A/N: A little bit of a fast-paced chapter, sorry about that.


"We keep going, but it all looks the same. It throws off your sense of direction, too."
"In fact, is this really the right way?"
"I can feel a slight breeze. I think we're good."

Seph rubbed the exhaustion out of her eyes as the others talked, looking around a bit only to find the same walls, ceiling and floor they had been stuck with for… who knows how long now. She wondered if the games were already over, who had won although she had complete faith in her partner and his team, and just how much longer they were going to be stuck down here before they got out. Gosh, she wanted to just go back to the hotel and pass out as soon as possible after getting out…

"We keep proceeding downwards."
"We have no idea how deep this place is."
"It's so big; they could build another town down here."
"Here!?"

Yah, a town down here… That didn't seem like a good idea with all of the dead, skeletal bodies and easily crumbling ceiling. It would take a lot of hard work and a couple of years to clear it out and then start making a map as they built, but… Seph knew that she wouldn't want to live down here, so who else would?

"I smell something!" Natsu suddenly cheered as they went down a slanted path, which calmed Seph's mind a little bit. She really didn't want to be in here anymore.

"It seems we're close to the exit." Wendy said, a small sigh of relief escaping from between her lips. So, then, at least now they knew that the leader of the executioners was telling the truth after he and his team were defeated and questioned.

Not much longer afterwards, they happened to come across a door that was more than likely the exit. It looked a lot bigger than it had to be and certainly very sturdy, which seemed… necessary, she supposed. Natsu went to attack it in order to get it opened, but it suspiciously opened on its own and at first, they believed that it might be an ambush… but it wasn't. A single person stood at the door, wearing a hooded cloak that cover up their face fairly well, but their voice wasn't hidden a single bit. Although Seph didn't know her voice well, she knew it well enough to only be caught half off-guard when this person removed their hood.

This was another Lucy, somehow…

She used the Eclipse to come back from the future, that's what she said… before she collapsed unexpectedly, at least. Natsu picked her up, declaring that they weren't going to just leave her there and that they were taking her with the before starting to walk, and Yukino and Wendy said something about leaving the palace and firing the flare they had been given. It would let the others know that Lucy was successfully rescued, but…

Why would Lucy come from the future all of the sudden…?

There were at least a couple more doors along the way to get them out and even then, they were still left wandering the halls almost aimlessly. They had a reason to get out, it was just… where were they going to get out? No one came across knowing due to them all getting lost and ending up in what seemed to be the palace's dining hall, all of them unsure of where to go from there. Natsu suggested just ploughing through some soldiers, but between the facts of the Grand Magic Games being a kingdom-sponsored event and that they had injured people with them, they decided against it. Although… with how they took down the executioners, it might have been too late.

"Maybe we should have gone a little easier on them. If you think about it, it's not like they're especially bad people." Happy told them. That was true, but…

"Well, we couldn't afford the luxury of saying that at the time." Carla reminded him, in which Lily crossed his arms over his chest.

"We didn't put anyone out of commission permanently. They'll probably be waking up any time now." He said, but that threw Seph off a bit. If they didn't move fast enough, the executioners might regain their magic and strength enough to come after them again… fighting inside the actual palace wouldn't go over well, as the army would most likely get involved alongside their executioning team and then things would just suck.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the future Lucy stirred from her unconscious state, taking a moment to sit up and examine her surroundings.

"Are you okay, future Lucy?" Happy asked, but she either didn't hear him or was too confused to answer him.

"Where am I?" She asked. They didn't really know, honestly… They didn't want to make any assumptions, but at the same time, she was probably more confused than they were.

"It looks like the palace dining hall…" Seph mumbled after Lily replied for them that they, in fact, didn't know where they were. There were plenty of doors to go through, but they just didn't know which one.

"So we're still in the palace…" Future Lucy sighed, holding a hand to her head. "According to my memory… after escaping from Hell Palace, we're all captured by imperial soldiers." They were…? But they had beaten the executioners, how could imperial soldiers capture them so easily? "I came rushing back here so I could warn us beforehand… but all I can say is that we were unlucky."

Seph felt like a bad luck charm. Ever since she joined Fairy Tail, bad things just seemed to keep on happening as if to mock her about the bad things that had happened to her alone.

"And until that time came, we were in a prison." Future Lucy finished explaining, confusing all of them.

""That time"?" Happy asked, making her go silent as she stared at her lap. What was "that time"…? Was she talking about the reality that she had experienced? Even though Natsu and Mira seemed so sure that the plain old Royal Army soldiers couldn't capture them, Seph didn't feel too sure anymore…

"We get close to Eclipse while we're on the run. Because of that, we can't use our magic and all get thrown into the dungeon." Future Lucy explained, leaving no room for argument. Eclipse took away magic power, they already knew that…

"Our future selves sure are careless, huh?" Natsu chuckled with his arms crossed, obviously not getting the severity of the situation. This Lucy didn't just come back from the future to have fun and kick back, there was something she had come back to warn them about.

"Um, why did you come from the future, Lucy-san?" Wendy asked her softly, all of them watching as the future Lucy started to shake from the simple question.

"In order to change a terrible future…" Future Lucy replied just as softly.

"What happened in your future?" Yukino asked cautiously, future Lucy starting to shake a little more as she opened her mouth to tell them.

"… Despair awaits in the very near future. A swarm of more than 10, 000 dragons will attack this country. The city is burned down. The palace is destroyed. Many lives are lost." Future Lucy explained firmly with no shaking in her voice no matter how much her body was shaking from telling them.

They all simply froze upon hearing that, none of them even sure how to react for a moment and sitting in plain shock at the state of their future. Natsu was the one to react first.

"What… the hell… is that!?" He yelled at the top of his lungs, Happy screaming alongside him.

It was loud enough to pull Seph out of her shock, her hands immediately going to her ears to try and block out their voices. They were going to gather attention being that loud! This was, to put it lightly and simply, unbelievable. How was that possible? Where would they come from? Was it even possible for them to be lying in wait without being discovered?

"Anyway, we gotta stop wastin' time here and prepare for war!" Natsu told them, putting on a helmet and holding a bunch of double-sided spears that were used for fences out of nowhere. There was no point in asking where he got them from…

"We're going to fight!?"
"That'd be impossible!"

"Everyone… You believe me?" Future Lucy asked, the disbelief in her tone nearly taking over. Natsu was worried that it was a lie for merely a second before future Lucy dismissed that thought. "I didn't think anyone would believe something like this." There was a pause before Natsu spoke again.

"Why would we doubt your words, Lucy?" He asked as if it was something unthinkable, in which the future Lucy paused in shock before looking down and letting a small smile pull at her lips. Lucy scolded her future self at having more trust in her friends, which was something you wouldn't ever think of telling someone out of context. Imagine doing that, just randomly bringing up "I scolded my future self, legitimately while they were in front of me". Most people would think of it as a metaphor, honestly.

"Hey, what happened to us in the palace when the dragons came?" Carla suddenly asked, bringing the future Lucy to look down at the ground again, but this time, she wasn't smiling.

"… Carla, I'll take a guess. Maybe we…" Wendy trailed of, Natsu picking up for her.

"… D-Died…?" He asked, having no answer. They died…?

"I don't remember how many days passed. When I came to, I remembered Eclipse. I didn't know how to activate it, but I opened the Gate by instinct. I had faith in the possibility of going back in time." Future Lucy explained, regaining her senses from the questioning of what had happened to her friends. "And then I really did go back to the past. July 4th, x791."

That was so recent. With Eclipse, was it only possible to go back to the recent past? But, wasn't the plan Arcadios had was to go back four hundred years in the past and defeat Zeref…? Future Lucy told them that part of it was broken, so maybe that was why, but they were still unsure about it.

"There are Lacrimas placed all throughout the city to film the Grand Magic Games. I want you to go underground to meet up with Jellal and his comrades." Future Lucy advised, catching them off-guard a bit. Jellal was involved…? Seph still didn't even know what to think of Jellal, considering that he pretty much just disappeared after the third day of the Grand Magic Games. "I told him everything. I'm sure he's developing a strategy right now." Developing a strategy…? "I'm sorry. I didn't come from the future with an answer. I don't know how to keep all of this from happening."

Why was she apologizing? She had given them a heads up, so now they could work their way out of the Palace safely and set up a plan to fight against the dragons before they arrived. They could do something now. Natsu reassured her about that and then helped her up, all of them ready to continue on and get out of the Palace as soon as possible.


Future Lucy most likely studied the underground passages to get them past the Royal Army because she was leading them through as if they weren't long and twisting, with every turn pulling back into a circle. Everyone must've been worried about them… They needed to get out and send up a flare to let them know that they were okay. However unexpectedly, the Royal Army was stationed out of place according to future Lucy, the group getting cut off by a large group of soldiers coming down the hall after them. Wendy suddenly informed them that Arcadios wasn't with them anymore, and neither was Yukino. Mira suddenly split off from them, going back to find Yukino on her own.

They were separated. But, as long as they could use their magic, then they would turn out fine. These were just plain old soldiers, after all, who couldn't use magic like they could.

They were fine, fighting their way through without much trouble except for the fact that they were out-numbered by the Royal Army soldiers. They ploughed through them before getting cut off by the anti-magic unit, including the kingdom of Fiore's… strongest magic soldier…? He went bowling over his allies before being taken out by Natsu easily, which was… an experience that was for sure! They just had to continue fighting after that, there was no point in dwelling on it… There were just so many soldiers!

"It'll be okay, right? After all, we have magic…" Carla trailed off, looking a bit unsure.

Seph didn't know how to reply, she didn't even know if she should've been fighting and she was just so… out of it. She was especially out of it when the executioners from earlier pushed in, putting them at a low chance of escape again. These guys were pesty, but neither side could give up on their goals and that was fairly understandable. The Royal Army soldiers just became support from the sides, verbally, as the executioners took over the fighting and honestly, it was a little dumb. How did they get by like this…?

The Royal Army soldiers did come across to try and help the executioners, but with numbers… Seph managed to find a tree from outside and bring it through the window, knocking the soldiers into the wall alongside Lily who had gotten the ones she missed. She was still out of it, but she was trying her best to focus. They couldn't fail here, not after coming so far. Lily got caught up with an executioner, however, so Seph didn't really know what to do. She was on-edge, just doing her best to keep the soldiers away from her friends because the executioners were already enough for them to be dealing with.

Their numbers just weren't decreasing, though! They were completely surrounded and it was getting absolutely tiring, blow after blow. Natsu kept saying that they were going to break through and that they should almost be at the exit, but none of them knew that for sure. It was probably almost night time… The Grand Magic Games were probably over by then and they really had to get out of the Palace to tell everyone that they were okay, and all about the dragons and stuff… They couldn't be stuck in the palace when "that time" comes around, not again like future Lucy had told them about before.

Even more reinforcements ended up coming up behind them, yelling as they came to fight. They wouldn't be able to hold out at this rate! Lucy's Celestial Spirit told her that the enemy side far out-numbered hers and Lily hit his limit for his battle form, which meant that they were certainly in trouble. Natsu got miffed and continued going, yelling that he was going to be the one executioning and Seph had to get between Lily and the executioner Mira had nicknamed Kama earlier before the escaped the Hell Palace, creating a shield to keep both of them protected from him. This was going downhill fast…?

Maybe not… a bunch of shadows suddenly covered the floor, pulling the Royal Army soldiers down into them along with the executioners as they yelled, unable to help each other. Their group didn't know what was happening, so they couldn't help… They could only watch as their enemies disappeared into the shadows and out of sight before the shadows retreated down the hall. They weren't taken away by the shadows… What the hell!?

The shadows rounded up to reveal a person to them, and by then, they had all gathered together in one spot to keep each other safe from the possible threat. They were all on edge as the person approached, his voice sounding ever so slightly familiar… Was there an actually possibility of…?

"I've come from the future. I'm Rogue."

It was who they thought, Rogue from Sabertooth… but he was from the future, like the future Lucy? Lucy came back for a reason, but did he… why did he come back? Did he get rid of the soldiers to help them? He seemed… very different from the present Rogue.

"Why did you come back from the future?" Carla asked for all of them. They were all apprehensive of this Rogue because something just seemed… off?

"To open the portal." He responded simply. Was he talking about Eclipse? "There are two ways to use Eclipse. One is time travel. The other is the Eclipse Cannon, an offensive weapon. It's the only way to defeat the 10, 000 dragons." The 10, 000 dragons really could be defeated, then.

"Then that makes it easy. You're on our side!" Natsu cheered a bit, seeming so sure of that. The others seemed to be relaxing upon thinking that the future Rogue was on their side, but Seph still felt something off about him. He seemed too calm… Wendy mused that the future could be saved, but that was when he frowned instead of smiling like he had been.

"No. It isn't that simple." He countered, bringing their attention back to him. "I come from seven years in the future. Seven years from now, dragons rule the world." They ruled it? What about the people who were left? "Not even 10% of the current human population has survived. Of course, Eclipse isn't nearly as powerful as it is now. If the dragons aren't stopped here and now, this world will come to an end."

"Then let's open the portal and blow 'em away! Boom! Easy, right?" Natsu asked and, although he made a fairly okay point, it wasn't that simple.

"However, seven years ago… That is, in the present, someone interfered with the opening of the portal." Rogue explained, shocking them a bit. Why would anyone interfere…? "Because of that person, the portal wasn't opened. The Eclipse Cannon that was pointed at the 10, 000 dragons couldn't fire. Someone led the world to destruction. I'm here to eliminate that person." Eliminate was a strong word… Why go that far?

"That's barbaric! If you talk to the person about their reasons, maybe they won't interfere after all." Carla advised, but the future Rogue merely shook his head. Why not? There was no need for murder!

"At such a critical junction in time, words cannot prevent actions. Even if I did convince the person now, they would definitely close the portal. It's already decided." Future Rogue argued, in which Seph had to swallow harshly in order to continue breathing. This was a lot to ride on… Destiny is inescapable. The living will live. The dead will die. The person who closes the portal is going to close the portal. No matter what happens, as long as they're alive."

"I don't really follow you." Natsu stated, nearly interrupting. Future Rogue made sense, sort of, but… Why kill the person? Why not contain them or something? "But who is this person that interferes?"

That was good question. There was no point in all this murder or don't murder talk if they didn't even know who would interfere with the portal.

They didn't even get a second to react, though, before future Rogue was yelling at Lucy and aiming to attack her: to kill her. Natsu wasn't fast enough to stop the future Rogue's attack. The only one fast enough to help had to make a sacrifice… so, future Lucy saved her past self by moving into the line of fire, taking the hit for herself. No one could stop it… There was a moment of pure shock before the present Lucy yelled, Happy yelling as well and making a run for his friend's side. Future Lucy or not, this was his friend. This was all of them, their friend!

"I didn't… close the portal…" Lucy would never close the portal. She wouldn't dare to do that to everyone; she wouldn't have been able to from the castle dungeons, so this didn't even make sense…

"Why did you protect me!?" Lucy questioned her future self frantically, but it was quite obvious even though future Lucy told her anyways. Lucy was future Lucy in the past, so if she died, future Lucy would disappear anyways. Dying with herself at her side… That obviously felt weird.

"H-Hey… what about Healing Magic?" Lily asked, barely able to get his words out. Seph wasn't able to reply by then, with her hands over her ears but not blocking anything out and tears pouring out of her eyes only to stream down her cheeks. With a wound that deep, nothing could…

"That's okay. Enough…" Future Lucy told them, somehow smiling through this. She was dying, why… "I never thought I would be able to see any of you again… but I did, one more time. That alone… makes me happy…"

This wasn't okay. Seph could barely stay standing through the sobs that racked her body, and she would've been on the ground if Lily wasn't keeping her standing by wrapping an arm around her to help her stay upright. They didn't care what world she was from. They didn't care what anyone said. Lucy was Lucy, she was their friend! Of course they were sad! She was dying… She was dead!

There was plenty of arguing back and forth between the present Lucy and the future Rogue, but he wouldn't get anywhere near her. Natsu wouldn't allow it. Lucy was being targeted, she had to get away from there and they were going to make sure that she would be okay. Lily had to grab Seph's wrists and drag her a bit before she started to run on her own, but she managed it somehow.

They had to protect the future, for their sakes and the sake of their dear friend, no matter what.