Helloooooo, everyone! Here is the latest chapter for you all! This one is a bit violent, but it's not as bad as some of the scenes in previous chapters. It's pretty much about our beloved characters coming up with an idea for what to do next, just like the title says. There is a mild swearing, but aside from that you should be fine. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 14: A Plan Comes Together

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" I heard a mob of voices all say at the same time.

Every single wizard from Fairy Tail sat before me in shock, the jaws dropped down at they gazed up at me. Ty and I were standing up on the stage and we had begun to tell them what we knew so far, starting from the incident where future Rogue played with my brother's Frosch to future Timara revealing the fact that I was dying to Natsu. Everyone seemed in disbelief, even my own daughter and Zeref. Saphira looked hurt and hugged Zeref as Nari stood on her shoulder with a glare. That kitten was already protective of her. Payne was even glaring at me as he walked over to Saphira, who let go of Zeref to cry on Payne's shoulder when he hugged her. Now I felt like the worst person in the world. Ty, who was in my arms, patted my hand and gave me a comforting smile.

"So you're saying that I have a future version running around, too?" I heard Lucy ask as she shook of her surprise.

"That's right," I confirmed. "Although I don't know where she disappeared to, she is definitely here. I just hope the other two didn't get to her first."

"Wow, to think that future Lucy is the sane one of the three…" Gray muttered under his breath, making me smile a little.

"Hey, I'm right here, you know!" Lucy yelled. "Say that again and I'll sic Loke on you!"

"I'd like to see you try, Blondie!" Gray yelled back. "Loke wouldn't do that to me!"

"I think we're getting off topic here!" I shouted at them, glaring fiercely so that they shut up and hunched down a little. "The fact of the matter is that we've got two crazy people from the future here to settle a grudge match to the death and we need to do something about it!"

"She has a point," I heard a voice say from the front door of the guild hall. Everyone turned to see that Natsu and Happy were strolling inside, heading towards Ty and me on the stage. It didn't take long for him to hop up on the stage with me, standing just a few feet away to keep a distance between us. "They're not going to stop until one is dead. And we have to decide which one of them is the biggest threat to Fairy Tail or Fiore in general."

"Why do we have to choose which one is the most dangerous when we know they're both evil?" Laxus asked us. "Why don't we just take them both out together and be done with it?"

"Because that's impossible," I told him calmly. "Future Timara has immortality like a demon and total control over Death Magic after she siphoned it from their era's Zeref. Future Rogue is almost as strong as her, if not just as strong. One of them is going to die and we have to figure out what to do in case they separate after a battle to go about their separate plans."

"What do you mean?" Makarov finally spoke up.

"So far, we only know what Future Timara is here for but we don't know if there is anything else she wants to do," I said. "She's here to track down both future Rogue and future Lucy because she plans to kill everyone from her era. Mostly, she just wants to destroy Rogue for turning her into the monster she is today and also revenge for killing her Tyger. She also likes to torment me on purpose because she thinks it would be a great idea to turn me into her early, so she wants to cause rifts between everyone I care about and me."

"As for future Rogue," Natsu said, startling me a bit and making me turn to look at him, "he's here for a more structured purpose. He came here to track down Acnologia where I have him trapped in crystals so he can break him free. Then, he's going to kill the Dragon himself so he can be the true Dragon King. I'm pretty sure that's just a bid to be the strongest, which seems to be his motivation for everything. He also wants his sister dead because he's a constant reminder that she's actually the strongest."

"It sounds like neither of you know for certain what's going on here and are going based off guesses," Erza stated. "How are we going to know what to do or what to expect on guesses?"

She was right. Even though I was reeling over how Natsu found out his information, I could hear the sense in Erza's words. We hadn't been able to glean for sure what they wanted here, especially my future version because she was so unpredictable. The only one that had been forthcoming at all had been future Lucy. That's when it finally hit me.

"Future Lucy," I whispered, looking down at the stage while I said that. Then I looked up and said a bit louder, "We need to find future Lucy. That's what we should be doing right now. If anyone will tell us what their plans are, it should be her. She was the only one who seemed to give us a straight answer."

"Lucy!" Natsu called out as she looked up, seeming startled. "Where would you typically hide out in Magnolia when you just needed a safe place with your thoughts?"

"Well, I would usually just go to my apartment," she said. "That way I can write some more stories."

There was a flash of golden light next to Lucy as Loke appeared, looking as calm as could be under the circumstances. I heard the noise of him clearing his throat before saying, "I know another place this future Lucy would go."

"Where?" Natsu and I asked at the same time, both of us looking at each other when he seemed to just huff and look away while I turned my gaze downwards.

"The only place a demon can't go," Loke said. When no one seemed to catch on, he added something else. "You know, sacred ground?" When there was even more confusion, he sighed in exasperation before saying, "Are you all really that dense? Where is the only place in Magnolia with sacred ground? That would be Kardia Cathedral! She's hiding in plain sight where neither of them can get her and obviously where you two idiots can't find her."

"Now wait a minute, why can't future Rogue go in the Cathedral?" Gray asked suspiciously. "He's nowhere near demonic like his sister."

"No but he does have a deranged god complex that can't allow for someone else to be stronger than him," I reminded him. "Let's say a godlike creature appears before him and attacks him in the Cathedral, then he would feel worthless and he's not about to let that happen any time soon. He seems to be a bit superstitious."

"Lucy, Loke, Gray, and Erza, we'll all go to Kardia Cathedral and bring future Lucy back with us. That way we'll have enough people to play keep-away with future Rogue and Timara," Natsu said.

"Do you think that will be enough people to fend off two powerhouses?" Gray asked. "If what you say is true, then we are dealing with two people who possess almost godlike powers. The only thing we could do is hold them off long enough to get her here and even then if one of them wants in, they could do it."

"You also forget one thing," I told him. "Neither of them is here right now. If we move fast, we can bring her back without them even knowing."

"While the cat's away, mice will play," Lucy said to Gray, who looked a bit put out by all this. I could tell that this was the last thing he wanted to do, but then he grinned.

"Alright then, let's do this," he said simply.

"What about the rest of us?" Mira asked curiously.

"Fortify the place so that we're the only ones who can get back in," Natsu said. "Have Freed and Levy use their Magic to protect the place."

"It's going to be difficult," Levy said, looking puzzled. "We might not be able to get our Timara back inside if she leaves the guild hall."

"Don't worry about me," I told her. "If I get locked out, I'll be all right on my own. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

"But—" Levy tried to say before Gajeel threw an arm around her shoulders to stop her.

"She's right," Gajeel said while looking up at me. "She's perfectly capable of handling the situation on her own if she's locked out. She might be able to keep the peace and protect Magnolia if they clash in the town."

I was surprised at the confidence he seemed to have in me and I nodded my thanks. Gajeel grinned at me before dragging Levy away so she could start working on the wards with Freed. A huge commotion began to get loud as everyone went about their business to help barricade the place. I turned to Natsu and was going to say something when he glared at me. It was shock enough that I took a step back, unprepared for the emotion in his stare that blazed angrily.

"You're going to stay here," Natsu said calmly, even though his eyes betrayed him.

"Oh no, I'm not," I told him as I shook my head. "I'm going with you all. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"We'll be fine without you," he said and I felt a bit hurt by his words. "I don't want you locked out and you'll only get in the way. Besides, you'll just lead them to us and we don't need that."

Now it was my turn to feel anger. I let out a hiss of rage as he jumped down from the stage without a second look at me and then walked out of the guild hall with the little group behind him. I turned to look for my daughter, but Payne had led her away somewhere within the guild hall. The same thought that I couldn't do anything right kept playing over and over in my mind as I let out another hiss. If I couldn't do anything to help, then I would at least follow after Natsu from the shadows and make sure no one ambushed him.

"Ty, will you do me a favor?" I asked the cat in my arms.

"Of course," she said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go find Saphira and tell her that I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't mean to hurt her or her father by keeping this from them."

Ty gave me a quick hug before flying away and I shifted into my shadow form. Moving quickly, I soon found Natsu's Magic and followed after him in shadows of alleys. Not once did anyone catch sight of me, even though they were on high alert the entire time. I shook my head in frustration at their stupidity. They needed my help but my dear mate was too stubborn so I was forced to hide in the sidelines. I made sure to check that no one else was hiding within the shadows by using my Magic, feeling around for all of them in the town. I could sense future Rogue and Timara deep in the center of the town within a park, but they couldn't sense me thankfully. They weren't a threat as of yet, but I monitored their location periodically until my group of friends made it to Kardia Cathedral.

They went inside and I finally moved out of the shadows, letting my shadow form fall from me as I looked up at the Cathedral. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I was even human enough to get close to it but I finally got up the courage to do so. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, I walked up to the front door of Kardia Cathedral and saw everyone inside looking for future Lucy. Quickly, I formed wings and flew upwards to look for a way inside. Surprisingly, the only opening I could find was up by the bell tower. I sat down on the very edge near the bell itself as I heard voices down below as they echoed off the walls.

"Damn, where could she be?!" Natsu yelled, nearly making me fall off the ledge and back down the roof. "Come on out, future Lucy! We didn't bring our Timara along with us and none of the other people from your time followed us!"

"Please!" Lucy said as her keys jangled on her belt. "You know me! You know I wouldn't betray you!"

"You can't protect me…" I heard a voice as light as a whisper say. I knew that Natsu must have heard it too because I looked down as he ran into my line of sight. He peeked behind a pillar and pulled the woman in her black cloak out of the shadows. "No one will be able to stop those two if they decide they want me to die."

"I hate to break it to you, but future Timara already wants that," Natsu said. "She told us that she began to stalk you just before you jumped through the Eclipse Gate because she intended to kill you. You're the last from your era's Fairy Tail and she wanted her guild to finally be put to rest."

"It's not me you need to be worrying about," future Lucy said with a sigh. "I don't really care if I die anymore. I've seen enough in my lifetime that I am fully prepared to accept my fate. It's your Lucy you need to protect, not me."

I was curious about what she meant when Erza asked, "What do you mean?"

"My era's Rogue came here to kill her," future Lucy said sadly. "He thinks that she will eventually close the Eclipse Gate and ruin his plans."

"I don't even know what this Eclipse Gate thing is!" Lucy yelled, fear dripping from her voice. "How can I do something like that?!"

"Because you hold the power to seal it since you are a Celestial Spirit Wizard. All 12 Golden Zodiac Keys are needed to shut it, so he plans on killing you, taking your keys, kidnapping Yukino, and forcing her to open the Eclipse Gate. That's his master plan. Then he can go with the Dragons he plans on setting free on your world and using them to destroy Acnologia."

There's his plan, I thought to myself as I leaned back on the ledge. I debated on hopping down to ask more questions when I felt the ground under the Cathedral shudder and shake as a huge explosion rocked the ground, sending up shadowy flames that towered upwards to the sky. I knew right off the bat what was happening and I jumped down from the ledge next to the bell, opening my wings with a snap and flying off in the direction of the flames. I heard a few yells behind me and knew that it was from the group with Natsu. I hoped that they would take her to Fairy Tail now while future Rogue and Timara were obviously distracted but I set my sights on the flames that were slowly sinking back down, even though the flames still licked at trees and buildings nearby. I could hear screams from poor people around the tower of flames and I hoped dearly that they hadn't been caught in it.

I landed in the branches of a tree to hear a roar of outrage before a tree was felled by an attack I couldn't see. I jumped down a few branches and saw the both of them fighting. Future Rogue was completely out of control for the first time since I had seen him while his sister just dodged his attacks, a wide grin on her face as her eyes were red. I knew that she was taunting him on purpose to get him riled up and I wondered what she must have said to get him this way.

"You bitch!" he shouted as his fist erupted in wild shadows while he sent it flying at her face but she dodged it without attacking back. "You killed Yukino!"

I felt dread force my body to lock up, staring down at them and hoping what he said wasn't true when she said, "Oh, please. Yes, I killed Yukino but I already told you I did it after you killed my Ty! We're even now!"

Even though it was wrong, I felt relief at her words. They were talking about their era's Yukino, not ours. My brother would be all right and so would his girlfriend. I heard a rustling in the tree with me and looked up to see Natsu gazing down at me. He and Happy climbed down quietly and stood on the branch with me, watching the scene unfolding below us.

"I thought I told you to stay in Fairy Tail," he said quietly so that only Happy and I could hear him. "Yet I saw you flying away from Kardia Cathedral, which meant you followed us the entire way."

"Well, you idiots forgot to check the shadows the entire way to the Cathedral," I told him without looking at him at all. "Someone had to watch your backs in case you were ambushed."

He didn't say anything at first, just watching as the fight below us dragged on, then said in a softer voice, "I knew you wouldn't listen and would follow us, so I told them not to bother checking. I looked as we walked but I knew you would have our backs, even if you were feeling hurt by my words."

"Does this mean you're not angry with me anymore?" I whispered.

"No, I'm still very mad at you," he said before turning to look at me, only this time his eyes were kinder. "I'm beyond pissed at you for not telling any of us, but I can see why you did it now. I know you didn't want to hurt us or worry us more. I might have done something similar at first if I was in the same situation." With that, he reached over to gently grab my hand, sliding his fingers between mine and squeezing tightly.

There was a commotion below as a loud laugh echoed through the trees. Future Timara had swept her leg out to kick her brother in the back of his knees, sending him to the ground with a frustrated growl. She had been toying with him the entire time and now she was taking it up a notch, increasing his anger to epic proportions. I squeezed Natsu's hand back and watched as future Rogue scrambled to his feet with a snarl.

"You killed her…" he growled at her and his one eye was shining with what looked like… pain. Even though he rarely showed or felt emotions, he was hurt by this development. "How could you kill her…?"

"Get over it, will you?" she sighed. "I'm all alone in the world and you don't see me complaining about it. I killed my mate and daughter. You try doing that and feel the pain from that instead. What you're feeling is nothing in comparison."

"SHUT UP!" he screamed before rushing towards his sister. I wasn't entirely sure, but I thought I might have seen his eye filling with tears before a huge column of flames erupted upwards when their fists collided. I hissed when all of a sudden there was a huge explosion of light within the column that blinded me. I heard a scream from within and when the light died down there was a tattered looking future Timara, who was breathing rather heavily as blood trickled from various shallow wounds while her eyes shifted white. Now she was serious.

"So there is your weakness," future Rogue said with an evil grin as his rage took over. "You can withstand the shadows by just absorbing them through your skin, but light hurts you more than ever. How long have you known that? Or did you not figure that out yourself? Demons hate light and that's the same with you!"

"Lucky shot," she said emotionlessly as she assessed the situation. "It won't happen again. I won't let you hit me like that a second time."

"Should we do something?" I heard Happy ask Natsu.

"Not yet," he said. "If it gets out of control, then we can step in. Let them fight it out first."

"I've had it," future Rogue said. "I try killing you once, you somehow live. I tell the Dragons about how you had a psychotic break and that you needed to be put down, you somehow live again. I'll just have to try killing you again myself since that seemed to work the best!"

"Good luck," she said quietly before disappearing.

A second later and she was back, right behind him as she slashed him with her claws. He let out an agonized scream as her claws must have gone deep while blood spurted from his back. He instantly let out a gurgling breath before shifting into his White Shadow Dragon Mode, the right half of his body covered in darkness while the other half remained the same. I had a feeling that things were slowly spiraling out of control when future Timara shifted into her demon form. The shadows just poured off of her before she moved faster than ever. Future Rogue never knew what hit him as he was covered in deep gashes from her claws. At one point, he managed to hit her with a beam of light, making her scream in pain and knocking her off her feet for a second before she moved after him again. I was getting tired of the fighting now, about to go down there to stop it when a huge explosion of light went off around them when another of their attacks collided. I felt pain as the light hit me, burning me through and making my Magic act up to push the very limits of my mind. Quite a few of the smaller trees in the park were dropped to the ground and a few buildings in the surrounding area were gone.

"ENOUGH!" I screamed down at them, making them both look up at us.

"Done watching the show, I assume?" she yelled up at me.

"You're going to destroy the city!" I screamed at her. "If you're going to fight, do it someplace else! Now leave here!"

"And if we don't want to leave?"

A huge crystal that was glowing red and throwing off an intense amount of heat rose up from the ground in front of them both, forcing them to jump apart or to be burned to death. "Or I lock you inside one of those and we watch you burn," Natsu growled.

Future Timara let out an exaggerated sigh before saying to her brother, "Well, Rogue, I guess this means we'll just have to kill each other another time. I do hope those injuries of yours don't get infected. Or that you don't die of blood loss since that's not what I have planned for you."

They both seemed to just disappear without a trace, even though I had a feeling they just went into hiding within the town itself. Hopefully they went to opposite sides and wouldn't start another fight while we aren't looking. It was decided then that we would head back to the guild. When we got there, he walked through the door and I hit the barrier, a huge wall of letters appearing before me and blocked my path. With a sigh, I walked over to the side and sat down next to the wall in front that overlooked the courtyard. I leaned back and rested my head against the stone until I heard a soft set of footsteps approaching. I looked over at the door and saw future Lucy walking over to me.

"Locked out, I see," she said, sitting down across from me and pulling her hood off her head.

"It's not a big deal," I told her. "I told them to make it secure while you're in here and that was all that mattered. They could worry about a loophole for me as soon as it was safe. You should really be inside right now, you know."

"I trust you'll protect me," she said with a wan smile. "You know, even though I knew you were much different than the Timara I had grown accustomed to, it was still a shock to see you as kind and warm. I can't even explain why, but I guess it's because when you see something so horrifying it warps your sense of reality."

"Were you told what happened to me that day?" I asked her quietly.

"Yes, I know what Rogue planned to do to her now," she said quietly, separating me from my future version to show how we were different. "I know that she was saved from the brink of death by Zeref and how she just snapped. I know everything now but it still doesn't excuse the fact of what she did after. She killed the whole guild and her family and that is inexcusable."

"I'm sorry about that," I said quietly, looking up at the sky.

"Hey, don't be," she told me. "It wasn't you that did that. You are different." I didn't look at her, just kept looking up at the sky and remaining silent. "I heard that you are dying. I didn't know that."

"But how?" I asked.

"Obviously because our Timara didn't tell anyone about it," she said with a laugh. "She was most likely would have told us on her deathbed, so I guess that means you're already a step in the right direction. She must have stopped her death when she took Zeref's Magic. So, has Natsu forgiven you yet?"

"How'd you know he was angry at me?" I asked her quietly.

"Well, I wondered if something was wrong when he said you weren't around while they were looking for me in Kardia Cathedral," she told me. "Then on the way back, Lucy explained everything to me and I figured things out pretty fast."

"Well, he kind of has forgiven me, but he's still furious with me. Can't say I blame him for it. My daughter, however, is another matter entirely. She doesn't want anything to do with me and I'm not going to push her further right now."

I looked back at her and she seemed as if she was going to say something else when we both heard footsteps approaching from inside the guild hall. We both turned to see Natsu walking outside with Saphira and all of our partners following behind. She had her arms crossed in anger and then turned her back on me once they stopped before us. I sighed, looking up at Natsu with pleading eyes, but he just nodded his head in the direction of Saphira. I knew what he wanted me to do and it was going to be hard.

"Listen, Saphira dear," I said softly, hoping with everything I had that she at least wouldn't stay mad at me for long. "I know that you're more than just mad at me. I know you feel hurt that I kept this hidden from you all. I'm not going to give a pretty excuse for my actions either because I love you all too much. Just know this. When I decided not to tell you both about the fact that I was dying, I didn't do it to hurt you. I did it for the opposite reason. I hid it from you because I didn't want to see any of you upset or crying, nor did I want you to worry about me needlessly. I wanted you guys to stay happy for as long as possible before I told you."

She didn't say anything for the longest time, not even bothering to look at me, and Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and it seemed as if they were both silently communicating with each other. After a while, he nodded slowly and she finally turned around. I had a feeling that the both of them had talked beforehand and I wondered what exactly was said when she finally looked as if she would speak to me.

"I wish you would have just told us, Mom," she said quietly, looking at her feet as she tapped a pebble next to her toes. "I would have been sad, but we would have at least known about it. Ignorance isn't bliss." She paused and I was surprised at how grown up she sounded. I didn't like the thought of my baby girl growing up so fast, but I didn't like how angry she was at me even more. I saw tears dripping down her cheeks when she finally whispered, "And yet I'm glad you did it. I know that's wrong, but I don't like the thought of you dying. I know you didn't want me to worry. I'm sorry for being so angry with you!"

With a sob, she ran at me and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me to her as tightly as she could. I wrapped an arm around her tiny waist and rubbed her back soothingly. I felt my eyes well up with tears as well and tried to blink them away the best I could. We stayed like that for a while until her crying stopped and even then I still held her. Natsu walked over to us and placed his hand on top of my head, ruffling my hair a little and giving me a small smile. We didn't even separate when there was a loud commotion at the door into the guild hall and Levy burst outside with Gajeel next to her.

"Good news!" Levy exclaimed as she beamed at me. "I found a loophole to let you inside!"

"What's that?" I asked her, shooing future Lucy away so that she would go inside where it was safe. She let out a light chuckle before doing as I said and Levy walked closer.

"I have a question first for you!" she said quickly. "Do you by chance have any evil intentions?"

"That depends on what your definition of 'evil' is," I told her with a mischievous grin.

She laughed when Saphira smacked me on the shoulder after she sat up, giving me a stern look while Natsu looked away to hide his amusement. "You know what I mean, Timara! Do you have any plans for world domination?"

"Of course I do!" I told her, acting offended. "Who wouldn't plan that just in case?"

"Timara…" Natsu said warningly, giving me a look out of the corner of his eye that said to stop joking around.

"Ok, fine," I told him, shaking my head a little. "I don't plan on mass genocides or all that other stuff that my future version dreams about. I'm a good girl compared to her."

"That's a stretch…" Natsu said under his breath, earning a glare from me.

"Anyway, now that we've successfully managed to move off topic," Levy said, giving us an amused glare, "back to what I was trying to say. My loophole is simple. I can rewrite the barrier so that no one with evil intentions can get inside. It's better than how it was made before so I think it will work perfectly for you."

"Just make sure to specify on what evil means so I don't accidentally get locked out again," I told her, laughing a little when she finally walked away.

It didn't take very long for Levy to tweak the barrier, only a minute or so passed before she yelled at me to try it again. I was quite pleased to be able to walk through it that time because being outside wasn't nearly as fun. I immediately found a table where I could be on my lonesome and sat down near a corner. I knew that eventually the discussion over what to do next would start and the interrogation of future Lucy would be just before that. I just sighed and watched everyone go about their business as I let myself be washed away by my thoughts.