Hey all! This is my first ever Fairy Tail story. Introducing... a tough, confident version of Lucy Heartfilia!

Credit for story image goes to pl. fairytail. wikia. com and to whoever posted it there.

IMPORTANT: A new poll is up on my profile! Please take the time to check it out and vote on it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!

Poke.

"...ng-kun!"

Poke.

Sting groaned.

"Sting-kun!"

"Wha..." Sting sat up and blinked a few times, before his eyes widened. "Lecter!"

"Sting-kun!" Lecter cheered, hugging the man.

Milliana watched the reunion, smiling softly to herself.

"Princess!" Arcadios barged into the throne room. "Princess!"

He looked around the empty chamber. "Could she... be already there?"

"All the members of Fairy Tail undefeated, the public debut of #3, and Sting's quick and humiliating defeat..." Datong muttered. "So it was true..."

"None of these could be accurately predicted." Hisui agreed. "Indeed, they were right. The future they talked about is true. The fight for the survival of humanity starts now. Let's take Eclipse 2, the Eclipse Cannon, to the surface."

Mavis gave a happy smile. "Just as I calculated."

"It was a mess until two seconds ago!"

"Uguu..."

"Someone comfort the First!"

"Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail!"

"Those cheers!" Chapati was ecstatic. "Fairy Tail is reborn as the strongest guild!"

Yajima nodded. "Good for you, Makarov."

Matou's jaw was loose. "They survived the last day undefeated..."

Risley shook her head. "Quite the thing..."

Kagura laughed. "How can one beat them?"

"Phew..." Leon exhaled loudly. "We got beaten hard."

Chelia sighed. "Sorry, Leon."

Jura grinned proudly. "Splendid."

"Well..." Eve mused. "We can celebrate the comeback of the Tenrou Team."

"This was a big present." Hibiki agreed.

"Congratulations." Ren added.

"Fairy Tail is amazing!" Frosch declared, listening to the cheers.

"Yeah..." Rogue smiled. "It's the first time I feel so refreshed after losing. Frosch... I want to become a man who cares for his friends."

"Fro thinks so, too!"

Gajeel smirked. "It's over..."

Wendy nodded. "The tournament is, at least."

Erza frowned. "Did anyone see the signal?"

Sorano and Gray shook their heads in unison.

"Excuse me..." Sting stumbled over to them. "I wanted to ask... why didn't Natsu participate?"

Lecter frowned at the sudden silence. "Did something happen to Natsu-kun?"

Are you safe? Gray looked up at Mercurius grimly. Natsu, Lucy...

Meledy dodged a tangle of vines. "More of that stuff?"

"Those are my plants!" Cosmos cheered. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Pan!" The huge drinker swung a bottle of booze. "Pan!"

"Shit!" Lily cursed when his battle form faded. "My body..."

Kamika laughed at that. "Come and get executed!"

Loke grit his teeth, blocking an attack. "We're not gonna last..."

"You're still here?"

The Hungry Wolves leader scowled. "Surrender, sinners!"

"You're making me mad!" Natsu roared. "I'll execute you! All of you!"

"Tai tai." Uosuke smiled, suspending Happy and Charle in mid air.

"Uwah!"

"Again?"

"Ta-" Uosuke looked down at the shadow spreading under him. "Tai?"

"What's that?"

"A shadow?"

The Hungry Wolves leader paled when a shadow swept over the entire floor, engulfing all the soldiers. "What's happening?"

"A shadow is swallowing them..."

Kamika panicked as she began to get pulled in. "What is this?"

"Wait!" Cosmos wailed. "No-"

Future Meledy observed the scene in shock.

Natsu paled. "What's going on?"

Jellal started in confusion as something occurred to him.

Ultear glanced at him. "What's wrong?"

"How could I fail to notice something so simple..." He chastised himself. "Future Meledy said she came back on the 4th. But it was midnight on the 3rd when I first felt it this year... every year I've felt a mysterious magic, but she only arrived recently?"

"There's no mistaking it..." He frowned in thought. "The magic we've been sensing for seven years is the Eclipse. But this year... it was a human. Because Future Meledy used Eclipse, which is magic from the Book of Zeref, she still has some magic similar to Zeref's on her. If we want to believe that everything she said is true... Meledy said she came on the night between the 3rd and 4th..."

He paled. "In that case, the person we saw in the evening of the 3rd is..."

"Princess!"

"Arcadios-sama!" Hisui's eyes widened. "Are you safe?"

"Colonel, regarding Hell Palace..." Datong hesitated. "I was prejudiced and-"

"Let's forget about that." Arcadios waved him off. "Do the ones gathered here already know about Eclipse 2?"

"Yes." Datong nodded. "We're spreading the information among all soldiers. Hopefully the Order of the Hungry Wolves will know soon too."

"What the person from the future said is true." Hisui added. "The Eclipse Project is moving on to Project 2."

"Are you going to abandon the first project of destroying Lord Zeref?"

"No, but we should first deal with the menace before us."

Arcadios reached for his sword and pulled it out. He then pressed the hilt into Hisui's hand and pointed it at his own throat, shocking everyone.

"A knight would never doubt the words of his monarch." He intoned. "When your words prove to be true, I'll give up my life. I have dishonored you by doubting your words, and I'm ready to pay... with my own life."

"You..." Datong paled. "Are you crazy?"

"Princess, tell me the truth..." Arcadios frowned. "I met the person from the future you talked about. She didn't know anything about Eclipse 2. She cried because she knew what's going to happen, but not how to deal with it."

"No..." Hisui protested. "That person clearly told me what to do."

"So you're saying she would lie?" Arcadios demanded. "She didn't look to me like a person that would try to deceive her comrades for her own sake!"

Hisui's eyes widened in confusion as she heard something wrong. "She? The person that spoke to me... was a man."

"The shadow I saw on the 3rd wasn't Meledy!" Jellal realized. "There's another person!"

"The king's soldiers are all..."

"Inside the shadow."

"Someone's there!"

"You're still here?" Lucy glanced at Loke and sighed. "Be careful."

Natsu frowned when a smirking figure stepped into view. "Who are you?"

"Another one?" Ultear's' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Another person wrapped in Zeref's residual magic after using Eclipse." Jellal explained. "Meledy came here to save the future... but why did the other one come?"

"Are the shadows reaching out to the past, or to the future?" The newcomer mused. "How nostalgic, Natsu Dragneel..."

"I came here from the future." The man with both black and white hair and a tattoo around his visible eye announced. "I'm Rogue."

"Rogue?"

"From Sabertooth?"

Meledy's eyes were wide. "You said you came from the future?"

Future Meledy scowled. "Like me..."

Happy frowned. "Why?"

"There are two people from the future." Arcadios was pale. "One is Meledy, who came to warn her friends of the danger..."

"Another came here to warn the princess of the danger." Datong finished.

"Their goal is the same, they came to save this country. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 3rd or 4th one." Hisui gave Arcadios his sword back. "You're a knight, you should point your sword in the right direction."

"I will open the door." She turned to Eclipse. "I will pull out my sword... to protect this country."

"Another person from the future..." Jellal sped down a street, Ultear behind him. "I don't understand his goal. Let's hurry to the castle."

Loke frowned. "You sent away the soldiers... to help us?"

"You look quite different." Natsu observed.

Charle looked wary. "Why did you come here?"

Future Rogue smirked. "To open the door."

Lucy's eyes widened in realization. "Eclipse?"

"There are two ways to use Eclipse." Future Rogue explained. "One is to move across time. Another one is to use a weapon, the Eclipse Cannon. The only way to defeat 10000 dragons."

Future Meledy was shocked. It can defeat 10000 dragons?

"Oh, now I get it." Natsu smirked. "So you're our ally?"

"Great!" Happy cheered. "We can defeat the dragons and change the future!"

"No... it's not that simple." Future Rogue told them. "I came from seven years later. Seven years from now, the world is ruled by dragons. Only 10% of humanity has survived, and Eclipse isn't as powerful as today."

He looked over their horrified faces. "If we don't stop the dragons now... the world will end."

"Then we'll open the door and blast them away!" Natsu decided. "Sounds simple."

"However, seven years ago, that is 'now'..." Future Rogue continued. "Someone got in the way of opening the door. Because of that, it couldn't be opened and we couldn't open the Eclipse Cannon at the dragons. That person led the world to destruction. I came here... to kill that person."

"How scary..." Charle sighed. "Wouldn't that person cooperate if we explained the situation?"

"There's no need to kill them!" Lily agreed.

Future Rogue shook his head. "Sometimes, it's impossible to stop actions with words. Even if we convince them now, they will definitely close the door."

Lucy frowned at that.

"We can't escape fate. Some people live and some die." Rogue told them. "The one who closes the door will close it, as long as they are alive."

"I don't really get it." Natsu sighed. "Who is it, anyway?"

"You." Rogue snarled, shooting a shadowy sword at Lucy. "Lucy Heartfilia!"

Future Meledy shot in front of Lucy and took the hit, getting impaled through her chest. The others watched in shock as she spat out blood and collapsed.

"Hey-"

"Meledy!"

Future Rogue's eyes widened. Another Meledy?

"Come on!" Meledy shook her older self, panicking.

"You never..." Future Meledy glanced at Lucy, coughing. "Closed... the door..."

"That doesn't sound like something I would do." Lucy agreed, trying not to break down. "Why did you save me, anyway?"

"Because... you're my mother..." Future Meledy rasped. "Seeing you... die once... was enough..."

She glanced at Meledy and smiled weakly. "It's so weird... to die... in front of yourself..."

"It's weird for me too!" Meledy was crying at this point. "Don't die!"

"It's ok..." Future Meledy looked over all of them. "I thought... I'd never see... any of you again... but I got another chance... to meet you. That... makes me happy..."

"Meledy..." Happy trembled. "Don't die..."

"I'm not... from this time... actually, from this world..." Future Meledy observed. "This world's Meledy... will live on... with her family... and friends... don't be sad."

"I am sad!" Happy wailed. "Whatever world you're from, Meledy is Meledy! Our friend! Of course I'm sad!"

Future Meledy hugged him, before turning to her past self. "Show me... your guild mark..."

Meledy frowned and leaned forward, giving Future Meledy a clear view of it. Her eyes widened when she saw the bare skin over Future Meledy's chest. "Your guild mark..."

"Ur-nee, I want to join Lucy-mama's guild!" Meledy glanced between the three women with her. "So what do you say, Erza-papa?"

"I wanted... to spend more time... with you all..." Future Meledy observed, slowly closing her eyes. "Protect... the future..."

Future Rogue frowned, looking over the shaken and crying group. "She said the door hadn't been closed..."

"What about the door?" Lucy spat. "I'd never do something like that!"

"Not now." Future Rogue agreed. "But in a few hours you will."

"I won't!" Lucy insisted. "And why are you here, anyway? You heard what Future Meledy said!"

"The door will be closed." Future Rogue snarled. "That will happen, as long as you're alive."

"Future Meledy said it was never closed!" Lucy protested. "I trust my daughter!"

"There is no truth in your words!" Future Rogue prepared a shadowy attack. "Everything is decided by fate!"

"Then I'll burn fate away!" Natsu snarled, slamming a fiery fist into Rogue and pushing him far back. "No one will steal Meledy's future!"

"Protect the future..." He recalled her last words. "I swear I will!"

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted. "Get away from here!"

"He's right!" Loke grabbed her arm and began leading her away. "Let's leave this to Natsu. Future Rogue's after you, we must get away from him."

"I won't let you!" Future Rogue shot after them, only to get smashed into the ground by a fiery fist. A second punch sent him tumbling back.

"Natsu Dragneel..." Future Rogue slipped into a shadow. "I reckoned that you'd get in the way. Either way, you'll get killed by the dragons. History won't change if I kill you."

Natsu grit his teeth. "You weren't like that!"

"Time can change people." Rogue countered, lashing out with shadowy claws. "Die, Natsu Dragneel."

"You stole something precious to me, in front of my eyes." Natsu scowled, stepping forward. "I don't like your methods. We'll protect the future our own way!"

"Yukino!" Mira looked around the hallway. "Where are you? Yukino!"

"Mirajane-sama..."

Mira glanced at the woman, who was huddled under a wall. "What are you doing there?"

Yukino sighed. "I'm sorry, I-"

Mira reached out to her. "Let's go."

"I can't." Yukino shook her head. "If I come with you... you'll be haunted by misfortune. It's always been like this... people around me are always unlucky."

"None of my friends ever blames others for bad things that happened to them." Mira countered calmly, drawing the girl into a hug. "It's ok. Everyone exists for a reason. As small as it can be... I'm sure you have a meaning too."

"From now, to prepare for the dragon attack..." Princess Hisui shouted to the mass of soldiers. "We're going to prepare the Eclipse Cannon! Open it!"

Arcadios and Datong watched as one by one, the locks on Eclipse were released.

"What's the dragon army's status?"

"So far nothing from the west!"

"Nothing from east either!"

"And the people's evacuation?"

"The soldiers are leading them out of the city."

"I hope it can end with one shot." Hisui observed. "It would take years to recharge that magical power."

Charle frowned, hiding behind some bushes. "Look where we ended up."

"It's where they'll open the gate." Meledy realized, wide-eyed.

Lucy frowned, recalling Future Rogue's warning.

"There's no need to hide." Arcadios called out, confusing Hisui and Datong. "Come out."

"We haven't done anything bad!" Happy protested.

Charle frowned. "Wait, if you're with the minister, then-"

"Many things changed." Datong grunted.

Hisui watched them approach. "Fairy Tail..."

"I'm sorry for what happened. We are in an emergency situation, so I'll give you my official apologies some other day." The princess smiled. "Also, congratulations for winning the Daimatou Enbu."

"Winning?"

"The others did it!"

"Good job."

Lucy frowned. "Why are you opening the gate? The dragons aren't coming yet..."

Hisui turned to Arcadios. "Dragons?"

"Yes, they know everything too." Arcadios glanced at Meledy. "Bu the way, where is your future self?"

Lily frowned. "She was killed by the other person who came from the future."

Both Arcadios and Hisui paled at that.

"He said that the Eclipse Cannon couldn't be used because I got in the way." Lucy added

Hisui frowned at that. "And will you do that?"

"You don't know me too well, do you, cousin?" Lucy smiled wryly. "There's no point in interfering. I'm just wondering why you're opening the cannon if the dragons aren't here yet."

"Simple. It takes time to fire it." Hisui glanced at Eclipse. "If we wait for them to appear we won't make it in time."

"And can that really defeat all of the dragons?" Lucy pressed.

"I cannot say that for sure..." Hisui hesitated. "But Father is getting ready too in case the worst happens."

"So, I'm deeply sorry that we don't even have time to celebrate the Daimatou Enbu, but this country is currently in danger." Hisui's father, Toma E. Fiore, told the large crowd of mages before him.

Makarov was pale. "10000 dragons..."

"We couldn't even do anything against one..." Evergreen muttered.

"That one was different..."

"But still, 10000..."

"At the castle they're currently getting ready to use our strategy, the Eclipse Cannon." The short king told everyone. "Our objective is to wipe out all the dragons. However, considering the number of enemies, a few, or even a few hundred of them might survive."

He looked out over them. "Magic guilds, unite! Co-operate with us and with each other! I want you to use your power to defeat the dragons! Please... help protect this country."

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

"Leave it to us!"

"We won't let some monsters kill us!"

"This country which developed together with magic is our country!"

The king looked down, trying to stem tears as he listened to the unwavering support from the mages.

Erza turned to a guard. "Our teammates were captured by the army..."

"They're fine." The man reassured her. "I was told they just met up with the princess."

"Ok!" Gajeel grinned. "Let's get it on!"

Sting frowned. "Dragons..."

Rogue crossed his arms confidently. "It's our turn."

"Do your best, Sting-kun!"

"Fro says so, too!"

Rufus turned to Orga. "Where is the Lady?"

"Dunno."

Ichiya smiled. "All the guilds joined forces."

"What a wonderful perfume." Nichiya added.

Eve smirked. "Dragons vs the Pegasus... sounds majestic."

"Let's do our best." Hibiki agreed.

"Tch." Ren scoffed. "Not like we can help it."

"Kagura-chan..." Milliana sounded worried. "You have to rest!"

Kagura waved her off cheerfully. "I can handle it."

"Wild!" The Quatro Cerberus team cheered Kagura on.

Leon smirked. "It's been a while since we worked together."

"Don't get in my way." Gray shot back.

"Let's do this, Nee-chan!"

Wendy laughed. "Yes, let's!"

Jura nodded. "Let's fight."

"I'm gonna spin too!" Obaba decided, spinning on the spot. "Fast!"

"Thank you. Thank you..." The king bowed to everyone. "Thank you..."

"What a thing..."

"All those mages together..."

"Eclipse..." Lahar sighed. "Just by existing, it's breaking the 30 laws we have. We should contact the Council about this."

"Lahar." A voice from behind called out. "And Doranbolt."

"Jellal!" Lahar spun towards the man.

Doranbolt grit his teeth. "Why are you here?"

Jellal narrowed his eyes. "I have a favor to ask you."

"I smell evil from you." Natsu scowled, disengaging. "Did you really come here to save the future?"

Future Rogue smirked at him mockingly.

The last lock loosened and Eclipse began to slowly swing open. Lucy watched in amazement as light shone from inside the doorway.

Her eyes slowly widened. It's opening...

Gajeel frowned. "July 7th..."

"It's the day the dragons disappeared, isn't it?" Levy asked him.

He nodded. "And on this same day, they will show up..."

"Fairy Tail will protect this central park." Makarov decided.

"And the other guilds?"

"They're standing by in other parts of town."

Cana sighed. "You should rest with that wound, Erza."

"I'm ok."

Gray smirked. "Thanks to Wendy and Chelia, we can all at least move."

"Still..." Freed looked up. "The moon looks creepy."

Laxus scowled. "Eclipse..."

Natsu frowned when the sound of something heavy moving reached him. "What's that noise?"

Future Rogue smirked. "Eclipse is opening. The gate could still open, even without killing Lucy... but that girl will definitely get in the way. She will close the door."

"Lucy won't do that!" Natsu countered, in both the verbal argument and the physical fight. "She will never crush everyone's future!"

"Move away." Future Rogue advised him, blasting him away with a huge column of shadow. "I will kill Lucy."

"I won't let you!" Natsu shouted as lightning began to crackle around him. "Lightning Fire Dragon's Mode!"

Future Rogue's eyes widened as he barely dodged the attack, which caved the floor in. "Is this the power you were hiding seven years ago?"

Natsu roared and swung another fist, only to recoil and squint when Future Rogue began to shine. "White Shadow Dragon Mode."

Natsu screamed in pain when Future Rogue shot past him, leaving a deep cut in Natsu's side.

"This is..." The now half-black, half-white man began. "This is magic possessing the properties of both light and darkness. White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!"

Natsu screamed again when thin streaks of piercing energy assaulted him from all sides.

"White... shadow..." He rasped, trying to push himself up.

Future Rogue grinned. "It's the power I stole by killing Sting."

Natsu glared at him in disbelief.

"Though it hasn't happened in this time yet." Rouge assured him.

"Were you really someone..." Natsu forced out. "Who doesn't care about life at all?"

"Yes." Future Rogue smiled darkly. "And I will kill you too. White Shadow Dragon's-"

He paled when crystal orbs surrounded him from every direction.

"Flash Forward!" Ultear commanded, causing them to crash into Future Rogue. Her eyes narrowed when a small shadow slipped away from the battle site.

"Tch." She scoffed, catching the original crystal ball. "He ran away..."

She sighed and ran over to Natsu, reaching for her first-aid kit. "Get a hold of yourself, Natsu!"

Her eyes widened when the man began sinking into a pool of shadow under him. "What the... the shadows are taking him? Natsu!"

"Look!"

"The hope of humanity is opening!"

"It's the gate of victory!"

Happy was wide-eyed. "What magic power..."

"With this it might really be possible to wipe out the dragons." Charle observed.

"We can save the future with this, Lucy-mama!" Meledy smiled. "Future me will definitely be happy too!"

Lucy's eyes went blank for a moment, before she paled and stepped forward slowly. "No..."

"Lucy-mama?"

"We can't open it." Lucy muttered, shocking Meledy. "I have to close it..."

"Hisui!" She shouted. "Close that door right now! You can't open it!"

"Lucy-mama..."

Happy frowned. "What's going on?"

Arcadios looked at Lucy, confused. "What are you saying?"

"You can't!" Hisui stepped in Lucy's way. "This is the only weapon we have against the dragons! If you close it now, we won't be able to use the Eclipse Cannon!"

"The cannon is a made-up story!" Lucy argued. "This is just a door that connects time!"

"The Eclipse Cannon is release of the accumulated magic power!" Hisui shouted back.

"Leave it." Arcadios advised Lucy. "You're going against the country's princess."

"This door..." Lucy paled when the ground shook. "It's connected to 400 years ago..."

"What was that just now?"

"A huge tremor?"

Erza frowned. "What was that?"

"It came from the castle." Elfman observed.

Gray nodded. "That Eclipse thing..."

"Princess..." Arcadios was holding Hisui up.

"I'm fine."

Lucy stared at Eclipse in growing horror.

Happy paled. "No way..."

A soldier took a step back. "You're kidding, right?"

The soldiers began to panic and flee when a huge dragon stepped out through Eclipse and gave a ferocious roar, shattering all glass in the palace.

Hisui clutched at Arcadios in fear. "A dragon came from the door..."

The dragon gave another roar and slammed its foot into the ground. The resulting shockwave was enough to tear through the castle and into the city outside.

"What was that just now?"

"Are they coming?"

"That came from the castle!"

Arcadios looked up at the huge beast. "That size..."

"No way... something like that..."

"There's no way we can win..."

"What is this..."

Meledy took a step back when another dragon came out and a third could be seen. "What's going on? There's even more coming!"

"How do we close the door?" Lucy grabbed Hisui and began shaking her. "Quick, cousin!"

Hisui motioned to an elaborate device shakily. "W-with that pedestal..."

Lucy nodded and began sprinting towards the device, Meledy right behind her.

"Another one came out!"

"Protect the Princess!"

"Don't fall back!"

"I just have to pull this!" Lucy reached for a handle. "With my Celestial Mage power..."

"The 10000 dragons..." Hisui was still trying to understand what happened. "They'll come through that door, right?"

"How did you know, Lucy-mama?" Meledy asked, guarding Lucy from possible threats.

"I didn't. Crux was researching it all this time." Lucy explained. "He just finished a moment ago! This is a device that puts together magic from the Book of Zeref and Celestial Spirit magic. Normally you'd set the time coordinates any way you want, but today... the moon is corrupting the magic! Because of that, we can't control the door anymore! It connected with 400 years ago, with the time when dragons existed!"

Datong paled. "No way..."

"There's another one!"

"It's a rock! A living mass of rock!"

"Lucy-mama, isn't the door closing yet?" Meledy frowned. "The dragons keep coming!"

"I don't know!" Lucy strained against the handle. "Why won't it budge?"

"Princess, it's dangerous here!"

"Because of my..." Hisui stared at the invading dragons, ignoring everything else around her. "Because of my miscalculation... the world will end."

The rock dragon stomped the ground near Lucy, causing her to let go of the device and fly away from the force.

"The door will be steeped in dragon's hatred..." Hisui mumbled. "I don't want that to happen..."

"I won't let it!" Lucy heard her, stepping over to the handle again. "There's so much I still want to do! I'm going to live it out!"

"Natsu, hold on!" Ultear struggled against the shadow. "What should I do?"

"I have to go..." Natsu grunted, grabbing her shoulder and pulling himself out. "I promised that I... will protect the future!"

Arcadios grit his teeth. "Her strength isn't enough for that!"

"Don't forget about me!" Yukino ran in from a side hallway, Mira trailing behind her. "Lucy-nee, take out your golden keys! Combined with mine, they can seal the gates!"

"The Spirits..." Lucy muttered thoughtfully.

Yukino tossed her two gold keys into the air. "Lucy-nee!"

"Got it!" Lucy nodded, quickly doing the same with her keys. The twelve keys formed a circle in the air and began to shine.

"O Celestial Spirits of the Twelve Golden Paths, lend us the power to seal this evil!" Yukino grasped Lucy's hand tightly. The blonde rolled her eyes at the sheer cheesiness of the incantation.

"Open!" Lucy took over. "Twelve Gates of the Zodiac!"

The soldiers watched in awe as all twelve of the golden Spirits materialized around the two women.

"That's..."

"Amazing!"

"All of the Celestial Spirits..."

Lucy smirked. "Get to it, guys!"

The group of Spirits nodded as one and shot towards Eclipse, splitting into two groups and straining against both wings of the door. Eclipse groaned as it slowly closed, until it snapped completely shut with a loud thud.

"It closed!"

"They did it!"

"It's too early to celebrate!" Arcadios shouted, bringing everyone down to earth. "How many of them made it through?"

A soldier ran over and saluted. "Seven of them, sir!"

"You just had to stick your noses where they didn't belong... Lucy, Yukino." Future Rogue observed. "But seven... will suffice."

"Truth be told..." He chuckled. "Trying to control 10000 of them would be a nightmare."

"He's the one..." Hisui trembled. "He told me about the future..."

Arcadios reached for his sword. "He's the man from the future who deceived you, Princess?"

"You..." Lucy glared at him. "This was your goal from the very beginning..."

"Listen well, foolish citizens..." Future Rogue spread his arms out widely. "From this moment forward, the human species... shall become extinct. Now begins... the era of the dragons!"

The seven dragons forced their way out of the castle and hovered above the city.

"For a start, find all the mages in this town." Future Rogue commanded. "And eliminate them."

Charle watched as the dragons left and flew towards the city. "The dragons are doing as he said?"

"He did say something about control..." Lily muttered. "Could he be-"

"The secret art of dominating dragons." Future Rogue explained. "Dragon manipulation magic."

Mira grit her teeth. "What does he want?"

"I... I'm not sure..." Meledy hesitated.

Yukino looked confused. "What could he possibly gain from doing all of this?"

"You can do as you please here..." Rogue glanced at the closest dragon. "Zirconis."

"Ahahaha!" Zirconis cackled. "Those humans are making my mouth water..."

Happy paled. "That's..."

"The one we met at the dragon graveyard." Lucy filled in, scowling.

Meledy's eyes widened. "No way..."

The Fairy Tail mages blanched when a dragon made purely of fire landed in front of them.

"It's here!"

"A dragon!"

"It's made of flames..."

Makarov scowled. "Brace yourselves!"

"My name is Atlas Flame." The dragon announced. "You shall now experience... the flames of hell."

A huge burst of fire erupted from it, knocking the entire guild back.

Sting glared up at a dragon with pincer-like protrusions on it's head. "Sabertooth's all-out assault, go!"

Orga gave a grunt of agreement and charged forward, Rogue already preparing shadows behind him.

"It's a real dragon!"

"Don't panic!" Ichiya shouted. "Now's the time to show everyone the power of Blue Pegasus!"

"Damn straight!"

"Overwhelm it with numbers!"

"Hit it with all the magic you've got!"

"Stand your ground!"

Chelia gaped. "What's going on?"

"All the attacks..." Leon scowled. "They're having no effect..."

Kagura grit her teeth. "It's scales are too tough..."

Jura looked shaken. "Can humans... really beat dragons?"

"We won't know until we try!" Sorano observed, bringing her hands together as if praying. Many bursts of yellow magic shot away from her and into the sky. "Jura-kun, I need a moment to make this spell work. Please look after me."

"Got it."

"That's it! Go and run rampant!" Future Rogue cackled. "Ingrain it into their very fiber... the wrath of a dragon!"

His eyes widened when he noticed a figure standing on a nearby tower's roof, watching him angrily. "Natsu Dragneel..."

"So you're still alive..." He smirked, then glanced down at the dragon he was flying on. "Kill him."

The dragon shot at the tower and crashed into it. Natsu used the flag mast to swivel out of the charge path and launched himself at Future Rogue. The man dodged the hasty attack and positioned himself behind Natsu, only to duck again when Natsu shot fire out of his legs at him.

"Look at the town." Future Rogue smirked, motioning to six rampaging dragons. "No matter what you do, it's too late. It's over."

Natsu scowled. "What's your goal?"

Future Rogue merely smirked in reply.

"Let's reorganize our stance!"

"Is everyone ok?"

"What is that thing?" Elfman demanded, having covered Lisanna from the attack. "It's no different than Acnologia."

"No." Gray countered calmly. "This one's not as bad."

"You're still alive after my attack?" Atlas Flame sounded surprised. "Are you mages?"

"We're not just mages." Makarov instantly grew to the size of a giant and smashed a fist into the dragon. "We're comrades protected by the bonds of a family!"

His fist sank into the dragon and sizzled, causing him to quickly pull it out. "Ugh..."

"The Master's attack..."

"It's not working?"

"No matter what power you use, you won't be able to defeat a dragon." Atlas Flame cautioned them. "As long as you're humans."

A swipe of a burning tail knocked all of them back.

Sting scowled. "It's so strong..."

"Lecter, Frosch." Rogue frowned. "Stay back!"

"Yes!"

"Fro agrees!"

"According to my memories, both Sting and Rogue..." Rufus smirked. "Said they killed a dragon when they were kids."

"It's half-true." Sting sighed.

"Sting, kill me." An old-looking dragon commanded.

"No way!" A younger Sting protested. "Why should I?"

"The ones who use Dragon Slayer magic become stronger when bathed in the blood of a dragon." Weisslogia explained.

"I don't want to..."

Weisslogia narrowed his eyes. "Prove that you mastered the magic to kill a dragon!"

"Skyadrum was ill." Rogue recalled. "I just... helped him die."

"Whatever!" Orga snapped. "Just use your Dragon Slayer magic already!"

Sting grit his teeth when the dragon sent another few mages flying. "I didn't think a dragon's full power would be this strong..."

Rogue nodded. "But I... still want to protect my friends!"

"Do you remember when I said that seven years from now the world would be dominated by dragons?" Future Rogue asked Natsu. "But those dragons didn't come from Eclipse. The ruler is Acnologia. The world is dominated by one single dragon."

Natsu paled.

"There are no mages or guilds to fight it. People spend their days in fear." Future Rogue continued gleefully. "I invented a magic to control dragons... but it didn't work on Acnologia. Only dragons could defeat Acnologia."

Natsu was starting to understand. "Is that why you summoned them?"

"Not only that." Future Rogue mused. "If I can defeat Acnologia, I'll be the king of dragons. I'll be the one who dominates... that's quite thrilling."

"According to the dragons' smell..." He looked around. "There must be seven. Seven are enough... I can make the world mine."

"You're really unlucky." Natsu observed, coming in from Future Rouge's blind spot and engulfing him in fire. The dragon gave a roar of pain and began to plummet towards the ground.

Future Rogue paled. "What?"

"What's that?"

"That thing in mid-air..."

"Can you hear me?" Natsu bellowed for the entire city to hear. "Dragon Slayer magic can defeat dragons!"

"It's Natsu's voice..."

"Natsu!"

"Natsu-san..."

"There are seven Dragon Slayers!" Natsu continued. "The dragons are also seven! Our magic was created for this day! The Dragon Slayers exist to fight now!"

"Let's go!" Natsu smashed another huge amount of fire into the dragon he and Future Rogue were on. "Let's hunt the dragons down!"

"Seven?" Future Rogue scoffed. "Are you sure you counted right?"

Natsu smirked. "I can hear it."

"Sorry for making you go so far away."

"It's ok..." Doranbolt told Lahar, gasping for breath. "I brought him here..."

Lahar glanced at the new arrival. "The dragons are attacking this town."

"Yeah..." The man smirked. "I can hear it."

"We're forced to ask for your help." Doranbolt added.

"I can hear everything..." Prisoner #100977, Codename: Cobra observed. "Natsu."

"It's useless." Future Rogue smirked. "Humans can't win against dragons."

He glanced at the dragon he was on. "Motherglare..."

Eggs pushed out of the dragon's underside and shot towards the ground, landing everywhere around the city and turning into strange animal-like creatures as soon as they connected with the ground.

"What the hell?"

"The monsters are multiplying!"

Cana scowled. "One dragon was already too strong..."

Laxus moved in front of her. "Stand back." He commanded, before blasting a minion with lightning and smashing it into Atlas Flame.

"I'll take on the big one." Laxus decided. "You take care of the small ones!"

"You can't do it alone!" Romeo protested.

Evergreen frowned. "He's not alone."

"We'll support you, Laxus!" Freed declared, drawing his rapier.

"Leave it to the Raijinshuu!" Bixlow added.

Mavis nodded. "Let's leave this to Laxus and the Raijinshuu. Gajeel, look for another dragon."

"All the other members must focus on the small ones!" Gray charged forward with a battle cry.

"Yeah!"

Jura scowled, caving a dragon minion's head in. "How much longer?"

"Done!" Sorano exclaimed, using air and earth magic to levitate on a rock over the battlefield, high enough to see everything. With a satisfied nod, she clapped her hands. "Animation Magic: Meteor Shower!"

Jura, Lamia Scale, and Mermaid Heel watched in awe as rocks began to fall from the sky, glowing hot from the quick movement and in a few cases burning. The gathered mages gave a loud cheer when the meteors crushed many of Motherglare's minions, as well as smashed the dragon opposing Mermaid Heel into the ground.

"That'll show them!"

"Well done!"

"That's the power of a Wizard Saint for you!"

"Rogue, move to where another dragon is." Sting ordered. "Help the guilds without Dragon Slayers."

"Got it."

"Natsu's voice gave me courage..." Sting began gathering light, before shooting it at his opponent. "Not the courage to fight... the courage to protect my friends!"

Rufus and Orga smirked.

"Sting-kun..."

"Fro agrees!"

"The ruthless Sabertooth is gone." Rogue observed, having heard Sting. "We're going... forward."

"The guy on Motherglare was barking something." The rock dragon observed.

Eve panicked. "We have no Dragon Slayers in our guild!"

Hibiki nodded. "This is bad."

"Why don't we?" Ren scowled. "Shit!"

"I guess sexy tactics won't work this time." Jenny observed, slipping into an alluring pose anyway.

"Then I'll use my secret perfume." Ichiya decided, sending a stream of gas towards the dragon. The Trimens recoiled in disgust.

"This is-"

"My nose!"

"Ugh..."

"My armpit perfume." Ichiya finished.

"Dragons all have a keen sense of smell." The rock dragon told him. "Except me. I have no nose."

"No way!"

"No matter how many centuries pass, you're still a foolish race." The dragon mused. "Humans..."

Cobra shot down from above, slamming a miasma-covered fist into the dragon's head and smashing it into the ground. "Move away, you weirdos."

"Cobra..." Hibiki's eyes widened. "From Oracion Seis. The Poison Dragon Slayer."

Lahar sighed. "And so we did what Jellal said..."

"I hope we only get fired." Doranbolt added.

"You can talk about the future when we have one." Lahar observed, glancing at the contingent of troops behind them. "Let us go too."

"Yeah!"

"Everyone is fighting." Natsu told Future Rogue. "If we all join our forces, nothing is impossible."

Future Rogue chuckled. "You still don't know the dragons' true power."

"Ahahaha!" Zirconis cackled. "Who should I eat first?"

"Zirconis." Wendy started, having joined the group because she recognized him. "Do you remember talking with us?"

"It's useless." Charle realized. "The Zirconis we talked to was his spirit after his death."

"But-"

"Didn't you hear Natsu?" Charle shouted. "Only Dragon Slayers can kill the dragons and survive! You came here to aid us, so get a hold of yourself!"

"Oh, well..." Zirconis stopped looking around. "I'll just eat you all together."

And with that, he spat out a beam of energy that washed over them.

"This is terrible..." Happy struggled to not get swept away.

Lily scowled. "What he did is different than what he said."

The beam passed by, revealing that all those hit by it were alright... but completely naked.

"Humans taste good, but clothes don't." Zirconis explained. "So I erased them."

"Gaah!"

"My armor!"

"How embarrassing!"

Mira sighed. "This is the first time I see something so pitiful..."

"Princess!" Arcadios quickly spun her away from the nude soldiers. "Are you ok?"

"Y-yes..."

Datong sighed, unaware of his lack of clothing. "How shameless..."

Arcadios glanced at him and his jaw dropped. Princess Hisui squealed and quickly covered her eyes.

"Let's retreat!"

"We can't fight naked!"

"This is embarrassing!"

"Um..." Zirconis rubbed his chin in thought. "Now that I think about it, men don't taste so good..."

He turned towards Lucy and her group. "Women. I'll devour women."

Wendy frowned. "Was this magic?"

"Yes." Zirconis nodded. "Dragons can use all magic."

With that, he sent out a small puff of breath at Lucy. The woman looked down and sighed when she realized she was now completely naked.

"Virgo." Lucy swung a key. "Get me an exact copy of my outfit."

"Yes, Mistress." The female Spirit vanished and reappeared a moment later with the clothes. "Here you go."

Zirconis waited until Lucy put them on, then puffed again, destroying them.

"Virgo, clothes."

"Right away... here you go."

Puff.

"Clothes."

"Here."

Puff.

"Screw it." Lucy's eye twitched. "I'll fight you butt-naked then."

"My magic is made to steal humans' dignity." Zirconis explained, amused by the whole situation.

"In that case..." Wendy struggled not to gawk at Lucy's body. "My magic is meant to defeat you."

Zirconis raised an eyebrow. "Magic to defeat me, you say?"

"Well then..." He quickly reached out and snatched Lucy up before she could block him. "Can you defeat me before I devour this young lady?"

"Meteor. Vernier." Wendy intoned calmly. "Arms. Lucy-nee is not one who needs saving, but to answer your question... unless you can eat faster than the speed of sound, I will defeat you."

Zirconis scowled. "You conceited little-"

He stomped his foot, knocking everyone back from the shockwave, then took to the sky, still clutching Lucy.

"Ahahaha!" He cackled. "You humans can't even fly! Try following me up here!"

"If you insist." Wendy blurred into view in front of Zirconis, smashing a leg into his face with enough force to push him back. "Glad to oblige."

Zirconis stared at the blue wings on her back in shock.

"Oh my, Mr Dragon..." Lucy's now red eyes watched him in amusement. "Why would they need to follow you? You were kind enough to bring me with you instead of leaving me down there."

A stream of violet light crashed into Zirconis' right eye, burning into it. The dragon roared in pain and threw Lucy away forcefully, before clutching at his face.

"My eye!" He howled in rage and agony. "My eye! You insolent human bitch!"

"You can't afford to get distracted." Wendy observed, throwing several arrows of her Sky-Tearing Gale at him and drawing blood from his stomach and back legs.

"Why, you..." Zirconis raged around him blindly. "Humans! Cowardly, despicable humans!"

"No matter how many times we face off..." Future Rogue blocked Natsu's punch. "It won't change anything. There's a seven-year gap between us now. I'm stronger than I was in the Daimatou Enbu."

"Natsu!" Lucy called. "Help me out, would ya?"

Future Rogue watched in confusion as Lucy crashed into his opponent and both of them got knocked off Motherglare.

"Why the hell are you naked?" Natsu asked Lucy after recovering from the impact with the inside of a bell.

"I don't know. Ask my mad state." Lucy deadpanned, before paling as the bell began to move. "Oh crap..."

Natsu hugged her for dear life as the bell began rolling down the slop. That had the added effect of him pushing his face into her boobs.

"Quite daring, aren't ya?"

With that, the bell crashed into a pile of crates and stopped moving.

"So..." Natsu pulled himself out of it. "The legends of naked flying people were true..."

"And you're still looking..."

Natsu sighed. "Guess that leaves me no choice then..."

Lucy's eyebrow twitched when Natsu covered up her breasts from view... by pressing his hands into them.

"Bolder by the minute..." She observed, not particularly bothered. "Should I tell Erza?"

"Youngsters are indeed getting bolder..." Happy agreed. "By the way, here's your keys, Lucy."

"She's turned into some mega-pervert!"

"Not really..." Lucy sighed. "Would you believe I faced a dragon who had magic meant to remove clothes so that he could eat people without them?"

"Actually, yes, I would."

"Good." Lucy nodded and swung a key. "Virgo, clothes."

"So..." Happy frowned. "Even you couldn't do anything against Future Rogue?"

"Not exactly. A guy like that..." Natsu sighed. "He is strong. And that dragon he's riding on is a pain in my ass too."

"Are all dragons like that?" Lucy asked curiously. "That fire one, that rock one, and Zirconis... that guy wanted to eat me! Can you believe it?"

"That's it!" Natsu exclaimed, hugging her. She was thankfully fully clothed at this point. "I've got it! Finally, a way to beat them!"

Erza grunted in pain as a dragon minion headbutted her.

"Dammit..." She cursed. "I got separated from everyone... and my legs won't move..."

How pathetic... She told herself. I couldn't show them my vulnerable side... even though I know acting tough isn't my strength... I guess this is how it ends.

"Lucy..." She sighed. "I would have liked to see you one more time..."

A black and yellow blur sped past her, breaking all the minions nearby. Jellal scowled as he waved his hand, causing the ground under the surviving few dragonlings to cave in.

He glanced back at Erza. "Need a hand?"

Erza smiled as he helped her stand up.

Milliana stared at the scene in shock. "Jellal..."

Jellal glanced back at her in surprise. "Milliana..."

"Will this really work?"

Natsu grinned. "Leave it to me! I'll manage it somehow!"

"And they're gone..." Lucy watched Happy and Natsu fly off. "Seriously, what a ridiculous idea..."

Her eyes softened. "And yet, that idiot always manages to find the bright side in things..."

She noticed a surprisingly unharmed book amidst the rubble and picked it up. Her eyes widened when she flipped it open and began reading through it.

"This is..." She flipped through several pages. "Future Meledy's journal?"

"Dark Ecriture..." Freed's eye turned black and the man transformed into a demonic figure. "Death!"

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"

"Baryon Formation!"

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

"They won't work!" Atlas Flame roared. "My Hell Flame burns away any magic!"

"Shit!"

Freed sighed. "It's a bad match-up for Laxus."

Evergreen looked around. "Aren't there any water-type Dragon Slayers?"

Bixlow looked up and smirked. "We have a flame-type there."

Laxus' eyes widened when Natsu dropped down from the sky and landed on Atlas Flame. "I found you, fire dragon!"

Atlas Flame struggled to knock him off. "Who are you?"

"I'm Natsu." The man grinned. "And I'm gonna... eat you!"

Laxus and the Raijinshuu face-faulted in unison.

"Nice one, Natsu!" Happy grinned. "No one would've thought of that."

"Eat me?" Atlas Flame shouted. "Stop kidding around!"

"I said I'll eat you and I will!" Natsu began inhaling the dragon's flames. "Yummy..."

"Get away!"

"No."

"Natsu!" Laxus watched the scene with wide eyes. "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm... getting... this one..." Natsu struggled to keep the dragon from moving. "Go somewhere else, Laxus! Help out someone who needs it!"

"So, can I leave this one to you?"

Natsu nodded, swallowing more fire. "I'm gonna eat this and power up!"

"Fine!" Laxus turned and lead the Raijinshuu away. "Let's go help out another guild!"

"Happy, come with us!"

"Aye!"

Atlas Flame roared in anger. "Cut it out, you brat! Don't make me angry!"

The dragon crashed through several buildings, trying to dislodge Natsu, who was still eating. "A human can't eat my flames!"

Wait... this feeling... Atlas Flame stopped moving in shock. Could it be? No, impossible... but this feeling... reminds me of... the king of fire dragons, Igneel.

"Brat, who are you?" He demanded. "What's your relationship with Igneel?"

"Igneel?" Natsu frowned. "Do you know him?"

Atlas Flame nodded. "He's my friend and the king of fire dragons."

"I see." Natsu gave a proud smile. "Igneel is my dad."

"Splendid!" Future Rogue gleefully watched the dragons destroy Crocus. "This is the dragons' power! So much destruction... with this power I can definitely kill Acnologia. And then I will rule this world."

"The earth will break. The sky will be on fire. Lives will be consumed." Future Rogue looked ecstatic at the thought. "I'm the king of dragons. The new king born in this dragon festival."

"Shadows will become light!" He declared. "I'll become the ultimate light and illuminate the world!"

"We don't need such a dirty light!"

Future Rogue scoffed and turned to the speaker. "Natsu..."

His eye widened when he saw Natsu riding on Atlas Flame, quickly approaching him.

"With that light of yours I can't see anything!"

"Why is he riding a dragon?" Future Rogue scowled. "Did you betray me, Atlas Flame?"

"I just followed my heart." The dragon countered. "Igneel's son is my friend!"

Natsu smirked. "Let's team up, old man."

"My controlling magic..." Future Rogue grit his teeth. "What did you do, Natsu?"

"So you used magic to overwrite our will?" Atlas Flame heard him. "We just became friends."

"Friends?"

"Let's go, old man!" Natsu cheered, prompting the fire dragon to spit flames at Motherglare.

"Don't let him get behind you!" Future Rogue told the dragon he was on. Motherglare nodded and spat out a beam of energy which passed harmlessly through Atlas Flame. The attack sped over the city and vanished into the distance, where it exploded shortly after.

"Your breath won't work on my flame body."

"And you can't burn my metallic body."

"Don't underestimate my hell flames!" Atlas Flame roared angrily. "It's the fire rushing out of Hell! And my friend ate it!"

Future Rogue paled when Natsu prepared a fist covered in dark fire. "He ate Atlas Flame's fire?"

Motherglare gave a cry of pain when Natsu smashed the attack into it, causing it to fall halfway to the ground.

"Your Majesty..."

"Two dragons are fighting!"

"That's amazing, but why?"

"The once beautiful city of flowers is stained in blood, and falling into chaos..." King Fiore watched the scene with wide eyes. "It's the festival of people, dragons, and evil. People are fighting each other, dragons are fighting each other, dragons are fighting people... this is that ancient catastrophe, the dragon king festival, Ryuuousai."

The soldiers around him panicked when he sank to his knees.

"We can't stop it..." The king whispered. "Nothing... will go back to how it was before..."

"Let's end it here, Rogue." The unnamed dragon told his opponent. "You can't defeat a dragon."

Rogue scowled. "How do you know my name?"

"Because I was ordered not to kill you." The dragon explained, shocking him. "You should stay quiet. Only you will be allowed to survive in this desperate world. And you will become king."

"What are you saying?" Rogue protested. "I don't want to be king! Who gave you that order?"

"You did it yourself, Rogue." The dragon observed. "You're the one who summoned us, as who is trying to become king. It's a plan you made seven years from now."

Rogue scoffed. "Such story is nonse-"

"It's the truth..."

Rogue glanced down at his shadow in shock.

"It's the truth." His shadow repeated, smiling. I'm your other possible future. I'm your shadow and your heart's dark side."

"Shut up!" Rogue stomped on the patch of darkness. "Shut up! Shut up!"

"Accept it. Your heart is dyed in darkness." The dragon grinned. "Or, well... it soon will be. You have to accept your future. You can't die here."

"It's a lie..." The teen sank to his knees. "It must be a lie..."

Ultear frowned, watching the entire scene from a hidden vantage point. "Rogue..."

"Stay quiet, Natsu!" Ultear told the man, having pulled him out of the shadow. "Don't move yet!"

"Meledy is..." Natsu dragged himself over to Future Meledy's body. "Meledy... shit..."

Ultear watched him, puzzled. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

"He said he was Rogue." Natsu stood up. "From seven years from now."

"So he's the other one who came from the future." Ultear realized. "What's his goal?"

"I don't know."

"Is he an enemy?"

"He did that to Meledy." Natsu scowled. "He's an enemy."

"He must have become skilled..." Ultear muttered thoughtfully. "But he has a weak point. If we kill this time's Rogue, the one from the future will cease to exist."

"No!" Natsu protested. "I'll defeat Future Rogue."

"Don't let anger get the best of you." Ultear warned him.

"I'm not." Natsu reassured her. "Future Rogue took the wrong path at some point. That's not the present Rogue. This Rogue did nothing bad. If we kill him... we'll be the ones taking the wrong path."

"Fine. I promise you." Ultear nodded. "I won't touch the present Rogue."

Ultear glanced between Rogue and the destroyed city. "Natsu, there's nothing else we can do... Rogue is the trigger in all of this. In other words, if he hadn't come back from the future, the gate wouldn't have opened, and the dragons wouldn't have come."

"If we want to bring the world back to how it was..." Her eyes darkened with malice. "Killing Rogue is the only way."

Milliana narrowed her eyes in fury. "Jellal..."

"Wait, Milliana..." Erza pushed herself up. "I've already forgiven Jellal."

"Why are you covering for him?" Milliana scowled. "He almost killed Lucy-chan... he held us captive in that tower... I can't forgive him! I won't! I'm going to kill Jellal!"

"Even if you do that, it won't change anything!" Erza protested. "You won't get anything out of it!"

"That's why you're telling me to let it go?" Milliana couldn't believe it. "Bullshit!"

"Indeed... that is wrong..." Ultear stepped forward, catching everyone's attention.

"Ultear..."

"To begin with..." Ultear smirked. "Your hatred of Jellal has always been misdirected."

Milliana looked confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm the woman who controlled Jellal from the shadows."

Jellal's eyes widened in shock. "Not another word, Ultear!

"It's just who I am." Ultear told the suddenly afraid cat lover. "It was hopeless after all... me pretending to be on the side of justice. I'm definitely... rotten to the core."

Jellal looked puzzled. "What happened?"

"Nothing really." Ultear chuckled. "More importantly, we don't have time to be loitering around like this. There are still some of the dragon offspring wandering around."

"And one more thing, kitty-chan." She turned to Milliana. "The person who kept you all trapped... was me. I was responsible for having that tower built. If you survive this, I'll take on whatever hatred you have simmering inside you."

"She's also just a victim of circumstance..." Erza watched Ultear leave. "From the moment she was a child, she was led down the wrong path..."

"I..." Milliana looked down, confused. "Wh... what's..."

"This world..." Jellal sighed heavily. "It's so twisted..."

"Be that as it may..." Erza glanced at them. "We must continue to persevere in this world..."

From behind a wall, Kagura sighed and put her sword away. "So that was the person Erza told me about..."

In order to make the world return to how it was... Rogue must be killed. Ultear told herself. "Killing him is the only..."

If we kill him, then we'll be the ones taking the wrong path.

Ultear swayed and fell to her knees when Natsu's words rang through her mind. "This is... the real me..."

"What are you spacing out for?"

Rogue jerked up in surprise. "Sting?"

"I'll lend you a hand!" Sting decided. "Let's do this!"

"You..." Rogue's eyes widened. "You took one out already?"

"Nah..." Sting jabbed a thumb behind him, where an angry dragon just burst through a building. "I brought it with me."

"What?"

"Ahahaha!"

Rogue scowled. "You think this is some kind of joke?"

"Well, whatever happens, happens." Sting chuckled. "We're a team, after all."

"Scissor Runner..." Rogue's opponent sighed. "A capture mission doesn't mean you can't break a few bones."

"Like I care, Revire!" The other dragon scoffed. "I'll erase every single one of those humans!"

Sting smirked. "Let's show them the power of the Twin Dragons."

Rogue stared at him for a moment, before smiling and nodding. "Yeah..."

That's right! As long as he's here, I'll be all right! Rogue stood back-to-back with Sting. Should I become stained with darkness... the light will surely kill me.

In that moment, I froze... I couldn't do it. But that's not the issue here... Ultear looked horrified. I was about to kill.. an innocent human being...

Without a second thought... I was ready to erase a person's life. She examined her trembling hands. After everything I've been through... I still haven't changed a bit... I guess my sins can't be wiped off the slate that easily.

"Juvia!"

"Meledy..."

"I kinda got separated from everyone..." Meledy rubbed her head sheepishly. "Do you know where the rest of the group is?"

"They should be this way..."

"Look out!" Gray shouted, knocking both women down and barely avoiding a laser beam shot by one of Motherglare's minions.

"Don't lose your focus!" Leon commanded, freezing the attacker. "This is a war zone!"

"Sorry..."

"Ah..." Juvia was bright red. "Gray-sama and Juvia's butt..."

"Juvia..." Gray sighed. "Juvia, I need to tell you something."

"W-what-what is it?"

"No..." Gray winced at her enthusiasm. "It's nothing important, but..."

"It could be important to Juvia!"

Meledy giggled. "She definitely has the wrong idea about this conversation..."

Leon paled when he saw a minion hidden behind rubble, aiming at Juvia. "Watch out!"

Gray shot forward and shoved Juvia out of the way. The thin beam of light pierced straight through his chest, causing him to cough up blood. Juvia watched in horror as more minions fired at him, riddling his body through.

Gray gave a noise of shocked surprise, swaying where he stood. A last shot went straight through his forehead.

"GRAY-SAMA!"

Ultear blinked away a tear. I no longer... have a right to live...

Bacchus screamed in agony when a minion stabbed it's leg through his stomach.

"Someone! Someone come here!" Jet wailed, holding up a large body. "Droy's not breathing! He's not breathing!"

"Dad!" Romeo struggled against Wakaba, who was dragging his away.

"I'm fine!" Macao snapped, slumped over and surrounded by several dragonlings. "I leave Romeo to you, Wakaba!"

"Chelia! Wendy!" Leon was calling out. "Where are you? Chelia!"

Juvia and Meledy stared down at Gray's bloodied body in terrified denial.

"Chelia! Please..." Leon teared up. "Gray is... they hit his head..."

My life was cursed. I deceived people and laughed at them. I stole their lives... Ultear recalled. But Gray... you gave me a chance to live as a person. The team Crime Sorciere, pretending to be an independent guild, was a way for me to repent for my sins...

Those were my intentions... but in the end I haven't changed... She thought weakly. I'm just a witch that easily kills people without second thoughts. I have no right to live...

"It's quite amazing." Hades stepped into the library, looking around. "That you were able to gather so many books on magic..."

"Master Hades!" A much younger Ultear shot out of her seat and knelt before the man. "You were here?"

"No need to kneel." Hades told her.

Ultear nodded and stood up. " remember you once told me about a magic to recover lost happiness..."

"Arc of Time?"

"I was finally able to find something about it." Ultear smiled and held up a book. "By comparing this book and the old Myrdian scripts..."

"Last Ages..." Hades frowned solemnly. "You mustn't use that magic."

"Why?" Ultear protested, confused. "This is the magic I was looking for! I can bring time back and start over! I'm ready to do anything to master this..."

"You must pay a price to use Last Ages." Hades warned her. "When the user brings back time, it steals all of their time."

"Their time?"

"In other words, their life." Hades explained. "The world might recover its' time, but the user's time will be lost. Is that the world you long for?"

Ultear shook her head. "It's not..."

Now I want it. Ultear realized. If I can make the world go back to normal by sacrificing my life... I'm ready to do it!

"Arc of Time..." Magic began to swirl around Ultear and her veins bulged out. "Last Ages!"

Please, take the world back... She begged. At least... to before the gate was opened...

The magic shot up into a column around her, tearing at her body.

Bring back my life's worth of time...

The magic power finally faded, letting Ultear exhale heavily. Time is ba-

Her eyes widened when she glanced at a nearby clock tower.

One minute? Is my life... only worth... one minute? Her eyes clouded over as she collapsed. I wasn't... able to save anyone...

"Look out!" Gray shouted, knocking both women down and barely avoiding a laser beam shot by one of Motherglare's minions.

"Don't lose your focus!" Leon commanded, freezing the attacker. "This is a war zone!"

"Sorry..."

"Ah..." Juvia was bright red. "Gray-sama and Juvia's butt..."

Everyone's eyes widened when they saw a vision of Gray being shot through his chest. "What was that?"

Gray frowned. "Will I get killed?"

"A dream?"

"Juvia saw it too..."

"What the hell?" Gray scowled. "Having a vision about yourself dying is creepy..."

Juvia glanced at a nearby area. "A small dragon was coming out of there..."

Leon paled when a dragonling appeared in the indicated spot, charging an attack. "It really did!"

"What's going on?" He demanded, as he and Gray froze it and several others behind it. "Did someone tell us about that?"

"Someone..."

"It's dangerous here." Jet scowled. "Let's go over there."

Dry followed him, confused. "What was that..."

"A dream?"

Wakaba nodded. "It was like a vision from the future..."

Macao sighed. "I guess it's not safe to stay here."

Bacchus dodged a lunge for his gut and countered with a palm strike that shattered a minion's head.

"Right..." Gajeel shot an iron club at a minion that just showed up. "Over there!"

"What just happened?" His eyes widened. "For a second I was able to see its' movement!"

"Please leave the smaller ones to us!"

Bixlow grit his teeth, struggling against a minion. "They're tough..."

"I think I caught a glimpse of the future right now."

"You too?"

"Charle, was that you?"

"No, it wasn't."

"It wasn't me either!"

"No one asked you."

"Princess..." Arcadios pushed Hisui back lightly. "We should leave this to the mages and retreat."

Yukino nodded. "We'll provide cover for you."

"No, let me stay..." Hisui pleaded, despite trembling all over. "It's my responsibility to see this through to the end."

"Everyone!" Lucy called, running over with a small book. "You have to see this!"

"What is that?"

"It's Future Meledy's journal." Lucy explained. "Here, read this..."

"Should the gates ever be destroyed in this time, my existence in the future shall also cease to exist as a result of a chain reaction effect." Yukino read out.

Arcadios frowned. "What does that mean?"

"In other words, if the gates are destroyed now, we can alter the future bound to that one event." Lucy explained. "If the gates don't function in the future, Future Rogue has no way of coming back to the past."

"I see..." Lily nodded thoughtfully. "If Future Rogue loses his means of traveling to the past, then we can rewrite the past... in theory."

"Be that as it may..." Hisui hesitated. "Can it really stop something that happened already?"

"If all goes well then the dragons and Future Rogue should disappear, right?" Happy observed.

"It's worth giving it a try..."

"Still, there's one problem..." Arcadios turned to Eclipse. "We lack the means to destroy something of that size."

"Go back..." Natsu smashed a fiery foot into Future Rogue's face. "To your own time!"

"I have no such intention."

Natsu was incensed. "Then what will happen to the present Rogue?"

"In time we'll become one." Future Rogue explained. "Just like how shadows overlap."

"So you plan on stealing Rogue's future too?"

"As long as Acnologia exists, there is no future!" Future Rogue turned into shadow and surrounded Natsu. "Which is why I have come here to create it!"

A streak of light shot at Natsu, grazing him and causing him to roll almost to the end of Motherglare's tail from the force.

"Urgh..." He struggled to hold on. "Frosch..."

"She's dead."

"But here... she's still alive, you know..." Natsu pushed himself up. "But she's probably in a world of danger now, thanks to you..."

Elsewhere, Frosch whimpered to herself while Lecter swung a small stick around wildly.

"Frosch is going to die either way..." Future Rogue observed. "It happens in about a year, I think."

"You couldn't protect her?"

"I..." Future Rogue sighed. "I couldn't."

"She's still alive now!"

"Regardless..." Future Rogue sneered. "I'm no longer a man who plays around with cats."

"You son of a-"

"You're a mere stranger to despair. What would you know?" Rogue scoffed, preparing an attack. "Even though I finally got my hands on some hope, you continue to stand in my way!"

Natsu dodged the barrage of dark light bullets. "Your so-called hope is to throw the past into despair?"

"Equality for everyone is nothing but a pipe dream!" Future Rogue roared. "Grow up, Natsu Dragneel!"

"Even if that's true..." Natsu charged forward. "We all have the power to choose our own future... we should be allowed to walk the paths that we choose... not the path that you've decided for us!"

"Natsu!" Atlas Flame called out, sending a huge burst of fire at him and propelling him forward.

"We don't need to know what's coming tomorrow..." Natsu shot forward like a rocket, brushing off Future Rogue's projectiles. "So we can live today to the fullest!"

With that, he rammed his head into Future Rogue, engulfing both him and Motherglare in Atlas Flame's fire and knocking all three of them towards the ground.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Get down!"

The crowd watched in amazement as Natsu, Future Rogue, and Motherglare crashed straight through Eclipse, breaking it to pieces.

"The gates broke!"

"Natsu!"

Natsu panted, stepping away from the unconscious Future Rogue.

"Unbelievable..." Arcadios was wide-eyed. "The gates were..."

"What happens now?"

"In theory, the gates shouldn't be usable in the future anymore." Yukino realized.

Lily nodded. "In other words, Future Rogue has now way to come back to the past."

"History... will rewind." Charle observed, awed.

Natsu's eyes widened when Motherglare's body began to shine.

"The dragon is..."

"It's glowing..."

"It appears I must return..." Atlas Flame observed, also shining. "To my own time."

Zirconis grit his teeth. "What is this?"

"The dragons are vanishing?"

"By some puny humans..." Zirconis flung a claw out. "Even though you're worthless humans!"

"I'm sorry..." Hisui stepped towards him. "Hey, over here."

Zirconis paused and glanced down at her.

"I'm the one responsible for the construction of the gates." Hisui explained. "I'm the one that caused a disruption to your flow of time. You, who lived 400 years in the past, and us, who live in the present... we were never meant to have any conflict with each other. The one who made it all spin out of control... was me."

"And you are?"

"Hisui E. Fiore."

Zirconis raised an eyebrow. "Hisui?"

"Yes..." The princess nodded. "The ancient word for the color of your scales, jade."

"The same..." Zirconis glanced at his skin. "You say?"

Hisui smiled. "Yes, the very same."

"Huh... jade dragon." Zirconis frowned in thought. "It's got a nice ring to it..."

His eyes widened when he noticed himself surrounded in light. "Dammit, I got tricked!"

With a howl of fury, he flung a pointed claw towards Hisui.

"Look out!"

"Princess!"

Hisui paled when Lucy stepped in front of her, spreading her arms protectively. The princess shrieked when Zirconis' claw tore through the side of Lucy's face and lodged itself in her shoulder.

"Heh..." The dragon chuckled, watching as Lucy fell to her knees and clutched at her face. "An eye for an eye, human scum..."

And with that, he vanished.

"Lucy!" Hisui crouched next to the blond woman. "Are you ok?"

Wendy ran over and pried Lucy's hand away from her face, paling at the mess beneath.

"Lucy-nee..." She swallowed heavily. "Your eye is gone..."

Lucy spat out some blood. "And the arm?"

Wendy turned and examined the hole left behind by Zirconis' claw. "The arm can be restored. But your eye..."

"Heal the arm." Lucy decided. "I can get the eye attended to later."

I will never forget you... Atlas Flame watched Natsu and a few others surround Lucy. Natsu Dragneel...

Natsu nodded to himself. "Thanks for the help, uncle."

Lucy sighed in relief, watching the scene through her remaining eye. "They're gone..."

"The small offspring are gone as well!"

"We did it?"

"Hell yeah, it's over!"

"We did it, Gajeel!" Levy cheered.

"Yeah..." Gajeel scowled. "But..."

Cobra leaned against a wall and frowned. "This leaves a bad taste in my mouth..."

"Not a single Dragon Slayer..." Mavis sighed sadly, watching the scene from above. "Managed to defeat any of the dragons..."

Sting sat down weakly. "How pathetic..."

"It makes me doubt my worth as a Dragon Slayer." Rogue observed.

"That's just how powerful they are..." Sting agreed. "The worst thing is, none of them were even in Acnologia's league..."

"No..." Rogue stood up. "Let's not sulk over that for now."

"You're right..." Sting decided. "This is victory, after all. The battle, at least, has ended."

Rogue smiled. "We protected our comrades."

Sting grinned back at him.

Future Rogue glanced at his glowing arm in disbelief.

"The Rogue I know..." Natsu walked over to him. "He won't turn into you..."

"Shadows..." Future Rogue rasped. "The shadows... they're trying to consume me. They've come for me... time and time again... the darkness within me... is permanent. And the day I lost Frosch... I became one with the shadows."

"In one year's time..." He began to disappear. "Make sure to tell me... to protect Frosch... in a year's time..."

He leveled a glare at Natsu. "Or Frosch will be killed."

Natsu paled.

In an abandoned, half-wrecked hallway of Mercurius, Future Meledy's body lit up. In the light, her cloak and robe changed into her usual outfit, and her wing tiara reformed around her head. At the same time, the floor under her changed to a grassy field.

"Where..." She opened her eyes and stood up slowly. "Where am I?"

She looked around at the grass and the sky, both of which were golden.

"Hey, Meledy!"

The woman spun around and her eyes widened when a shadowy form of Lucy waved at her. "Get over here already!"

"Everyone's been waiting for you!" Shadowy Erza added.

"Now then..." Shadowy Wendy ran over and dragged Future Meledy to the group of shadowy versions of Fairy Tail mages. "Let's go ahead on another adventure!"

Future Meledy blinked, tearing up even as she smiled. "Yeah..."

Lucy blinked in confusion when Future Meledy's journal dissipated in her hand. "Huh?"

Wendy frowned. "What's wrong, Lucy-nee?"

"It's nothing..." Lucy sighed. "Still... thanks for healing my arm."

Yukino glanced into a mirror and frowned. "Do I really have to wear this?"

Lucy, having styled some of her hair to cover her ruined eye, smiled. "They look great on you!"

Mira nodded cheerfully. "You look great, Yukino!"

"Mira!" Lisanna panicked, struggling with her clothes. "Help me out here!"

Meledy's jaw dropped. "Wow..."

"Amazing..." Wendy agreed, looking around the ornate hall.

Elfman smiled when he noticed them. "Oh, you guys are finally here!"

Gray glanced at Gajeel's elegant suit. "That looks so wrong on you."

"You can talk when you're actually wearing something."

"Over here!"Erza waved them over. "The other guilds have gathered as well."

"It's the great mage fight end party!"

"Men should eat! Eat!"

"Booze!" Cana cheered. "Gimme booze!"

"Dammit, Cana, we're in a castle!"

"The king is so generous..."

"He invited this rough crowd into the castle and all..."

"Hey..." Lucy, newly named Knight of Jade for her actions regarding Hisui and Zirconis, looked around. "Isn't Natsu here?"

"I haven't seen him." Elfman sighed.

Bacchus grinned and held up a beer mug. "Wanna test your strength?"

"Sure!" Cana smirked. "I won't lose this time!"

"Wild!"

Kagura frowned, trying not to get attention. "I told you, this doesn't suit me!"

"No way!" Beth protested, admiring Kagura's elegant black dress. "It suits you great!"

"You look pretty, Kagura." Arania added.

"Cousin!"

"Heh..." Lucy smiled, turning to Princess Hisui. "I see I got you to start calling me that..."

Hisui laughed. "How's the eye?"

"Still gone." Lucy observed. "Porlyusica could technically restore it overnight, but I'll hold off for now. I consider it a difficulty to overcome, just like every other hurdle I've faced."

Hisui nodded and glanced at the ornate sword attached to Lucy's hip. "I see you brought your ceremonial sword, Knight of Jade."

"Yep!" Lucy chuckled. "It's a gift from you, it made sense to wield it while in your home. Besides, I might as well make my new title and rank official."

"So tell me..." Hisui changed the subject. "How's your father?"

"I haven't spoken with him since before the Daimatou Enbu." Lucy mused. "Last I heard, he was still recovering from overworking himself."

Hisui smiled happily and looked around. "That pink-haired boy isn't with you today, is he?"

"Haven't seen him so far."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia ran over to him. "Juvia became Juvia 2.0!"

"Since when are you a machine?"

Juvia giggled. "And now Juvia is entering a new era!" She leapt forward. "Gray-sama, I love you!"

"I don't." Gray casually dodged her hug, causing her to tear up. "I'm also entering a new era. I'm honestly going to say how I feel about stuff from now on."

"Ah..." Juvia blushed. "You're wonderful even when you criticize me, Gray-sama!"

"The new version is creepy!"

"You shouldn't say that, Gray." Leon overheard him. "Today I understood that Juvia's heart isn't aimed at me."

"Took you long enough." Yuuka and Toby deadpanned in unison.

"But really..." Gray looked around. "Where's Natsu?"

Juvia was similarly confused. "No Natsu in such a noisy place..."

"Look, Nee-chan!" Chelia pointed at a sparkling piece of jello. "It's like a jewel!"

Wendy placed some on her plate. "I wonder what it tastes like..."

Chelia tried it and a blissful look appeared on her face. "It's so good..."

"Looks good." Mavis observed, drool leaking from her mouth.

"The First?"

"Hm?" Chelia looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

"I want to eat it too..." Mavis muttered, staring hungrily at Wendy's plate.

"Please control yourself, you're a spirit..." Wendy glanced at Chelia, who was piling more of it on her plate. "By the way, First... have you seen Natsu-san?"

"Nope."

"Odd..." Wendy looked around. "He usually stands out the most..."

"Nee-chan!" Chelia panicked, sensing Mavis next to her plate. "There's something near me! Help!"

Bixlow frowned. "Natsu isn't here?"

"Normally he'd be causing a ruckus somewhere." Evergreen observed.

"How unlike him." Laxus grunted, ignoring several girls hanging off him. Behind Laxus, Sorano's eye was twitching.

"Hey!" Freed shouted, noticing the scene. "Don't hang all over Laxus!"

Levy looked worried. "No one's seen Natsu yet..."

Jet laughed. "It's Natsu, no need to worry."

"He's probably just sleeping somewhere." Warren added.

"Kagura." Erza walked over to the other swordswoman. "Are your wounds healed yet?"

"I should be asking you that." Kagura countered, grinning.

"Glad to see you're calm again." Erza smiled. "Since we're from the same village, it makes sense for us to be friends..."

"No..." Kagura blushed and looked away. "Onee-sama... is more... pleasant..."

"Sheesh..." Erza hugged the woman. "Stop being so cute!"

"I was kidding!" Kagura wailed. "You idiot!"

Risley, Beth, and Arania laughed.

"Milliana..." Erza glanced at the cat lover. "Stop sulking already."

"..."

"It can't be helped." Erza reached into her dress and pulled out Happy, dressed in a cute outfit. "Here."

"I'm super Happy!"'

"Kitty!" Milliana's eyes widened, before she scoffed and looked away stubbornly.

"Here you go." Erza held out Charle and Lily, also dressed up.

"Waaah, so many kitties!" Milliana hugged all three of them and began playing with them. "Nya~"

Erza glanced down at the heavily petted blue cat. "Happy, where's Natsu?"

"I have no idea."

"To think he wouldn't show at all..." Erza frowned in thought. "Maybe something happened..."

"Natsu-san!" Sting cheered, approaching the Fairy Tail group with a bottle of champagne. "Let's have a drink!"

"Let's do this, Natsu-kun!"

"Salamander isn't here." Gajeel grunted around a slice of pizza.

"What?" Sting's jaw dropped. "And here I thought I could get close to him!"

"Your plan failed."

"For thinks so, too!"

"Raios..."

"Don't call me that." Rogue sighed. "The name's Rogue."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "That guy from the future was you."

"Yeah..." Rogue looked away. "Even knowing it is shameful. But I'm not going to become that person. Definitely not!"

"Fro isn't going to either!"

Gajeel smirked.

"Come on, Gajeel-san!" Sting flung an arm around him shoulders. "Let's have a drink!"

"You're quite the rude guy, aren't you?"

Lecter laughed. "He's just a bit clumsy, so take care of him."

Orga grinned. "He's become quite cheerful."

Rufus nodded. "I don't remember Sting like that..."

Sting clinked his glass against Gajeel's and smiled. "Let's toast to the friendship between the Fairy and the Tiger!"

The three Dragon Slayers' eyes widened when Yukino slowly walked over, flanked by Mira and Lucy.

"Yukino!" Frosch cheered, reaching out to her.

Yukino watched them for a moment, before turning to leave. "I'm sorry... I really shouldn't have come."

"Wait!" Sting called after her, stopping her. "Sorry... I didn't know you'd come."

"Master and the Lady have gone into hiding." He explained. "We'll have to start over from scratch. We'll have to rebuild Sabertooth. We... we've been quite harsh to you, but..." He steeled himself. "I want to make it a guild that cares for its' members."

Yukino looked down. "Why are you saying that to me?"

Sting sighed. "I guess it'd be too much to ask you to come back..."

"Of course!" Kagura cut in. "That's far too much!"

"Kagura-sama?'

"I'm taking care of Yukino from now on!" Kagura announced. "Mermaid Heel will take Yukino! I won't allow any objections!"

Yukino's eyes widened. "What?"

Sting got in Kagura's face, snarling. "You're just drunk!"

"Shut up!" Kagura snapped back. "Yukino is Mermaid's!"

"Wait up!" Erza stepped forward. "We can't let this go either!"

"As a real man!"

"That's right!" Lucy added, waving her new jade-laden sword. "She should be coming to us! As Knight of Jade, I command it!"

"You're abusing your authority!"

Yukino's jaw dropped. "Fairy Tail..."

"No..." Eve walked over. "A lady as beautiful as you..."

"Should enter Blue Pegasus."

"You'll shine for sure."

Jenny smiled, ignoring the Trimens. "Please come to us."

Leon smirked and crossed his arms. "Then Lamia Scale will enter the competition for Yukino as well."

"Get over here!" Toby commanded.

"Don't get angry."

Jura sighed.

"We'll be glad to have a single flower among all those men!" Bacchus cheered. "We don't care about the tournament, but we'll definitely win this fight!"

"Wait..." Yukino stammered. "Everyone..."

Makarov grinned. "Let's do this."

"This is a nice distraction from the tournament." Goldmine agreed.

Obaba scowled. "We'll follow suit."

Bob looked excited. "My young blood is boiling..."

"Even the masters..." Wendy watched in shock. "What should we do?"

Chelia smiled. "It's love!"

"Raaah!"

"Take that!"

"Damn you, Pegasus!"

"Pull Makarov's hair!"

"You bastard!"

"As Knight of Jade, I command you to admit defeat!"

"Your title has nothing to do with this!"

Yukino watched the brawl unfold, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It's nothing to cry about." Sorano observed walking up to her.

"Nee-chan..." Yukino gave a tearful smile. "Even if they're just messing around, I'm so happy..."

Sorano looked satisfied. "I missed seeing you smile."

She motioned to the fighting guilds. "You're welcome in all those places..."

"Everyone, stop right there!" Arcadios roared, stepping out onto the balcony overlooking the hall and causing everyone to freeze. "His Majesty will see you now! He is grateful for the bravery you have shown during the mage fight and the efforts you have made to shield our country from harm! His Majesty will greet you shortly, pay attention!"

Lucy's eyes widened when Natsu stepped out onto the balcony, wearing a crown, regal armor, and a red velvet-lined cape.

"All of you!" Natsu looked out over the crowd. "Be at ease! Ahahaha!"

"Give that back!" The king demanded, revealing himself to have been Matou from the Daimatou Enbu.

"I'm the king!" Natsu cackled, to everyone's collective shock. "I became king!"

"Hungry Wolves..." Arcadios hissed at the five mages. "Do something..."

The leader shrugged. "We can't deal with this..."

Makarov's jaw dropped and he turned ashen white, before fainting.

"It's fine! We won and all!" Natsu cheered. "Let me be king! You'll be my underlings! Ahahaha!"

"Give it back!" The short king struggled to pull the crown off Natsu. "Give it back!"

Jellal's eyes widened. "The King's councilors had their memories erased?"

"That's right..." Doranbolt nodded. "I altered the memories of everyone who knew about the dragons."

"I'm surprised." Jellal observed. "So you had that kind of power..."

"Infiltrating and investigating with that magic is my job." Doranbolt explained.

"Still..." Jellal frowned. "Why did the Council make you do that?"

"Eclipse is magic from the Book of Zeref." Doranbolt told him. "It would be bad if word got out that the royal family had something to do with dark magic. They'd lose the faith of the people... in the worst case, the royal system would be destroyed. I don't much care for an upset... I'm only a minor councilor, but there's times you have to pretend you didn't see anything."

"Good job with convincing Lahar of that."

"No..." Doranbolt chuckled humorlessly. "I altered his memories too. He'll make it big... I don't want him to do any dirty work."

"To think there was a guy like you on the Council..."

"An evil guy like you was on the Council too." Doranbolt observed, then changed the topic. "You still haven't found Ultear?"

Jellal nodded. "I don't think she'd disappear without telling anyone, though."

"Well, it's got nothing to do with me, but..." Doranbolt turned to leave. "I must be going insane if I'm worrying about you."

"Wait!"

"You owe me one." Doranbolt observed. "I don't want any trouble. We didn't see each other, got it?"

Jellal nodded. "I'm grateful to you."

"Don't misunderstand." Doranbolt scoffed. "It's just this once."

"Cobra..." Jellal frowned. "What happened to him?"

"He just came back."

"Ah..." Cobra calmly accepted getting his arms shackled. "I couldn't even defeat one dragon... how pathetic."

Lahar looked stunned. "To think you'd really come back..."

Doranbolt smirked. "You're evil, but you keep your promises."

"The outside sure is nice... I absorbed a lot of voices again..." Cobra closed his eyes contently. "Cubelios, I heard your voice too..."

"Voice?"

Cobra ignored that. "I'll quietly go back to my cell now... in order to save all the six mages!"

No one heard that last part.

Doranbolt frowned. "So what voices did you hear?"

"Who knows..." Cobra smirked. "The door to Hades will open. So don't mess with my memories until then."

"The door to Hades..." Jellal muttered. "Tartaros... the third corner of the Balam Alliance. What are they up to?"

"Hello..." An old woman approaching him called out, interrupting his musings. "Could you possibly be Jellal-san?"

Jellal nodded, shocked.

"I have a letter from a certain lady." The woman smiled, holding out an envelope.

"A letter?" Jellal took it and opened it, not noticing the woman pass by. "It's from Ultear..."

"Jellal, I'm sorry." He read. "During the battle, my magic failed. Because of that, my life is hanging by a thread. But... I wanted to say goodbye no matter what... this is the end of my journey. I have to ahead of it all, but don;t forget the spirit of Crime Sorciere. That is to not forget your sins. That is to not have your sins ignored. That is to believe in a day when your sins will be forgiven. That is to never stop loving people. The true battle starts here... if we do not defeat Zeref, many mages will be stained by sorrow. Live my share of life, and fight. I hope your journey... will bring happiness to everyone."

Jellal finished reading and looked up. "Granny, when did this letter-"

His eyes widened at the complete lack of any sign of the old woman.

"I feel sad leaving..." Lucy observed, still playing with her sword.

"Bye bye, Crocus!"

"Ugh..." Natsu moaned. "I feel sick..."

Gray scowled. "Don't get in the wagon then, walk!"

"I feel like we've been there for a long time..."

Wendy nodded. "So many things happened..."

"That's right." Charle smiled. "But I kind of long for a shabby old bar now."

"Aye!"

"As Knight of Jade, I command you to stay away from me, Natsu!"

"Stop waving that thing around, you'll lose your other eye!"

"By the way, where's Jellal?"

"Who knows..." Erza shrugged. "He already disappeared."

Their carriage passed by an old woman, who was using a stick to help her walk.

I always cursed my own life. The old lady looked up at the sky, where rays of sunlight were breaking through the clouds. The anxiety, anger and hatred I couldn't suppress. However, when I stop to look at the sky... I realize just how small I am. There is an endless world spreading before me.

Gray noticed the old woman standing in the middle of the road and smiling, and frowned.

The light pouring down, and illuminating that small me... The woman looked content. It was almost as if that light was a shower washing away my sins... I was happy to have been born for the first time.

Gray's eyes widened in shocked realization. "Stop! Stop the wagon!"

"What's wrong?"

The old woman smiled and shook her head. At the very end... I finally managed to forgive myself.

Gray watched her, recalling the vision of him dying, and teared up. "So it was you...like mother, like daughter... why?"

Goodbye... my beloved people.

"They're here! They're back!"

"Hurry, everyone! Over here!"

"Finally! Welcome back, everyone!"

"Everyone!" Twilight Ogre's Master Banaboster cheered. "Let's welcome the winning guild of the Daimatou Enbu with a grand round of applause!"

"Fairy Tail's triumphant return!"

"We're back!"

"We won!"

"We're the best!"

"Everyone, thank you for encouraging us!"

"Some booze to celebrate!"

"Stop it, Cana."

"Erza-san's Pandemonium was the best!"

"No, the fight against Minerva!"

"No, against Kagura!"

"I'll show you all something good!" Natsu cackled, reaching into his bag and pulling out a crown. "Ta-da!"

"The King's crown?"

"You took it?"

"Ah, not that." Natsu shoved it back in and pulled out a large trophy. "The proof of our victory! The King's cup!"

"I can't believe it!" Dory wailed. "I still can't!"

"We won!"

"We were always on the bottom..."

"But we won!"

"Yay!"

"Come on!" A group of mages hoisted Romeo and the cup into the air. "Lift it higher, Romeo."

Porlyusica nodded. "That's great..."

"Gray-sama..." Juvia frowned. "Juvia doesn't know what's wrong, but... it's not fair to the others if you make that face."

"You're right..." Gray smiled. "Thanks."

I should smile for her too...

"Oh no, what is this..." Juvia's eyes turned into hearts. "You're so cool, Juvia loves it!"

"The Magnolia mayor will now award you with a commemorative item." Banaboster bowed and stepped aside.

"A commemorative item?" Makarov chuckled nervously. "You shouldn't have..."

"Ahem..." The mayor coughed. "Fairy Tail, come this way."

The guild turned towards the indicated direction and one by one, their eyes widened.

"Fairy Tail is our town's pride." The mayor announced. "So I thought I would award you with the restoration of your guild."

"The guild's back to normal!"

"Aye!"

"Mayor..." Makarov stammered. "You're really..."

"No, no." The mayor gestured to the crowd. "Everyone helped out and fixed it."

Makarov teared up. "I love this town!"

The small black creature which once accompanied Raven Tail's Obra watched the parade gleefully, before jumping away and running out of the city into the forest, eventually stopping on a shoulder.

"So you were watching the Daimatou Enbu after all..." Mavis hovered behind the meditating man. "Zeref..."

"I can't hear your voice or see your appearance." Zeref observed. "But I know. You're over there, aren't you, Mavis?"

"Seven years ago you were near me."

"You were near me seven years ago."

Mavis slowly landed behind him. "Are you still looking for a place to die?"

"It's already been decided on." Zeref guessed what she was asking. "For many hundreds of years, I have watched eras end. The fighting, evil, and hatred of people... I keep hoping every new era will be cleansed of those. How many times has it been... humans keep making the same mistakes."

Mavis sighed. "But still, people keep on living."

Zeref heard her this time. "They're not living. Not in the true sense. The loving being that you call 'human' is already extinct."

"Have you already stopped waiting?"

"Yes, I have." Zeref nodded. "This is the conclusion I came to after seven years of thinking. If the world keeps rejecting me, then I will deny this world."

"But Fairy Tail will accept this world." Mavis countered.

"This is a gift from me." Zeref explained. "The world's harmony and its' regeneration."

"Will there be fighting?"

"No." Zeref scowled, his eyes turning red. "It will be a one-sided annihilation. I can't allow anyone to be kept alive."

"Fairy Tail will stop you." Mavis declared. "You'll be the one annihilated."

The wind in the clearing stopped as the two remnants of the past faced one another. The black creature looked between the two, puzzled and afraid.

Zeref smirked. Natsu... the final battle is drawing near.

AN: I am officially sick of the word 'future'...

NOTE: Regarding Fairy Tail's adventures during the seven years that passed, look out for my other story, a Harry Potter and Fairy Tail (specifically a Harry Potter and The S-Class Mage) crossover. Chapter 10 will be out shortly after this gets published.

NOTE #2: The upcoming chapters are as follows:

Magic Guilds, Unite – the dragon attack (done).

Flare of the Sun Village – the Frozen Flame arc.

History of Fairy Tail: How I Met My Mother – Meledy's past.

Hell Unleashed – Tartaros arc intro.

NEXT TIME: Flare of the Sun Village.

I made it into the second year of college! Woohoo! And since I apparently find it easier to write at the end of a busy day, chapter 38 is coming soon!

Thanks for reading!