X2095
Something was off, and Sting could tell simply from the way his friend was pacing along the length of the room like a caged tiger. Sting leaned back against the bar, elbows propped up, and kicked his leg thoughtlessly as he watched Rogue pace one way and then the other once more. Finally, Sting cocked his head and demanded, "What the hell is your problem? You've been doing this for over an hour now, and we should have been closed and done with inventory."
Rogue snorted at him, unamused, and paused only so he wouldn't trip over Frosch when the green-furred feline suddenly darted past, chasing playfully after Lector. "Something's off." He rubbed his chest, fidgeting as if he wanted to continue pacing. "I...it makes me think of Yukino."
Sting fought the urge to flinch at the mere mention of the name. It had been over a thousand years years since the pretty silver-haired Keeper had been murdered before his very eyes by a dragon who was long-since dead, devoured by an ancient creature that even now preyed upon the unfortunate in the forests to the west. The Nuckelavee hadn't even left bones when it had gone on its way. The only sign of Acnologia after that had been the blood that had stained the ground, and even that had burned away beneath the efforts of the Demon King.
"The last time you said that," Sting said, remembering the incident a year ago in which Rogue had dragged him out to investigate the entire length of the city over the course of a week, "it ended up being Natsu. You sure it wasn't him again?"
Rogue bristled, flashing him a glare and baring his teeth in a snarl. "I know what I'm sensing, Sting."
Sting merely clicked his tongue, holding his hands up in a lazy sign of surrender. "Okay, that's fine, but we still have to close the club down, you know."
What had once been the proud Sabertooth guildhall had become a well-known club within the city of Crocus. Repurposed nearly a decade back, some time after the guild had officially come to its end, it was one of the all-time favorite places to go to for residents of Crocus. Sting found that even while he and Rogue prided themselves on the matter, he missed the old times severely most days, when he could leave his office and find a number of old friends waiting around for work. Those same people usually came to visit when they could, often hanging around the club like they'd once hung around the guildhall, but it wasn't the same.
Then again, nothing had been the same since the original city of Crocus had turned to ash and smoldering ruins.
Rather than answer, Rogue stormed from the building, unusually aggravated with his partner-in-crime. Sting watched him go with a little surprise. Rogue was usually the calmer of the two. Something really must have been messing with him if he was feeling so uneasy. Still, they really did have to finish closing the club. It was one of two days they closed early every month, so that Sting and Rogue could tend to their duties as mutual Guardians and Keepers. Sting and Rogue took the work seriously; seeing as both of them were a Keeper as well as a Guardian, the magic that had been used to create their position was particularly powerful and could easily harm them if they didn't do what they thought was best for Natsu.
Sting spent the next hour or so finishing up. When he had, he ducked outside, arms laden with the specially made carrying bags for their familiars, and found Rogue waiting. He looked a little calmer, albeit still bothered and confused, but Rogue said nothing about it. Sting wasn't concerned. At least, not about the fact that Rogue didn't seem inclined to talk to him about what was happening with him. Rogue had been somewhat quiet about such things before Yukino had died; afterwards, he was even more so. As much as Sting grieved for their lost Keeper, he knew he'd never understand the pain Rogue had dealt with for the last thousand or so years.
"We should only need to ensure the seals are whole today," Rogue informed him as they headed down the sidewalk. Even in the evening, Crocus was busy and full of life. Skyscrapers reached high above, shining brilliantly in the darkness. Cars, which Sting had never quite found a love for, rushed by with roaring engines. People came and went, chatting as if it were noon. Dogs barked in various parts of the city. On this particular evening, Sting found he missed the quietness of a city lacking in such technology.
"Good. I'm hungry." Sting parted his jaws in a massive yawn. "Take out's calling my name."
Rogue rolled his eyes. "Even for a dragon," he said in exasperation, "that's unhealthy. You've eaten take out every night for two weeks."
"So? It tastes good," Sting said rather defensively.
The pair continued such conversation as they made their way out of the city. Neither minded the long walk as they crossed past the Eclipse Gate, much later in the evening, long after the sun had gone. Such nights were always late; neither could stand driving up to the mountain, nor would the magic let them.
By the time they'd reached the path that would take them up what had since been named the Sacred Mountain, the moon was high in the sky. Lector and Frosch trailed along at their heels now, freed from their confines now that they were away from the city. The air was fresher here, not nearly as polluted, and Sting breathed it in happily, pausing to look back at the view.
The modern city was pretty, he supposed, but he still missed the beautiful natural view that had come with staying at Yukino's cottage. No other civilization had been in sight then. Now, and especially after Crocus's relocation, the city had grown and spread until it bordered where the Eclipse Gate had once stood. It only took minutes to reach the Gate by car when you left the city.
As they climbed, Rogue said suddenly, "We should visit with Wendy tomorrow. She stopped by the club with Happy and Charle earlier today; I'd forgotten until now."
"Eh? What's she doing in Crocus?" Sting asked, startled.
Rogue shrugged. "She said she was merely visiting. Something about meeting with some old Fairy Tail members that live in the city nowadays."
"So more than likely Gray," decided Sting. Rogue nodded his agreement. After the disbanding of the Fioran guilds a few centuries prior, several mythics had gathered in Crocus, finding comfort in numbers. Gray was one of those people, along with his - at the time, new - wife. He and Juvia had called Crocus home for quite some time, leaving for a few years here or there to avoid suspicion from clueless humans. Very few mythics lived in that way now. It was easier to hide in the quickly shrinking wilder parts of the world. The last they'd heard, several had gone to live in Jellal's fortress to the north, actually. His own guildmates included.
Too bad they were tied to the area, as Levy and Gajeel were tied to the Archives. Unless their charge someday woke up, they were stuck.
Eventually, they made it to the top of the Sacred Mountain, where a cavern resided. They didn't bother to enter it; they'd never reach the bottom, where the Demon King slumbered. For over one thousand years, he'd rested there, placed there by Jellal, Erza, Makarov, Levy, Gajeel, and Gildarts upon finally being defeated. Sting didn't like the term. "Defeated" insinuated that Natsu had ever been an enemy, when in reality, those who remembered why he'd done what he'd done knew that he'd done so simply because he'd been unable to live with the pain like Rogue had. Regardless, Sting wasn't keen on seeing him wake up and trash the area.
Sting thought about that quite often; he wasn't sure the few that remembered the Lost Years as he did believed the same. The likes of Laxus Dreyar believed Natsu had simply pretended to be as he had for so long. He'd fooled them all into thinking he was more human than demon. Others, however, like Sting himself, knew better. Why would someone who was simply evil take the time to carve an unreadable note into the stones before the Eclipse Gate? Why choose such a devastating action when he'd come to them all only days before to beg for help so that he could rest peacefully?
The Demon King had never been evil. He'd simply been in too much pain to do anything but ensure he couldn't feel at all.
Sting couldn't blame him for that.
Each dragon went to inspect a variety of ancient carvings with their respective familiar. Sting began the easy trek of the first few, checking one after the other. Each remained in tact and whole, ensuring that the Demon King remained slumbering within his prison.
Six symbols in, however, he found something concerning. "Rogue," he called. "Come look at this."
Rogue swiftly came to join him, and when he was sure Rogue was ready to see, he pointed out the miniscule crack that had formed in the sigil. "See?" he murmured. "The seal here is breaking. I can't tell if it's Natsu, the fact that Lucy went back last year, or just the mountain moving over time."
Rogue ran his finger along the crack, debating. "Or a combination," he commented. Sting rumbled unhappily in agreement. It could be a number of things. "We'll recarve this one here." He tapped a blank section of stone right beside the cracked sigil. "To ensure it remains whole." The magic demanded as such, though Mavis claimed that no number of sigils would stop Natsu from waking up when he decided it was time. The magic was more so to keep others away from Natsu than to keep him in.
Sting still found it hard to believe. Natsu Dragneel, who'd stood among the dragons for so long, who'd practically raised them alongside the others, was the Demon King. Sting had looked up to him for countless years before they'd all left Tenrou. Yet, it turned out that he was the demon of legends, the one Igneel had fought. The Demon King was notorious for his violence and cruelty, yet…
Sting didn't think that was all true. Natsu had very clearly been aware of what he was, and had saved a number of people in his time with Fairy Tail. He'd cared fiercely for Lucy - enough so that the pain that had come with losing her was too much for him to handle. It just didn't match what everyone else thought the Demon King to be.
Sting and Rogue carefully crafted the sigil beside its predecessor, and once they were satisfied, they went back to checking the rest of them. No other sigil had been tampered with, and before long, they were heading back down the mountain. Moonlight shone down upon them, turning them silver. Dawn was already making its appearance when Sting spoke again.
"Do you think Lucy'll come back?" Sting suddenly asked, unable to help himself from voicing the question he'd been thinking of for the last year, since he'd spotted her on the sidewalk near the club. It had been Mavis who'd sent word that she'd officially gone through the Gate not too long after.
"Even we don't fully understand the Eclipse Gate," Rogue said simply, rubbing his chest with a furrowed brow, as if whatever odd feeling he'd been experiencing for some time now was tugging at him again. "I think there's a chance, but it's not guaranteed. For all we know, she could have been sent to the future, far ahead of this time. Or she could have been sent further back and killed. We won't know unless she shows up again."
Sting sighed heavily, raking a hand through his hair. "Wish we did," he muttered. "Would make our lives a hell of a lot easier…"
"Easier doesn't always mean right," was Rogue's annoyingly true answer. "The Fates will decide if she comes back to this time or is sent elsewhere, Sting." He paused to gather Frosch in his arms when Frosch suddenly stopped to demand as such, purring and holding his tail high. His gaze softened as he stroked Frosch's fur, finding comfort in the motion. "In the meantime-"
One moment, Rogue was cradling his familiar to his chest; the next he'd hit the ground on his knees, wheezing for air and tearing at his own chest with a silent cry. Sting froze in shock, unable to move for a few seconds as he comprehended what was happening. He crashed down beside him when he realized something was wrong, eyes round with concern. "Rogue?!"
He was only confused further when Rogue laughed, his knuckles white as he clutched at his own shirt. For the first time since Yukino's death, Rogue looked excited and happy, his eyes sparkling with delight. Sting nudged frantically at his friend's shoulder, demanding his attention anxiously as Frosch and Lector suddenly tore off, ignoring his call for them to come back.
"Yukino," was all Rogue said, staring at the sky as something flashed overhead in the lightning sky of dawn.
To the naked mortal eye, it was a shooting star. A wishing star, some might have called it. As it was, a child who saw the star dart across the sky gasped and clasped her hands together, wishing to it - completely oblivious to the truth.
As the sun began to rise on the horizon, the first beam of light shone over the crisp autumn morning and the sky began to give way. The night that had allowed the stars to shine in all their glory was fading. The shooting star raced among them, already following along the potentially deadly path that would end with devastation if not done just right.
Each bounding step took the star further and further down along that path towards the ground below, yet the star ignored the danger in favor of seeking the source of ancient magic that had suddenly flooded the air mere moments before - a sign the star had been waiting on for near a year. To some, the wait would have seemed endless; to the star who'd seen centuries, it had been the blink of an eye.
And then, like a comet flashing across the sky in all its brilliance and glory, the star saw what it had been seeking streak across the sky like a second fallen star. As promised by a creature far older than the star, the subject of her search had come on the equinox. The star flew to it, already braced for the danger that was quickly coming upon them both.
For where a star fell, devastation reigned as payment for the star's betrayal.
She tripped through the air as she finally caught what she'd been looking for, and then...she, too, was plummeting from the heavens. The falling star did her best to redirect their path to the forests beyond the city, and a triumphant cry filled her when another star danced through the sky to help, ensuring their path. The star raced home within moments, but those few seconds had been enough.
They hit the ground hard, and pain ricocheted through the fallen star in a way it hadn't since the last day she'd drawn breath as they were sent rolling and spinning through the trees. She lay there for a few moments, gasping for air, and then grinned at the pale, lavender-stained sky. "I did it," she breathed. "I caught Lucy."
No sound came from the woman she'd caught, and the star hurried to scramble to her hands and knees. As quickly as she could, she crawled over to check on her companion. She found her not too far away, littered with blood, mud, leaves, and everything else that could be found on the floor of a forest. She sucked in a nervous breath when she realized she wasn't responsive - unconscious, even. But a quick check told her she was alive.
"I did it," she repeated with a faint laugh.
As if in response to her joy, the black scales that ran along her throat and shoulders rose and fell, and it took a moment to realize that the rising flicker of confusion wasn't her own. Astonishment came with it, as well as suspicion. She wanted so desperately to find the owner of those emotions, but didn't dare. Yukino Auguria had other things to worry about for the time being.
Like the fact that she now had to figure out how to get back to the nearby city, as well as navigate it and get the unconscious Lucy Heartfilia the medical help she needed. She was ghostly pale, even beneath the nighttime sky that had begun to show itself, and had clearly lost a lot of blood. Various wounds sprinkled her body from their fall, and Yukino didn't miss the fact that the jagged wound that stretched along her arm was still oozing blood. Her cuffs were dented and scuffed, her clothes torn, blonde hair tangled and matted.
Yukino drew on what comfort the feelings she'd not experienced in a very long time could offer and rose to her feet. With care, she brushed off her hands on her stained silver gown and then put her hands on her hips.
It was a good thing she was no longer human, she told herself as she stooped to gather Lucy in her arms. She was a lot stronger than she used to be. "Right, Lucy," she murmured, pausing to consider where she should go. Instinct spun her to the west. It would take them right past where Yukino had once lived, all those years ago.
Yukino couldn't help but tell her as she started walking, knowing fully well that Lucy couldn't hear her, "Welcome home."
Exciting chapter! Yukino's back (did anyone remember the little bit from [what I believe to be] chapter two?)! ;) And now onto the modern era. Wonder what's gonna happen~
Sorry for the late update. Fell into another struggle moment, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up again. On the bright side, I got a job!
Thanks to reviewers (VioletZap, PrincessAndromeda56, SmallRedhead, AthomeinFairytail, LucyDragneel2009, Lovetoreadff, Meow Orbit, rao hyuga 18, nerdalertwarning, valerioux,thelemonroll, Guest #1, Kinza, Roll24k, Uchida Akira, Bmv0315, Guest #2, theHumbleGM, ShePlaysGame, Jack5635, takeagamble27, Lycamall, NerdmomDM, Lodemai04, Jca007, BetaDreamer, SheWhoLeavesCrappyReviews, Sele de la Luna, ckc15, Guest #3, Kisa7221, Kaisha00, SistershoOk, EraticMind, LayLay lives, guest #4, Sydneste, Guest #5, zizi-8, itsxoi, FairyTailxFnGirl, Springuest, Guest #6, nermansherman, Kinakina, Blueupdate, Eyriegirl, and Bookwork129!) as well as those who favorited and followed!