Spoiler alert: I have used some material up to manga chapter 317. You have been warned!
Chapter 12 - Future
A shrill scream shocks Gray out of his sleep.
"What the hell—" He tumbles off his mattress, bed sheets tangled around his body as he tries to get his bearings in the dark. What was that? Lucy?
"Water Nebula!" A muffled voice shouts from the direction of Lucy's room, accompanied by the sound of a solid impact.
Juvia!
His heart jolts to a gallop. He kicks away the covers and throws his door open with enough force to dent the opposing wall. Natsu is one step ahead of him, blazing fists casting long shadows along the hallway as they dash to Lucy's room.
The dragon slayer doesn't bother with the doorknob, opting to smash the entire door down with a mighty crash. The first thing they see beyond the splintered wood is a globe of swirling water that glints golden-red with the light of Natsu's flame. A dark mass struggles feebly in its depths.
"What is going on here?!" Erza's sharp voice cuts through the darkness like a guillotine. Shoving past Natsu and Gray, she flicks the lights on to illuminate the scene.
Gray winces, eyes stinging from the sudden brightness while his vision tries to adjust. When he can see clearly again, Erza is hunched over a drenched figure in black robes who lies face down on the wooden floor. Behind her Natsu stands protectively in front of Lucy, who is armed with celestial keys in one hand and a table lamp in the other. And positioned next to them…
Gray's heart rate increases—this time not from dread, but from an entirely different reason. Juvia is poised in a guarded stance, right arm still extended after the completion of her Water Lock spell. But what catches his attention is her very abnormal attire. A lacy white slip of a nightgown clings seductively to her every curve; a stark contrast to her usual shroud of dark clothing.
"J-J-Juvia, what are you wearing?!" He finds himself stuttering. It takes considerable willpower to stanch the blood rushing to his face and other more embarrassing regions.
Juvia's eyes shift from her unconscious opponent and scarcely graze Gray before her complexion glows bright red. With a string of incoherent squeaks, she dives behind Lucy for cover.
"Sorry, Juvia." The blonde turns to her friend now that the intruder is incapacitated. "I wasn't expecting people to come barging in when I asked you to wear that. But look at it this way— you're still wearing plenty compared to Gray!"
She is? The ice mage looks down to discover his lack of a shirt. Or pants. Or underwear. Well, it's not his fault he sleeps naked and didn't have time to scrounge around for clothes just now.
"Oi, Natsu! Lend me your pants!" He blinks at his rival's pink boxers. "On second thought…"
"Like I'd lend them to you anyway!" Natsu makes a crude gesture at him.
"Quit the antics and cover yourself already. There are innocent eyes in the room!"
A crowd of Fairy Tail members in various states of wakefulness and undress have gathered around the entryway. Charle is perched over Wendy's shoulders, furry white paws clamped tightly over the young girl's eyes. From the way she glares at him, Gray half expects her to start hissing like a normal cat.
"Here," Lisanna grabs a towel out of Lucy's bathroom and hands it to Gray unabashedly. He has been stripping since the day he joined Fairy Tail and she has long gotten used to it.
"Thanks." He ties the towel around his waist and raises an eyebrow at Charle. The flying cat examines him critically before finally uncovering Wendy's eyes with an indignant huff.
"I'm older than you, you know…" The little dragon slayer mutters under her breath. Charle pretends not to hear.
"Now that that's taken care of, there's something you all need to see." Erza's serious tone garners immediate attention. With a flick of her wrist, she pulls back the hood of their comatose intruder. Damp blonde hair clings to a shockingly familiar face.
"LUCY?!" The guild shouts in an unsynchronized chorus.
"EH?!" The pajama clad Lucy shrieks, gawking at her black robed counterpart.
There is a stretch of incoherent mumbling as many eyes dart back and forth between the two Lucy's. Mirajane joins Erza and kneels next to the unconscious Lucy. She touches the girl's forehead lightly and closes her eyes in concentration.
"It's not transformation magic," she concludes.
Natsu sniffs at the Lucy standing next to him and the Lucy collapsed on the floor. "They smell the same to me. I don't know any magic that can do that."
"Hmm..." Makarov strokes his beard thoughtfully. "The best way to figure this out is to ask her ourselves. Wendy…"
"Yes!" Wendy's small hands glow with magic as she begins to revive the second Lucy. Erza requips a sword and stands guard as a precaution.
The fallen blonde stirs with a low groan. Cinnamon brown eyes part groggily to meet the guild's curious stares. "You… probably want an explanation…" Though weak, her voice is identical to Lucy's.
"That would be ideal." Lucy says to her double. "Who are you, and why did you sneak into my room?"
"I was just trying to talk to you. I didn't expect you to start screaming."
Of course I'd scream! A creepy black shadow was looming over me! Lucy's brow twitches.
"I also wasn't expecting Juvia to be there to beat me up…"
"Sorry!" Juvia yelps. "Juvia thought you were going to harm Lucy."
Lucy's lookalike manages a tired smile of forgiveness. "It's alright… Perhaps it's best that the whole guild is gathered now. This may be hard to believe, but I am Lucy from a different time. I traveled here from the future. Fiore… no, Earthland itself is in grave danger. An invasion of over ten thousand dragons will occur on July 7th. Countless lives will be lost… a massacre of humans."
Shocked silence.
"Are… You… Freaking…. SERIOUS?!" Natsu screams at the top of his lungs.
"We're DOOMED!" Happy joins unhappily.
"My eardrums…" Pantherlily rubs at his fuzzy black ears.
"Quick, what day is today?!" Gray demands. The only dragon he has ever met is Acnologia, who is apparently many times stronger than a typical dragon. He tries to imagine what they're facing. Let's be generous and say 1 Acnologia equals 100 normal dragons. 10,000 divided by 100 equals 100. So… we're up against 100 Acnologias?! Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit….
"Today is July 4th-" Juvia glances at the wall clock, which reads 3:46AM. "Actually, July 5th now. Two days before Lucy says the attack will occur." She has momentarily forgotten her revealing attire and no longer hides behind present Lucy. Gray discreetly scoots over to conceal her from the more perverted men of Fairy Tail. He's already got his hands full with Lyon, thank you very much.
"So we have two days to find a way to kick ten thousand dragon asses." Gajeel cracks his knuckles.
"You guys… believe me?" Future Lucy's expression is the epitome of surprised confusion.
"Did you make it all up?!" A flabbergasted Natsu exclaims.
"No, of course not! It's just that… it's so out there. I didn't think you'd accept it at face value…"
Natsu's flustered air dissipates. "I would never doubt the words coming out of Lucy's mouth," he states seriously.
Both celestial spirit mages smile tenderly at his sincerity.
"As stupid as Natsu is, he's got pretty sharp intuition when it comes to his nakama. If he trusts you, it's safe for the rest of us to trust you too." Gray adds. Juvia moves out of Gray's shadow to nod her head ardently in agreement. He quickly side-steps to hide her from view.
"Yeah! Wait… you just insulted me didn't you?!" Natsu shakes a flaming fist at Gray.
Gray doesn't answer, distracted by Juvia tapping on his back. He looks over his shoulder to meet puzzled sapphire orbs. Juvia tilts her head, silently asking why he insists on standing directly in front of her. He reaches to tug at the lacy hem of her short nightgown, inadvertently brushing his fingers against the soft skin of her upper thigh, right along her guild mark. Both of them blush healthily and Gray hastily turns back around.
Juvia struggles to tame her hammering heart and burning cheeks. Juvia is so embarrassed! She never should have worn this thing! Now that she remembers her revealing outfit, she is relieved Gray is protecting her modesty from the rest of Fairy Tail. 'Thank you,' she traces the words slowly across his bare back with her pointer finger.
Gray barely suppresses a shudder from the exquisite sensation. You're welcome, but I reeeeally need to have a talk with you about being unintentionally erotic.
Natsu cocks his head to the side when his rival ignores him. "You okay? You look kinda like Lucy when she's constipated."
"I told you not to talk about that!" Both Lucy's shout in unison.
"You really are me…" Present Lucy eyes her other self. Somehow it doesn't feel as odd talking to herself as it should. Perhaps it's because of her experience with Edolas-Lucy and Gemini.
"Yeah." Future Lucy confirms, feeling similarly.
"Hey, other Lucy," Laxus utters gruffly. "You got some kind of plan to stop the dragons? You came here to change the future, didn't you?"
Future Lucy grits her teeth and looks down in shame. "Forgive me… I was in a daze when I rushed here from the future. I didn't have time to think things through. I haven't the faintest of ideas on how to prevent what's about to happen. And not only that, the past is slightly… different than I remember."
Laki pushes her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose. "Can you clarify?"
The blonde nods solemnly. "I only arrived yesterday. I was hoping to travel farther back in time, but I didn't know how to control the Eclipse Gate. I wandered around a little trying to figure out what I should do, and somehow ended up at the tournament stadium. It looked like the competition portion had just ended and they were preparing the stadium for the tag team battle. I was expecting to see Natsu defeat Sting and Rogue—"
"Awesome! I knew I could whip their asses!" Natsu exclaims. Present Lucy pinches his ear for interrupting and signals her twin to continue.
"But a heavy rain started pouring and the battle got postponed." She pauses to look at her past self. "I decided to find you to figure things out. This is the same room that I had in the past, but I didn't share it with Juvia."
"It's an impromptu sleepover," Lucy explains.
"I see…" Future Lucy furrows her brows and adds this to her growing list of timeline differences.
"There's no need to worry over such things." A wispy voice offers.
"Master Mavis!"
The fairy-like spirit of the guild's first master smiles gently, seeming to materialize out of thin air. "Long ago, I was known as the Fairy Strategist. I led Fairy Tail to many victories with my ability to predict enemy movements. But, once in a while, my predictions would completely fall apart. Do you know why?"
She gives future Lucy a moment to reflect.
"The power of decisions," she continues. "No matter how accurate my calculations, humans are intricate beings with the power to choose their destinies. Given identical situations, it is not guaranteed that people will make the same choices. Though unlikely, now and then they act slightly differently than I anticipate. Sometimes nothing comes of it. Other times that action influences someone else, who influences the next person, and so on until all my predictions are rendered inaccurate."
She glances imperceptibly at a blue haired woman peeking at her from behind Gray. "Even a butterfly can start hurricanes if it flaps its wings at just the right time."
The water mage blinks. Is she looking at Juvia?
Mavis grins heartily. "The future is already changing, Lucy. It's no use dwelling on what has or hasn't happened in the past. From now on we forge a new future. Believe in your nakama, for we surely won't allow your bleak future to pass!"
"Yeah!" The guild bustles in agreement.
"Crocus has the largest library in all of Fiore. I'll start researching as soon as it opens!" Levy volunteers.
"I'll help!" Laki offers, quickly followed by most of Fairy Tail.
Tears of gratitude well in future Lucy's eyes. "Everyone…" She tries to say more, but she is choked with emotion.
Natsu fondly places a hand on her head. "Thank you for coming all this way to warn us. Leave the rest to us."
The sound of Elfman yawning is nearly as loud as a lion's roar. He scratches his head with slight embarrassment when everyone stops to look at him. "Even a man yawns when he's tired, you know?"
Romeo tries to stifle a much quieter yawn.
"Go back to sleep, my brats." Makarov chuckles affectionately. "Nothing more can be done at this time of night—er, morning. We'll regroup in the lobby when the sun is up."
"I'll contact Jellal about all this. His investigations from the past seven years should be useful." Erza comments, a slight smile on her face as she thinks about the blue-haired man. Though he has the option to sleep in a comfortable bed as part of Fairy Tail Team B, he opts to camp at the outskirts of Crocus with Ultear and Meredy as part of his repentance. You silly man, I forgave you long ago.
"Yes, please do." Makarov nods as he begins shooing his children back to their rooms.
As their guild mates trickle out of Lucy's room, Juvia waves goodbye to the two celestial mages. "Juvia will go back to her own room so you have space to sleep together. Thank you for having her over; it was fun."
"Yeah, let's do this again after we save the world," Lucy waves back while her future self quietly observes.
"I'll walk you to your room." Gray takes Juvia's hand stiffly, awkwardly— uncomfortable yet determined to do this despite the blondes' prying eyes.
When they leave the room he hears Lucy's voice distantly.
"Did they finally get together?"
"Not exactly, but boy do I have some juicy gossip for you!" An impish giggle follows.
Lucy's gonna gossip about me… with herself. Gray isn't sure how he should feel about this.
The couple stops outside Juvia's door. Silence stretches between them like a vast desert, both of them unsure how to act after recent events.
"Uh… well, good night then." Gray reluctantly releases Juvia's hand and turns to head for his room.
"W-wait!" Juvia catches his arm and gulps when he aims his full attention at her. She finds herself staring at her feet while she tries to compose herself.
"About last night," her face flushes at the memory of their kiss. Their current state of undress really isn't helping matters. "Juvia gave it some thought, but her heart isn't ready to choose yet. She doesn't know Lyon very well, and she isn't used to Gray being…" She pauses to search for the right word.
"Not used to me being something other than a cold, unappreciative dickhead?" Gray suggests with a quirk of an eyebrow. He had meant it as a self-depreciating joke, but there is too much truth in it to be funny.
"Th-that's not what Juvia was going to say!" She waves her hands frantically in denial.
"But it's kind of true," he mutters guiltily.
"NO!" A twinge of anger courses through her. "Juvia isn't used to you being receptive to her feelings, but that doesn't make her think less of you. You were the first to show Juvia kindness, and you always do your best for your nakama. Juvia thinks you're a great person, so don't… don't call yourself bad names!"
A cool hand rests on the crown of her head, soothing her temper. Gray's eyes bore into hers, roiling like a midnight storm. She wonders what he's thinking.
"I get it, Juvia. Sorry, and… thanks."
"Um, it's okay." She fidgets and stares at her toes, suddenly shy from the intensity of his gaze. "With everything that's happening right now, Juvia might not be ready to make a decision for a while. If you don't want to wait," her heart clenches painfully, but she forges forward. "I… I'll understand if you don't want to wait for—"
"I'll wait."
Juvia's eyes snap back up to meet Gray's. If anything, the heat in his eyes has managed to grow even hotter.
"I'll wait." He repeats when she does nothing but gape.
Her heart flutters in her chest. He speaks with such conviction— such confidence. "Why?" The question escapes unbidden.
"Because you're worth it."
A/N:
Hello my friends, it's been a while! Thank you for being patient with me, your support is absolutely wonderful. :D Times are getting better, and I have internet again. Hurray!
When I started this story I wanted to write it as a believable alternative to what happens in the manga. I wanted to have my own twist on the storyline, while still respecting the basis of Mashima's story. And now I've encountered a bit of a pickle… It seems the Grand Magic Games arc is longer and more complicated than I had anticipated, so I'm having trouble continuing this story without waiting for Mashima to reveal all his cards.
Now I have two options:
1) Continue writing my version of the story until the end of the Grand Magic Games/Save the World arc. This will require me to wait on manga updates and pull the story a little more toward the action/adventure genre. There will still be plenty of our favorite love triangle, but the story will also focus on how the dragons are stopped. The story will be longer than option 2, which is…
2) Leave the story of how Fiore is saved open-ended. It will still play a role, but its conclusion won't be written. This means I don't have to rely on Mashima's updates as much since I don't need to write an actual solution to stopping the dragons. The ending will occur after Juvia makes her decision between Gray and Lyon.
I am currently leaning toward option 2, though I have ideas in my head for both options. I would greatly appreciate your opinions on the matter. :)
I tried my best to reply to all reviewers who were signed in. If I missed you, let me know and I will definitely get back to you!
Special thanks to guest reviewers: Jeni, tindra, Anonymme, Juvelia, aliceyv, Hitodetumblr, Kiara, Layla, penguin trainer, Laury Rose, EpicJinx, Kimberlouxxx, Kibalicious, Tricia, Ayame, Mimi317, and unnamed Guests.
-Jesus Christ: Nice name you got there! Don't worry about the essay. I appreciate the time you took to let me know your thoughts.
-Maolai: Thank you for taking the time to write such a sincere review, and sorry I didn't get a chance to reply sooner. Your encouragement is really amazing :'D