A/N: I'm so sorry for not being able to update this story since forever lol. I've been super busy with school related stuff like exams and shit. It's annoying but I really love to study tourism at the college. It's my dream come true so I have to concentrate on succeeding in my studies. :)
But anyways, I finally found some time to actually update this story so here it goes. It's one of those chapters that I was really excited to write and the result pleased me very much. And yes, the chapter is long. Again. It was about 16 pages on paper, and 10 on my writer program so I hope it's not boring for you to read. :D
And as always, I do not own the characters in this story. They are Hiro Mashima's posession and I'm only using them in this story.
Happy reading! :)
Chapter 34: The Lonely Seer
Year: ?
Place Where Forgotten Time Lies
When Lucy came out from the swirl of darkness, she was still angry at Sae for betraying her, for using her for her evil plans. Lucy was also sad for how she had spoken to Natsu before leaving Caelum. It was so uncharacteristic for her to talk like that to a man she loved so much. It must have been the darkness inside her that had made her behave like that. If she had been "normal", she wouldn't have spoken to him in such a manner.
Maybe we can still be together, Lucy thought hopefully, even though somewhere really deep inside she was sure that she might lose him forever now. Natsu wouldn't want to be with someone who had fallen into darkness, right?
"Follow me, Lucy. I have a task for you", Regina said as she opened the huge double door to a castle. Lucy quietly followed her in. She looked around in the dark throne room, and wondered why it looked so familiar. It was like as if she had been there before.
"Where are we?" she asked curiously.
"We're in my flying fortress, or should I say, Zephyrus palace, Lucy", Regina answered.
"Why is it here?" Lucy asked as she remembered how she and Regina had come here after the dark haired woman had come out from Lucy's soul in 791X and dragged the blonde with her into a swirl of black smoke.
"This place is where the Horologium Saeculum sends the pieces of a timeline it changes. My spell sent Crocus and my floating fortress here, which is unfortunate."
"Oh, I see", Lucy said. Then she sighed. "This is actually quite awkward that we're working together on... whatever it is that you want me to work on, because you've tried to kill me at least once", she added.
Regina turned around to look at her. "Yes, you aren't wrong about that, Lucy. I tried to put an end to you simply because you were a tool of Chaos. The mark on your shoulder is not a blessing from the Goddess of Time", she explained.
"Who is it from then?" Lucy asked, confused.
"Her name is Kaos. She's a goddess with the power of Chaos. She always meddles with things by marking someone as the Messenger of Chaos."
"What?" Lucy was shocked. "But she said –"
"Yes, she told you you were doing things for the greater good if you do as she says, right?" Regina interrupted. "That's how she works. She manipulates the one she chooses, and tells them it's all for the good when in reality everything that the Messenger of Chaos does destroys the timeline's strategic events up to a point where it begins to shatter into pieces."
Lucy sighed. It was true then. She had been the bad guy the whole time, and the bad guys had been the good guys. "I'm so sorry, Regina..." she whispered, feeling so much guilt and regret over everything that it felt like she was going to explode.
"Don't apologize, Lucy. You just didn't know what she was really doing. I know you would've denied all of her requests if you had known", Regina said. "I'm way more angry at her, not you."
"That's so uncharacteristic for you", Lucy said, amazed. "Being forgiving, I mean", she added when Regina raised her eyebrow at her quizzically.
"I have my moments, Lucy", Regina just said and smiled. "Come on, I want to show you your task", she added as she walked through the throne room to the other side of the room.
"How can I get rid of this mark? And more importantly, can she see us?" Lucy asked as she followed her. She definitely wasn't ready to confront that woman again anytime soon.
"I don't know how to get rid of the mark, Lucy. As for your other question, I don't think she can see us right now", Regina answered.
"So you finally succeeded at making her work with us, Regina?" said a voice from the shadows, and a swirl of silver smoke appeared, revealing a man with silver hair, dark blue eyes and a grin on his face.
"She did it willingly", Regina said calmly. "She just had to see the true face of the so called Goddess of Time."
This guy is an ally? I have never seen him before. I wonder what his name is, Lucy thought, feeling shocked at the sight of this man.
"Excellent", silver-haired man said. "I always knew it would happen sooner or later. That goddess is known for doing mistakes no matter how smart she thinks she is."
Wait a minute, his voice sounds quite familiar now that I think about it, Lucy thought. "Who are you? You sound so familiar..."
"I was the one who told you to not to free Seeress Serena just yet as it really is my job to do so", man simply said.
"Oh, alright", Lucy agreed. She couldn't quite understand why, but she had already had a hunch that this man was the one who had spoken to her earlier. But who exactly was he, and how was he connected to Serena? Lucy couldn't understand it at all. She decided to ask him about it later.
"Okay, so, what do you want me to do?" Lucy asked.
"We want you to open the door to Dimensions Beyond so we can escape The End of Days that has fallen upon this timeline, Lucy. If you're able to open the door, we'll save ourselves", Regina said. "And don't worry about your friends, I'm sure they're on their way here as we speak. After all, they tend to find their way to my hiding places without even trying..." she looked a bit annoyed by that fact.
"Will you open the door, Lucy?" silver haired man asked.
"Yes, I can give it a try. I really don't want to live in a world where she is the ruler..." Lucy said.
"I knew you'd say that. Regina, show her the door so she can start working on it."
"Come on, Lucy. This way", Regina said and walked behind the throne.
Lucy followed her feeling curious. Regina snapped her fingers and a door appeared in front of them. She pushed it open. Lucy walked in first. It was a huge round shaped hall where there was just one ray of light brought in a little bit of light from the hole in the roof. In the middle of the light there was a big white stone door.
"This is the door to the Dimensions Beyond", Regina said as she walked to it and turned around to look at Lucy.
"And you want me to open it somehow?" Lucy asked.
Regina nodded. "We do not know how to do it ourselves, but we thought that since you were supposed to be the Seeress of Guidance on this timeline, you might know the way."
"Seeress of Guidance?" Lucy asked, confused.
"That man you just met told me that you had a path of guiding ahead of you before Kaos meddled in, Lucy. He travels through time a lot on his search for answers and he found a piece of a timeline where you were marked as a Seeress who guided people on the right path. He believed, that you might still possess this power even if you were never marked", Regina explained.
"And if it turns out that I can't open the door?" Lucy asked.
"Then we will have to find a way to defeat the goddess head on, Lucy", Regina simply said. "It won't be easy, but it has been tried before and they almost succeeded."
"I will try my best with this door, Regina. You can trust me on this one", Lucy told her.
"I do, Lucy. I believe the Master is correct about your power", Regina said as she exited the room.
Lucy sighed. This had to be the most challenging task she had ever been given. And the failure would have terrible consequences so the pressure was piling up on her.
She couldn't afford to fail on this. Not this time!
-.-.-.-
The world where Natsu and the others arrived was exactly what a "lost dark world" would look like – all the trees and plants were dead around the Time Gate and the same dead scenery kept going as far as his eyes could reach. There were also piles of rubble of houses everywhere he looked at. It was evident that something disasterous had happened there at some point.
"Holy hell, I didn't expect this place to look like this", Sting said, looking around.
"I wonder what happened here", Theodore said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"I don't know all the details, but I'm 99% sure that the goddess you escaped from is the one who caused this", Rogue told them.
"What do you mean?" Erza and Aurora asked in unison.
"The goddess known as Sae isn't exactly the one she says she is", Rogue explained. "I don't know what her real name is but from what I have seen in this world while doing my research, I'd say that the real Sae wouldn't have done anything like this to anybody."
"Sounds complicated", Natsu said, feeling a headache kick in as he tried to process what he had just heard.
"Let's go", Rogue said. "I'll give you all the details I've collected while we walk to the doorway to Regina's palace. And be careful. This place is very dangerous."
Everyone nodded, and they followed him past the piles of rubble, while they walked on a road that was mostly taken over by the dead plants.
"This world seems to have been quite advanced", Theodore pointed out as they walked through a destroyed train station. An abandoned train still stood on the rails that were going towards dark ruins of a city further away.
"Yes, that's correct", Rogue said. "This world was just as advanced as ours was in 1300X. However, they never had sky cities like we did."
"How did this one get destroyed?" Lector asked.
"Their system had a huge flaw in it. A goddess lead this civilization and this leader wasn't much of a fan of giving citizens the freedom they deserved. She punished them for rebelling against her brutally", Rogue explained. "I found texts that said she was known as the 'Goddess of Chaos'."
"That doesn't sound good at all", Natsu pointed out.
"I found an old newspaper here that said the goddess had chosen a Messenger of Chaos to fix some of the problems within the society. This chosen one would be her eyes and ears in the world and they would help the citizens", Rogue continued. "Newspaper said that the Messenger was here to do things 'for the greater good'."
"That doesn't sound very good", Aurora said.
"It certainly doesn't", Rogue agreed. "But the citizens believed that things will change for the better now so they began to let the Messenger know what was wrong – they all ended up getting arrested instead."
"So instead of fixing the problems, the Messenger brought more pain and suffering to the people?" Erza asked, as they walked past an empty fountain of a central park of some sort. The statue in the middle was broken into pieces on the bottom of the pool.
"Eventually", Rogue said, "A civil war broke out between the supporters of the goddess and the opposers of the goddess."
"Of course", Aurora sighed. "That was the whole point when she chose the Messenger of Chaos, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Wait", Aurora said, and stopped walking. "Then the Mark on Lucy's shoulder –"
"It's the Mark of the Messenger of Chaos. Lucy is the one who brought all the chaos to our timeline without even knowing what she was doing", Rogue confirmed.
Natsu was shocked. He couldn't believe that Lucy's 'fight for the good' had actually been the exact opposite. "So the goddess who marked Luce is actually the Goddess of Chaos?" he asked.
Rogue nodded. "She certainly does not look like the Goddess of Chaos, but it's true. That Mark on Lucy's shoulder alone confirms it, Natsu."
Natsu couldn't do anything else but to sigh. Poor Luce, now I know exactly why she has succumbed to darkness. She probably found out the truth by accident and felt betrayed by the goddess... he thought.
"Sapientia must've known who that goddess in Caelum really is", Aurora said, looking thoughtful. "She wouldn't have marked me as her Seeress for any other reason. She ordered me to do research around the palace and that she would hide me from Sae's sight so I did what she asked..." She was pale.
"Wait a minute", Sting suddenly said. "What about our favorite Queen of Darkness Regina?"
"What about her?" Natsu asked.
"She tried to kill Lucy in Crocus 794X, remember? She had just noticed the Mark on Lucy's shoulder and decided to end her existence right then but you saved her life, Natsu."
Natsu nodded and shivered. He really didn't want to remember the day when he almost lost his beautiful Luce forever. He could never forget the scream of horror that came out of Lucy's throat, not his own heartbeat slamming through his chest, nothing. He had almost lost her. How could he ever forget such a moment?
"Regina said something about Lucy being protected by the Goddess of Time, and then decided she has no use for her as the Warrior of Darkness and threw her out", Natsu said.
"She looked defeated for a moment there too", Sting told him. "So I strongly believe that Regina already knew what the Mark meant."
"Regina knows a lot of things", Rogue agreed.
"What's that ravine over there?" Aurora asked, and pointed towards the darkened city next to a dark sea. Ravine was located right in the middle of it, and it had been filled with water as time went by.
"A war between the Light and Chaos", Rogue answered calmly.
"You mean...?"
"The Goddess of Chaos and the Gods of Time fought in this world. I believe the real Sae was involved as well, but was killed."
"You're not sure about that though", Gray pointed out.
"I haven't found evidence to support my theory yet. I was close but then Nora appeared from a swirl of golden smoke and tried to kill me so I had to leave this place fast", Rogue explained. "Then Regina summoned me to do a task for her."
"Should we look for those answers?" Erza asked, trying hard to hide her curiousity.
"No, we have to hurry to Regina's palace. That goddess might send more minions after me if she notices that I'm here again."
"Let's move on then", Natsu said.
Everyone nodded and began to walk towards the dark city ruins far away.
They didn't notice a figure of a man emerged from the shadows nearby – he was chasing them down to give them a piece of his mind because they had helped the goddess to bring more destruction to the unstable timeline.
Silver-haired man grinned – he truly loved to play these games with his opponents...
-.-.-.-
"Tell me about that silver-haired man, Rogue", Aurora said when the group finally stopped for a break after they had walked towards the dark city ruins in the distance.
Natsu was on watch while everyone else sat down on stones on the side of the road. He kept looking around for possible danger as they had already encountered some really nasty monsters on their way. They had been really strong and feisty but the group had defeated them eventually. Now it had begun to get to them as they had began to feel weak so a rest was very much needed.
"Sure, Aura, what do you want to know?" Rogue asked.
"Who is he?" Aurora said immediately as she sat next to him.
"I don't know his name. He never told me that. He just wanted me to call him 'Master'."
"What is he up to? It has to be something big if he ordered you to explore this place for him", Aurora continued with her list of questions.
"I'm not sure but I believe that the goddess has something or someone that he wants", Rogue answered. "He was planning to go to Caelum to get this 'something' but then Lucy began to change the timeline so his plans were ruined."
Aurora looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she said, "I must meet this man and talk to him face to face."
"No, Aura", Theodore said sharply, looking shocked.
"I have a hunch about this man, father. I need his memories to get proof for my theory", Aurora told him calmly. "If my theory is correct, he wouldn't hurt me at all."
"What do you need his memories for?" Gray asked curiously.
"So I can get the answers I need of course", Aurora said and smiled.
"He's a very dangerous man, Aura", Rogue said. "He's powerful and he has a huge Soulless Army in his command. You have to be careful around him."
"I'm sure you'll gladly protect me if it's needed, my Warrior", Aurora said and used her "million little suns" smile on him that seemed to make men weak immediately.
"Yes, Seeress", Rogue agreed.
"Wait a minute, there's something going on here", Sting said, rubbing his chin while he grinned. "Rogue, you sly fox, when did you seduce the princess of Reana?"
"Shut it, Sting!" Rogue yelled, although his cheeks had a hint of pink on them.
"They liiiiiiiiike each other!" Happy yelled.
Aurora and Rogue blushed even more.
"We are going to talk about this, Aura", Theodore said serious look on his face.
"Yes, father... Although I doubt I'll do anything stupid. I'm a smart girl", Aurora told him.
"I know, honey, but I'm your father. It's my job to worry about these type of things."
"Nah, you don't need to worry about Rogue, Theo. He's a total gentleman with the ladies", Sting said. "He'll keep the princess safe from anything."
"As much as I would like to listen to this debate, I think we should concentrate on our task at hand", Erza informed them. She was looking around cautiously. "I think someone's following us in the shadows..."
Natsu sniffed the air but didn't smell anything different. "Are you sure, Erza?"
"I am, Natsu, don't question me."
"Ooops, sorry..." Natsu said as Erza glared at him in a familiar way that usually meant that he was going to get his ass kicked by the fierce redhead if he annoyed her any further.
"How far are we from that door, Rogue?" Sting asked from his friend.
"Not too far. It's located at a church in that dark city", he answered.
"I say we keep on going, but be on guard", Theodore said as he drew out his sword. "We can't take any chances at getting ambushed at this point anymore."
"You're right", Gray agreed. "Maybe, if we're quick enough, we can escape from that stalker by going through the door?"
"If the stalker isn't my Master, then we will escape, but if it is him instead, he will follow us to Regina's palace because he's her ally", Rogue said calmly.
"Well damn, this is gonna be annoying", Gray commented as they began to walk again.
As they got closer to the city ruins, they were able to see how destroyed it truly was – the highway they were walking on had cracks on it, and there was a long line of abandoned cars that were going outside the city. Some of the cars were burnt to the ground while others had their doors open and they obviously looted by other people. It was obvious that the citizens in the city had tried to escape the war that was raging on its streets.
"I can sense it now", Aurora said quietly as they walked over a huge rusty sign that had probably once had city's name on it. "It's the same ancient dark magic that I sensed in Rogue's body before..."
"It's him", Rogue said and sighed. "I was hoping it wouldn't be him, but since he is, we need to be extra careful. He will attack us sooner or later."
Everyone nodded as they kept walking into the city. Natsu was amazed at the size of the buildings. They were taller than anything he had seen in his life. Many of their windows were broken, and some of the buildings had collapsed as time went on. Streets were covered in cracks, rubble, dust and the dead leaves and there was abandoned cars everywhere Natsu looked at.
"Wait, what's this?" Theodore suddenly said as he looked at the wall of one of the buildings. He kneeled and brushed off a bit of dust off the wall and a painted text appeared on it.
"'I Stand With The Saviour'?" Gray read. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know, Gray. It confuses me a lot too. Actually, I was looking for information regarding this when Nora appeared with an intent of killing me", Rogue said.
"That goddess didn't want you to find out what this Saviour thing means, apparently", Erza said, thoughtfully.
"This isn't the only place where you can find this message", Rogue continued. "It's written on the walls everywhere here. It can be found even in some of the old newspapers, too, but like I said, I wasn't able to find out any other info."
"Hmm..." Aurora said, furrowing her eyebrows. "Maybe the Saviour was a leader of the rebellion in the civil war?" she asked.
"That makes sense, Aura. It never came to my mind when I was here", Rogue said.
Those two are looking into each other's eyes and blushing again. Maybe they should just kiss, Natsu found himself thinking as he looked at the two who were, indeed, looking at each other's eyes intensively and blushing softly.
"We should keep moving", Sting said suddenly. "I can smell the guy who's following us and he's pretty close to us right now."
"We have to take him on", Aurora said. "It's the only way to stop him from following us."
"Aura, that's too dangerous", Theodore said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"I agree with Theodore here", Rogue said calmly. "You're being reckless, Aura. I know you want to do your duty as the Seeress well but this man is someone you shouldn't mess with."
"Maybe we should just ignore the man and go through the door", Erza said thoughtfully. "I don't think fighting him would be a good idea either."
"No, we must confront him", Aurora said firmly.
"What haven't you told us, Aura?" Theodore asked, suspiciously. "Don't play these games with me. Your mother did it too so I know when it happens. The truth, please."
Aurora sighed. "Sapientia informed me that she needs his memories that will give answers to her questions. We must confront him so I can use my power on him to find the answer for her."
"I knew it", Theodore said, frustrated. "She's putting you in harm's way constantly and as a father, I don't like that at all. Maybe I should have a talk with Sapientia about this..."
"Good luck, father", Aurora teased. "But I'm still going to do my duty as the Seeress."
Theodore sighed. "I know you will. You're just as stubborn about your duties as your mother was when I met her."
"Don't worry about me, father. I'll be ok", Aurora smiled. "Trust me", she added and hugged him tightly. Theodore returned the hug.
"Let's go to the centre of this city", Aurora said loudly after letting go of him.
"Central Park it is then, young Seeress. We shall meet there", echoed a male voice in the city as the answer right after.
"That's him", Rogue said. "I suggest we all prepare for a tough battle."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The voice of the silver haired man had given chills to them all for some reason, and Natsu really hated to admit it.
-.-.-.-
As they got closer to the Central Park, they began to see more and more destroyed areas. Even the roads were partly or completely collapsed – either during the civil war or as time went by. Natsu also saw a lot of huge areas where everything had burnt down and dead trees laying on the ground on the both sides of the roads. There were more abandoned cars on the streets and some even laid on the side next to the road.
The park itself looked like it had been a very cozy place once – there was a fountain in the middle of the round shaped area. It was surrounded by dead bushes and another statue laid on the ground next to it. There were also four different exits from the park to different areas of the city but most of them were covered in dust and rubble.
"Whoa, shit! Guys, you gotta be careful when you walk here, I almost fell into the lake!" Gray said from the other side of the park. Natsu looked over there and noticed that one of the exits from the park ended suddenly into a lake in the middle of the city. It was a wide one that almost divided the whole place into two areas. Natsu was able to see that the buildings on the other side of it had been vertically tilted to a position where they looked like they were about to fall into the lake.
"Damn, that's bigger than I thought", Happy said, looking amazed.
"Do you enjoy looking at the destruction that the Goddess of Chaos brings upon the world?" said a amused male voice from behind them.
Natsu and others turned around at once, and saw a very amused looking silver haired, dark blue eyed man looking at them as if they were just entertainment to him.
"What do you mean?" Theodore asked.
Silver haired man smiled. "She's getting ready to re-enter our timeline, and she will bring all the Chaos with her as she does, Theodore."
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Rogue was a very good source for all information before he decided to betray me", silver haired man said and his eyes flashed as he looked at the Shadow Dragon Slayer angrily. It was evident that he was more dangerous than he looked.
"And what is your name?" Aurora asked calmly.
"Haven't you spent enough time in Caelum to figure out my true identity, young Seeress?" silver haired man asked her.
Aurora looked confused, which made the man chuckle.
"Oh, I see", he said. "The goddess has made sure that nobody will remember my existence..."
"What the hell is he talking about? This is getting too confusing even for me now..." Sting mumbled.
"Why is this guy talking to us like this? He's like Lisanna who played her stupid games on us all the freakin' time!" Natsu thought, feeling annoyed. "I'm gonna kick your ass for annoying me, Silver Dude, bring it!" he told the man. He hated the mind games. He was so tired of those already!
"Are you sure, Dragneel?" silver haired man asked. "You might get killed."
"You're messing with our heads so I wanna kick your ass! I'm so fired up now!"
Silver haired man smiled. "As you wish, Natsu Dragneel. It'll be a fight you'll never forget."
"Bring it on!" Natsu said as he stepped forward.
"We'll join you. This guy is annoying", Gray said following him along with Erza and Sting.
"Yeah, this guy is stronger than you think, Natsu", Sting said.
"Wonderful", silver haired man said as a dark aura began to surround him. "The more the merrier."
He snapped his fingers, and to everybody's surprise he began to multiply rapidly everywhere in the park.
"Guess which one's the real one", they said in unison and grinned.
"More mind games!?" Natsu yelled. "I'm so done with this shit right now!"
"Just wipe them all out!" Gray told him as he used his Ice Hammer on a group of replicas.
Natsu followed his example and used Fire Dragon's Breath on them.
And so the battle went on – however, it was soon evident that no matter how many replicas Natsu and others destroyed, they were replaced by new replicas just as fast. It was evident that the silver haired man was just playing with them, and not seriously fighting. He was just trying to exhaust them and then do what? Make his Soulless Army eat their souls? Natsu got chills from even thinking about that possibility. It was just too creepy.
"Crap, I didn't expect these to multiply like this", Gray said next to Natsu.
"How can we do it? These respawn as fast as we destroy them", Theodore said. He was already panting and sweating hard as he swung his sword into a replica's head. Replica exploded – and then got replaced by a new one at once.
"I have no idea!" Gray said. "Combine all of our powers and wish for the enemy to get knocked out?"
"Nah, that's not a good idea, we might kill ourselves, too", Rogue informed him.
"Stop playing games already!" Happy, who was flying in the air, yelled at the silver haired man.
He just laughed, and so did his replicas.
"So creepy!" Happy said and shivered.
"This is getting hopeless", Gray said panting. He fell on his knees. "I've used too much magic..."
"Shit! Happy, take Gray away!" Natsu yelled.
"Aye sir!" said the blue feline and flew down from the sky. He grabbed Gray and carried him to the side of the battlefield where Aurora was standing. Theodore was also going that way as he didn't look like he had any strength left in himself either.
Natsu turned his attention back on the battle and punched one of the replicas. It disappeared and reappeared – and was he annoyed by it? Very much.
How are we supposed to know which one is the real one if the replicas keep copying his face expressions? Natsu thought as he punched another one into its grinning face. And again, it disappeared and reappeared.
"Aura, don't do it!" yelled Theodore suddenly.
Everyone – the group and the replicas alike – turned to look at Aurora, who was walking towards the group with a determined look in her eyes that had small symbols in them now.
"This has to be done, father. Stand back", Aurora just calmly said. She raised her hands in front of her, and a bright flash of light flashed in the area, purging all of the replicas.
Then Aurora turned her attention on the silver haired man, who wasn't even harmed from the attack. He just looked at her with a amused and somewhat interested look in his eyes.
"Let me See", Aurora told him.
"What will I get in exchange if I allow you to enter my memories, Aurora?" silver haired man asked. "And most importantly, are you sure you want to see my memories?"
"I am 100% sure that I want to See your memories", Aurora told him, sounding so much like Regina that Natsu began to wonder if the girl was possessed by her mother.
"What would be my reward if I allow you to enter?" silver haired man repeated.
"It depends on what your memories reveals."
"This doesn't sound like a deal I can agree on, young Seeress."
"Well, isn't that sad then?" Aurora just calmly said and snapped her fingers. A dome made of golden light appeared over everyone.
"What are you doing?" silver haired man demanded to know, now cautious over what Aurora was going to do next.
"I want my answers", Aurora calmly said as she locked her eyes with his.
Silver haired man was paralyzed on the spot and he couldn't do anything but to look into Aurora's eyes.
The dome's walls began to vibrate and slowly, a series of events appeared on the wall. In many of them the silver haired man was with a beautiful blonde haired, brown eyed woman. They were both smiling to each other a lot. Then memories went on a little bit faster and the atmosphere began to change as the world in the scenes was in flames, houses were in rubble and everyone was fighting on the streets of Caelum. In the last scene silver haired man was holding the blonde woman in his arms in the middle of the ruined city. He was crying as the goddess appeared before him and began to mock him before she ordered her guards to take him to the prison – he went willingly.
Aurora was shocked when she snapped her fingers to make the dome disappear. She turned to look at the silver haired man. "You're –"
Silver haired man grinned. "The great Seer of Darkness Nox, at your service", he said and bowed to her.
"She said the Seer of Darkness was the traitor who betrayed the whole society!" Aurora said, still in utter shock.
"Of course she does, she hated the Zephyrians since day one because we didn't succumb to her demands, and eventually we found out that she wasn't really who she said she was", Nox said. "So she told everyone to not to trust the 'evil Zephyrians who are born in the darkness'."
"Zephyrus?" Theodore asked.
"Oh yes, Theodore, I lived in Zephyrus a very long time ago. Long before you were even born. But that's a story for another time – you're still standing. I must summon my Soulless here to take care of you now", Nox said and raised his hand.
"WAIT!" Aurora said. "Why are you wasting all of your time and energy on playing around here when you should be saving the one who matters to you most? Why is she still held captive in Caelum and you're here?"
Nox furrowed his eyebrows, and then sadness overtook his anger. He put his hand down.
"You don't know how to sneak into Caelum, right? I have all the information you need. In exchange of the info you just gave me, I will help you in return", Aurora said gently.
"I will think about your offer", Nox just said and disappeared into a swirl of black smoke.
"Really?" Sting started. "That's all? I thought we were gonna get to kick more ass!"
"No, Sting. The battle went exactly according to my plan to get the information I needed", Aurora told him. "This man is more of an ally than you think he is. He just needed a reminder of what he really should be doing instead of revenging things that don't matter at this point."
"But he was so annoying, Aura..." Sting tried.
Aurora shook her head. "He's just a sad and lonely Seer who has lost everything he once helpd dear in his life", she said quietly.
"It's Serena, isn't it?" Natsu asked. "That blonde woman who looks like my Luce, right?"
"Yeah, you're right, Natsu."
"Were they lovers?" Erza said, looking thoughtful.
"I can't say for sure but they were pretty close, don't you think?"
Erza nodded. "Which is exactly why I asked."
"We should get going", Rogue said. "The door is really close now."
"Lead us, my Warrior", Aurora softly told him and smiled.
How long are you two going to pretend that you don't have feelings for each other? Don't be like me and Luce who spent years on doing that! Natsu thought as he looked at how Rogue returned a smile to Aurora.
-.-.-.-
"The door is right over here", Rogue said a while later when the group had followed him exit the park by using the western exit. He had guided them to the other side of the street that had been filled with abandoned cars and rubble. Once they had crossed the street, they turned left and walked a bit more. After that, they had reached crossroads where two streets met the one they had been walking on. Rogue took the left side road and everyone followed him closely.
After following Rogue for a bit more the group were standing in front of an abandoned church. It didn't look like it had been damaged by the war or anything else. The yard itself was a completely different story as there were old stains of blood on the ground, abandoned guns everywhere and broken benches and dead trees – Natsu was sure he even saw a skeleton behind one of the bushes too.
"So this is where they worshipped the Goddess of Chaos?" Gray asked.
"I'm not sure who was worshipped on in this church but I'm sure that it wasn't that goddess", Rogue answered.
"What do you mean?"
"The other churches that I saw were completely intact. This is the only one that has signs of battles on the yard. Other churches' yards are clean. I couldn't enter this church because I was ambushed by Nora right at the door", Rogue explained.
Rogue guided them inside the church – the door protested loudly as it was opened after such a long time – it was dark and dusty everywhere. It was so dark that he had to create a fireball to light up the room a little bit. There were long rows of benches and some of them had been broken into pieces.
"Ew, that's a skeleton", said Happy quietly as they walked past one of the broken benches that had a skeleton laying on it with their hand over their chest.
On the other side of the room there was a altar, and behind it there was a huge statue of a goddess who looked like Sae. Around the statue there was a table with rows of used candles standing on it.
"Is that the real Sae?" Natsu wondered aloud.
"Judging by that body over there", Sting said nodding towards the body behind them, "I'd say that the people who used this church were probably worshipping her and not the evil goddess."
"He's probably right", Erza said as she picked up a picture from the floor. Then she showed it to everybody. It was a picture of a man who had white hair and dark blue eyes. A text on the plate at the bottom of the frame said, 'Our Saviour, blessed by the Goddess of Time Sae'.
"Something horrible has happened to this goddess", Aurora whispered. "Because if the goddess in Caelum isn't Sae, then it can only mean that the real Sae really is dead..."
"And that the Goddess of Chaos has taken her body as hers", Rogue said.
"I'm starting to actually feel fear towards this bitch in Caelum", Sting told them. "Because if she can kill another god just like that, there really is no chance for us to defeat her."
"I hate the truth so much sometimes..." Natsu sighed. "Let's go get Lucy and run. Where's the door, Rogue?"
"You really don't want to fight this time, Natsu?" Gray asked, surprised.
"Sting's right. That bitch in Caelum gives me the worst chills ever so I'd rather run than die now. I just wanna get Luce first", Natsu said.
"The door is right here", Rogue interrupted them. He walked over to the table and touched the surface. A big stone door manifested in front of the table. It had golden handles and symbols carved on the surface.
"This is the door to Where Forgotten Time Lies", Rogue said.
"Can you open it?" Aurora asked.
"Yes, I can. It only opens to people like me who are already walking on a path of darkness", as he spoke, he reached his hand out and put it on one of the handles. He pulled it, and the door opened immediately.
"Hey, it's the main street of our Crocus!" Gray said, surprised. "Is the city really still on fire or am I hallucinating?"
"Horologium Saeculum moved the burning Crocus from 794X here. It will remain frozen in this state unless the spell's effect is reversed", Rogue explained.
"Can Horologium Saeculum really be reversed?" Lector asked.
"I have no idea, Lector."
"Can we go now?" Natsu asked, feeling excited because he was so close to get to Lucy now.
"Yeah, let's go", Aurora said. "I can't wait to see the look on mother's face when she sees me. She didn't notice me in Caelum but in that place she will!"
Her eyes got even more excited as she spoke – she was the first one to step through the door as well.
Everyone else followed her.
And after the last of them had stepped through, the door closed, and disappeared.
However, they didn't know that the villain mastermind, the Goddess of Chaos disguised as Sae, had been watching them quietly from the shadows. She was smiling victoriously – soon the Soulless Army would be hers and she'd be unstoppable!
A/N: So the mysterious silver haired man finally has an identity and a little bit of background revealed. I will reveal more facts about this guy in the future chapters that will probably give readers a better idea of what this character is truly like. :)
And yes, Natsu is, indeed, afraid of that crazy goddess. I want to create an impression that the Goddess of Chaos is so creepy that even the most courageous people fears her.
And I'm glad that I created this insane goddess as the new villain. I can now write another batshit crazy sociopath in this story. I've always felt sad when I killed Lisanna tbh, but what's done is done. I'm not gonna rewrite the chapters anymore. This crazy goddess is insane enough to fill up that batshit crazy villain role lol.