horror and dismay as he saw how his soldiers and subordinates were eaten by those black flames.
"What the-" In the blink of an eye, he too was engulfed by pitch-black flames as the last expression on his face before he was completely swallowed was that of complete shock.
While this all happened, Natsu looked on, completely taken aback of the sudden turn of events as the black flames started to retract back to the end of the hall opposite of them, taking the soldiers and executioners with them.
"W-What's going on!?"
Jellal was sitting on a rock, his hands intertwined before his face, and looked with a thoughtful expression into air, Meredy and Ultear right behind him. The bluenette kept pondering about the recent events that have been unfolding themselves, trying to connect the dots and figuring out what was happening now.
"I don't understand. This isn't making any sense... Every year we felt this mysterious power and yet, Future Lucy came this year? On top of that, she came the third of June, which doesn't make sense seeing as I was going to confront the person from the future right after my match with Jura... this one feels so familiar. As if I've witnessed it myself..."
"Wait... Of course, how come we've not noticed this!"
The Time Mage and the girl she considered her daughter were watching the azure-head intently, curious because of his outburst. "Is something wrong, Jellal?"
"There is someone else from the future here..."
Ultear's and Meredy's eyes widened in disbelief at hearing Jellal's exclamation as they took a step back.
"S-someone else? What are you talking about?"
The bluenette abruptly stood up, his face sweating slightly at his own theory. "This aura that I sensed was somehow familiar to me back when I tried to confront said person from the future, only this one felt more dark and twisted, like Zeref's. But when I met Future Lucy, it was different, completely different. Yes, the spell she used, Eclipse, also known as Time Traveling is a spell created by Zeref himself. Therefore, some magical residue was probably clinging on Lucy, explaining why some magic related to Zeref was sensed around her. But other than that, her aura felt normal, not dark in any way at all... But the person I was about to confront on the other hand..."
"A man!? The person who informed and prepared you for Eclipse 2 was... a man!?"
The jade-haired girl nodded, her anxiousness evident on her face as she glanced up to Arcadios. "Yes, he said what I should have done regarding the preparations for Eclipse."
The white-armored man took a step back, this piece of information bothering him greatly.
There was another person from the future? What were his motives? What was he even doing here? Was he a threat to the kingdom?
What was going to happen now?
The hall where Team Natsu, sans Erza and Gray, was still held some traces of fire lingering around; some were dancing on the ground while others clung on the walls. They were glancing around, looking for any signs of the Fiore soldiers, but they found none, only debris scattered, black flames, spears and swords lying around and more debris.
"W-where are all the guards?" Happy spoke up, his eyes scanning the place as he walked cautiously around the place.
"They all vanished without a trace..." Carla responded, her eyes still fixated on the remaining flames that were littered around. She stopped in front of a small light of fire and looked in it.
"Oh? This is a surprise..."
The hall once again was starting to fill with dark flames, ending a couple of meters in front of Natsu and his friends.
"Be on your guard, there's someone here!" Loke shouted as he once again stood in front of the two Lucy's, his stance on high-alert and protective.
The flames were starting to die down slowly as a figure could be discern within it. Said person swung his arm and made the flames vanish, revealing himself to the world.
What the people present saw made their heartbeats stop for a moment.
The man standing in front of them wore a high-collared white cape that ended till his knees with the part which is draped over his shoulders colored in a black fashion and tiger-patterns along the edges. His cape was hold together in front of his neck by a strap with one button on each side. Underneath his cape, the man wears an Y-shaped sleeveless vest with a long-sleeved undershirt beneath it. His Y-shaped vest has three circles going down and it splits at his waist on four sides, each side having similar circles going down. Around his waist was a white belt to hold up his clothes. The man's legs were covered with black-colored trousers neatly tucked into a pair of ankle-high boots.
His clothes already made him stand out, but the part which made his beholders breathless was his hair.
The man had silky long hair neatly combed back and tight into a long, high ponytail which ended till the mid of his back.
Nothing strange aside from the way of fashion and hairstyle, he could pass as a normal man.
"I-impossible..."
"H-how..."
Though, two things completely discarded that.
One: the color of his hair.
Two: the scaly-white scarf wrapped around his neck.
"I never would've thought to see myself from 7 years ago..."
Natsu had the sudden urge to collapse, unable to fathom who just stood before him as he started to tremble in complete confusion.
"You are..."
"...Me? Aye, I am you, and you are me, Natsu Dragneel."
...Damn, I'm getting rusty. It not even reached 3k of words. Oh well, I'm fairly satisfied, seeing as it is a one-shot.
Okay, this is random to its max honestly. I came with this little idea a while back and I thought 'Why the hell not, it looks interesting enough'
Yes, if you haven't noticed yet, Natsu came from the future instead of Rogue. With what intentions? Only I know...
Okay, I can post this as a one-shot or, if people want to see more of it, I can expand it to a story. It won't be long, actually, but consider it an actual Arc...
There something else. If someone wants to write this instead of me, then please contact me beforehand cause I honestly don't know if I can keep up with this many stories combined with what kind of person I am.
A.K.A A lazy bastard...
What I'm aiming for with this is mainly reviews, cause I wanna know if it appeals to the people... Follows and Favorites are good and al, but if you don't voice your opinion about it, I can't work with it then. Don't worry, if it's getting expanded, you won't regret it so voice your opinion... or else...
You guys know who I am.
Your black serpent.