Chapter 28 - Turning Points
When the light finally faded from the cave, everyone finally let down the guard after what had been an exhausting ordeal for them all. Gajeel's shield had gone shiny yet cracked from the sheer power that had been unleashed in the singular attack.
"Is everyone alright?" Cana called out as she looked around the cave, content with it being safe enough as she looked to where her other teammates had been only to find them missing.
"Somehow…" Mira answered as she and Juvia picked themselves off of the floor, pushing off rubble that had covered them moments ago while the pair of them appeared beaten and bruised while Mira was back to her normal appearance, no longer under the influence of her take-over magic.
"Are you sure? When he managed to breach my defences you shielded us with your wings!" Juvia continued to ask as she looked over at the s-class mage, more concerned with Mira's wellbeing rather than her own comfort from the rubble and wounds that covered her.
"I admit he certainly is impressive, even after eating Fairy Glitter I wouldn't have thought that he would be that powerful…" Mira said with a slight chuckle before getting serious again as she looked around the caves, doing her best to look past plenty of rock and sand that remained frozen in the air. "Gajeel, can you still sense them?" she asked as she looked over at the iron dragon.
"Only remnants, I would say chase 'em but we both know that's futile…" Gajeel answered before allowing himself to slump down onto the ground while gritting his teeth in frustration. "What about that other woman?" he asked, his voice almost growling as he looked around the area trying to find the other source of his aggravation only to eye Lia in an unconscious state with everyone else following his gaze.
"I guess that she was too exhausted to fully hold back an attack that large," Mira said as she looked over at the beaten guardian.
"If she hadn't done anything then we could have learned a lot more from them," Cana said in disdain before sinking in mood, "And then I wouldn't have had to use Fairy Glitter on Nathan," she added on as she thought about the events that had happened following her use of it.
"It wasn't intentional of you using it on him, and he seemed to perfectly enjoy eating it," Juvia chipped in as she walked over to the cards mage, "But it was concerning to see his reaction after it, it wasn't normal but I don't think it was your fault either."
"Something was going wrong with the kid, even if he managed to fight through it he could still be suffering from whatever it was and I doubt that Zabost would be helping him out that much," Gajeel replied as he turned back to the rest of the group.
"But Wendy is with him, and she's the best hope of helping him." Juvia returned
"Either way, it's all that we can do now that they're gone. And I'm sure that Wendy will make sure that he properly recovers, right now all we can do is start heading back to the guild and inform the master of everything that has happened here. He might be interested in hearing of their plan and of ' 'Temporal Tower ''' Mira said as she cut between the two, getting the attention of her team as she instructed them as the leader before folding back into her own personal thoughts.
"We're bringing Lia back with us then?" Cana asked as she walked over to the unconscious guardian, looking down at her before looking back at Mira awaiting her choice.
"There's no reason for her to stay here anymore now that the time gear has been taken, besides she needs care now." Mira replied, "She might have caused problems for us but we can't just leave her here like this."
"I know." Cana blandly replied as she fished through her handbag, quickly pulling out one of her cards before holding over the guardian, before long a quick flash of light took place that removed Lia from where she was before Cana turned the card around, releasing a small content smile as she looked down upon the trapped figure in the card.
Upon seeing that Cana had seen to Lia, Mira quickly hurried to her own responsibilities, walking on over to a bag that the group of them had brought with them as she pulled out the small communication lacrima that they had brought with them, channelling her magic through it as she waited for someone to pick up.
"Master," She immediately spoke as she addressed the small man who appeared before her in the crystal. "We have our report, not much went to plan but we did hear something…" she started, sparing no time the moment that she had been given her que.
Makarov slowly turned away from the communication lacrima as the call ended after having officially told Mira's team to come back, his mind already running over the events that had been reported to him.
"Was that an update from Laxus or Mira?" Lisanna asked as she walked up to the master from behind the bar counter. "Was there some good news?"
"Mmm," Makarov hummed back in a low voice as he remained in thought, "They couldn't keep the time gear from being taken, but instead they managed to get a little bit of information." He finally answered, stirring mixed feelings within the animal soul user.
"So Wendy and Nathan still aren't coming back… but what did they say then?" She enquired as she set down another mug of beer as per an earlier request of the master.
"They mentioned what they planned to do, that they were collecting some of the time gears to take to a place called Temporal Tower, claiming that all of time will come to a standstill if they don't do so. Apparently, they were also in a rush as well indicating that they don't have that long…" Makarov explained.
"I see, I wonder what they saw while they were in the future then…" Lisanna pondered while her expressions sank as she failed to think of many positive possibilities, it was clear that there was something very wrong with the world and they were being presented with one of two options, one that two of the guildmates had already chosen for themselves…
"Either way, I wonder if Levy has come across anything about this Temporal Tower that they spoke of… if there is any evidence of such a place then there would be more reason to believe." Makarov said before hopping down from where he was sat, walking across the guild to where the local bookworm sat within a pile of paper, books and scrolls as she delved into anything that held possible, promising information about the situation.
"Have you come across anything yet Levy?" Makarov asked as he tried peering down on the work of the solid script mage who was within the middle of writing down more notes as her glasses allowed her to continue reading at high speed.
"I might be! Have you just gotten a call from one of the teams?" She asked as she finally turned away from her work, a sense of excitement in her voice as something had clearly managed to get her motivated.
"Mm," Makarov simply hummed, "I wondered if you had come across anything called Temporal Tower amongst everything you have been working on." He asked which took Levy back as she heard the name before she hurried to flick through her notes and some of the tomes that lay on the table.
"I have! I haven't found a name for it so far but in the texts of Mildian, an ancient civilization that had worshipped the god of time Chronos. In some of their texts, they mentioned a sacred tower that had something to do with time itself." Levy answered as she happily stopped flicking through a large book to stop on a page that depicted a large tower in the style of the ancient drawings.
"So you believe that this tower could be the very same one that they are working towards? What else is there known about it?" Makarov inquired.
"Well, Mildian was destroyed around 400 years ago all in one day and was said to be where Zeref had first appeared so there isn't much from there anymore," Levy stated as she turned back to the books again.
"And even among the people of Mildian, they are just legends despite having been close followers of Chronos so there isn't much to confirm it. But there are some things that we can think about." She stated as she racked her mind for all the facts that she could remember.
"Gods are usually looked up to as maintainer's of balance, and the beings that hold complete dominion over aspects of our world, I think it would make sense that the presence of a god would likely be needed for stability right?" she said while the master remained silent, allowing her to speak her thoughts as he considered her words, nodding on to indicate his eager listening.
"Well, when we were fighting the Alvesar Empire, one of the Spirrigan Twelve was a god soul user apparently! And guess which god she made us of!" Levy said.
"Chronos?" Makarov guessed with a lifted brow.
"Yeah, I don't know how even they managed something like that unless there had been some form of an agreement but even if Chronos continued to exist like that, do you think that he would still be able to support the time?" Levy replied.
"So he would need something to do it in his place…" Makarov mumbled as he pondered, "And you think that would prove the existence of the tower?"
"Hopefully, if it does then it would mean that the time gears are simply fundamental parts that the tower needs which would explain everything that Zabost is doing. I still wonder what they would be doing away from the tower, however…"
"Do the texts mention anything on where this tower would even be?" Makarov asked again.
"Hmm, not really…" Levy answered, "They do mention that it's hidden away somewhere highly inaccessible except to a select chosen few, somewhere called the place 'Where all times do meet'" she added on as she read through the texts again, running a finger along a portion of the ancient texts.
"All times meet? Do they mean the past, present and future?" Lily asked from the side as he approached the talking two, pondering over the unusual phrase he had just heard. "Either way, that's where Zabost is aiming for? And he's bringing Nathan, Wendy and now Carla along as well?"
"Apparently so, but then what about the things that Dimitri told us?" Makarov pondered.
"He did take away Nathan and Wendy, and time hasn't gone back to normal either." Lily pointed out, "And if this tower really exists, then wouldn't that suggest that Zabost is actually trying to save the world and not destroy it?"
"So the roles would be reversed?" Levy jumped in, "And Dimitri just warped our opinions to have us help stop him? But still, why would he take Nathan and Wendy as well?"
"I feel that we will likely not get any answers concerning why they happened to be taken away from us, however, another situation is looking more and more probable," Makarov noted as he lapsed back into thought.
No doubt that telling the magic council any of this would likely yield less than favourable results even with it being composed mostly of the wizard saints. 'I suppose Laxus should hear this, and maybe make a decision with him. Perhaps Tia might have different opinions than her sister's if she hears this…' he thought to himself as he made his way back to the bar and the communication lacrima that he had left there…
With a plop sound Zabost dropped Nathan to the sandy floor with little care as Carla and Wendy finally caught up with the adult mage, the former having carried the latter. "You could have just put me down…" Nathan mumbled as he tried rolling onto his back before attempting to sit upright, something that proved far more of a struggle than usual.
"Nathan! Are you alright?!" Wendy exclaimed as she quickly rushed over to his side, helping him sit upright while taking the chance to inspect his body, namely his arms, holding them as she searched for any trace of abnormality. "What about those scales? I saw you had them!" she continued as she failed to notice any trace of the draconic features.
"I'm fine…" Nathan replied as he looked down at his own arms, "for now at least…"
"He burned himself dry of all magic, halting the effects of the seed. It originally started since his body only wanted to burn off excess magic that he usually didn't have." Zabost started to explain as he sat down to look into the distance where the sun was setting over the desert. "It's likely that you have to complete the whole transformation before it sticks for good."
"You made us worried like that!" Carla snapped as she stood beside Nathan.
"Sorry… I didn't think anything like that would happen…" Nathan replied as he faced the feline who's expression demonstrated more fear and concern than the anger in her voice seemingly portrayed. "And it wasn't like it was deliberate either…" he said, going quiet as tiredness began to set in.
"Are you fine now? Is there anything I can do?" Wendy eventually asked after a few quiet moments, having tried to think of anything that the god slayer could possibly need right now.
"Just some rest" Nathan replied before looking at the setting sun before sighing. "Do you think that eating any light is risky now?"
"Well… hopefully, your seed won't grow if you don't make use of your dragon gods mode but…" Wendy slowly started to answer as she pondered over the possibilities herself, worrying and fearing for the worst-case scenario that they could be faced with if everything really did go wrong. She didn't even complete her sentence as she felt quiet with gloom at the thought of potentially anything being able to set him off.
"Wendy?" Carla softly called out to the teenage girl as she tried to look into her eye's in the attempt to read what the girl was thinking.
"I won't take any more risks, there's nothing to worry about…" Nathan quipped in, guessing what was weighing on her mind making her look up again with seemingly teary eyes. "I won't use that power, I won't excessively eat light… I won't become a dragon, of any kind." he continued, hoping that they were the words that she wanted to hear.
In response, Wendy merely nodded her head at a slow rate before she couldn't help but lean in and gently hug him, prompting Nathan to return the gesture for her comfort.
"I'm sorry for not being able to do any better… I'll find some way to help you! I'm sure that there is something that I can still try to completely stop it!" Wendy said as she looked back up at Nathan directly into his eyes allowing him to see the tears that were already beginning to spill out of her eyes and drop down either onto her dress or his bare chest.
Meanwhile, Zabost looked at the pair from where he was sat, doing his best to hold back a small grunt from the whole scene, and was about to turn away to block it all out before something else managed to capture his attention.
"That scar… I don't remember you having anything like it before." Zabost suddenly called out, breaking the moment between the slayers as they looked over in confusion. "The one on your back, where did you get it? You didn't have it when I knew you and the only other one that you have is the one I gave you. You didn't already have another life-threatening situation in the few weeks that you've been with them, did you?" he continued hoping that he would get an answer to satisfy his curiosity.
"You mean, I never, never had this during the time that I spent with you?" Nathan repeated in confusion.
"But Nathan had that since when we first met him," Carla mentioned as she thought back to how they had met, the very same day of him washing up on the beach, now presumably from just arriving from the future, he already had a large diagonal scar running along his back.
"If you never had that when you were with Zabost, but you already had it when you immediately met us, then what caused it?" Carla continued as she looked back at Nathan intrigued at whatever the unusual phenomenon was.
"Had you already been somewhere before you washed up on the beach?" Wendy asked as she wiped her tears from her eye's, her frown still not leaving despite her peaked curiosity, however.
"I lost my memory, I wouldn't know…" Nathan answered as he lapsed into thought.
"But you have never had any head injury?" Zabost enquired as he leaned into the conversation, already having his own string of thoughts.
"Nope." Nathan simply replied.
"Then was that also a part of the accident we had while time travelling? You lost your memory and became younger again and maybe even gained that scar…" Zabost theorised before grunting in dissatisfaction at his own idea. "Even if you were injured from time travel going wrong, it still doesn't explain why only the back…" he mumbled as he continued to think.
"Um, is there nothing else that could have caused it then? Maybe something happened to your trip that caused the accident? I mean nothing happened when the three of us made it back from the future." Wendy asked, making Zabost perk up again.
"It's highly unlikely, even Aion couldn't interrupt our travel and only Celia knew the magic to mess with the passage of time but she would never have done anything that would have done us harm. It wasn't even the first time that she had used it." Zabost answered with matter-of-fact tones, disregarding the idea completely.
"But is there some way for people to manipulate it?" Carla repeated, "And how can Aion not affect it? I thought that it was supposed to be a god of time?"
"Aion is a dragon god of time, effectively a pet created by Chronos to take his place but because of that his power is lesser. If Chronos made it so, then it would be out of Aion's grasp which we assume the Passage of Time to be as a result."
"But someone called Celia can control it?" Carla continued to inquire.
"She is an exceptional time mage, nothing short of a master." Zabost curtly replied.
"And what if there was someone else like her?" Carla then asked, making Zabost go still while Nathan and Wendy looked on in curiosity at the reaction.
"It's highly unlikely that such a person would exist in this time…" Zabost answered before he went quiet again as he lowered his head in deeper thought. "But not impossible…" he mumbled.
"So does that mean that Nathan was attacked as you came from the future?" Wendy asked as she thought about the situation. "And then that caused Nathan to lose his memories and become younger?"
"Becoming younger and losing his memories would almost certainly be caused by the accident while time travelling, not directly caused by the attack if it did happen. It's considered taboo magic for humans to use, rewinding the time of a living being shouldn't be possible, even the slightest change would at least require a large sacrifice." Zabost said in dismissal, confidence once again filling his voice as he knew the subject of the topic once again.
"What caused that scar and the cause of our previous time travel accident is however quite likely strongly related, if not the same thing." Zabost summarised as he looked back up at the teenagers who still were giving him their full attention.
"So… everything only ended up this way because we, I, was likely attacked?" Nathan said as he pondered over the thought.
"Are you alright?" Wendy worriedly asked him as she turned to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It stopped affecting me long ago, it just makes me think about who and why," he replied as he returned the look, quickly alleviating Wendy's worries.
"Well if it wasn't for that then we wouldn't have met and gotten along the way we did," Carla mentioned as she thought about the possibilities, making Wendy and Nathan go quiet at the thought. Just what would their lives be like, and how would they treat one another if that accident hadn't happened?
"What has happened, happened, there is no changing it now." Zabost said cutting in again, "Besides, I imagine that you like it more this way don't you?" he added on as he cast another glance towards the two again.
"I suppose we do…" Nathan slowly said after a moment of silence, his words earning a small smile from Wendy as she heard them. "But it's kinda ironic hearing you saying that there is no changing it despite the fact that we are changing the whole of the future thought…"
"Then that lies as an expectation. Time has a way of remaining constant even if people try to meddle, but the rules change when you are trying to stop its destruction." Zabost answered as he turned away from the kids again.
"Like the eclipse gate? I'm not certain but I think that had an effect on time.''Wendy suggested as she recalled one of the more dangerous moments of her life.
"Honestly, I think time was rather in a messy state after that and simply took the easiest way to sort everything out." Carla sighed as she remembered everything that had taken place from it, and all the effects that had been caused as a result, both before and after everything had actually transpired.
"Tampering with time is something that mortals should usually go about avoiding as much as possible." Zabost curtly mentioned, "Naturally what we are doing is an exception."
"But since Nathan's exhausted there will be no training, unless you want to try fighting me on your own." He added on as he turned to Wendy, locking eyes with her with an unwavering gaze.
"Um… No thank you…" Wendy eventually replied under the pressure of the older man, "I need to give Nathan more attention right now, I don't want him to get any worse…" she answered as she trailed off looking over him with a small frown as her worries all began to resurface again..
"I'll be fine in the meantime, what about trying to learn to fly on your own at least" Nathan suggested as he noticed Wendy looking back at him.
"I can't! You had continued in that state then you know what would have happened!" Wendy immediately argued back.
Internally Zabost groaned at the sight before sighing, 'There's no point in trying, but that would never go down well with them…' he thought to himself before lying down onto the sand, closing his eyes all while trying to block out the sounds of the two teenagers that continued to stay up…
"Wendy, don't you think you're pushing yourself now?" Carla eventually spoke up as she continued to watch Wendy with her hands firmly pressed against Nathan's bareback, for once not fazed as she gave her full grave concentration on him and her magic.
"You have been doing this a lot longer than normal, I know you get to rest more than I do but you still need to be ready for tomorrow you know…" Nathan joined in as he tried to cast back a glance at the girl who had been tirelessly toiling over him.
After the pair of them had argued for a short while Zabost slept on Wendy finally won against Nathan with her instance of focusing more on his current condition, finding an easy win against him the moment that her eyes had begun to go puffy from tears that had formed from the sheer worry that she held for him.
That alongside the puppy eyes she had given him in her pleas there was nothing left for him but to concede, not at all being able to find any more strength to fight against her protests, even with him beginning to feel that he was being selfish rather than Wendy being selfless…
"I'm alright, I just can't rest that much thought, I have to make sure that I get everything right! That can't happen again!" Wendy replied, even still not removing her intense gaze from Nathan's back.
"I already said that I wouldn't take any risks when it came to it didn't I?" Nathan replied as he turned around, "I really meant that, and I know you are pushing yourself, I can see the bags forming under your eyes."
"But…" Wendy started.
"You are pushing yourself far too much, child, for now, this is enough isn't it?" Carla interjected, cutting in and preventing Wendy from saying what she wanted. "Come on, you should try to get some sleep now. And the same goes for you." she continued, directing the last of her words towards Nathan who merely shrugged his shoulders, not understanding why he was one who had to be told.
"Right…" Wendy quietly said, caving in with what she was being told as she began to settle down, letting go of Nathan as she allowed more space between them. Yet despite her conceding actions, she couldn't separate her gaze from Nathan, more specifically his arms.
"But are you sure that you're at least back to normal?" She then asked, getting Nathan to look at her again curiously before noticing her fixated stare.
"Well… they went away rather quickly, and I never felt any of it happen until Zabost had pointed it out…" Nathan answered as he inspected them, feeling one with the other while Wendy sorely watched with a small frown.
Slowly, Wendy began to reach out her hand before snapping out of her daze, sharply retracting back to her body. 'What was I doing…' Wendy thought in a fluster while her face quickly turned bright pink.
"Wendy?" Nathan asked as he looked up upon noticing the retreating figure of the girl who quickly hid her face, knowing that the darkness of night wouldn't be enough to hinder his sight.
"It's nothing! I was just…" She said frantically thinking of something persuasive to say.
"You didn't trust me so much and wanted to check yourself?" Nathan guessed with a slight smile as he looked back at the girl who constantly worried so much for him.
"Ah, yeah…." Wendy replied in consignment after she had been so perfectly pointed out. 'Or was it even that? I wasn't thinking…' she secretly thought to herself as she reviewed her actions.
"Well, if you really want to, I was telling the truth though," Nathan said as he held out his arm towards her, giving her the perfect chance to reach out and hold onto him for herself.
Taking the given chance, Wendy did just that, reaching out and holding on, taking the time to carefully run her hands over the whole of his arm before switching to the other one making sure that she couldn't feel anything that wasn't supposed to be.
"I did trust you actually... " Wendy quietly mentioned as she continued to inspect his arms while her small frown gradually turned to a smile, unknowingly relishing the warmth that she felt from doing so as well as the sense of relief that washed over her worries.
"You still wanted to check though?" Nathan replied as Wendy continued to check his arm before turning to the other, allowing him to feel the relaxing, warm sensation of her soft skin running over his own.
"Hmm…" She quietly hummed back in response, slowly retracting her hands as she finished checking over Nathan's arms, fighting back against the faint feeling of wanting to continue holding on. "Well, we should go to sleep now right?" Wendy suggested as she looked back at him with
"Right." Nathan faintly agreed before they awkwardly turned away from one another, each of them trying to find some way to be comfortable for the night while Carla joined Wendy for more warmth through the night.
'But we are sleeping in the desert right now… sleeping at night here without any warmth would certainly leave them with colds…' Carla soon thought to herself as she looked back over at Nathan who lay on the desert sand, gazing up at the stars as he tried to let sleep take over him, the shivers that ran down his body being clearly noticeable as the cold night desert air robbed him of his natural warmth.
'At the very least Wendy has me, however…' Carla continued to think before her thoughts drifted back to a certain experience that had played out in the past. 'The last time she started suffocating me… and I doubt that I can keep her warm either…' she continued to think before releasing a small sigh.
There would be little choice…
Even though she held slight disdain towards the thought, it would be something that would have to be done if they didn't want to see any consequences for the night, especially if she was to have any hope for a peaceful slumber as well…
"Nathan." Carla then called out as she turned back towards the teenage boy, gaining his curiosity as he tilted his head towards the white exceed, using his eyebrows to express his attention and puzzlement.
"You should come over here, you'll get a cold or worse if you sleep alone." Carla calmly instructed, remaining completely contrary to the two slayers as they heard her words.
"Huh?! Um, Carla…" Nathan said, thumbing over his words as he tried to frantically think about what he had just been told.
"Eh?! C-Carla!" Wendy exclaimed as she suddenly turned to face her partner in shock at the command she had just given, processing over the fact that it hadn't even been a seeming suggestion of hers.
"I already mentioned, you will get ill if you sleep on your own out here, you need something for warmth." Carla continued with insistence in her voice while she gave Nathan a hard glare, seemingly full of expectation of having him close the distance between them.
"But we shouldn't… it would be different if it was just you but…" Nathan shuttered as he thought of anything that would otherwise persuade Carla from such thoughts. "There's nothing to worry about anyway, I'll be perfectly fine in the morning," he said, waving off her concerns.
"I won't be stopping at some ridiculous argument like that! Do you have any idea how cold a desert can get at night?" Carla retaliated, "The pair of you had slept together twice now, what's changed since then?" she challenged, instantly making Nathan and Wendy's bright red faces turn a scarlet crimson, the pair thanking the night that masked their faces from Carla's vision.
'I fell for her, that's what!', 'I love him now!' The pair mentally screamed to themselves at the question, both still not able to believe the suggestion that was going on at the moment.
"Carla what are you doing?! Y-y-you know that i couldn't!" Wendy frantically started to whisper to Carla making sure that despite her complete lack of composure she made sure that there wasn't the faintest chance that Nathan could hear her voice, making sure that even Natsu would have a hard time hearing her.
"I know child, and honestly I would like the pair of you sleeping apart but we have nothing else to keep us warm," Carla replied with a heavy sight as she turned to cox the very much panicking girl.
"Maybe it might be possible to try and enjoy it, I haven't been oblivious to how you appear when you are in his arms," she added on with a faint smirk, her words being enough to push Wendy over yet another level of embarrassment that she had never felt before as steam rose from her head.
"Ahbababa…" Wendy said whilst her mind remained in the middle of a mental breakdown.
"Wendy? Are you alright?" Nathan asked upon noticing her unusual actions. "There's no need to let it get to you so much, if your that uncomfortable with the idea then I won't do it…" he continued, doing his best to seal away what emotions continued to rage within his heart putting on a calm facade.
"Ah! Um, It's not like… I'm…" Wendy continued to bumble out.
"It doesn't matter, for tonight you're going to have to get used to it!." Carla declared once more as she flew over to Nathan, soon doing her best to drag him over to Wendy to remain almost paralysed in shock and embarrassment with what was transpiring.
"H-hey…" Nathan weakly argued as Carla pulled him along over to Wendy before letting him go as she herself settled down alongside Wendy.
"Just remember that you have done this once before and try to get used to it, soon enough you will be glad for it when it gets later into the night," Carla said, getting comfortable with her space between the two before closing her eye's. "You should get to sleep now, good night."
"Ah… Night…" Nathan managed to return as he looked down at the feline.
"Good night…" Wendy added on as she faced her partner, her mind clearing for the briefest of moments before she looked back up again, her eye's locking with Nathan's as he caught notice of her movement.
Once again, the pair of them erupted into blush, remaining silent as no words would leave their mouths.
"Um…" Wendy suddenly started, being the first to break the awkward silence between them. "Sorry for Carla's insistence…"
"It's fine… she just has our health in mind…" Nathan awkwardly returned. "I can just back off at some point…"
"You don't have to!" Wendy quickly replied, the words having suddenly and eagerly left her mouth shocking Nathan before shocking herself as she realised what she had done. "I-I mean, there's nothing wrong with staying where you are! It's chilly, isn't it! And Carla would be upset!"
"Right!" Nathan immediately replied as he did his best to put on a smile that Wendy returned before they couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion at what was an unusually strenuous conversation between them.
"Then… should we call it a night then?" Nathan suggested with a glance.
"Mm…" Wendy quietly hummed in response before she slowly lowered herself onto one of her arms, while she hugged Carla to her body with the other, Nathan now lying just across from her, close enough that if she just reached out for them then she could…
'Wait, what am I thinking?!' She suddenly thought as she snapped out of her train of thought, shaking her head as if to further shake off the thought, 'I can't hug him can I?!' she thought as she continued to stare blankly at the boy before her that had started to try and sleep himself.
'But... it would be… nice….' she thought to herself with the last of her drifting mind before her eye's closed for the night with a cosy sense of warmth spilling from her chest that easily fought off the cold air of the night…
Despite making himself appear asleep, Nathan still kept his eyes open faintly as he looked at the sleeping figure of the girl before him, her almost angelic features and beauty almost radiating light as she slept under the stars with him.
'No matter what…' Nathan thought to himself with a bitter smile born of torn emotion. He could never let her cry… no matter what he would make sure that everything would be over without any problems whatsoever.
When the morning finally came around the team slowly started to awaken. Their waking minds not yet processing what small miracle had already taken place for the day as they remained where they lay, a faint cold yet refreshing chill running over their bodies as they lay beneath the rising sun of the desert.
'Doesn't… Zabost usually wake us up?' Wendy thought to herself before attempting to stifle a small yawn, at the same time she moved her arm to her face to help rub the sleep out of her eyes… or at least she attempted to.
She tried one more time as she fluttered her eyes wondering what was wrong, naturally, she was resting on one of her arms while the other was wrapped around Carla, but that wasn't all it was doing anymore.
'Huh?!' Wendy internally exclaimed, the last of her tiredness suddenly getting blown away as she realised the reason why she could move her arm so well. It was true that she was holding Carla to her body but primarily she was clinging onto Nathan's shirt, preventing him from rolling away in his sleep and holding him close to her.
'And he's hugging me as well!' Wendy continued to scream internally as she finally noticed the warm, similar sensation of his arm that made its way to her back, holding her closer to him as he clearly subconsciously did so for her heat during the night. 'I know that Carla said to do this to stay warm but… but...' she continued as she gradually found herself relaxing.
But… It was nice...
'He wouldn't notice… if we did this a little longer, right?' Wendy thought as she looked over at Nathan's sleeping face with curious, hopeful eye's before a faint smile accompanied the faint blush on her face.
Taking the chance that she was given, silently and carefully she positioned herself even closer to him while making sure that she caused Carla no discomfort in the process, her smile growing ever wider as she lay content, snugged up into the soothing warmth of his body.
But it wasn't much longer before Zabost woke, his eyes snapping open to the sight of the clear blue sky before getting to his feet as he ignored the freezing cold that his body felt which had accumulated throughout the night.
"Earlier than usual from the cold…" he noted to himself, briefly patting the sand off of his body before noticing the sleeping teenagers to his side, the sight of the two of them snuggled up to one another for warmth capturing his attention for the moment.
And at the sight… he frowned.
He couldn't hold back the heavy, crestfallen feelings that sat in his heart as he continued to look at them with growing tencity. 'Back then, we all knew and agreed. But now you've forgotten everything and your world has changed…' Zabost thought as he gazed upon the two.
'I wonder if I'll ever be able to tell you before the end… and if you will ever be able to forgive me by then?'
"Wake up, the pair of you." He called out with a raised voice, shaking off his previous thoughts not allowing them to occupy his mind anymore. "I said wake up," he commanded again, nudging Nathan's body with his boot quickly disrupting his slumber.
As he began to wake, Nathan couldn't help but twitch against the sensation that pushed up against him, tickling him under his chin. "Hmm?" he quietly groaned, rubbing his eye's with his spare arm to remove the fuzziness of his vision before noticing the content figure that would have been completely pushed up against him if it wasn't for the presence of a certain exceed.
"Wendy?!" Nathan exclaimed in a hushed voice as he tried slightly pulling away from the sleeping girl on reflex, his actions sending a jolt through their bodies.
"Huh?" Wendy said as a weak groan before looking up, bumping her head on his chin before looking right into his eyes with blank shock only to be returned the same gaze as the two maintained perfectly frozen.
For a couple of moments, the pair of them could only stare at one another in pure shock, trying to process the current situation that they were in.
"You should pull apart and get up." Zabost suddenly cut through the moment, snapping the two out of their frozen states.
"And as warm as it is, I don't appreciate being trapped between the two of you so tightly!" Carla suddenly snapped from seemingly nowhere as she remained wide away and clearly displeased from her uncomfortable position.
"AH! S-S-Sorry!" Wendy frantically apologized as she scrambled away in desperation, her face managing to achieve new levels of deep scarlet, almost the whole of it turning a deep shade of red that it was almost worrying that she risked passing out.
"NO! I-I'm sorry!" Nathan burst back, almost as quickly as he too backed off while burning in embarrassment. "I really should have just slept on my own…" he added in a quiet voice, gritting his teeth as he desperately tried to withstand the overwhelming embarrassment, the desire to quickly run away to somewhere away from the group, the overwhelming desire to do something about what was going on.
But his words only sent a slight pang of guilt running through Wendy, "B-but I was… h-holding onto you…." Wendy replied as she pushed through her embarrassment. 'The only reason why we were so close was because of me…' she thought to herself.
"Humph, you can cut the drama session. We need to leave this desert before it gets too hot for us to efficiently travel through here. I much rather a cool one than a burning one while also having to watch this." Zabost interrupted despite having his back turned to the situation.
"In fact, there is little to no food to be found here so we should leave now." he continued, cutting off the other three from saying anything about the situation, making sure to tap Nathan for his own preparation, copying his magic to be ready for the journey.
"Too soon!" Nathan couldn't help but exclaim as he tried to dampen his still unhindered embarrassment.
"Tough luck, pick her up." Zabost immediately shot back, making Wendy's blush begin to deepen once again...
"Is that so…" Laxus said as he continued to stare intently into the small lacrima he held in his hand, focusing on the image of the master that lay within.
"It is, as much as we know and it would be useful to know more but for now they are at least backed up by those old texts. And I would like to be able to trust in those two still." Makarov replied while Laxus took a moment to process everything that he had been informed.
"Naturally, neither of them are anything like a dark mage. But if those texts are to be true, wherever they happen to go after collecting all the time gears is bound to be dangerous for them. It would have to be the equivalent of a 10-year quest or 100-year quest based on the nature of it alone." Laxus returned with his own worries. "Do you think that they could ever be ready for such a challenge?"
"Not at all, they are still only children…" The master's response was instant.
"Then we should bring them back to the guild for now and try to help them," Laxus suggested, bringing his own desires into the conversation.
"I have a feeling that Zabost wouldn't be too happy if you were to try something like that, and that man is certainly in a league of his own after the reports I got from Erza and Mira…" Makarov continued with a low, thoughtful voice, his words momentarily throwing Laxus off balance.
"Are you saying that you trust that guy enough to protect them while they do whatever they need to?" Laxus quizzically asked, making sure that he was understanding his old man correctly.
"We may just have to, for one reason or another," Makarov answered, his voice still not getting any lighter.
"We can change our mission to accompany them, you wouldn't have any objection to a team made that strong going on such a mission right?" Laxus suggested again.
"We can't say for sure that Zabost would be accepting you four tagging along, and there might be an even bigger problem than that."
"Which would be?"
"This 'Place where all times do meet' is apparently somewhere only a select few can go to according to Levy." Makarov explained, "There would be a good chance that you wouldn't be able to go. Zabost likely has some method of getting here with all his knowledge and going ahead with the plan; however, could we say the same would also work for us?"
"I guess that should hardly be a surprise…" Laxus said as he went quiet again, "So in short there is the possibility that only they could go there?"
"If Zabost is willing to bring the kids along then it is possible that they could go too. Nathan is a god slayer and has proven some connection to the time gears so there is little doubt when it comes to him." Makarov answered.
"Laxus, I would like you to try and persuade Tia to give up the time gear for them, and then try to find any possibility of being able to accompany them to Temporal Tower, from there I leave everything to you."
"Got it." Laxus curtly responded unflinchingly before the image of the master faded from the lacrima showing the end of the call.
"Laxus, what did the master say?" Freed asked as he noticed the lightning dragon slayer pocketing the lacrima, eagerly hurrying over to hear what their leader had to say.
"Between Levy and the kids talking, the situation has changed," Laxus answered while he turned his attention past Freed and the rest of the thunder legion who simply remained curious at what Laxus was hinting at.
"Tia, would it be possible to persuade you to hand over the time gear?" Laxus said, his words solely directed towards the vigilant guardian.
"What?!" Tia exclaimed in pure shock before the thunder legion echoed her sudden reaction.
"W-what…" Tia stuttered as her voice went weak with nervousness before she quickly tensed herself in preparation for whatever development was to come next. "W-Why…" she asked, doing her best to keep her voice stern as she looked down at the thunder mage, mentally reminding herself of her vow.
'Even like this… I must uphold it! I swore!'
"Master?" Lisanna called out, snapping the small man out of his thoughts once he had ended the call as she put a mug of beer before him. "Is everything going to be alright?"
"I cannot say…" Makarov said in a low voice, "Even knowing the best that can be done is to place our hopes in them that they are doing right. And hope that nothing gets any harder for them."
"But we all believe that they are doing everything for a good reason, they must be trying to do the right thing," Lisanna replied as she stayed near the old man. "I'm sure that they've been doing their best the whole time, even when things have gotten hard for them."
"I'm sure that they must have struggled a lot…"
"And they still haven't seen the hardest part of their journey, having something to do with a god is something that we will never know how prepared they will have to be," Makarov added on with a heavy heart, his emotions clear the bartender that remained alongside him.
"They're going to make it through everything, I'm sure they will. They are Fairy Tail mages right?" Lisanna cheerily mentioned, "I'm sure that everyone believes in them while worrying for them."
"That they are, you children have never been ones to be kept down for long," Makarov said with a smile as the recollection of all the troubles that the guild had pushed through constantly in the past. One way or another managing to surmount every trial in their path as they continued to walk their way towards the future.
"I do wish we could help them though," Lisanna mentioned.
"Then when they do come back we should have a party to welcome them back, and congratulate them for everything that they will have managed to have done!" Erza suddenly proclaimed from nowhere as she approached the two with Lucy in tow.
"I'm sure that they would love that when they finally get back, it might be the perfect thing after everything they have probably been through right?" Lucy said with a sympathetic smile of her own, thinking of the struggling two.
They still had no idea what the two had been thinking in the future, but since they had immediately started helping Zabost when they had come back it was likely that what they had experienced flipped everything on their heads. And they had managed to understand what had to be done and found the strength to do it, even when it meant opposing their friends and family all for their sake at the end of the day.
No one would say it aloud but it was common mutual thought, surely whatever the kids had likely already thought it was likely one of the hardest journeys of their lives and one they had to take with just each other and take suddenly without warning…
Surely when everything would finally be over, and they had returned to the guild, they would all be ready to welcome them back with open arms and give them whatever they need until the events had finally begun to wash away for them...
Hey guys! I'll have to admit one thing right away, I cut this chapter short and even then hoped to release sooner however there have been some pressing things that I have had to been preparing for and one last thing that I still must prepare for and so yeah... kinda strongly effected things when most efforts have all been elsewhere...
I hope that you did enjoy this chapter however and are looking forward to the next one. There are some things that felt a little forced to me (or something along those lines) but if you enjoy! And thank you all for the support, even just the favourites and the follows!
Reviews:
Reader of 1000 stories: You have mentioned locations and now you finally get a clue! What do you think now? And thank you very much, it really does feel like I have come a long way from where I had started as I look at the word count, and even more so when I see all the support that this story has received, never thought that it would gain this much traction...
Amanny: Yup, it was given quite the catalyst and now is stepping it up! The situation gets ever more down to the wire!