Glimpse of a Dreary Future

July 1st X793:

Just going back a simple two years could make someone believe that they were transported to an entirely different world than the one that they are currently struggling to survive in at the moment. Of course this can't really be said about the entire world since a few select areas have remained fairly similar to what they used to be two years ago. Unfortunately Fiore and its surrounding neighbors aren't lucky enough to be among those select few.

Now what exactly brought about this drastic change for Fiore and its fellow countries? The answer to that is actually quite simple, Dragons! Mythical beasts that most of the world thought died out centuries ago, only to become another side note in the ever growing chapters of history. But on July 7th, X791, they reappeared by the hundreds and completely laid waste to everything in their way. Easily showing why they once ruled the world centuries ago when it was a more chaotic place where only the strong could survive.

That is what the world has somewhat now been taken back to being once again. Although with one major difference, most of the surviving humans are now seen as nothing more than a source of food for their dragon overlords. Humans are now forced to live in one of the few remaining cities that weren't wiped off the face of the map in the initial conflict against the dragons. A conflict that lasted until the end of the year X791, which resulted in the complete annihilation of any sort of government in the region that the dragons set their sights on. And the governments weren't the only things destroyed during this time; guilds of any form were also targeted by the dragons.

Of course this was a harder task for the dragons to complete for various reasons that ranged from some of the guilds already being good at hiding. To other reasons such as guilds being smaller than a country's government making them capable of picking up and actually moving. Or even them just simply blending in with the rest of the population that the dragons were keeping alive as their livestock. Unfortunately dragons didn't rule the ancient world just because of their enormous magic power and strength. No they were also extremely intelligent, which they proved once again by getting humans to turn on each other by offering a little better form of living for anyone with information on a hiding guild member.

And because of that guilds are pretty much a thing of the past, reduced to fond memories that parents tell their children as they go to sleep. Hoping that one day things might go back to how they once were, where they could go about their days without the fear of being chosen as some dragon's snack. But thanks to these stories there is still hope for mankind, a hope that some believe completely hangs on the shoulders of those that still wear the emblem of the last guild that fought against the dragons. A guild that even before the dragon evasion was known for their unorthodox way of doing things and their parties that usually got out of hand. That guild was none other than Fairy Tail, but it would seem that even they weren't able to stand up against the insurmountable force that was the dragons.

At what used to be Fiore's beautiful capital city Crocus:

The usually quiet city that was now known as Old Crocus got even quieter as a lone figure could be seen coming towards them on the horizon, which nowadays was almost completely unheard of. After it was made abundantly clear that it wasn't some sort of illusion, most of the citizens fled back to their homes hoping to have nothing to do with the stranger. Because it was made crystal clear over the last two years that nothing good came from dealing with strangers. At least for the common citizen that is, but for those that served under the dragons, this lone figure could possibly mean they would rise even higher in the standings of the new regime.

"Just as friendly as the last town I passed through." stated the cloaked figure to himself as he watched people actually close up their windows before he passed them. And those that didn't had their inhabitants staring at him usually with a scowl or a look of disgust on their face.

"We don't get many travelers these days." said a burly man as he stepped out in front of the stranger with a decently sized axe resting on his left shoulder.

"I wouldn't imagine that you would with all things considered." replied the cloaked traveler as he came to a stop and looked up at the man that was a foot taller than him.

"Indeed, so would you mind telling me why it is that you are?" he asked as three other large men surrounded the lone figure.

"Nah, don't really feel like it." answered the stranger with a slight smirk as he tried to step around the man that initially stopped him. But he was cut off by an axe slamming down into the ground right in front of him, once again preventing him from continuing on into the town like he intended.

"That wasn't really a question." he snarled while glaring down at the cloaked traveler who clearly didn't know who he was.

"Well my answer is still going to be the same." replied the unidentified man in an amused tone, only to then roll to the side as the same axe as before lodged itself into the ground that he used to be standing on just a second ago.

"You think you're really funny, don't you?" the imposing man asked with a grin as he pulled his axe out of the ground. Honestly he was really surprised that this unidentified person was able to dodge his attack so easily, but he chose to hide that behind his smug expression.

"No, I just don't have time to deal with pieces of shit like you and the rest of your cronies." replied the figure while reaching into his cloak. While he was doing that the other three men surrounding him intended to give him a piece of their minds, but instead they came to an abrupt stop when their leader went down to a knee all of a sudden.

"I'm so sorry Sir, I had no idea that someone of your standings would be coming here!" shouted out the leader as he held his head firmly against the ground, hoping that the stranger wouldn't have him killed.

"What's going on Boss?" asked one of the three that were just inches away from attacking the stranger.

"Shut the fuck up and get on your knees and beg for forgiveness!" he shouted out while not picking his head up off of the ground.

"It's good to see that you and your men can follow orders." stated the figure as he watched the other three get into similar positions as their leader, albeit extremely confused at the moment.

"We never would have talked to like we did if you had just shown us your medallion earlier." replied the leader in a slightly scared tone.

"I'd say so, luckily for you I'm a forgiving man and will let all of you live so long as I never see any of your faces again." said the traveler as he once again headed further into the city.

"Thank you Sir and you won't see any of us again. I promise." responded the leader as he finally took his face off of the ground and looked over his shoulder at the cloaked figure.

"What just happened boss?" asked one of his underlings as they all got back up.

"We all just met one of the Eight." he replied as he continued to watch the figure walk away from them.

"You've gotta be shitting me, that was one of them!" shouted out a different underling in disbelief as they all watched the man turn down an ally and disappear.

"Yes, we're lucky to still be alive." he answered while shaking a little bit just from recalling some of the stories that have spread around about those eight individuals.

"No kidding man." stated a different underling.

"We actually might be the first ones ever to live after saying such terrible things to one of them." pointed out the first one. "From what I've heard they will literally kill someone just for looking at them funny." he finished with a slightly confused expression coming over his face.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm going to count my blessings and get the hell out of here." said the one from before as he turned away from the rest of them and headed home.

"Something about this feels off." stated the leader as he looked at the spot where the man was last seen.

One of the only bars in the entire city:

"What can I get you?" asked the bartender with his back to the door as his doorbell rang.

"Your strongest please, and make it a double." came the masculine voice of the new patron as he made his way through the sparsely packed bar and over to the counter.

"That'll cost you five silvers or something of equal value." replied the bartender as he grabbed a whisky bottle from underneath the counter. As he did this he quickly looked over at the man requesting his best whisky to see if he should even bother bringing it out. And from what he could tell at first glance the stranger had the appearance of a wandering bagger that most likely was still alive because of not being worth a dragon's time.

"Didn't anyone tell you that you can't judge a book by its cover." stated the now dubbed wanderer in an amused tone as he dropped a small pouch of coins onto the counter. This sudden action of his not only got the attention of the bartender but caused a few of the other patrons to look at him with wide eyes of disbelief at the sound of numerous coins clinking against each other.

"I meant no offense Sir, but given the times it's always better to error on the side of caution." he said with a wary smile as he poured a glass and slid it over to the man.

"Considering you're one of the last places in the country that actually has a decent booze selection, I don't blame you." commented the wander as he took out five silver coins and slid them back to the bartender that was still keeping an eye on him. Afterwards he grabbed his glass of whisky and downed it in a single go to everyone's shock considering how much he just paid for it. Their shock only grew as he then motioned for the bartender to pour him another one that he proceeded to finish like the earlier one. He kept this up for another five rounds and on the sixth one he suddenly got up and took his pouch of coins and headed to one of the corner booths as if he was completely sober.

By this time most of the people in the tavern were watching him intently and quietly whispering to each other about his weird behavior. All of them wondering who would have that much currency to waste on a few rounds of drinking that apparently didn't even get the man drunk. But that last question of theirs went out the window when the wanderer suddenly face planted into the table and started to make noises that they could only assume was snoring. So for the next few minutes the bar went back to how it usually was, all of them deciding to shrug off the strange man passed out in the corner. That is until two new guests arrived, who were both females if the slight glimpses they got of them from under their cloaks were any sort of indication.

"We're looking for information." stated one of them as the two new strangers came up to the bar and took two stools next to each other.

"Then I'm the man you want to talk with." replied the bartender with a smug grin as he put down the mug that he was just cleaning and smiled at the two of them.

"So we've heard." said the other one as she carefully surveyed the rest of the tavern's inhabitants before locking eyes with the man on the other side of the counter. "And we already know that it'll cost us." she finished while dropping a few silver coins onto the counter, once again easily getting the attention of everyone in the tavern.

"So what do you two beautiful ladies want to know?" he asked with a smirk while also giving them a quick wink.

"First off, neither of us feel like being hit on so please refrain from doing so from here on out." answered the first in a threatening tone that had the poor bartender already visibly trembling. "As for what we're inquiring about, we're looking for information on a friend of ours that we haven't seen for quite some time." she ended in a slightly warmer tone than her one from before.

"My first assumption would be that he's dead." he replied in a nervous tone as he went back to cleaning some mugs just so that he wouldn't be standing right in front of the two of them any longer than he had to. "But considering that you're willing to pay me for what I know, I can only assume that you're both confident that your friend is still kicking."

"If he was dead then the entire country would know about it." stated the second one as she twirled around on her stool and started to inspect the rest of the drunk patrons more closely.

"So this friend of yours is someone important." commented the bartender while rubbing his chin in thought. "Does he have a name, or are we going to keep this as least descriptive as we possibly can? Of course the latter way is going to be harder and cost you more." he finished while going back to cleaning his dirty mugs.

"The latter." responded the first one as she added a few more coins to the pile on the counter. "Our friend doesn't stick around in the same place for more than a few days at a time, and he usually keeps to himself. He also rarely shows his face and wears a cloak so that you can't see much of him." she explained while watching the bartender intently.

"Sorry Ma'am, but I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more descriptive than that if you want me to be of any help to you." he said while placing the mug he just finished cleaning on to the counter and tossing his wash cloth over his right shoulder. "You literally just described every single stranger that has ever wandered into my lovely establishment over the past year. And trust me lady, there has been more than one might think, especially given the current state of things these days." he stated while resting his elbows on the counter and leaning closer to her.

"How many are we talking about?" asked the female that still had her back to him and was still watching the rest of the people in the dim tavern with a keen eye.

"Probably over fifty in the last month alone." answered the bartender with a thoughtful expression. "But then again, people these days usually try to keep to themselves. So I can't really say if all of them were people just passing through, or if they were citizens just trying to have at least one final good night before they meet their end." he finished with a grim look that he quickly replaced with a slightly cheery one.

"Fair enough." stated the first one as she let out a tired sigh. "Would it help you to know that he's a mage?" she asked as a few gasps could be heard from the other occupants in the bar. With one of them actually being so shocked that they dropped their drink, crashing onto the ground and coming to a stop as the bar became eerily quiet.

"Yes it would, but as you can see, someone like that being here would definitely stir things up." he whispered to her while glancing at most of his loyal patrons with a stern glare.

"So are you saying that you haven't seen a mage recently?" she asked him back in a whisper.

"Honestly I don't know, people don't go about spouting out that they're a mage like they once used to." he said in a hushed tone. "That's a surefire way to get yourself killed these days. I've even heard stories where family members actually ratted out their own brother or sister just to get on the good side of the dragons." he finished while shaking his head mournfully.

"I wish I could say that hearing such a story surprises me, but unfortunately I've actually seen it firsthand." she replied while lowering her head so he couldn't even see the little of her face that he could before.

"Is there anything else that you could tell me about your friend?" he asked, not wanting to let the poor lady dwell on such an obviously terrible memory.

"The bastard can't help but cause some sort of scene wherever he goes." stated the other woman that still wasn't even looking at him. "A scene that always ends with him having that terrifying grin of his."

"It's not terrifying." argued the first woman as she picked her head back up and looked over at her companion.

"Maybe not to us, but for everyone else I'd have to say it is." she replied while not even looking back at her companion that was now slightly glaring at her.

"Sorry, but that still isn't really helpful for me." declared the bartender with a little smirk spreading across his lips. Only for it to then disappear as the doors to his bar were unceremoniously kicked open as a group of three men strolled in.

"Where is that bastard?" shouted out the one in the middle that also had an axe slung over his shoulder.

"Who are you talking about Bard?" asked the bartender as he walked away from the two women and went to the other end of the counter where the behemoth of a man was now standing.

"The fucking bastard that actually had the gall to impersonate one of the Eight!" bellowed the man now identified as Bard as he and his men started to look around the dimly light room.

"No one is that dumb." stated the bartender with a stunned expression.

"Well this dumbass is." replied one of Bard's men as he and the other one started to walk further into the bar. "And now he's going to have to suffer the consequences." he finished with a crooked grin spreading across his face.

"And why exactly do you think he's here?" inquired the bartender in a nervous tone, fearing that his place would become the spot that they decided to teach this person a lesson in.

"Because that fucking moron headed this way and you're the only place that still serves strangers on this side of town." answered Bard with a sneer sent his way. Before the bartender could reply a loud yawn rang out from the furthest corner in relation to the door. This caused all of them to look over at the now yawning wanderer as he lifted his head from the table and did a slight stretch.

"That's him Boss!" hissed the other member of Bard's team.

"Yes it is, now let's go and fuck him up." declared Bard with a wicked grin as he and his two cronies made their way to the oblivious wanderer that was still stretching. The rest of the bar watched on as Bard leapt over a table with his axe over his head and brought it down on the unsuspecting man that was probably still hung over. Most of them expected that to be the end of it, but instead they were left completely stunned at the sight of the wanderer casually holding the blade of the axe in a single hand. While his other hand was covering his mouth as he let out another yawn, making the whole situation look completely ridiculous.

"Didn't I say that I'd kill you guys if I ever saw your faces again?" asked the wanderer as he slowly got up from his booth. Still holding onto the axe as Bard tried his hardest to rip it away from him.

"What the hell are you idiots just standing there for!" shouted Bard as he glared at his two men. "Fucking attack him already!" The one on his right seemed to snap out of his daze at hearing this from his boss and charged forward with his steel pipe held above his head. A loud bag rang out in the tavern as he brought the pipe down on the head of the wanderer. He swung it hard enough to actually bend the steel pipe, something that he would have been proud of under most circumstances. Unfortunately for him today wasn't one of them, because instead of seeing the man crumpled on the floor at his feet. He was now looking into the eyes of a pissed off man that his pipe was still slightly bent around.

"All I wanted to do today was have a quiet drink in peace." said the wanderer as he lifted the terrified man by his neck with his other hand that wasn't currently holding an axe from slicing him in two. "But you fucking assholes had to go and ruin that, didn't you?" he asked in a growl as the poor man was frantically kicking about his legs and clawing at the hand slowly crushing his esophagus.

"Zander!" shouted out Bard as he continued to try and pry his weapon away from the man they clearly underestimated. After not hearing a response from Zander or seeing him attack the man slowly squeezing the life out of his other crony he quickly glanced over his shoulder. Only to see Zander on his knees trembling in fear with a finger outstretched at the man easily taking on the two of them.

"I-i-it's o-one of t-t-t-them!" stuttered out Zander as he slowly started to scooch away from them.

"What in the hell are you blabbering on about Zander?" yelled Bard in rage as he glared at his subordinate that was now defying him when he needed him the most.

"H-h-he's a Fairy!" he answered while still backing away from them as a snap rang out. Which was then followed by the sounds of something hitting the ground and letting out a sickening thump that was only heard when a body crumples against something harder than itself.

"That's one down, just two more to go." stated the wanderer as a grin slowly started to spread across his face as he looked at the other two. Zander completely froze while Bard on the other hand intensified his efforts at trying to get his weapon back. This consisted of him starting to throw kicks at the man still grasping his axe by the blade. But instead of hearing bones breaking under his impressive strength like he usually did, all he heard was a bunch of soft thuds. That were then followed by sharp pains in his foot, which felt as if he had tried to kick through a steel pillar rather than another human.

"You're one of the people I hate the most in the world we now live in." said the wanderer as he brought his knee up into Bard's chest and sent him flying across the tavern. "Before the rule of the dragon's you probably secretly wished you could have any sort of power. But unfortunately that never really panned out for you did it?" he asked while tossing the large axe back and forth between his hands.

"Then you'd be wrong." wheezed out Bard while he clutched his chest in pain, which he was fairly certain had a few broken ribs, all just from that single attack by the wanderer.

"Maybe, maybe not, honestly it doesn't really matter to me since you've aligned yourself with the enemy of humankind." he replied before shattering the blade of the axe with just his bare hands alone. This once again shocked all of the other people watching throughout the tavern since they were too terrified to leave. "Something that I can kind of understand since we've lost the war." he continued to say as he walked up to the still petrified Zander. "But that doesn't mean I'll just let you off the hook when you hunt me down and ruin a perfectly good day of drinking by myself!" he finished with a shout at the end while also slamming the handle of the axe through Zander's chest and pinning the freshly made corpse to the floorboards.

"You are one of those Fairies." spat out Bard as he glared at the man still coming towards him.

"I was, it feels like an entire lifetime ago, but unfortunately for you that time has passed for me." he replied as he lowered himself so that they were now face to face with each other. "Fairies don't kill, but as you can clearly see I no longer have a problem with doing something as simple as that." he finished while gesturing to the two corpses over his shoulder.

"Then what are you, because I know for sure that you aren't one of the Eight?" asked Bard as he winced in pain as the stranger lifted him so that he was sitting against the wall with his back to it.

"That's a really good question Bard." he stated as a grin once again spread across the lower half of his face. "Like you pointed out before I'm definitely not one of the Eight, which should actually probably be referred to as the six now." he said while pulling out the medallion that he showed Bard and his men earlier in the day, but this time there was an identical one with it as well. As the two medallions dangled there together a round of gasps could be heard from the rest of the people still watching in the bar.

"There's no way that you could have killed them!" yelled Bard as he glared into the eyes of the wanderer.

"Why in the world would you think something like that would be impossible?" he asked as his grin only got bigger. "Do you really think that the dragons would allow humans that could actually harm them to take up their highest positions in this little system of theirs? The answer to that is no, they only allowed mages that pose no threat to them to survive and work their way up to one of the Eight." he stated while rising back up to his full height that now seemed bigger than before.

"There's still no way that you could have beaten one of them, let alone two." argued Bard as he continued to glare at the man now looking down at him.

"You're free to believe whatever you want to Bard, but the proof is right in front of you." replied the wanderer as he slipped the medallions back into his cloak. During which a look of realization came crashing over Bard as his eyes shot wide open as he looked up at the stranger towering over him.

"You're one of…" he started to say until blood all of a sudden spewed from his mouth. With a terrified expression on his face he looked down to his chest and saw an arm buried into it that belonged to the wanderer who was now kneeling next to him.

"Sorry Bard, but I can't have you filling in everyone else in on my little secret." whispered the wanderer before pulling his arm out of the man; letting Bard slump over as his eyes fluttered shut and he stopped moving.

"Well it looks like I'll have to find a new place to drink." stated the wanderer as he straightened himself up, acting as if he hadn't just killed three different people in cold blood. "Here's for the slight damages that I caused and to help pay for someone to dispose of their bodies. Since nobody in their right mind would want any of the dragons to find out about what just transpired here. But feel free to try, it won't be my head that is torn from my shoulders." he said while dropping a bag of coins on the counter and then reaching underneath it and grabbing the bottle of whisky from before. The rest of the bar's patrons watched on in complete silence as the wanderer headed out of the bar while every once in a while taking a big swig from the bottle he just took.

After waiting for a few minutes in silence the bartender finally spoke up. "Please don't tell me that the friend you two are looking for makes scenes even remotely close to one like that." he said while turning to look at the two mysterious women, only to find the spot that they used to be sitting at completely empty. Seeing this only caused the poor bartender to start rethinking his policy on allowing strangers to drink at his tavern like he currently did.

In a rundown building at the edge of town:

The building in its prime definitely would have been a sight to see since it used to be one of the barracks for the Royal Army and was equipped with the latest technology at the time. But now it was reduced to a dilapidated husk of its former glory that looked ready to fall in on itself from a gentle breeze. All of its previous furnishings were either destroyed when half of the roof was torn off along with one of its walls, or picked clean by the locals in the chaotic days that followed afterwards. Instead of being filled with weapons and training equipment, it was now slowly being reclaimed by mother nature as a few different plants started to spring up through some of the cracks in the floors and walls.

Currently standing in the center of what was most likely the main hall of the old barracks was the same wanderer that just made a huge scene at the tavern only a few minutes earlier. In his right hand was a now empty bottle of whisky, which still seemed to have little to no effect on the man. He was now looking intently at a dusty emblem that appeared to be hastily painted on one of the still fairly intact walls of the building. With a slight smirk the man made his way to wall and dusted off and removed some of the growing vines to get a better look at the emblem. Once he finished tidying up the area of the wall with the emblem he took a few steps back to get a better look at it.

A sad smile slowly made its way across his face as he looked at the red Fairy Tail emblem now proudly on display for the rest of the world to see. Most people used to see that emblem as nothing more than another way to identify a mage from all of the other ones that were once spread across the whole country. After the Dragon Invasion it quickly became a symbol of hope for the masses, but for the wanderer it now only brought back painful memories that he was doing his best to forget. And judging from his current expression he was doing a terrible job at it and instead had a look of self-loathing to him.

"The two of you can come out now." the wanderer stated in a cold tone as he turned around and stared at one of the still remaining doorways.

"How long did you know it was the two of us?" inquired one of the two unidentified women who were questioning the bartender earlier before all of the commotion.

"Since the moment the two of you stepped into town." was the wanderer's short reply as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and continued to stare at the two of them.

"Then why didn't you come and meet us?" the other woman asked in a harsh tone as she stomped over to him.

"Because I'm done." he replied once the angry woman was just a few inches away from him.

"You can't just be done!" she yelled at him while grabbing him by the shoulders and glaring at him directly in the eyes.

"The hell I can't, and you better let go of me this instant if you know what's good for you Blade." he said in an even colder tone than his one from before while also now glaring at her. Either one of them would have been enough to cause even the toughest of mages to cower before him, but unfortunately for him neither of these two women were among that large group. It was however enough to get the woman holding on to him to let go and take a few steps back.

"Are you seriously going to give up just like that and what about the rest of them that are still fighting?" the woman now identified as Blade asked him back as she placed her hands on her hips and matched his heated glare.

"It wasn't just like that, and they're all free to make whatever choice they feel is right just like I am." he stated while glancing over at the other woman that he was slightly surprised to see still remaining quiet so far in this little meeting of theirs.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, maybe you can talk some sense into him Red." Blade commented before looking over her shoulder at her partner who was still standing in the doorway to the room. But to the shock of the two of them the woman referred to as Red remained where she was and continued to stare at the wanderer with an unknown expression thanks to her hood obscuring her features.

"Well this is a first." the man said with a little chuckle before cocking his head to the left as a sword flew through the place that used to contain his head. "Now this is the Red that I remember from the good old days." he finished with a little smirk coming over his lips.

"And this is also a first for you as well. I never thought that I would see the day when a Fairy Tail mage knowingly turns their back on their friends and family, let alone you of all people." Red hissed out as she stalked over to him with a sword in each of her hands. But before she could even think about thrashing the man before her until he realized the errors of his ways she came to a complete stop as a deep growl escaped from his clenched jaws.

"I haven't and will never turn my back on family and friends, but that doesn't mean I have to just stand there and watch more of them die a pointless death!" he spat out between gritted teeth as his magic aura started to leak off of him and made it slightly hard to breathe for the two women near him.

"A pointless death?" Blade shouted out in disgust as she quickly grabbed her sheathed sword with the intent to attack the bastard in front of her. But before she could act on that, a gentle hand placed on top of her hand now clutching her sword extremely tight stopped her in her tracks.

"Their deaths weren't pointless Blade, and he knows that as well and he only said that to get under your skin." Red stated in a calm tone as she watched her partner slowly relax and go back to her usual stoic self.

"Sorry Red, but fighting an unwinnable fight seems pretty pointless to me at least." he replied while once again smirking at her. "Something that I made crystal clear to all of you before taking off on my own all of those months ago."

"Why you!" Blade seethed as she once again got ready to attack him.

"Enough Blade, for once in his life he's apparently thought about more than just what he's going to do past the next few minutes ahead of him." she said with a faint smile as she pulled her hood down so she could look at the both of them easier. Something the scarlet haired beauty was still getting used to after losing her left eye just a month ago while distracting a dragon so the rest of their group could escape.

What she wasn't expecting to hear was the shocked intake of air from the man they had been trying to track down since his sudden disappearance all those months ago. And just from a quick glance at those eyes of his she could already see the guilt forming in them for not being there to protect her. But just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished and was replaced with an uncaring gaze as he went about checking out the rest of her appearance. Overall her appearance hadn't changed too much since the last time they were face to face; so long as you excluded the scar and black eyepatch going over her left eye.

"What in the world do you mean by he's thinking ahead for once? All of a sudden he just disappears on us without so much as a goodbye or a simple explanation as to why." Blade declared with a slight sneer directed the wanderer's way while also effectively breaking the silence that sprung up between all of them. "And now all he'll say to us is that we're fighting a hopeless battle that he'll have nothing to do with." she finished while bringing down her own hood so they could both clearly see how upset she was. This allowed her long purple hair that wasn't held by her white ribbon to freely fall to her shoulders as a gentle breeze blew through their little group.

"Haven't you noticed that since his disappearance we've actually been able to stay in one place for more than just a week at a time?" she asked Blade back only for a sudden look of realization to flash over the purple haired woman's visage.

"But that would mean…" Blade started to say with a now stunned expression on her face until she was cut off by the only male in their group.

"That because of me and the others, the dragons were always able to easily hunt us down." the wanderer said with his head held down in shame and regret. "If I had only realized this sooner…" he continued to say until a loud smack rang out as his head was abruptly twisted to the side. If Blade was shocked before, that was nothing compared to the look she was now giving her companion who still had her hand out stretched from the slap she just dealt to the man before them.

"You can't blame yourself for something that you had absolutely no control over, idiot." she said in a wavering voice that let the other two know she was at the brink of crying. "Something that I'm confident that the rest of our friends would say to you right now if they could." she finished while wiping away a single tear that escaped from her right eye.

"I…" he replied only to trail off at the end as he once again hung his head in shame.

"Don't you dare apologize again to us for something that you couldn't help!" she declared while giving him a stern glare. "And if anything, the rest of us should have figured that out well before you did." Red finished with a faint smile slowly spreading across her lips as she continued to look at the man staring at the ground between his feet.

"But none of us did… And because of that only a few of us are still around." he stated in a sad tone while still keeping his head hung in regret and shame.

"Yes, but those of us that are still around are still willing to fight." Blade chimed in with a hopeful smile gracing her lips ever so slightly.

"Only to suffer the same fate as the rest of them if not worse." replied the man in a slight growl as he lifted his head up to glare at the two of them. "I know for a fact that both of you have heard about what they did to the last Fairy that they caught. Strung up naked and paraded around the streets like a trophy; only to then be put on display in the town square for an entire week like that. If that wasn't enough they then had to deal with normal citizens treating them as if they were the source of all their pains and troubles, when in fact they were one of the few people still actually fighting to try and give them a better future!" he finished in an angry shout as his magic once again started to leak out of him at an overwhelming rate.

Both of the women standing before him now had regretful looks of their own, each of them no doubt thinking back to each and every time they lost one of their dear friends. But they only stayed that way for a little bit before turning back to the determined expressions that they had when they first confronted the wanderer.

"Of course we heard about that… Some of us were actually there for crying out loud and had to sit back and do nothing as they suffered just mere feet away from us! And do you want to know why we were actually able to do that?" she shouted out, now right up in his face and no longer having that hopeful smile she had just moments ago.

"For the same reason that I did, because you knew that if you didn't it would only mean that more of our friends would die!" he yelled as more of his magic came flowing out of him. So much so that the ruined building they were hiding in started to shake and anything not securely attached to the ground started to float.

"NO YOU FUCKING MORON! WE DID NOTHING BECAUSE WE STILL NEEDED TO FIND YOU SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE AT WINNING THIS FUCKING WAR!" she screamed at him while glaring up at him from her knees because of the overbearing aura that was coming off of him in waves.

"WE CAN'T WIN THIS FUCKING WAR, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT BEFORE YOU ALL OF YOU WILL FINALLY GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS." he shouted out in rage. The wanderer was debating about whether he should just storm out of there or fight the infuriating woman that seemed so eager to attack him this whole time. But before he could decide the other person in their little group said something that caused the two of them at each other's throat to come to a screeching halt.

"Could you possibly say that one more time Red?" the man asked in a hushed tone as him magic aura vanished, due to him thinking that he must have misheard her.

"You're right." was her quiet response as she turned away from the completely flabbergasted look Blade was currently giving her right then.

"I must be going crazy, there is no way I just heard that from you." stated Blade as she started to walk towards her companion who wouldn't meet her gaze.

"You're not Blade, and I know you're smart enough to realize that he's been correct about everything since the very beginning." she mumbled while still not meeting the intense stare that her purple haired companion was giving her. Instead of hearing a response from her clearly furious friend; the unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath rung out in the desolate room they were all currently standing in. The next second she was met with the cold touch of steel being pressed against her neck, and knew that her friend was just waiting for a reason to end her life.

"If you truly believed that… Then why did you keep motivating the rest of us to keep fighting?" Blade asked in a wavering voice as her hair covered the upper half of her face. Not that it really would have mattered since Red still had her head turned away from her even with a sword now slightly cutting her throat. "Was all of this just a game for you?" she continued to question as her voice started to morph into that of an upset person ready to explode. "Did you convince the rest of us to keep fighting just so you could see him once again? We all knew that the two of you had something for each other, but I never would have believed that you would do something so horrible just to be with him again!" she shouted out while drawing back her sword and getting ready to decapitate her friend in a blind rage.

But before she could even start bringing the sword back forward, her arm felt like it was trapped in a vice like grip that she could tell she had no hope of breaking free from. And along with that grip she was now face to face with the wanderer glaring at her with so much intensity that she felt as if she was a little girl once again running for her life. Gone was his smirk that he usually had when he was trying to rile her up, instead she saw nothing but rage being directed at her. Rage that she knew if unleashed on her meant her imminent demise, but after what felt like hours, his expression went back to being blank as he released her arm from his grip.

"If you truly believe she would actually be capable of doing something like that… Then I don't believe you've ever actually knew her." the wanderer stated as he headed over to a wall and started to lean against it as he went back to watching the two women.

"I…" she started to respond only for the redhead of their little group to cut her off.

"It's okay Kagura, I would have probably thought the same thing if our positions were reversed." she said as a faint yet sad smile slowly spread across her lips. "And I know that all of you are putting an extreme amount of faith in me, but it was the only way to make sure that my plan remains a secret." she finished while looking over at the wanderer, who now looked interested at finding out that even Kagura didn't know the exact details to her plan.

"Well now I think I might just…" he started to say with a smirk, only for his expression to quickly switch into a completely serious one as he rushed past the two of them and outside of the building. The two women quickly shared a confused look with each other before chasing after him. And what they were greeted with was probably the worst case scenario that either of them could have ever imagined.

Off on the horizon, with the setting sun as a background were the indisputable silhouettes of five different dragons flying their way at an alarming rate. But what unsettled the two of them the most was the excited yet crazed look that their friend currently had plastered all over his face as he stared down his oncoming enemies. It looked as if he was excited to face off against, what for anyone else would have been sure to be their untimely demise, it was almost as if he had a hidden secret up his sleeve that no one else knew about.

"How in the world did they find us?" asked Kagura in disbelief as she watched the silhouettes of the dragons slowly draw nearer.

"That would be because of me, actually it would be more accurate to say that it's because of the two of you causing me to lose control of my magic for a few seconds." the wanderer answered while starting to stretch and loosen up his muscles.

"We need to run and hide while we still can." stated Red as she grabbed Kagura's shoulder the two of them turned around and took off at a run. But they both stopped after only going a few yards when they realized that the person that they came for wasn't running with them.

"He honestly isn't planning on taking them on all by himself is he?" asked the sword mistress as she turned to look at her friend who knew the man longer than she did. She was slightly taken aback when she was greeted with a confident smile from her red headed friend, who then slowly took off in the direction that they were running in before.

"We're actually going to leave him to handle all of them on his own, after we just spent months looking for him?" she asked after catching up with her traveling companion.

"Yes we are." was the simple reply she got as they dashed into a building and didn't even slow their pace for a second as they weaved through it.

"Will we even be able to find him again if he makes it out of this one alive?" she asked before they jumped through a broken window and dove into the next building.

"We won't need to." replied her friend with an even bigger smile than she had before.

"And why not?" she asked as she came to a halt, wanting to make sure that she didn't mishear her.

"Because he'll find us, and you don't need to worry about him losing." answered the redhead before taking off once again, causing Kagura to have to chase after her like before.

"And how exactly do you know that?" she asked with an eyebrow raised as they turned down a deserted ally.

"That's why." replied the redhead as they were both hit by an enormous amount of magic aura that easily exceeded anything else either of them have ever felt from a human before. "And also because I've never seen him lose when he has that look in his eyes." she finished as they both looked back at the dragons now circling the area where they could only assume their friend was waiting for the upcoming confrontation.

Kagura was about to ask another question, but before she could even start she was cut off by a roar that sent a shiver down her spine. Not because it sounded similar to the roars of the dragons that haunted her dreams, no it was because it reminded her of when the war first started and they actually believed they stood a chance. All because of that exact same roar ringing throughout the exact same city two years earlier, which they were now currently fleeing from. She still couldn't describe it properly, but that roar somehow brought back the hope they had all started to lose that day which was once again happening to her.

End of Chapter

Thanks for reading this possible one shot of mine. I know that I didn't really give you much, but that is honestly what I was going for since I don't know if anyone is actually interested in reading about a story that will occasionally switch between the past and a very bleak future, a future where they didn't stop the eclipse gate from letting the dragon's through. As with most of the chapters of this story, they are only going to serve as a way for me to gauge how interested you all are with stories that I can't get out of my head. If I get enough demand for them I'll start writing more chapters for them after setting up their own story, but until then they'll remain on here as a one shot. So let me know what you think of it so far and if you want me to continue to write more chapters for it. And as always feel free to drop me a pm or review and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Also I'm extremely sorry for being bad about that recently, but as some of you know that's mainly due to me having a pretty busy schedule recently.

Until the next Chapter

Digem Out!