AN: If you haven't guessed it yet with this AU, I'm a little dragon obsessed. But it's been so good to see how well my original characters have been received; it makes it all the more fun to write them!
Warning: This is an AU, so I will take my share of artistic liberties regarding the plot.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima; I own absolutely nothing. Cover image by Rae.
Chapter 8
"Now I'm sure we're lost."
Gajeel ignored him, mind elsewhere as they picked their way through the forest. He wouldn't give Lily the satisfaction of a rebuttal, mainly because the Exceed had a point. They were lost – whatever path they'd been on before they'd reached Blue Pegasus, they'd veered off it days ago.
He'd tried his best to track the scent from the guild, but the trail had vanished once his old man had taken to the skies. From there it was anyone's guess where they'd gone. North or south, or east, even. Of course, if he'd had any idea of where his pops might have been hiding all these years, he'd have rooted him out ages ago. But as it was, he wasn't any closer to finding him now than he'd been before the world had gone to hell.
At his back, Juvia was quiet. She hadn't said much since Gajeel had taken off from Blue Pegasus, having claimed she'd follow him for as long as their journey lasted, and seemed intent on sticking to her promise. Lily too, had seemingly no intention of leaving, for all his repeated vocalizations about Gajeel's sense of direction and plan of action, or lack thereof, as was the case. Gajeel didn't even bother trying to get the two of them to turn back; it really was no use at this point. They were both stubborn enough to follow him to the ends of Fiore.
And at the rate they were going, they just might.
He stopped then, as a scent invaded his nose, foreign amidst the earth and the trees but instantly recognizable. The hell?
The thought had just registered when a shape came barrelling through the treeline up ahead, a shock of pink and the fluttering ends of a familiar scarf, and an oath fell from Gajeel's lips as he reeled back just in time for the figure to stagger to a halt in front of them.
A moment passed, grey eyes met his, and the face below them contorted to an expression of incredulity and outright accusation before they both exclaimed in a chorus of:
"YOU!" / "YOU?!"
Natsu was gaping, finger pointed, and Gajeel was too shocked to even consider how much unwanted attention they could have attracted making so much noise.
Natsu dropped his hand then, gaze drawn to Lily and Juvia at Gajeel's back. "What are you guys doing out here?" he asked, bewildered.
Gajeel relaxed a little, tense shoulders losing some of their rigidity. "I'll ask you the same. Yer a long way from Sanctum." He wondered what had warranted his obvious departure – he'd been doing well when Gajeel had last stopped by – they all had. They'd expanded the shelters, and hadn't suffered any casualties since they'd moved south. But looking at him now, it was clear something had happened.
Something dark and unexpected had passed over Natsu's features at Gajeel's words, and now his hands tightened to fists at his sides. "A dragon took Lucy."
Gajeel did a double-take. "Blondie?" He frowned as a thought struck him, suddenly. No fucking way. "When?"
Natsu straightened. "About a month ago. Took her from right outside the shelter." He shifted his weight, guilt flashing across his weathered face. "I've been looking ever since. There wasn't any...body or anything." The look in his eyes was a pained one – one Gajeel recognized from the tireless hours spent trying to identify corpses charred beyond recognition. It was a haunted look, but beneath it lay something else – something that had driven him across the country in pursuit of a fickle hope. It was the same, mad drive that had refused to let him accept Titania's words as truth, and that had made him forgo his first chance at proper rest in weeks, to plunge himself back into the danger of travel beneath the open skies.
It was belief,however fragile. Not just hope, but actual, honest-to-god faith.
Gajeel's hand tightened around the strap of his bag. "Same happened to Shorty."
Natsu's brows shot upwards. "Really?" Gajeel could almost see the gears turning in his head.
He nodded. "Crazy thing though," he paused, because he'd only just wrapped his own mind around the possibility. But Natsu's face spoke volumes, and so – "I think it was my old man who did it."
And the look that settled on the fire dragonslayer's face was evidence enough that he'd been right in his assumption. But he didn't expect the explosive breath that followed – as clear a sign of devastating relief as he'd ever seen, and such an unexpected thing for such a brash and confident man, it threw him for a loop. Natsu leaned his hands on his knees, head bent.
Gajeel shared a brief look with Lily, before peering down at his friend. "You okay?"
Natsu nodded, lifting his gaze with a grin as startling as his sudden relief. "Okay? Are you kidding, I'm fucking great! Oh man, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that." He shook his head. "I caught dad's scent, but I thought I was just imagining it – that I was just smelling him because I couldn't accept–but if you think–" he drew a breath. "It means they're alive."
Gajeel didn't correct him, mostly because he wanted so desperately to believe that himself. But it couldn't be a coincidence, the two of them taken by dragons – not killed, taken – and leaving the lingering scent of their fathers, who'd both been gone for years.
"What do you think it means?" It was Lily who asked, as he stepped up to Gajeel's side. "That they've shown up now, after so long?"
"Juvia wonders what they need Levy and Lucy for," the water mage added, pensive as she sidled up to his other side.
Natsu shrugged. "Beats me. But I'm gonna find out."
"I don't care what it is – I want to know why they haven't bothered showing themselves to us," Gajeel said, irritation creeping into his voice. Because if it was his old man, he couldn't think of a single possible reason why he'd somehow need the bookworm, and not his own son. Damn it, pops, what the hell are you doing?
From the look on his face, Natsu was thinking along the same lines, but seemed unwilling to voice it out loud. "So we team up," he said instead, looking between the three of them. "We find them together and ask 'em."
Gajeel snorted. "You got any ideas where to start looking, Salamander, be my guest." The old nickname slipped in almost without thought, and for a second he was back to the way things had used to be – bantering in the guild before missions, weighing one dangerous job against another, and whether the jewels were worth the risk. And if they were, who was most likely to succeed.
Natsu pressed his lips together, thoughtful, and despite his growing irritation, Gajeel kept his snide remarks to himself. Things weren't the same, however much he wanted them to be, and it wasn't just an odd job they were sniping at each other over now – it was the lives of their friends, Levy, and potentially the location of their fathers. And at this point, Gajeel was willing to try whatever it took, however ridiculous or implausible.
Then with an owlish blink of his eyes, as though an idea had just struck him, Natsu said, "I think I might know." But at their reactions, he held up a hand. "It might be nothing! But...dad used to tell me stories, y'know? When I was younger, before, uh, I went to sleep."
Gajeel snorted. "Bedtime stories? Is there a point to this?"
Natsu glared, and ignored him. "He used to tell me about a dragon kingdom – like, it was massive. It had a queen and dragon knights...and there was a huge library with books they'd gathered from human kings and emperors – and a blind dragon librarian who knew all the words in the world, and–"
"And?" Gajeel cut him off, his patience growing thin. "Might just be a damn story."
Natsu shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, think about it – we've been searching for years but we haven't found so much as a trace of our parents before now. And for a long time I thought maybe they'd gone somewhere we couldn't go. But what if they didn't? What if, instead they went somewhere we wouldn't go?"
"And why haven't you thought of this before?" Gajeel asked. "Have ya tried looking for this place in the past?"
Natsu shook his head. "I always thought they were just stories."
Gajeel snorted. "What's different now?"
"Everything," Natsu stressed, without hesitation. "It's not just about us now, it's about Luce and Levy. I'm just saying, it could be our chance. If they took them they must have taken them somewhere." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And anyway, do you have a better idea?"
Gajeel didn't answer that. "Where the hell would that kind of kingdom even be?" he asked instead. "Can't be in Fiore, there's no way we've missed the existence of a whole goddamn kingdom of dragons. Especially if it's as big as you said."
"Did your dad tell you anything else that might be of use?" Lily asked, and ignored Gajeel's look of betrayal. For some reason, the Exceed didn't seem to have any problem accepting the hypothetical existence of such a place.
Natsu seemed to think. Then, "He said something about it being high up. Maybe it's in the sky?" He looked up towards the trees, as though he could somehow spot it between the branches.
"A kingdom in the sky?" Gajeel asked, dubious. "That would be Edolas."
Natsu shook his head. "But we didn't see any dragons when we were there. And anyway, Wendy said the old hag was her ma's Earthland counterpart. So it has to be in our world."
Juvia spoke up then, "What about the closest thing to the sky?"
They all looked at her, and she pointed to something in the distance, visible between the trees, the snow-capped peaks rising into the blue sky. Gajeel's brows drew together as the possibility crept up on him, to settle like a truth behind his ribcage – something akin to a feeling he hadn't felt in months. Hope.
The closest thing to the sky.
"A mountain range," Lily whispered, realization dawning. "That might be our answer." He looked towards Gajeel. "How much of the mountains in Fiore have you humans covered?"
Gajeel frowned. "The hell should I know?"
"Is it possible to hide an enormous nest of dragons in one of them?" The Exceed looked at Natsu next. "You've travelled quite a bit, Natsu. Do you know of any remote mountains that might be hiding more than meets the eye?"
To Gajeel's surprise, Natsu reached into his pack to retrieve something, a folded piece of paper that he proceeded to spread out across the ground before them.
"A map?"
He nodded. "Snagged it on a raid. It's old, but it's not like the mountains have moved anywhere since they drew it." His gaze skimmed across the surface, and the worn lines sketched into the faded paper, before he pointed. "There!"
Gajeel crouched beside him, eyes finding what he was pointing to – a range of mountains, all the way up in the north-east corner.
"I've never been there. It's impossible to travel by foot over it, so people go around," he pointed to the route in question. He met Gajeel's gaze. "Sounds perfect for a hidden dragon kingdom, don't you think?"
"Looks to be about a week's journey from here," Lily said, pointing at the map. "At least if we don't encounter any nests. We might need to go around there," he tapped the map near what was now the ruins of Oshibana Town. "Last I passed it, it was thriving with dragons. An extra day's journey to pass it at a safe distance, if we're lucky. And careful."
"Then what the hell are we standing around here for?" Gajeel asked, as he rose to his feet.
And with another glance at the map, he started off through the forest, not pausing to make sure the others kept up. They'd already wasted days wandering aimlessly, and he wasn't about to waste any more now that they had an actual destination. "Come on!" he yelled over his shoulder.
"I thought you said they were just bedtime stories," Natsu called after him as he caught up, folding the map to slip into his pocket as he fell into step beside him. Behind them, Juvia and Lily followed at a small distance, moving with ease though they'd been on the road for days with no extended breaks. And with their new goal in mind, they weren't likely to get any more any time soon, Gajeel knew. Not if I can help it.
"I still think that, but for lack of any better ideas, I'm going with this one." He looked at Natsu, and found his expression mirrored in the determined set to the fire dragonslayer's brow. "If this kingdom of yours is real, I'm gonna find it."
Natsu grinned, and nodded. "Hell yeah!"
Gajeel tried not to think about what that discovery implied – his father, after so many years of searching. The truth, hopefully, as to the reason they'd left in the first place. And Levy – little Levy McGarden, caught up in the business of dragons, for whatever reason, and now the bunny girl, too. He'd have words with his old man about that, if nothing else then about the manner in which he'd abducted her.
But first – first he'd make sure she was okay.
The Aerie, four weeks earlier
Levy winced as Lucy emptied her stomach over the edge, the sounds of her retching drifting back, only to die on the wind. Igneel sat at her side, silent but unashamedly amused.
"She's been doing that for a while," he rumbled. "Is it a human thing?"
Levy shot him a look. "I think it's more a riding-with-dragons-doesn't-agree-with-the-digestive-system thing. When I first came here I did the same, only I didn't have quite so much to empty. It was mostly dry-heaving." Another violent bout of nausea followed her words, before the sound of something watery splattering on the crag below. Levy grimaced.
"I'm getting to the heaving," Lucy forced out, before retching again. "Give me a minute."
Levy's gaze softened, and she stepped forward to place a hand on Lucy's back. She was thinner than she'd been when Levy had seen her last, but food had been scarce in all the shelters, and so it wasn't so strange. Levy made a mental note to ask for some roasted meat, once Lucy's stomach had settled enough to keep anything down.
She pressed her palm flat against her spine, stroking gently. "How are you?"
Wiping the back of her mouth with her hand, Lucy groaned. "Been better." She snorted, and shot a glance towards the script mage. Her eyes were rimmed with exhausted tears, and she wiped at them next. "It's a lot to take in," she said at length, sparing a quick look at the mountain range sprawled below. Levy saw her eyes catch sight of a dragon passing by, before she drew them away with a jerk.
Levy sighed. "Tell me about it."
Lucy met her gaze then, a frown pulling her brows together. "How long have you been here?"
Levy shook her head. "Not long. A few days, before we left to get you. I'm still...processing some things."
Lucy nodded, the gesture careful. "Yeah, no kidding." She breathed in through her nose, but didn't rise from where she sat, though she'd turned away from the edge, at least. She still looked a little pale, but seemed to be able to hold back her lunch. If there was anything left to hold back, that was. "So...I'm going to assume there's a reason you're working with dragons." She glanced at Igneel warily. "And not just any dragons, either," she murmured.
Levy nodded. "They're all here. Wendy's mom – Grandine. And Metalicana."
Lucy's eyes widened. "All of them?" She looked over the edge, across the mountain range in its entirety. "And they've been here all along?"
Longer than you think, Levy thought."Yeah." She stepped closer to the edge, to peer over the side. It was funny – a few days ago she'd have been clinging to the crag with both hands, but after several trips on the back of a dragon, not to mention a willing tumble over the edge, she'd grown surprisingly comfortable with heights. "They've been here centuries."
Lucy was quiet. "And...they're good dragons? They're not like the ones who attacked?"
Levy shook her head. "No. Those came through the Eclipse. It's...it's kind of a long story."
Lucy opened her mouth, but the sound of heavy footsteps drew her gaze, and whatever she'd been about to say – or ask – was lost at the arrival of a massive, dark shape in the curved opening leading into the Aerie.
At first Levy thought it was Metalicana come to greet them, but as she turned she found another dragon entirely looming in the grand doorway.
"Balefire," Igneel greeted from behind them, voice taking on a surprisingly low note.
The new arrival regarded the fire-dragon with a raised brow. "Igneel." He didn't rise quite as large as Natsu's father, but he was an impressive sight, either way. Shiny green-and-black scales were intercepted by an impressive collection of scars, and thick sinewy muscle named him a fighter, but Levy was surprised to find kindness in his pale eyes, clearly visible for all his intimidating air.
Igneel alone seemed unimpressed, and regarded the other drake coolly from where he sat. Levy shared a glance with Lucy, and shrugged, as though to say don't look at me. I've never seen this guy before.
"The Queen will see you now," the new dragon declared, the words directed at Lucy.
She startled at the sudden address, and then blinked. "Queen?" She looked at Levy, who nodded.
"Madrigal," she explained. "She's the leader of the dragons. Sort of."
"Lady Madrigal," the new dragon rumbled. "Or Queen. Human or not, you will address her as is proper."
Igneel snorted. "Mads would not mind, as you well know," he countered. Balefire glared, but didn't correct him, even if he'd been blatantly disrespectful, as far as what he'd demanded of Levy.
Levy frowned, looking between the two dragons. The tension was palpable. "Ookay. Should we go inside, then?"
Balefire nodded, and turned away from Igneel. "If you will follow me."
"That is quite alright, Ser Balefire – I will escort her to the royal chamber."
The voice drew their collective attentions, and Levy saw Lucy's startled reaction – and the realization as it dawned on her features. Then their former guildmaster came around the side of the massive dragon, hands behind his back and a warm smile in place. "I'm sure she'd appreciate a familiar face."
"Master Makarov!"
The old guildmaster laughed as she rushed towards him, her joy much like Levy's had been – the uninhibited kind there had been little room for in their new lives. They'd watched so many of their friends die, and had been forced to give up hope on so many still missing, it was hard to allow oneself the simple pleasure of laughter anymore. But now Levy allowed herself to feel every ounce of Lucy's happiness, and she saw that Makarov too was happy, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. And it struck her that it couldn't have been easy, being a lone human amongst dragons for so many months, unable to tell even his grandson that he was alive.
The great dragon at her side rumbled a response she didn't catch – acceptance, no doubt, as he turned to make for the Aerie's interior. Levy watched him go, her curiosity flickering to life within her at the look he shared with the fire-dragon, but she didn't remark on it until he was long gone, and the very tip of his swinging tail had vanished around the first corner.
"So what's the story between you and...?" She looked towards where the other dragon had disappeared, a little embarrassed. She'd forgotten his name.
"Balefire," Lucy supplied, to Levy's surprise.
"Right." She looked to Igneel, who looked back with the kind of expression Makarov sometimes wore, that told her he was contemplating whether or not to tell her. For his part, Makarov only looked amused.
"He is favoured by my daughter," Igneel said at length. "And for the life of me, I cannot understand why. You'll have trouble finding a blunter claw amongst our entire clan."
"Blunt claw?" Lucy asked.
"I think he means something like a wet blanket," Levy said. "Right?"
Igneel rumbled. "The nature of your human expressions will continue to escape me," he answered. "But essentially, yes."
"Well, I guess she could do worse," Lucy said, as they fell into step beside Makarov, towards the Queen's chamber. "So what if he's a little serious?" She looked at Levy. "It's not like Gajeel's such a riot."
"Hey," Levy protested. "He's pretty funny once you get to know him."
Lucy snorted, but her smile curved true along her mouth, and so Levy's spark of fond irritation mellowed to something warm within her. It had been so many months since they'd last talked like this. The last time had been during the games, before everything. When their biggest problem had been their place as Fiore's weakest legal guild, and not whether or not they'd live to become dragon chow. She missed those days.
She heard Lucy and Makarov talking up ahead, an animated conversation, as Lucy tried to slip in questions she hadn't yet had the chance to ask. Levy had explained as best she could, over the howling wind on their long journey from Sanctum to the Aerie, but she didn't blame her in the least for having more to ask. They hadn't breached the subject of her arrival in its entirety; Levy had left some details to the Queen. She'd only told her the basics – that they had a plan to change things, and that they needed her help. And Lucy had been with Fairy Tail long enough to easily adapt to the situation at hand, however unpredictable. Levy just hoped she'd forgiven them for her abduction.
"Don't worry. I'm sure she's forgotten all about it."
She glanced over her shoulder at the dragon following at her back, silent as they passed the first stone archway. "I wouldn't blame her if she was angry," Levy said then.
He shrugged. "Fair enough. But she is not so petty that she will hold that against you. She'll understand the necessity, once you explain it to her." His voice was a low rumble between them, keeping his words private. Levy smiled at the gesture.
"Yeah, you're probably right." She looked towards her friend. "She'll like the Queen, I think."
Igneel laughed. "Mads is indeed very likeable. You wouldn't believe it, with all the mischief she caused as a hatchling. Wouldn't sit still a moment, she was quite the troublemaker." He shook his head, and sighed. "But she grew up fast, once her situation called for it. And my daughter has been good to our clan, for all her reckless decades." He smiled. "A gentle heart burns in a fierce fire, that's Mads for you."
"Whoa, hold on–" Levy paused, and looked at Igneel with wonderment. "The Queen is your daughter?" That was certainly a piece of information she hadn't been granted.
He nodded, as though completely unperturbed by the fact. "I was consort to her mother."
Lucy frowned as she glanced over her shoulder, having heard the exchange. "Wouldn't that make her Natsu's...sister?"
Igneel rumbled a laugh. "In a manner of speaking."
The stellar mage grinned. "He'll like that," she said. Then her expression softened. "I'm guessing there's a reason you haven't gone to meet them yet."
Igneel nodded heavily. "We will, in due time. But as of this moment, there are other matters that require our undivided attention. Our personal affairs must come second."
Levy could tell it required a great deal of effort to say the words, and felt not for the first time an ache of sympathy for the dragons and what had been their reality for centuries, having had to wait four hundred years for their children to appear, and still not be allowed to meet them.
They entered the grand royal chamber, and Levy watched Lucy strain her neck to look towards the ceiling, her eyes wide with wonder. "Wow."
Balefire was waiting for them. "Our Lady is in the archives with the Keeper," he announced, in his deep drum of a voice.
"The archives?" Lucy looked to Levy for an explanation.
"The biggest library you'll ever see," she said, as she linked an arm with Lucy's. "Come on, I'll show you!"
Makarov nodded at them. "You girls go on ahead. I've something to discuss with Ser Balefire before I join you." He shared a look with Igneel that made Levy briefly wonder what he wasn't telling them, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she tugged Lucy with her. She'd long since given up on trying to get them to tell her things; she'd know what she needed to know, and anyway, she had enough on her mind without adding the affairs of meddling old men, human or dragon.
She started off across the massive room towards the archway at the other end, and noticed Lucy faltering in her step as she tried to take in everything as they walked. The archives sat high in the mountain next to the Aerie – a short flight down, though she didn't tell Lucy that until they were at the edge looking out across the mountains. It was a considerable distance, but Levy could spot the arched entrance some ways down, hidden amidst the stone.
Lucy frowned. "But how are we going to get down–" she stopped. "Oh."
"Yup," Levy breathed with a laugh, as Lucy groaned. She patted her arm. "You get used to it."
Lucy looked dubious. "Really?"
Levy shrugged. "Well, it doesn't get any harder. And you'll learn to keep your lunch...eventually."
Igneel laughed as he stepped up behind them. "Ready for another ride?"
Lucy peered up at him, then down towards the archives. "It doesn't look like I've got much of a choice."
The dragon bent down, and Levy let Lucy grab on this time, before gingerly positioning herself on the great drake's back. She climbed up behind her, and was surprised to find how easy it had become, compared to her first few tries that had seen her tumble over the other side to land on her ass, and Metalicana laughing himself into a stupor.
"Here," she said, as she snaked her arms around Lucy's waist, to keep her more in place. "This okay?"
She choked a laugh. "Ask me again when we've landed."
But their flight wasn't nearly so dramatic as the journey that had brought her to the Aerie, and Igneel manoeuvred downwards with far more care than Metalicana had shown Levy on her first flight to the archives. And when they landed, Lucy only looked a little shaken, but seemed otherwise no worse for wear.
The Queen was speaking to Kalwyn when they entered, and now Levy noticed the subtle differences she'd failed to pick up at first – the signs of their age gap. Kalwyn's scales dulling at the very edges, and the white of his mane-like fur clearly marked him as quite old. Older than Igneel, even, Levy suspected.
On their approach, the Keeper turned his sightless gaze towards them, and the Queen raised her eyes to meet Levy's. "The stellar mage," Madrigal said with a dragon-smile, her mellow voice soft like a hum. "Welcome."
Levy saw Lucy nod, the gesture hesitant, as though she was unsure of how to respond to a dragon monarch. Levy didn't envy her, her own introduction having been somewhat overwhelming. And the Queen was quite a sight to behold; small as she was, she cast a bigger shadow than her slight figure suggested.
"This is Kalwyn," Levy introduced the scholar dragon. "He's the Keeper."
Lucy bowed her head, then seemed to realize he couldn't see her, and straightened. "Uh, hello," she laughed, a little embarrassed. "I'm...honoured?"
Kalwyn laughed – a pleasant, gurgling sound. "Don't be nervous, little fae –I don't bite."He bent his head closer, and hummed. "You've got the scent of spirits. A unique smell on a human, to be sure."
Lucy's smile widened, and Levy could tell she was charmed. But then, Kalwyn had that effect.
"So," Lucy said, throwing another glance at the towering piles of books looming precariously above their heads. "What exactly is this plan of yours?"
"Levy McGarden," the Queen said, and suddenly all eyes in the room were on Levy. "If you'd do us the honour?"
Lucy looked at her with surprise, perhaps at the realization that she was more than just a pawn, but rather a main contributor. And it wasn't all that strange; Levy had never been one to step up and assume those kinds of roles in the past. It was usually Erza who did that – or even Lucy, sometimes.
But it was her time now, Levy knew. There was a reason they'd chosen her, and she was better off accepting it than questioning their judgement.
And so she told her – about their tentative plan. A gateway to banish all time anomalies back to where they belonged, and that the only dragons who would remain would be the ones who'd been there for centuries. Lucy seemed to take it all in stride, though she was looking a bit pale at the prospect. Not that Levy blamed her – it was quite a mouthful.
Then came the hard part.
"The thing is," she said. "The dragons aren't the only anomalies in this time."
Lucy frowned. "What do you mean?"
It was like reciting a script, but she wouldn't allow herself to feel the sheer weight of her own words. Because if she did, and she buckled under the pressure even before they'd begun, Levy didn't think she'd manage to get out of bed, let alone try to actually design the spell they needed. And so when she spoke, she did so as though talking about something detached from herself – as though her entire life wasn't on the line; her whole heart, and the man who held it.
When she was done, Lucy was looking at her with an expression caught somewhere between sudden revelation and utter heartbreak.
"So Natsu–" she stopped."And Wendy–?" Horror flashed across her features as she put the pieces together, and the implications of their plan became clear. "But you said the rift–"
"That's why I'm needed," Levy said. "I need to make sure that they stay here, even as we send the dragons back."
Lucy was looking at her like she'd started sprouting nonsense. She looked stricken. "But Lev...what if you can't?" She didn't specify what she meant, but it was clear enough to Levy.
What if you can't keep them here. What if you can't save them.
The unspoken rested heavy and hard between them, a cold truth that shivered along her bones and that made her want to curl in on herself and weep. Because with the unspoken was also the vicious insecurity that had haunted her every step since the dragons had revealed their plan and her place in it. And part of her – the rebellious, Fairy Tail part of her that had used to only believe in victories – wanted to refuse any other possibility.
But she was more than that, now. She was more than just that Fairy Tail mage who believed in the impossible. Fire and death had marked her in more ways than the physical scars she bore on her face; she was warier, now. More realistic than idealistic, in the torn and ravaged remains of their world.
She swallowed. "Then that's the price we'll have to pay," she said, and wanted to cry for how her voice wavered. "To save everyone. We can't–" she drew a shuddering breath, and said it like she'd practised to herself, to convince herself of the mad venture she was such an integral part of. "We can't choose them over the world. If there's nothing to be done, then..." she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Lucy was there, then, grabbing for her hands to press them close to hers. "Okay," she said, a murmur against Levy's hair as she drew her close. "Okay. Okay. Lev, it's okay. I know you'll do your best, yeah?" Her own voice broke. "You'll do everything you can. I know you will."
Levy nodded numbly, wrapping her arms around her friend. "Yeah," she said simply, mostly for her own benefit.
Lucy drew back, and offered a wavering smile. "We'll do this." She turned to the dragons, who'd watched the exchange in silence. She cleared her throat, and wiped at her eyes. "What do you need?"
"Your magic, to power the rift," Kalwyn spoke. "As well as your knowledge of the spirit world and its ways."
Lucy nodded. "I have spirits who can help us with that. Whatever we need to know."
"And I assume you have the keys," the Queen said. "All twelve."
Something shifted in Lucy's expression at the mention, and Levy's heart contracted as a memory flickered across her inner vision – lovely Yukino, riven by sharp claws and barely breathing, pressing her keys into Lucy's hands as she closed her eyes for the last time. It was an image that had haunted her for weeks after their escape from Crocas, but she knew Lucy had to have it worse.
She watched her hand pass over the pouch at her hip, fingers shaking as they brushed against the worn leather. "Luce?"
The stellar mage exhaled deeply, and when she opened her eyes the grief was gone, and her gaze was clear and sharp. And Levy saw the girl who'd succeeded against all odds – who always picked herself up no matter how beaten, and who challenged the world without fear. She'd thought the dragons had driven that person out of her best friend, but it was clear to her now, it hadn't been far below the surface.
Lucy met the Queen's gaze and nodded, lips pressed together in a grim but determined smile. "I have the keys," she said. Looking towards the Keeper, she eyed the pile of books Levy had been leafing through. "I'm assuming you have a plan for where to begin?"
It was Madrigal who nodded. "I have entrusted the task to Kalwyn. And with your combined knowledge and power, we aim to succeed." She looked between them. "It is our last hope for the restoration of this world – of our world. It is in your hands now, the future of my clan, as well as your own."
Lucy met Levy's gaze, and Levy reached her hand out, twinging their fingers together tightly. Lucy squeezed hers back, and Levy could feel how her hand still trembled, but there was no fear in her eyes, only a cold, hard sort of determination.
"Then let's get started."
AN: For those of you who've caught up to the current storyline in the manga, if it's not already clear I'll just say here that I won't be taking any new canon developments (however exciting) into consideration when writing this story. This fic is AU from the opening of the Eclipse and out, regardless of whatever Mashima pulls on us.
