...
Born to Die
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In which the future is their past and their existence is an infinitely tragic loop in time.
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Hiro Mashima. Fairy Tail. He owns it. Disclaimed.
.
..
...
What was I supposed to remember?
..
He is numb.
Not a cold detaching numb, but one of calming warmth that seems to want to overtake him with sleep.
His eyes flutter.
A flash of pink, or is that yellow? His knowledge of the color spectrum seems a little fuzzy at the moment.
Distant voices call him.
He can't hear what they are saying. Maybe he should get a little closer- but it's so warm and cozy here. Can't they bother him some other time?
And then a question.
..
What did I need to remember?
..
Fragmented visions overtake him.
Flash.
The ground is rumbling. An earthquake?
Flash.
Huge amounts of magic gather.
Flash.
A blast of great energy is emitted.
Flash.
A roar echoes. The proud castle trembles. Murcurius falls.
Flash.
Far too many dragons. They cloud the sky with darkness. Mass destruction is caused in their wake.
Flash.
Chaotic citizen's scramble to and fro. The smell of smoke and flesh mix. Cries of painful terror. And blood, so much blood.
Flash.
Knights gather to defend. Medics care for the wounded. The guilds desperately fight for everyone's survival.
Flash.
Fairy Tail is fighting. A powerful pink haired man with a beautiful blond haired woman is seen. They fight with determination. Together they defend.
Flash.
She falls.
Flash.
He yells.
Flash.
Tragedy strikes.
Flash.
..
What am I trying to remember?
..
Sting Eucliffe's visions are cut short as incredible pain jerks him awake.
He opens his eyes to the face of his lifetime hero and rival; Natsu Dragneel. Why does he look so pathetic? His spiky pink hair is disheveled and face is full of anger, worry, desperation, and bruises, lots of bruises.
Sting laughs with amusement- or at least attempts to, because once his lungs start pushing air out, the pain he awakened to intensifies times a hundred.
"What kind of idiot are you?" Natsu shouts. "You do realize you have a huge hole through your chest, right?"
Really? Sure enough he glances down and sees his chest rapped up in various make-shift bandages (torn clothing for the most part) with the dark stain of blood seeping through. How did that get there?
"Natsu don't shout at him! Look at what condition he's in!" A shrill yet loud feminine voice scolds him. "Not to mention, he did save my life back there."
Sting turns to its' owner. Soft brown orbs stare back at him appreciatively. Oh yeah! She was that blond Celestial Spirit Mage with the killer rack whom he assumed was Natsu's girlfriend. What was her name? Heartfilia. Lucy Heartfilia.
"That would be nice an' all, if only he'd used his brains instead of standing there all dumb-like, waiting for that blow to impale him!" Natsu turns back towards him. "What are you, suicidal?!"
"Natsu, there was no time! If he'd tried to formulate an attack of some sort, I would be the one laying here! He was very gallant to take the blow head on like that." She blushes at her last sentence. "Thank you for that, by the way."
Gallant? Well that was a first. Why would he have done something like that for a girl he barely knew?
Sting furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember how exactly he ended up like this. He starts coughing up blood and another wave of intense pain hits him. Natsu and Lucy stop their bickering and quickly turn to tend to him.
Natsu props him up while Lucy pours water down his throat. He tries to swallow, but ends up spitting that out as well. With every convulsion, pain sears in his chest making his head feel dizzy.
"Natsu it's bleeding again! We have to stop him from bleeding out!" Lucy cries desperately.
Natsu presses on his chest in attempt to stop the blood from leaking and taking Sting's life with it.
"You have to stay conscious, Sting." Lucy looks at him as if she is trying to convince his very soul from up and leaving his body. Which it might very well do.
His eyes flutter as he pushes himself to stay conscious.
Blink.
Lucy is shouting something at him.
Blink.
Natsu looks at him sadly.
Blink.
An intense light clouds his vision.
..
There is something I need to remember.
..
Sting awakened to see a bright blue sky and a smiling sun looking down on him. There wasn't a cloud in sight. He sat up waiting for the excruciating pain, it never came. His chest was whole and healthy. It was then that he realized the rest of the scenery around him.
He was sitting in the tall grass, and as he stood up, he could see miles upon miles of ongoing hilly fields sprinkled with a few shady trees here and there. After he walking around for a bit without encountering another soul, Sting wondered if he'd died and this was his personal heaven. If it was, he was going to have a hell (no pun intended) of a boring eternity.
As he was deep in thought, a bolder suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Stings Sabertooth partner and friend, Rogue Cheney sitting on top of it.
"Oh, so you're here as well?" Rogue sighed dramatically. "So much for thinking this place was heaven."
"Well no need to get excited or anything." Sting chuckled sarcastically.
There was a short silence as they breathed in their surroundings.
"How did you die?" Sting was a little curious to say the least. Rogue was a capable mage after all.
"How subtle." But Rogue sighed and continued. "Well I had the dragons handled, but then I came across Gajeel."
"Don't tell me you got distracted, lover boy!" Sting teased.
Rogue just scowled. "He was going to die." A dead serious look panned out on his face.
"Well?" Rogue sighed for the umpteenth time and Sting wondered if it was possible to strangle someone in heaven.
"Gajeel wasn't struggling in the least, he was the one who got distracted. And no, Sting, he wasn't taken with my gorgeous looks. It was the short blue girl; Levy, he called her."
She was the one struggling. She had a few deep gashes and what looked like a broken ankle. So he was trying to bandage her up and protect her, all while fighting off a few dragons, which wasn't going to end well for either of them. And I told him so, which was a mistake in itself because he looked like he was ready to punch me rather than the dragon coming from behind him. I warned him, and in turn the dragon I was battling swatted me into a wall and I'm pretty sure I broke my neck. Either that or I took damage to my head and this is a crazy dream."
Rogue continued with a small smile. "Hopefully he was enlightened by my tragic death and won't try to be the almighty hero he was trying to be."
Sting outright laughed. "Well I for one got to die a hero's 'gallant' death." He went on to tell Rogue his experience getting run through by a dragon whose element was 'thorny' to say the least.
They shared a spirit-lifting laugh then went back to taking in the refreshing air of their 'heaven'.
"So is this it?" Sting wondered aloud. "We're just stuck in this boring oasis for eternity?"
"Sting!" A voice called. It definitely wasn't Rogues' for the voice was clearly a females'.
Suddenly, Sting saw a small figure running towards him. A young boy, only four years old at the most, stood in front of him. The boy sported yellow hair on his head and striking blue eyes that looked oddly familiar to the Dragon Slayer.
The boy looked around, conveniently missing the tall man right in front of him. He spotted the rock that Rogue, coincidently, wasn't sitting on anymore, and squatted down behind it. Now that he looked around, Rogue didn't seem to be anywhere.
Sting was about to act on the thought of finding where his black haired friend was, when two figures walked towards him from (you guessed it) out of nowhere.
Sting gasped as he looked at the man and woman in front of him. They were none other than Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia.
"Don't tell me you guys died too!" He exclaimed. The only reason he died in the first place was to save this golden haired princess, and the pink haired Dragon Slayer was usually a packaged deal. What a waste!
They didn't respond to him. In fact, they gave no acknowledgement of his presence what so ever. The couple was arguing in barely audible voices. Sting walked up to them. Maybe he could wave a hand in their faces to get a reaction and possibly an apology from them for wasting his heroic death. Rather than an apology, Sting got a surprise: the two walked right through him as if they were ghosts. He was starting to wonder if Rogue was right and maybe he'd just hit his head and gone insane.
"Don't worry, Lucy. He was probably running because he was scared of you." Ghost-Natsu teased ghost-Lucy playfully.
"What do you mean 'don't worry'!" Ghost-Lucy exclaimed. "And why in the world would my own son be scared of me?"
Ghost-Natsu muttered under his breath. "Well I'm scared of you half the time..."
"What did you say?" She glared him into a submissive fake smile.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" He laughed nervously.
"Ugh! Where is that boy?" She growled. "Sting, get back here this instant!"
"Yup, not scary at all..."
Sting watched their exchange with his jaw floored in confusion. Nothing about this made a bit of sense! (Except maybe the constant bickering, which seemed to be normal occurrence for them.)
Sting didn't think Lucy or Natsu had children or were even married for that matter. They seemed to be too young for that. Maybe they were traditionalists. When he looked back to Natsu and Lucy they did seem to look slightly older and more mature then he remembered them to be. But why, out of all the names in world, was their son named Sting?
It was then that the little boy from before jumped out of his hiding place behind the bolder. Sting had almost forgotten about the kid in his bewilderment.
"Surprise!" The blond boy shouted to the couple. They looked at him in mock surprise. Well, at least Natsu did. Lucy looked ready to yell, and, for a moment, Sting almost felt sorry for the familiar looking kid.
At the same time the couple exclaimed:
"Whoa! Where did you come from? I totally didn't see you there!"
"Sting! Don't disappear like that ever again! Do you know how worried I was?"
Lucy turned to Natsu with an angry glare.
"Don't let him off the hook like that! You have to be supportive of me or he won't take us seriously!"
"Gosh, lighten up Lucy. He was just having fun!" Natsu pouted.
"Daddy's whipped!" The small boy shouted gleefully.
"Sting!" Lucy scolded. "Don't say things like that!"
"Yeah, I'm not whipped at all!" Natsu frowned, crossing his arms childishly. "I bet Gray told you to say that, didn't he?"
"That's not what you should be worried about!"
The younger boy giggled at his parents arguing. Sting just looked at them all with a dumbfounded expression.
What kind of dream was this? It was like a three-dimensional memory playing out before him, but that boy couldn't possibly be him! Sting would remember having such idiotic parents. But take his scar and piercing away and that boy was exactly how he remembered looking when he was that age.
Wait- that age? Sting focused, trying to remember himself at that age. Nothing came up. Now that he thought about it, Sting couldn't remember anything before his year of training with Weisslogia.
No. The timing didn't make sense. Sting existed before these two could even think about something like getting married and having kids. Whatever this dream was trying to show him didn't follow logical reason. Unless this was a scene from the future and the dream was trying to tell him he died such an awesome hero, that Natsu and Lucy named their kid after him! He liked that explanation a lot better, and it even made sense!
As Stings' thoughts came to a conclusion, something beyond comprehension was set into motion.
..
Was this what I was supposed to remember?
..
A flash of blinding white light caught Sting off guard, disorienting him.
All at once, a flood of memories overwhelmed him. It almost seemed as if he were looking into someone else's mind, but the way he experienced them with each of his senses made him sure that they were his own.
He became a young, carefree, and innocent boy that couldn't comprehend anything beyond his loving family... Family? Of course! How could he have forgotten his family? The guild, Fairy Tail; the place he would one day join to become a great mage in his father and mothers footsteps.
Oh, his parents! The people he loved before he could even understand what love was. His mothers gentle touch. The way she would sit him in her lap and tell him wonderful stories of the adventures that, one day, he would become a part of. She would hold him in protective arms and whisper in his ear how she loved him more than the stars themselves. She'd tuck him in and caress his cheek, singing soothing lullabies of enchanted places. She would softly place a kiss on his forehead and he would doze off into a land of imagination, not that far off from the real one.
And his father... Natsu. He was everything. He was Stings whole world! One that could not easily be taken away. Every praise from his mouth was greater than the words of a god, making his heart fly over mountains that were unable to reach by even the greatest climbers. He would swing Sting onto his shoulders, taking him to a height fit for a king- making of all the other kids tilt their heads back and look at him with jealousy. When he was beaten in a brawl, his father was the one to tell him to hold his head high because losing could only ever make him tougher and stronger. He would tell Sting to remember all those who loved him and rooted for him, because his feelings were the essence of great power.
After soaking it all in, Sting opened his eyes to find himself on his knees. He touched his cheek, finding it wet with tears he didn't even know he'd been shedding.
"We were never alone."
Sting looked up, startled. Next to him, staring off into the distance, was the little boy from the memory; himself. He hadn't realized that anyone from his memories could see him.
"It depends, who you want to be seen by." Young Sting said, answering the unasked question. "But I am different. I am you." The young Sting turned to the older one, and smiled a toothily boyish grin.
It was odd to see his younger self talking with maturity, yet still have child like movements and expressions.
"Where are we?" Sting asked himself.
"We are in our mind, unlocking a door that is frozen in time." Younger Sting said seriously.
"I don't understand-"
"Of course you do! If I know it, then so do you! You're just avoiding the painful truth." His younger self looked awfully irritable.
"You- no, we were sent to the past?" It was more of a question, as all of this was a lot to process in one sitting.
He continued, "But why? I mean, we had such a perfect life. Why would someone take that from us?"
"You can try to blame this on some Zenatopian god or something, but we both know that this was Fate's doing." Younger Sting replied.
Silence.
"Is that why you're not with them?" Sting looked over at the couple that was now arguing without realizing that the cause of their argument was gone.
Younger Sting giggled.
"It's funny that as you remember your life they," He motioned to the arguing Natsu and Lucy. "Have forgotten it, moving on in their life as if nothing was lost."
Sting clenched his jaw. His hair shadowed over his eyes concealing the rest of his emotions from visibility.
"No!" His younger self was taken aback, but Sting wasn't going to let himself think his life was for nothing.
He squatted, taking Young Sting by the shoulders; he looked him right in the eyes, his own brimming with fresh tears. Sting was going to make sure that his past self would know this for when his time comes.
"They will remember. They have forgotten us now, just like I forgot, and you will forget, but I remembered. All the time that we cherished wasn't for nothing. I didn't die for nothing and neither will you! Every life that they will create or save from now on was my sacrifice for them, for us. I remembered in my heart, an in turn, my memory. They're hearts are stronger than any other I've known. So, when the time is right, they will remember."
"...You're right." Young Sting looked at him in admiration. His eyes were puffy and his nose running. Realizing this, he quickly wiped his face on his sleeve. After composing himself, Young Sting looked up to his older self.
"As one journey ends, another begins."
Sting looked at his younger self questioningly. "What?"
"It's time for me to start my adventure and time for you to finish yours. That's our Fate."
He felt something pulling at him. His vision was starting to blur. He wondered if Rogue had relived his own forgotten memories. Rogue was pretty smart. Sting was sure he'd be able to handle whatever his past revealed to him.
He looked at the couple that were his parents one last time, and, for a second, he swore he saw them glance his way with small smiles. Then, the peaceful oasis that served as Fates' crossroad between time, vanished. Sting was thrust back into the world where time waits for no one and death is unavoidable.
..
I remember.
..
Sting involuntarily jerked as he and pain were reacquainted, spitting up blood that his lungs were happy to be rid of.
"Oh thank goodness!"
Sting didn't know how he was still alive. He didn't want to move a muscle in case the pain flared again. He saw Lucy in his main field of vision and Natsu behind her, trying to fix the unfixable.
That's when it all came back to him. All of the emotions, everything reminding him of why he'd died: So he could eventually be born, spend his first years with a loving family, grow older and stronger in the past, then sacrifice himself to be born again. Wasn't that why he'd remembered everything in the first place? To accept the infinite cycle that was his life? He'd done just that. So, why was he still here? Was this... A last goodbye?
Sting had to make each breath count.
"This isn't working..."
.
I have to let them know...
.
"He's right, Lucy." Natsu turned to her with a look of honesty. "I stopped the bleeding from the outside. I'm not Wendy, but I know enough to assume I haven't healed his insides."
He was trying to let her down easy.
"No!" Lucy cried. "Don't say that! He saved my life, the less we could do is save-"
"Lucy... I wasn't meant to live..."
.
I want to tell them the truth...
.
"No please!" She turned to Natsu. "Please! You have to do something! Please..." Natsu shook his head mournfully and her voice was drowned out with tears.
"But hey... All I ask is that... You guys name your first kid after me." He mentally chuckled at the brilliance of his humor.
.
But I can't.
.
They both blushed and Lucy quickly muttered something like; 'No, no, it's not like that!'
The warm numbing feeling was coming back. He was getting sleepy.
"I guess... I'll see ya 'round..."
.
They would have to figure it out themselves.
.
"No!" Natsu took her shaking body into his arms and held her tightly. Her crying was muffled, but continued nonetheless.
Natsu looked at him from over her shoulder, and, with sincerity in his eyes, mouthed the words 'thank you'.
His breathing slowed, and Sting looked at them for one last time before his eyes shut and he drifted into darkness.
.
I love you... Mom... Dad...
..
Epilogue
..
It was a quiet autumn. The leaves were full of reds and yellows and the air had a tingling chill, but even so, the sun did not falter.
A man and a woman, striding down a dirt road at leisurely pace, while a knowing silence drifted between them. They entangled their hands, feeling each others cool bands of gold, reminding them of their bond.
Even in the chilly weather, the woman had on a short white breezy dress that flowed out behind her. It showed her long smooth legs that carried her to destinations not limited to the mind. In her hands she held three white roses. The light cotton sweater she wore didn't provide much protection from the chilly air, but by wearing it she gained at least a hint of modesty in her revealing outfit of white schemes.
The man, though, was what really kept the woman's modesty leveled, for his intimidating posture was the sole protection of her preserved beauty. He too was adorning mostly white. But the only cloth on his body of great significance was the scaled white scarf he wore loosely around his neck. He was Natsu Dragneel, a force to be reckoned with.
But as of now he and his wife beside him were on a mission of importance.
"Lucy, we're here."
They had arrived at small grassy hill. Atop it, sat a great white oak and it was white in most literal sense of the word. From the tallest branch, to the roots unseen in the ground, it was an oak of the most brilliant glowing white. Even in the autumn, where leaves turn color, and even if oaks could not be this way naturally, there is sat. So bright a glow, in fact, that it might even rival the moon itself.
They trotted up the hill towards the great white oak. Under it, was a small stone of memory. Engraved on it were the words:
Sting
A Man of the Most Purest White
When the arrived, Lucy, the said beauty, knelt before it, placing the three white roses at it's base. She stood back up to her husband's side, placing her hand in his. He gave her a squeeze of reassurance before she leaned into his warmth. They shut their eyes in respect, while keeping their minds at a peaceful still. They stood in silence.
A breeze brushed over them, seemingly carrying a message of it's own. Their eyes twitch open in surprise.
"Did you hear that?"
Natsu was too shocked to answer, for the voice they both heard was one of astounding familiarity.
..
Do you remember?
...
..
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A friendly note from a moderately friendly (bat shit insane) unprofessional semi-author:
Hello all. Hi. Nice ta meet yah.
*taps mic*
Is this thing on? Oh yeah, perfect. Keep the lack of sound there.
Long explanation short, this is my version of the Twin Paradox (in my case also a time loop) Slayers Theory. Which as much as I'd like to think I thought up, I did. Well I thought up this one at least. I think it was started by a lovely Tumblr artist name Rae (raedoodles) whom got the idea from another someone? I dunno, my research into this isn't quote worthy.
Also, when I thought of the title the dub-step version of the song 'Born to Die' by Lana Del Ray came to mind.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share. You all are welcome to review, critique, correct, criticize, hate on, tear apart, draw suggestive art over, print and eat it, and maybe even like (haha- nice joke) because that would mean that you took your precious time to read and give me feedback (negative or not) and I appreciate that.
Also there be a list of peoples I should thank which would most notably start with: Hiro Mashima for creating Fairy Tail.
Senbei-x-Cup-Ramen (check out their stories),
my kinda anonymous friends Gwen and Sarah,
and continue on to all of my favorite fan fiction authors and fan fiction stories which you can find in the sections on my profile with similar names,
as well as You, because gee wiz, that you got all the way down here is an impossible mission in itself.
Credit goes to whom it is due so THANK YOU.