Chapter 19- The Future was Written
"True we should focus on-" Ultear began but before she could finish her sentence she sensed it- a magical energy. She didn't get to finish her sentence as they all looked up at once to see a group of five miniature dragons, all with their mouths open revealing energy building up in their mouths. They attempted to jump out of the way as the energy converged where they were standing. The explosion of power threw them away from one another, and Ultear could feel the heat of it as it just missed her waist.
She pushed herself up quickly, looking around the see the other three had been scattered as well. Riku was the first to leap up.
"Is everyone alright," Riku called.
"I'm fine," Ultear and Erza called together. But, something wasn't fine. Peering around Ultear felt a growing concern at the familiarity of the scene, as if she'd seen something similar long ago in the fuzziness of a dream. Riku hurried to Jellal, pulling him up, securing him against his shoulder as Erza used her sword to push herself up to a standing position, taking a deep breath at the near miss they'd had. They could have been killed.
It snapped into place with a horrifying clarity. This scene- the destroyed buildings, the three figures looking for support- she had seen it in her orb. It was playing out almost exactly as it had in her orb.
No, she thought glancing around. No, I saw it. It shouldn't happen like this. Perhaps some destinies are set in stone. Perhaps the details were different but the outcome was the same.
Ultear didn't wait to see what was next. With a speed that arose from desperation, she found herself running away from the scene. Adrenaline pumped in her ears until she collapsed what was surely only a few feet away. Still, it was enough of a distance for Ultear to find herself alone in the destruction of battle, only a clock tower standing erect. She considered that her leaving might have changed the outcome, but she knew it was cowardice. A level of cowardice she hadn't seen in herself before. Here on her knees she watched the sky in contemplation, finding that tears pricked her eyes before her cheeks became wet with them.
If destiny is written, then she would never change and the future was set. They were doomed to lose here and she was doomed to be the cruel and merciless person she'd always been. She hadn't changed so far, had she? Despite all her work over the last seven years, she had seriously considered killing this time period's Rogue- an innocent boy.
I almost took another innocent life without any consideration for the effect, Ultear thought, and now I've left them for dead. She stared at her hands, trembling before her on her lap, contemplating her own place in this destiny. Was she the maker and destroyer of this timeline? Were all who died here, destined to die here as future Lucy said?
My life is cursed. I've mocked people, tortured people, killed people. Yet still, they give me a chance to change. A chance to live. Ultear stared at the clock before her thinking of her friends, if she could allow herself to call them that. Gray. Meldy. Jellal. Riku. They all gave me a chance to be a human-being in a guild dedicated to help me atone, but I didn't change. I don't deserve happiness.
Had she ever been happy? She knew with her mother and brother she must have been, but that was so long ago that Ubel didn't even remember. The only time she was even close to happiness was when she had research time magic and the arc of time. She'd been so excited to tell Master Hades about her research to restore her past happiness through Last Ages. But he said it could never be used. Time is given by stealing it from the caster and turning back the clock of the world forces the caster to lose their time. She should have know then that she was destined for unhappiness. But her curse did not need to continue to hurt those around her.
"I'll gladly offer it for the sake of the world," Ultear said to the night sky. She began to focus her magic, hands beginning to glow with a rainbow colored energy. She could feel every inch of magic in her rushing to the rainbow as she focused in. She would take them back to the start of the magic games or to the start of her own kidnapping or to any place that she might be able to redo the world for all of those who had tried to help her before.
She threw her hands against the ground, pushing all of her magic into the earth below, willing with all of her physical and mental might for her intent to come true. "Arc of Time! Last Ages!"
A vortex of power exploded from the ground around her, but she didn't notice. Every cell in her body was on fire. Each nerve ending felt as if it were personally being tugged and prodded. Never before had she felt the type of pain and agony that reached within her very mind and soul. She could barely think straight, she felt her sanity slipping away from the pain.
"No," she commanded, pulling herself back to focus. "This is the agony you inflicted on others. This is your repentance."
Then a new sensation joined the pain, a feeling like the earth were slurping her magic up through a straw. My life is flowing out of me, she realized. My time is vanishing.
"Take my life," Ultear commanded the Earth. "Take my future. Please take the world back to how it use to be, at least just before the portal opened. Take my life in exchange for just a little time!"
The rainbow of color shot from Ultear, up through the air, across space and time. The rainbow of energy expanded, enveloping the city, trickling out across Fiore, perhaps across the world. She felt the last of her power vanish, the Earth stealing it away.
She fell forward on her elbows, sending another jolt of pain through her body. She pushed herself up carefully, noting that she was badly burned all over, her clothes barely holding together. She turned again to the clock, breathing raggedly and barely able to stay conscious. Time, She thought trying to focus.
The clock showed that time had gone back by one minute. The value of my life is just one minute? Ultear realized. She felt a ragged sound catch in her throat as she fell forward, face hitting the ground hard. She was too exhausted to even cry. She could feel a blackness of sleep or death (she wasn't sure which with her loss of time) sneaking into her vision, crowding the edges until she seemed to be floating in the space between the conscious and unconscious world. Her last thought before surrendering to nothingness was, I couldn't save a single soul.
But across the battle field of Crocus, mages had a strange sense of deja vu as a number of near misses occurred. Droy and Jet managed to jump down an alley way just in time to dodge an explosion. Romeo, Macao, and Wakaba were able to stay hidden just a bit longer to avoid an attack. Bacchus dodged a deadly swipe of a miniature dragon's tail. Lucy avoided a path that would have her surrounded by enemies. Gray, Juvia, Lyon, and Meredy destroyed the dragons that would have killed Gray.
"Did someone warn us," Gray asked puzzling at their shared memory. "Who could have done that?"
Riku found his flashback occur as he lay on the ground just after the explosion had thrown him away from the others. His heart was pounding as he grabbed his sword.
"Stay down," he called, pushing himself up and looking around. "Are you all alright?"
He saw Ultear had disappeared, but Jellal and Erza were there, following his instructions.
"I'm fine," Erza called.
"They hit my leg," Jellal told him.
Riku tightened his grip on the sword, scanning the rubble before them. The shots had come from this direction in his vision or memory or whatever it was .
The dragons appeared as if summoned. Four of them popped up so quickly that Riku was almost caught off guard again. But he was ready enough and with rapid succession he disposed of the enemies. He paused, sniffing the air and listening carefully. After a moment he confirmed they were all clear. He hurried to Jellal, checking his leg, which smelled like burned flesh. He ripped off some of his coat, tattered by this point in the battle, and used it to bandage Jellal. Then he pulled him up, half dragging him to where Erza was, eyes scanning about to make sure they remained safe.
"It's clear," Riku said. "I see a sheltered area near by. We can rest there for a bit. It'll be easier for me to protect."
She agreed, pushing herself up by her sword and shaking off Riku's offer to support her. "You'll need a hand to fight in case they come back," she reminded him.
They made it to the shelter and Riku helped Jellal sit. Riku motioned to a spot next to Jellal for Erza, but she shook her head from the edge of the shelter, both hands grasping her sword. Riku went to join her, his own sword drawn and all of his senses heightened, working to find any sign that they would need to fight again. For a few moments they stood in silence, peering out cautiously. Finally, Erza spoke in a quiet tone.
"You saw that vision as well?"
Riku glanced at her, then back to Jellal who was inspecting his bandages with a new level of intensity.
"I saw it," Riku agreed. He watched Erza's face, but it was blank with focus at the task at hand. Still, she had brought it up, so she obviously wanted to discuss it.
"Jellal and I died," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And you..."
"We're not going to let that happen," Riku assured her. "The three of us are too damn stubborn to die here."
She pulled back into the shadow, allowing her hair to fall across her face, which pulled into a strange look. There was something fragile about the look, like any moment she might break to pieces and float away on the winds. Instinctively, Riku reached out, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to him. Once her forehead was against his chest he wrapped both arms around her, scanning the area outside the shelter for movement of any kind. Erza wrapped her own arms around his lower back, nestling her face closer to his chest, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly.
"I need to find Ultear," Jella informed them, pushing himself up and testing his leg. Riku threw him an exasperated look as Erza pulled away, glaring at him.
"You can't go out there yet, you're not rested enough," she scolded.
"Erza's right," Riku said. "You won't do any good for Ultear or anyone else if you get killed, so sit down."
Jellal looked as if he were about to protest, but a flaming asteroid passed their shelter, heading towards the direction of the castle. They couldn't see where it hit exactly, but they felt the contact as the ground shook violently, making both Erza and Jellal stagger forward into Riku, who caught them gingerly.
"What was that," Erza wondered.
"Mavis, I hope it's not something new trying to kill us," Riku sighed. "We might be too stubborn to die, but I don't want to test it out any more tonight."
A soft smile tugged at Erza's lips as she gave him a sideways glance. "Agreed."
I thought about not posting because cliff hangers are so fun, but then I was like nah, I'm not doing anything except writing anyway! So, ta-dah! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!