Palm Lines | Chapter 1: Prologue

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

The smell of blood hit her senses – who's blood was it, she wasn't sure. The adrenaline pumped rapidly through her system. The ground's a mixture of ashes and the debris of broken buildings. Her eyes trained down as her legs trudged through the ruins on their own. Her heart pounded furiously against her chest, the sound coursing through her head sounded almost deafeningly painful. It had been moments ago when a bright light set off into the sky, followed by screeching screams that pierced through the air.

Her eyelids heavy as she glanced ahead at the towering building her family called home, or at least what was left of it. Her eyes briefly darted towards a nearby flag, tattered and slightly buried under fragments of rocks. Gathering whatever left of her strength, she dragged herself to the wooden doors of the building.

Warren, the telepathic mage of her guild had called for an assembly at the guild's basement, further directing her towards another apparently secret underground beneath it. Initially, she was with a small group of her guild mates. When they began their way towards the guild, they had tumbled upon a few of the Magnolia residents. Some of them scarcely injured. She insisted that her friends go on without her, saying that the assembly must be related to defeating Face. Plus, her celestial spirits and herself would be sufficient enough to bring the locals to safety – a short walk to the outskirts of Magnolia Town. She could see their slight hesitant at letting her go alone, but she reassured them that she would catch up with the group as soon as possible. They parted ways then, with Lucy changing her course of direction to the right.

She gently laid her hand against the door before sending it a push; the door eerily creaked as it slowly flung open.

It was when she had finally managed to send off the locals away that from a distance, a few bright lights vertically shot into the air, deliberately sending Lucy onto her knees as pain coursed through her body. It was no doubt the work of Face as she felt a twinge in her magic reserve. It ended seconds later, when dragons flew through the sky and demolished all 3,000 of the magical devices. The pain in her body dissipated, only leaving her with a slightly below average magic reserve and an exhausted body.

Standing before the slightly ajar entrance, a shiver ran through her body as raw wind swept through the air. The bits pieces of ashes it carried stung her eyes, only for it to be countered when a sudden downpour welcomed itself into the world. Her eyes darted towards the gloomy sky, allowing droplets of rain to painfully kiss her cheeks. The unsteady yet quick impact of the downpour drummed against the ground. The sound blurred into one long, whirring noise. It made Lucy shut her eyes as the rain reminded her of a certain blue-haired water mage. She frantically shook her head, not wanting her mind to dwell into the thoughts of what horrors had caused the said mage to release the rainfall.

The dragons had once again, let silence filled the air. Lucy took no favor with the silence as it only made rooms for her negativity to fill her mind, but nonetheless grateful for the dragons' help in the battle. Igneel had appeared earlier on when she was still with Natsu, but she had barely seen him when they parted ways. The fire dragon's appearance reassured Lucy that the other dragons in the sky meant good – she suspected them being the rest of the Dragon Slayers' dragons. Picking herself up, she turned her way back towards the guild. She had promised to catch up with her friends, after all.

She slowly walked into the empty building, taking in the guild's state. The walls were barely standing and the floor littered with debris. It was a wreck. Her pace quickened as her gaze picked up a staircase on her left. The structure was slightly different from what she remembered. The descending steps she took sent her into a narrowed, pitched-black walkway. A sharp pain speared through her body, forcing her hands against the cold, stone wall as she shakily gasped for air, her momentarily halt allowed the wall to support her weight. One after too many deep breaths later, she narrowed her eyes into the darkness and continued to make her way through. Her trek felt like ages as the empty darkness gave her little sense of time.

A soft glow illuminated the darkness in the distance. Lucy quickened her pace in an attempt to close the distance, inwardly groaned in desperation to end her expedition as soon as possible. She stumbled forward when the wall vanished against her hands. Her eyes winced as the bright light blinded her before slowly regaining her vision once again.

A gasp escaped her lips as a giant lacrima greeted her sight. It towered over her, almost reaching the ceiling of the room. What caught her attention was actually the little girl that stood frozen in the giant crystal. Her long wavy blonde hair hovered in the crystal, reaching just down to her feet. The serene look her face held sent a shiver down Lucy's back as she realized who exactly the little girl in the crystal was – It was none other than the first master of her guild, Mavis Vermillion. Lucy's heart thumped aggressively against her chest as the adrenaline swallowed any hint of her weariness.

"Lucy!" a voice echoed through the room.

The voice snapped her from her train of thought as she looked around for the source. Her gaze met with a surprised look of a similar girl in the crystal. Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion at seeing two of the same girl. "F-First Master?"

The girl in pink flowy dress got up on her feet and clenched her fists. "There's not much time to explain everything. There is something we must do," Mavis said with full of determination.

Lucy was about to nod in understanding before a sharp pain tugged at her heart. The sudden ache blurred her vision, sending her to her knees.

Mavis frantically ran towards the blonde and kneeled beside her. "Lucy? What's wrong?!" she asked, placing a hand behind her back.

Her breathing ragged as she tried to take in deep breaths. "I-I was a little further away from t-the… light.." she wheezed before continued slowly, "b-but Face… it.. s-still somehow got to me.." Her eyes briefly glanced at the First Master before darting it back to the ground, attempting to focus on her breathing again.

"I see.. Where are the others?"

A moment passed before the celestial mage had finally regained her consciousness after taking in forceful breaths. She glanced up and furrowed her eyebrows, "Others? What do you mean? They're not here yet?"

Her green eyes widened in surprised before she gently shook her head. "They must have been caught with Face as well," she grimly said.

Silence filled the air as the two tried to apprehend their situation. Memories played through their minds before Lucy shot up and frantically look around the room for her fatherly figure. Her eyes landed on an old man sitting against the wall at the corner of the room. She swiftly got up on her feet, stumbled slightly, and made her way to his side. He wore an agonized look, eyes shut and lips twisted in pain. She kneeled beside him and wiped away the sweats that had formed on his forehead. "T-this area was affected by Face too?!" Lucy directed the question to Mavis in a panic.

"So it seems," she answered and walked towards the two mages on the ground. "Come Lucy, there is something we must do."

The blonde mage darted her attention back to the first master, ushering her to continue.

Mavis nodded in appreciation at the requited attention. Her eyes glanced towards the giant lacrima in the room and spoke up. "Lucy... this is Lumen Histoire, or in its other name – Fairy Heart." Her attention went back to the celestial mage before breaking the brief silence. "It is a source of infinite magic."

She widened her chocolates eyes in a mixture of what seemed like in shock or surprise. Before she could utter a word, Mavis cut her to it, diving into an explanation. "It would take quite some time to explain the history of it, so I will just leave it for some other time. Although the dragons had managed to aid us in destroying all 3,000 devices of Face, a few of the magical weapons had managed to be activated for a few seconds. It seems that quite the number of mages have been affected by it. Not only that, it has caused the Ethernano in the air to be in a state of imbalance and within a short time, the Ethernano will soon go into a frozen state. The reproduction of magic particles in the air will halt," she briefly paused, making sure that her guild member had caught up with the information. Lucy merely nodded in hesitation, but it was enough of a sign to usher the First to continue.

"While the fight with Tartaros is coming to an end, albeit in our favor, most mages will greatly suffer because of the limited Ethernano in the air. There is a huge possibility that only lacrimas or object-based magic will be the only source of magic left in Earthland. However, with time, magic will still eventually vanish from this world – any form alike.

It will quite become a similar situation like Edolas, only with an added consequence – the thousands deaths of mages," she explained, letting out an exasperated sigh. She walked towards her child and squatted down. Her green eyes met with large brown eyes as she studied her face. "Lucy.." she whispered, taking a deep breath, she continued, "I need you to do me a favor. I have discussed about it with the Third not long ago, and although we do not wish to have you carry such a huge burden, my calculations told me that this will give us the best possible chance in surviving this… tragedy."

Mavis tore her gaze away and hanged her head low. "With Lumen Histoire and a powerful time spell: Last Ages, we will eradicate this timeline, simultaneously sending someone back into the past. The extent to how far time would rewind is unfortunately uncontrollable. However, with the natural link between Fairy Heart and Fairy Tail, it is very likely that one will reach back into a period where the connection between the host and the guild still exists. I would have casted the spell on myself, but it simply does not work on my thought projection or my frozen body.

It has never been done in this way before, and there is no guarantee that changing the past will be able to defy today's destiny. But…" she trailed off into silence.

Lucy mindfully blinked, taking in the huge information. Her mind slightly ached - from the effect of Face or the information dump, she wasn't sure. Regardless, she managed to give the First a warm smile, already understood her role in this situation. "-but we won't know until we've tried. Isn't that right First Master? She continued.

Mavis nodded her head before returning her gaze. "We cannot afford to lose any more precious time, which brings me to my next question..." she shakily took in a breath and continued, "would you press the reset button?"

The celestial mage gently shook her head, lips still curled into a soft smile. "Do you even have to ask, First? I'm apart of Fairy Tail, aren't I? I would drop everything if it meant to save our family, more so now that the end of magic is near."

The solemn look on her face was quickly replaced when her lips trembled and tears started to flood her eyes. "L-Luucy~!" she wailed childishly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"M-Master Mavis…" the celestial mage sweat dropped.

Her crying quickly subdued to a few quiet sniffles. "R-right," she wiped away her snort and continued, "I'll p-prepare the spell right away," She wiped the rest of her tears away and took a step back from the blonde mage. Her green eyes fluttered shut and her lips moved softly in a chant. A slow glow appeared in front of her, followed by a magic circle on the ground.

Lucy remained seated on the ground, unmoved ever since the First had dived into an explanation of the situation. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation, but if the guild needed her, she would do all she can to make things right. She just hoped the plan will work.

A groan from the corner of the room broke the silent atmosphere, causing the two blondes to snap their attention to a certain Wizard Saint sitting against the wall. "L-Lucy.. First.. wait.." he muttered in pain, an eye slightly peeked open at them.

Mavis twisted her lips into a scowl as she took a glance at him. "We have discussed about this, Third. Your longevity lifespan will pose a bigger risk on the new timeline," she sighed before her expression softened. "Nobody has reached here except for Lucy, and time is quickly running out. For now, Lucy stands with the greatest chance than any of us."

Master Makarov slumped in his seat, his face grim with the thought of letting one of his children bear a huge burden. Noticing his sour mood, she decided to comfort him. "Don't worry, Master. I'll be fine," she softly said, lips curled upwards.

He grunted in response before his eyes darted towards the celestial mage. He gathered his strength and tried to give her his warmest smile. "Come home safely, my child."

Her heart fluttered at his fatherly figure's words. She really did join the best guild in Fiore.

"It is ready, Lucy."

She nodded at the voice and proceeded to get on her feet. Her eyes darted to the magic circle beneath her. Her face shone with determination, fueling the fire inside of her. She was ready to reset the timeline and rewrite it for the better. She could not afford to fail this mission. Face will be destroyed in time and Zeref's demons will pay for what they have done.

Mavis stared at the girl intently. From the time she had come to know this child, she had learned that her chocolate eyes shone brightly with courage. She wore her heart on her sleeves. Her gestures constantly full of love. She had never seen a fairy before, but she was sure that the celestial mage was as close to what a fairy can be. Needless to say, she was proud that such a light, one of the many, lived among Fairy Tail.

Her heart panged with guilt at the thought of sending her child back in time with such a huge burden. It was one of those times that she wished fairies could grant wishes, because if they could then a wish was all it need to stop this from happening. There were too many factors to make a concrete calculation, one being the unknown effects of the spell – using it to such an extreme extend with Fairy Heart, no one could predict just what may happen. For all she knows, her calculations could have backfired. There is no guarantee that changes in the past will ensure a different destiny. What if destiny can't be changed? Or worst, she might actually be sending the child to her doom with the spell! She has always been confident with her calculations but this-

This? -There were just simply too many factors involved!

"Master Mavis?"

The gentle voice broke her train of thought, her head snapped towards the voice. Her eyes met with a worried pair of chocolate eyes. She inwardly sighed. She would do her very best and leave the rest to the stars for they will surely look after the child. "Lucy… There is no way in knowing the exact consequences of using this spell with Fairy Heart. However, I assure you that the unlimited magic will at least help you retain your memories without causing any physical damage on your body or mind," she briefly clarified before continuing, "Now, once you wake up, I want you to go and find me, or at least my thought projection. I will attempt to make my way to the guild building but if you do not see me around for a few days, then I want you to trail after me in Tenrou Island. Ah, one more thing. Lumen Histoire is a sacred secret of Fairy Tail, so proceed with caution when you decided to finally confront the Third or anyone about it."

Lucy nodded, drilling the words into her head.

"You should be prudent with who you share your knowledge of the future with. There is a high probability that my memories will still be intact. Regardless, if you wake up as a child or just a day away from today, you must confront me as soon as possible. We will then talk about our next course of actions. The Third will know about it when the time is right. Promise me that you will not go through this alone, Lucy. The burden is ours to share. We will work it out. Together."

A tear escaped her eye as her heart was touched by the First's words. Wiping away the tear, she once again nodded and smiled.

Mavis returned her smile, eternally proud of the child. She exchanged a look with the Wizard Saint before he gathered up his strength and walked towards the celestial mage.

"Lucy..." he briefly paused as he cleared his raspy throat, "Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions. Yet, our roots remain as one. We will always be the same, regardless with or without the knowledge of the future events. Fairy Tail lives as one, and you will always be Lucy of Fairy Tail."

Her eyelashes brimmed heavily with tears, both in sadness and happiness. She didn't want to cry because she was still going to see her family again. She brought the back of her hands to her face, wiping away the tears. Her heart warmed at the sight of her two masters. "Got it, gramps!" she cheekily broke into a grin.

The two guild masters once again exchange a look before Mavis raised her hands, activating the magic spell.

"This is going to hurt just for a little while, Lucy."

The magic circle beneath her began to glow. The pain, slowly yet escalating, surged through her veins. It crackled her bones and her body shivered vigorously at the immense pain. She intensely shut her eyes and bit back the screams that threatened to escape from her lips. She wills herself to go through this pain; the thought of meeting her family again further fueled her inner strength.

Her eyes slightly fluttered open as she took a glance at her parental figures standing before her, ignoring the pain that followed. "I'll see you all soon," she whispered. With a determined nod at Mavis' direction, her eyes shut tightly as another wave of pain shot through her body.

"Go, my child. We will always be watching for you."

A/N: Hello, nice to see you too!

This is my first fan fiction story and I'm very excited with what I have planned so far. This story is a time-travel, Lucy-centric story and sets after Tartaros Arc, and such characters' traits will be set accordingly (hopefully, if I don't mess up XD). When it comes to the retelling part, I will try to have the facts (facts, not outcome) match as much as I can with the canon's, but this story will not center around just retelling as it extends to more than just the canon arcs.

Thank you for reading!