"Do you ever wonder..."

"Hm?...What?"

"If we will be always together...with everyone...just like this..."

"Why would you think of something that stupid?"

She never knew that dying could feel so warm, especially since she died in the snow barren wasteland that used to be her old world. She forced her heavy eyes to open, and instead of seeing a freezing blizzard, she found herself frickin volcanic terrain.

Great first she almost died in the damn cold and now she was probably going to burn to death, well, as long as she didn't step in any lava holes. Her head was spinning, and her body was still cold from latter death of weather.

She slowly picked herself up to a sitting position, looking slightly from side to side. Every piece of ground that blasted up lava into the sky, sent a jump in her heart beat, nervous that it would land on her.

"Where am I now?" she stated to herself out loud. She wasn't really expecting an answer since she knew she was alone, but tensed up at the response of a echoing voice.

"You are in the land of Draedia, you have been asleep for almost a whole day" she had no idea where the voice was coming from, but her only choice was to look back regardless.

She stood up and turned to face something so unbelievable it literally almost left her speechless, almost speechless.

A gigantic dragon with dark red scales and black spikes, reaching down from the back to the end of his tail. breathed heavily on her, blinding her with smoke from it's nostrils.

"A-a-a-ahhh!," she chocked on her lungs trying to let out a scream, and when she did, she fell backwards and scuffled to turn around.

The blast of lava erupting from the floor sent her flying backwards towards the dragon, underneath his raised head.

She stared intently and wide eye in horror as it stared down at her with its yellow glowing eyes.

The voice in her head spoke again, "calm down human girl. I am no threat, I assure you."

She stood up and faced him taking a few steps backwards.

"I assume that you are knowledgable in the idea of talking creatures, am I right," the voice was coming from the dragon... in her own head! She was definitely going crazy. Still she responded.

"Y-y-yes, but...I-i just never seeeeen... a..."

"A dragon,at least in the flesh" he finished her sentence for her. Another thought clicked into her mind.

"You... saved me," her fast beating heart was slowing down a bit, as the thought slightly comforted her.

"...Yes, I did," his giant head shifted to look away. Every breathe he took through his nostrils sent out a thick smoke, which made Lucy gag slightly.

"Who...are you?" her body relaxed slightly as she began to wonder why the dragon would save her.

Sure she was dying in the snow, but it seemed as if the dragon had no real specific reason to save her unless... he was going to eat her alive.

That thought brought her body to become tense again.

"...My name is Igneel," the word sounded familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Igneel..." she softly stated out loud, before she gasped in realization.

"Must be hard on him," Lucy said watching the little boy Romeo run out of the guild.

"His words were harsh, but the master is actually worried." The sound of something breaking caught her attention.

"Hey, Natsu, don't break the board!" Natsu, although ignored him and walked out the guild, as Lucy watched him leave too.

"Master you sure about this? He's going to save Macao, you know."

"This is why he is still such a kid."

"All this is going to do is hurt Macao's pride."

"No one can decide what someone else should do with their life. Leave him be!" Master Makarov simply replied.

"What's he doing?"

"Natsu is like Romeo-kun, see," Lucy spun to face Mirajane she heard that, "the same thing happened with Natsu. All the wizards at Fairy Tail carry something with them. A scar, or pain...or suffering..."

...

"Natsu's father left and never came back. Well, it's not his real father, but the parent who raised him. Not to mention a Dragon."

"A Dragon!?" Lucy exclaimed comedically in panic before standing up and saying, "Natsu was raised by a Dragon?"

"He was found by that Dragon in the forest when he was little and it taught him how to read and educated him, and taught him magic. But...But, one day, it vanished, and Natsu couldn't find it."

"I see, so that's Igneel."

"Natsu is looking forward to seeing Ingeel again someday."

"Why..." she lowered her head towards the ground, as her hands clenched into fists.

"Why?" he asked slightly unsure by what she meant.

"Why did you leave Natsu," she yelled looking up at him.

He didn't say anything but she continued, "why did you leave him alone for so many years, and what about Metalicana? What about Grandeeney? Why did they leave Wendy and Gajeel too? Why are dragons considered a myth when in reality...they are not!" she threw her arms back in annoyance.

Ingeel stared at her before he looked away from Lucy and towards the sky, "do you know the history of the Dragons and humans?"

"I uh-can't remember," which was honestly true.

"It was when Dragons pretty much ruled the lands and humans were just food to us. Then became a battle between the Dragons who wanted to co-exist with humans versus the ones who did not."

"Ah, it continued for a long time didn't it," she slightly gasped.

"Yes. The fights between destroyed many paces and the dragons who supported co-existence began to teach humans magic to slay dragons so they could help join the battle." He stretched out his wings before re-tucking them in, "Some of the dragon slayers became powerful and killed even allies too."

"I..." she didn't say anything else.

"One human had bathed in so much dragon blood that he ended up becoming a dragon. He was even called King of Dragons, Acnologia, thanks to the help of Zeref."

"But what does this have to do with specifically hiding."

"Though being feared by many we are also targets to those who want power. Kill enough Dragons and you can easily become like Acnologia, who does in fact signify the end of the world."

"So you are afraid that if you came out before Zeref or Acnologia was destroyed then you could easily become targets to anyone?"

"Yes. We are pretty much an endangered species."

She listened, and could feel the guilt in her stomach. She understood why they had left but still...the world she knew didn't feel as if they would go to such lengths to do that.

Even with the people she had encountered it didn't strike her as a time where Dragons and Humans couldn't get along.

What she still felt bad was for Natsu. She knew where his foster father was hiding but he still didn't and probably never will considering he was...gone.

She was still curious about one thing for sure, one that Horologium still could not answer; whether he didn't know it or didn't want to tell her.

"How did this happen? What made this world so...screwed up," she asked confidently.

"You don't remember do you... I see. It was during the Grand Magic Games you and the human girl Yukino were captured. The use of the twelve keys that were taken from you two in order to either defeat Zeref or stop the attack of the Dragons. I was not sure which the Eclipse plan was finally decided to be used for the machine though."

"Eclipse plan" she repeated and her memory flashed through her mind.

"A door?!" Lucy stated as she, Natsu, and a few of the others stood gaping at the size of the door.

"When the sun and the moon intersect...open the door with the 12 keys," the man in white shinning armor said seriously. "If you open the door, you will be able to travel back 400 years and defeat Zeref before he was immortal. This is the Eclipse Project."

Everyone's eyes widen in shock and fear,"t-travel back in time...?!" Lucy repeated.

"Lucy-sama, I heard that time flows differently in the celestial spirit world," Yukino said.

"That is true but..."

"We want the help of a celestial wizard to use the dimensional boundary line of the celestial spirit world to open the door,"Yukino continued.

"Originally we were meant to substitute the celestial wizard with psuedo-magic but with a real celestial wizard and the 12 keys this project will be even more perfect. It's absolutely the sun and the moon intersect. In other words, in 3 days on July 7th. I would like you to help us, Lucy-dono," Arcadios added.

"Eh?"

"July 7th" Natsu simply said.

"The same day our dragons vanished..." Wendy stated.

"Is it just a coincidence...?" added Gajeel.

"An eclipse, the intersection of the sun and the moon," Gray looked down towards the ground in thought.

"Stop there!"

"The Kingdom's Army?"

"I suspect it was finally used to destroy Zeref however, the machine had malfunction. From this it created a vortex leading and merging two worlds. The balance from the other dimension was added to the balance of this dimension, creating a overpower of chaos and Evil."

"With the merging of both worlds creating an overpower of Evil and Chaos, but not completely. Dragons being mostly chaotic neutral does keep this world from being controlled by both of the balances."

"In other words, Acnologia and Zeref are hunting dragons for the end of the world?"

"Yes, so it is not the end of the world, but instead a Time of Eternal Darkness."

"How do you know this," she was surprised not to mention guilty feeling at the trouble she caused.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had own the keys, they would not have been able to get their hands on it. If she had maybe been at least stronger, they would not have been capture.

It was all her fault.

"I might be isolating myself, but I have not completely shut myself off. How else do you think I was still able to keep an eye on Natsu," her heart lifted in joy knowing that Igneel still cared for Natsu.

She collapse on her knees to the ground, still disappointed in herself. She had no idea what to do. She was living in a world of darkness and...then she just realized.

"Huh? How come I am not,uh, evil," she stated looking around parts of her body for anything that stood out.

A second later she pulled up her shirt slightly to see a big scar on her stomach, and she glanced back up to Igneel hoping he would know.

"You would have been taken over by the darkness if it wasn't for the fact that I added one of my scales inside your body. It will help also by healing any extreme wounds if you give it time, but the scar will stay as long as it is in there... I would not try to let it come out."

"You don't seem evil, despite the scales," it was a stupid comment that didn't make much sense, yet she still asked.

"Dragons, regardless how they feel, are chaotic neutral."

"Chaotic neutral," she felt like an idiot that didn't know anything.

"It just means I won't be doing anything good or bad unless I feel the need to...on another note; are you ok?"

She smiled lightly at his comment, "I think so," she checked herself one more more, "yeah...I should be fine."

Igneel lowered his head as if he was going to go to sleep and said, "Good...but now...you have to leave."

Here eyes widen in shock as she jumped up again," what? Why?"

"If you stay here, both of us will be vulnerable to being discovered. There is no point in you being here any longer, unless you have something else to ask," another thick smoke from his nostrils made her gag.

She clasped her fist over her chest disappointed," but...where will I go? I will be lost if I just...leave now."

He remained silent for a while, debating on whether he would help her or not.

"The one I would suggest is the village of Dierith. I wouldn't trust the villagers though...They may not be evil but they will sooner or later trick or betray you, so if you do go I wouldn't spend too much time there."

"Village of Dierith," she repeated in order to remember the names, and nodded when she was sure she did. She turned to the direction that he pointed his head in.

"However, you will probably have to go through the blizzard for a while again," her mouth dropped a bit in shock.

"What! Again? Isn't there something, I don't know...closer?" she grabbed her hair in panic and freaked out comedically.

"I wouldn't go to the village of Draedia... it's too far, despite it being in this terrain."

"B-but I almost didn't make it in last time! How am I supposed to go through a blizzard like that? I will freeze to death again," she yelled still freaking out the other direction.

"Not my problem," she froze when she heard his response, and slowly turned to face him.

Wasn't his problem?

Maybe it may or may not be true but to say such a thing was...horrible.

"Then...if it's not your problem...why...did you save me the first time. Why did you save me back in the snow and not let me die," her lip was slightly quivering.

"It's was a favor... I did it for Natsu, because he probably would have wanted me to. Nothing more. I don't owe anyone anything," one of his breathing was forced, and intentionally made her gag from the smoke.

"I can let you sleep a bit longer but then you must leave. I don't want you here anymore," his piercing gaze proved he was serious, before he closed them and went to sleep.

She simply sat there, watching the huge dragon Ingeel sleep, completely dumbfounded.

She would really have to go through the blizzard again, wouldn't she?

The terrain she was currently in could blast her in lava from the floor at any place and any time.

After another moment of just sitting there she stood up, and began to walk in the direction he pointed in earlier. She stopped when he woke to add another piece of traveling information.

"If I were you I would try to keep a straight path, otherwise if you trail off you might find yourself near the Castle of Dierith. If you do you will probably and most likely will die...slowly if they don't feel generous."

She could feel the tears brimming along the side of her eyes, but more out of frustration than sadness. Still she turned around and replied with a sad smile, "thank you for your hospitality," and turned to leave.

She began her journey still stuck in the heated terrain with no signs of cold or snow. In fact it almost felt hotter than when she was with Igneel.

She couldn't be mad at him, but she really not sure how to react to his tone towards the end. It almost as if he just...gave up.

Again, she couldn't hate him for his treatment towards her, because he was the one who saved her from the cold.

Otherwise, what was the could he really gain from saving her except endangering his existence. So really she was grateful, and despite being rude, he also prevented her from being turned evil by giving her one of his scales.

It sounded like a risky move to her, so she didn't take his cruel words to heart. She stared down at her stomach, staring at the scar. Hopefully it won't come out easily, as it probably went in.

Lucy continued down the wide open path before stopping in amazement. The terrain of lava and the terrain of snow was actually divided. She could literally jump from the cold blizzard to the volcanic land and vice versa.

She had no idea how that was possible but didn't think of it too much. The moment she stepped on the snow, she could feel the cold and disappearance of the volcanic heat.

Quickly she began her journey once again through the freezing blizzard.

Her arms were used to hold and warm her shoulders, rubbing her upper arms up and down.

Another difference she remembered that in the land of... Draedia, what gave her light to see was the moon and the lava that flowed, here she could only see what was in front of her due to the snow.

She wasn't even sure after a while if she was on the right path again. For all she knew she could be going in a complete circle, and since she couldn't see in the horizon, she had no sense of general direction.

However, she did feel as if she was getting closer to the town of Dierith.

All of a sudden something heavy fell from the snowy sky and crashed into her, to where she landed with a soft thud into the snow.

"Ahh!," she sat up quickly to see what fell on her.

A skin colored thick cloak with a mouth covered attached to the hood laid on her lap.

"A cloak? Where did it come from?" she looked around before a strange yet strong wind appeared slowing down the blizzard's own wind.

Lucy looked up and saw that Igneel was flying high above her, before turning around and disappearing into the sky. The moment he was gone the blizzard returned to normal much to her dismay.

However, as Igneel had left she smiled and softly said, "thank you Igneel."

As she picked up the cloak a dagger had fallen on top of the snow, and she kneeled down to pick it up.

It was a beautifully shinny dagger with a emerald-colored handle, which made her wonder where he got the cloak in the first place. A dragon had no need for this especially since it wouldn't fit him even if he wanted it.

She placed the dagger in the pocket that was attached inside her cloak and returned to the path Igneel had directed her to.

The blizzard surprisingly didn't last long after Igneel had left, in fact the sky was beginning to clear up. She was confident that the village was just ahead, and in the process speed up.

Lucy could see the shadowy figure of a village ahead, and tried to kept herself going, but stopped.

She finally got close enough to see that it wasn't the village of Dierith.

It was the Castle of Dierith.

Her body froze in fear, as she stared at the castle that looked it was made of complete ice, inside the defense walls also made of ice.

As beautiful as it looked, it gave a threatening and terrifying atmosphere which sent shivers down her spine.

How in the world is this possible. I could have sworn I stayed in a straight path, so there was no way I could have drifted off, Lucy thought.

"What am I going to do," she whispered to herself disbelievingly. She looked around trying to find some kind of hint for the direction of the actual village.

The sound of a whip crackling in the distance made her jump and she spun behind her looking for the source of it.

Another sound of the whip crackled but louder which sent her to panic mode. She had no idea where the sound was coming from, making it harder to find a place to hide.

The moment she started to hear unusually loud speeding steps did she spin around and began to run towards the castle.

Cool another chapter. Alright here is what happened if you didn't get it so far. Sometimes my story style is hard to follow.

Lucy wakes up to find she is alive, and finds out it was a dragon that saved her, but not just any dragon. Natsu's dragon saved her, and through dialogue explains, why the dragons left, and why everything actually happened. The dragons are in hiding because they are a chaotic neutral which prevents the 'balance' from being completely taken over by Evil and Chaos.

Zeref and Acnologia who kill dragons along with everything else would probably had hunted for them, not to mention anyone looking to obtain powers from killing dragons, unless they hide. Since there is no chaos and evil complete control it is just a world of darkness, I mean eternal darkness. He also explains how she is not evil, by telling her he put one of his scales in her stomach, which keeps her normal and increases self-healing.

Lucy has no idea what to do and Igneel, Natsu's dragon, tells her she has to leave or they would both be caught. He gives her a general direction and a few helpful warning of what to do and not to do. She goes through the blizzard again to get to the 'closer' town, and luckily Ingeel drops off a clock to keep her a bit warm. She is grateful and continues to travel until she ends up at a castle made of scary ice; a castle that Igneel had warned her not to go near on her way to the village.

She was about to go another direction until she heard echoing sounds coming closer, forcing her to run into the castle.