Fairy Tail: The end of time

by SimpleStories24

After a sudden storm, an unknown boy washes up on the shore of the beach near Fairy Hill's. Upon being discovered and helped out by Wendy the two form a team doing jobs with one another but it isn't too long that their lives get disrupted with sudden events of time in certain area's reportedly coming to a standstill and the two getting caught up in the middle of it all.

31. The Place where all times do meet

Chapter 31 - The Place where all times do meet

Wendy's eyes slowly began to crack open as the sound of gentle waves filled her ears while a salty breeze blew against her, lifting her hair slightly into the air. "Hmm?" she gently moaned as she moved to rub the sleep out of her eyes, confused as to why she wasn't feeling her usual warm covers over her, nor the blissful comfort of anything like a bed.

Instead of any of her expected comforts, she instead felt herself sitting and on top of a peculiar feeling thing at that while, she was slumped against another thing.

It wasn't exactly soft, but it was the sensation of fabric yet it was hard and warm yet strangely comforting and enjoyable for her to cling to, something that she couldn't help but hold onto tighter, something which warmth was increasingly pleasant from the cold winds that blew against her.

And then there was a tickling sensation… just something bruising against her and wiggling… something that was quickly becoming hard to ignore…

"Hmm?" Wendy moaned as she rubbed against whatever it was with her spare arm, scratching her itch whilst trying to bat away whatever the thing was, but it was all to no avail as it never went away.

Finally, did she open her eye's all the way, taking in the sight of the world around her as she tried to notice whatever was causing her discomfort. "Huh, where…" Wendy pondered aloud as she pondered aloud. "Where am I?" She suddenly exclaimed as it finally sunk in that she was in fact, in the middle of the ocean.

"Have you finally woken up child?" A voice sounded from lower down yet incredibly close at the same time.

"Carla!" Wendy exclaimed as she realised the presence of the squished exceed that was sandwiched between her and another figure that she was also clinging to at the same time. "Nathan?!" she exclaimed again, shouting out making everyone snap awake from the sudden loud noise.

"What time is it?" Nathan groggily asked as he propped himself off of the scaly next that he had been resting on. "Wendy, why did you shout out?" he asked peering behind him at her.

"O-oh, it's nothing! I was just caught off guard!" Wendy exclaimed, desperately trying to hide her face with widely waving hands, doing her best to calm herself down before Nathan could begin to notice her feelings. "I just… wasn't expecting the sea!" she fibbed after having noticed something that would have made some sense, something which was also half true.

"You forgot what happened yesterday?" Nathan asked while Carla just sighed at the pair.

'Honestly, the two need to be more open about this! If they had been at the guild then everyone would have noticed then by now!' She scolded them internally as she continued to grow tired from the unwillingness to confess to the other, keeping up the same game of awkward hiding.

At this rate, she began to worry that it would start to harm their relationship with each other if they let this continue, something that she would make sure that it never came to. If it did, then she would just have to force one or the other to come out with it

But despite it all, she would never accolade that she was just the same as them when it came to Happy. But unlike them, she was still managing some progress in their relationship despite her inability to be honest with herself.

"It won't do for you to be in such a state." another voice then joined in, gaining the attention of everyone.

"What do you mean?" Zabost asked as he looked up at their guide and ride, Scylla, who continued swimming on.

"We are almost here," Scylla said, not turning around to face them as they continued swimming forward as the sun began to rise from the horizon beside them.

"Already?!" Wendy exclaimed as she looked back, only to see the endless expanse of blue which was the ocean. "Did you not take a break at all during the night? Are you not tired?" she asked in concern but Scylla gently shook her head.

"Not at all, I am quite used to long voyages like this." She answered. "But more importantly, took ahead. Do you see the disturbance?"

"Yeah, the waves are a little lighter… and they're kind of wild too…" Nathan noted as he peered past the sea creatures next, onwards to where they were headed, prompting Wendy, Carla and Zabost to do the same in their curiosity.

And just as Nathan had described, the waves were acting differently, almost as if they were moving out of the way for Scylla as she swam through them with ease, while the further they went the more the sea began to lighten and glitter.

"It is the rift in time, to the place where all times do meet. Reacting to my presence and that of the pendant of time it is opening for us." Scylla explained to the mages while Nathan checked the state of his pendant, seeing that it really was reacting as its shining lustre was back and very much matching the glittering of the waves that seemed to intensify to its presence. "Before we head in, I need to mention something."

"What would that be?" Zabost asked.

"When we enter, you will be exposed to different steams of time. They could be the past, or the future but you will likely find yourself in a similar experience to ending up in another time. You need to be ready for that possibility and be aware that you merely need to wait where you are until you come back to us, only Nathan won't be affected by the power of the pendant of time." Scylla explained as she slowed down, almost reaching a standstill as she waited for the response.

"You mean we will be temporally transported through time?" Carla asked.

"Will it be from our own experiences?" Wendy enquired.

"I do not know. We are entering the place where all times do meet. You could end up anywhere, in any era. But landing in a time of which you have or will experience is more likely. The only thing I can say is you won't be allowed to meet yourselves." Scylla mentioned as she turned her head around to look back at them, seeing the shock and mixed feelings of Wendy and Carla while Zabost and Nathan remained perfectly calm.

"We simply wait for a short bit until we come back right? Then we're ready. There's no point staying here." Zabost answered for the group, something that while Carla wanted to say something about, could think of anything plausible to say.

"Then we shall enter." Scylla calmly said as she turned back to sea ahead, beginning to swim again making the world turn blinding white that everyone but Nathan had to cover their eyes…

---

When the brightness of the world began to die down did Wendy finally uncover her eyes to find herself no longer sitting on the back of Scylla but instead standing within a forest all by herself, a gentle silence filling the air yet at the same time, she felt that there was more around her.

"Where am I?" Wendy thought aloud as she turned around, trying to spot if there was anything noteworthy other than a bland forest. 'Scylla said we could end up anywhere but I thought that maybe more would be happening.' she thought.

But then again, it was the whole of history for everything, naturally, it would include a quiet forest somewhere in the world.

But there was something that made it not so quiet.

'Huh? Wait, this scent smells like…' Wendy thought to herself before her eyes caught notice of what she was thinking. There in the sky was the large figure of a flying creature, an incredibly large and incredibly familiar creature.

"Grandina?" Wendy muttered through disbelief as she saw her foster mother flying through the sky, only becoming more shocked as she quickly began to descend, swooping down and landing before her with a unique grace for a dragon.

"I didn't believe it at first…" the dragon said as he looked down at Wendy's small form. "But it really is you, Wendy," she said with a smile, her words being enough to bring the girl to tears as she looked at her mother.

"Why do you cry, Wendy? I can already tell from there being another older one of you that something isn't right." Grandina continued to talk as she allowed her adoptive daughter to run to her, crying as she hugged against her.

"You wouldn't have happened to have gotten caught up in Zeref's eclipse gate again, have you?" the dragon gently asked, allowing Wendy to let out all of her apparent frustrations.

"N-no…" Wendy said through her tears as she pulled away from her mother. "I was heading somewhere called the place where all times do meet… as a result for a little bit I've been sent to a random time…" Wendy said as she hurridly wiped away her tears. "I just never thought il'd see you again after you helped us against Acnologia and the Face…"

"I see… then you know everything, and why I left you I suppose?" Grandina asked.

"Right… you wanted to go to the future and store up magic to fight Acnologia… and to give me antibodies against becoming a dragon," Wendy answered. "I was sad at first but, you did everything for all of us… I don't hold anything against you!"

"You've always been such a kind child, I am glad to hear that but even so I am sorry that I had to disappear so abruptly…"

"It's fine! I mean I managed to see you again like this!" Wendy said with a beaming smile.

"You've grown so much…" Grandina said with a warm smile. "But since it is the future, I won't pry too much but I would like to know one thing." she then said making Wendy look up curiously at her mother.

"What is your relationship with that boy?" She asked, completely taking Wendy off-guard as her face turned scarlet within seconds of the question.

"W-W-W-What do you m-mean?!" Wendy exclaimed, unable to calm anything down.

"You know how good a dragon's nose is by now Wendy. You've been in contact with a boy often enough for me to smell him on you, alongside some kind of animal. It's not Natsu, Gajeel, Sting or Rouge. You've met someone else haven't you?" Grandina mentioned in an amused tone, enjoying her daughter's vibrant reactions to her words. "Have you found happiness?" she then softly asked.

"Yes…" Wendy said after a few moments of pause. "My life at Fairy Tail and everyone there is so important to me. Carla has also been with me for such a long time, and now Nathan…" she admitted with a beet-red face.

"Nathan is his name? I'm glad you've found someone, just be sure that you don't let him get away. From your draconic instincts, you won't be too happy to share or let him go." Grandina said with a smile.

"Actually!" Wendy suddenly spoke up, getting her mothers interest as all her embarrassment was quickly replaced with a serious expression. "Could you teach me how to suppress someone's dragon seed? I can't explain everything but, Nathan's really needs it!" she pleaded through desperation, her request taking her mother back slightly.

"He has a growing dragon seed?" She repeated, looking down at her pleading daughter, knowing that it was nothing light as she pondered the situation before something came to mind.

"Be aware that creating them takes time, to make a copy of yours for him will be much quicker but the quicker you wish to do it, the significantly more effort it will take," she warned making Wendy give her a firm determined nod of understanding, her will not at all wavering, instead of the intensity of her eyes only intensified at the possible prospect that was being mentioned to her.

"Very well, I will wish you the best," Grandina replied with a smile at the sight of her daughter's determination. In contrast to the small meek child that she was still raised to the one that had come from the future, while it was unclear just what she would go through, it was perfectly clear that she would grow into a fine young maiden. One that she couldn't be any prouder off.

"This is how to perform the enchantment…" She began as she leaned in, while Wendy remained perfectly quiet and diligent, carefully listening to every word her mother spoke with razor focus…

---

When the light died down for her, Carla finally took her paw away from her face to behold in shock just where she was…

"This is… Magnolia…" Carla uttered as she realised the similar sights, spinning around to gain her bearings before she noticed something else going on. It was the guild, however, not in the slightest how it usually was.

Something was different but she couldn't quite place what about it was off.

'Usually, you would hear them fighting or some sort of ruckus… what time have I arrived at?' she thought as she flew on over to the doors before suddenly stopping at the doors, not going ahead to open them. 'Scylla did mention that we wouldn't be able to meet ourselves, does that mean I shouldn't go in here? Or am I not here right now?' Carla pondered briefly before shaking off the thought, quickly flying away from the door and near the roof of the guild.

"Let's see if I can see anything first…" Carla said to herself as she closed in on a nearby open window, carefully glancing in and listening to the best of her ability to find out what was going on in this era. It very well could be a time before they had joined the guild, and it likely was best that she kept away from everything going on until she was taken back, however…

"Something wrong has happened…" Carla said, watching over the generally sombre mood of the guild, making note that she, Wendy and Nathan weren't present at all. It was something that intrigued her but she didn't dare get any more involved with the timeline, choosing to stay put until something began to change…

---

For Zabost, the moment that the blinding light had settled he immediately found himself standing on a slight hill, with the sea stretched out before him, gently crashing in the distance as the sun began to break out over the horizon.

"Out of the way of everything, then I just wait." He said to himself after a brief check of his surroundings before standing firm to watch the sunrise. 'I don't think I have ever truly beheld the world like this…' he thought to himself as she soaked in the slight of the rising sun, something that was most certainly magically to him.

The dark world that he had spent almost his whole life in was devoid of any beauty, leaving it even for the second time was something that he held no regrets about, nor about what he was aiming for. But even when living in such a world, he was always on the run, always one of the most wanted criminals…

He never had the chance to see such beauty, nor slow down to enjoy it…

For the first time, he finally could…

"Is this why you're always insisting on relaxing, Nathan?" Zabost asked aloud, his mind wandering off to the time that he had spent with him. Not boy that spent practically his every waking moment with Wendy and Carla, but the man that he had known all the time in the ruined future…

"How is he child?!" A voice faintly filled the area making Zabost return to being on guard as he tried to tell just who was nearby, following the direction of the voice to find something that gave him a small shock.

"He should be fine but he needs a much better place to rest, as well as a warm shower or bath. He's soaked and freezing cold; we need to warm him up." Another voice sounded, a voice that had become a familiar voice to him within the last week of travelling with it.

"So this is how they met…" Zabost whispered to himself as he concealed his presence, making sure that he wouldn't be noticed, watching what was Wendy and Carla tending to Nathan at a distance. What was clearly their first meeting, and Nathan's initial entrance to the world alongside his reduction to being a teenager yet again.

"He had his old clothes as well, quite natural that he would have thrown them away…" he continued to mumble to himself as he watched Wendy and Carla soon break into a small argument amongst themselves before Wendy attempted to walk away with Nathan on her back to Carla's dismay.

'She insisted on helping him since the start…' Zabost thought as he continued to watch the pair of girls begin to make their way towards the dorms, with Carla reluctantly grabbing hold of Nathan in Wendy's stead, relieving her of all of her previous struggles.

"They've known each other all this time, and somehow never split," Zabost said with a hard expression as he continued watching the three get smaller and smaller as they travelled further into the distance.

He didn't bother to travel after them, there was no point, he knew of everything that would become of them and he shouldn't even change it. Instead, he merely stayed put, turning back to the sun with a new feeling in his heart.

The world was beautiful, everything that he had been fighting for and now he finally had a chance to enjoy it for a moment. And then he had seen Nathan and Wendy again, right back when they had first met. There was a heaviness in his heart but he didn't know what from…

Or was it just the guilt in his heart that stirred at the sight of the two kids…

---

"So how long will they be like this?" Nathan asked as he held up Wendy and Carla's limp bodies. The moment that they had entered the rift there had been a blinding light that filled the area, but it wasn't bothersome to Nathan in the slightest who didn't even need to blink while the other's all had to shield their eyes.

It was thanks to that he was able to notice that Wendy, Carla and Zabost all suddenly went limp as life seemed to be suddenly taken from their bodies, ushering him to hold onto the two girls that were within his reach while Zabost managed to stay on Scylla somehow.

"Momentarily, once we emerge from the time streams and are swimming on top of the sea of them, they will no longer be affected anymore. It will also mean that we are nearing the domain of Aion." Scylla answered as she continued pushing forwards through the mythical streams that passed all around them, gradually heading up and up before a small break began to appear before them.

"There it is, the place where all times do meet." She announced, getting Nathan to turn around to see what she was talking about.

"It's a massive floating island…" Nathan slowly said in shock as he realised the whole sight of what he was looking at. "Did he just take a chunk of land and put it in a time rift then?"

"It is possible, but I was created after the rift, I do not know of its creation," Scylla answered. "But I can say that as much as any land sticks above the waves of the ocean, so does this one above a sea of time itself."

"Really? It just looked really cloudy down there, and there's nothing else…" Nathan replied as he looked down, way past beneath where the island was.

"A assume Chronos thought it better than an endless void. You would never make it there however, one would simply be ejected into a time stream before they managed to get there." Scylla answer before she perked up. "And I feel your friends beginning to stir," she added on.

"Hm, Nathan?" Wendy gently said as she opened her eyes before they suddenly bolted open in shock and amazement. "Where are we?! Is this the rift?!" She exclaimed at the sight of everything around her, noting the seemingly long fall to clouds below while a starry sky stretched above them all while they travelled to a floating island before them.

"Yeah." Nathan calmly replied to her vigour as he looked back at it with a smile, his initial amazement having settled down a little upon having seen Wendy's, although the awe of having entered such an incredible place never went away…

"So where is Temporal Tower supposed to be?" Carla's voice spoke up, quickly getting the attention of the two from Nathan's arm, while she herself peered around the place looking for anything even remotely like a tower.

"Above the island." Zabost pointed at, alerting everyone of his presence while guiding their gazes slightly skyward to notice something in shock and horror.

"That's Temporal Tower?" Wendy worriedly asked as she noticed the structure.

"Is that vortex supposed to be there at all?" Nathan asked, being first to note something about the tower's clearly unhealthy appearance.

The reason for their alarm was clear. The tower was in a clear state of crumbling, even its foundations seemed that way while a blaring red vortex swirled above the tower, red sparks of lightning running along with it that occasionally struck the tower. The tower itself was cracked and chipped, ruining the majestic patterns that ran long it, likewise serving as supports while glowing with power that was seemingly being transported to the top of the tower.

"Aren't you going to take us there?" Carla asked as she noted that Scylla began to lower again, coming closer and closer to the shore of the island.

"I can't, I am very much a creature that swims. My apparent flight to you if merely me swimming in the sea of time, composed of countless time streams." Scylla replied as she docked herself for the group to get off.

"Then how are we supposed to get up there?" Wendy asked, everyone already being able to tell that Carla didn't stand a chance at getting the whole group there, even if she did take them one by one.

"All streams make it to the tower. From here spirits of lost time gather individual moments and carry them there. You need to take a similar path to them, deep within the forest are some old ruins. Within them is the stoneship of old that will take you there." Scylla informed them as they climbed off of her.

"Thank you, we'll leave immediately." Zabost quickly responded before turning on his heel to make a beeline straight for the Forrest until he was stopped.

"Wait just a moment," Scylla called out to him, making him stop instantly while slayers and exceed glanced back at her, not having taken a single step after having gotten off. "While you travel through the woods, you may come across wandering spirits of lost time. Should you do so, they will likely be willing to help guild you along, seeking your help for the tower."

"What do they look like?" Wendy asked with a tilt of her head, trying to think of what were likely servants to a time god would appear like.

"To those who can preserve them, you will know. They are the only living things to roam this land after all." Scylla answered her. "Now, I recommend that you hurry," she said, doing her best to make a small bow as she lowered her head respectfully, voicing her desires and wishes for the mission to be a successful one.

"Thank you very much!" Wendy said before she hurried towards the forest that stretched out before them.

"There'll be nothing to worry about, we'll do it in no time," Nathan said before following after Wendy, bringing a smile to Scylla as she watched them vanish into the distance.

'Please, you must prevail… for our lord and the world…' She thought to herself before closing her eyes, preparing for the suspenseful wait that would last until finally, the tower gave any indication of improvement…

---

"Have you seen any of these lost spirits yet?" Zabost called out as he continued to hurry along through the forest, not taking any time to appreciate its unique beauty. He refused to even begin to take a break since they had arrived at the rift and it wasn't something entirely unsurprising to the ones who had to keep up with him the whole time.

"Nothing yet," Nathan replied in response before sighing.

"You're the most likely one to be able to see them, so keep your eyes open." Zabost shot back, even more intense than usual as he pushed his way along, almost breaking into a sprint which was the one thing that Wendy could remain appreciative of despite knowing that the moment that the ruins entered his sight he surely would begin to run.

But none of the three blamed him, after so long and so much work their goal was finally insight, and it wasn't looking good either…

"Wait!" Nathan suddenly yelled, getting everyone to break to a halt before rushing back to Nathan who had stopped before them. "What do you think that is?" He asked as he pointed out towards a small white thing that effectively looked like a ghost silently staring back at him.

"I don't see it," Zabost replied as he looked in the direction only to see an empty space, factoring out all the trees and plant life.

"I do, you mean that white ghost of the rock looking at us right?" Wendy chimed in much to Carla's shock while Zabost looked at the pair in confusion.

"Is something wrong? Can you really not see it?" Nathan asked as he noticed the perplexed look they were getting from the adult.

"No we can't, there's nothing on that rock you are pointing out. Are you sure that you're seeing something there?" Carla answered for him, still trying to notice anything that they could be noticed only for her efforts to yield no results.

"Then it might be the fact that they are spirits," Zabost spoke up getting everyone attention as they waited for his insight. "That creature mentioned that there were spirit's of lost time here. You mentioned it was like a ghost didn't you, it might be a spirit then."

"Then why can't you and Carla see it." Wendy couldn't help but ask as she looked back at the lone spirit that was still looking at the, almost unwaveringly.

"If it was Nathan the answer would be simple, because of the pendant of time. But I have no idea why you can see it as well…" Zabost answered, making the other three even more intrigued at the possibilities as Wendy and Nathan turned to face one another, trying to think of anything about them that would explain it. "It doesn't matter, we were told that the spirits would likely guide us to the tower, see if that one will take us there." Zabost cut in, preventing any chance of talking or discussion amongst them.

"Right," Wendy responded before being the first to walk towards the little spirit that was no taller than Carla. "It's kind of cute actually," She commented aloud as she crouched down to better reach its height as Nathan stood by her side looking down at it in uncertainty. "Um, hello Mr Spirit. Do you think you could help us get to Temporal Tower?" Wendy kindly asked it, hoping that there would even be the faintest response but it did little more than stare back at her.

"Does it not understand us?" Nathan pondered aloud as he looked at it, his words gaining its attention as it shifted its head to look at him, making him lift a brow in expectation.

But it didn't speak a word, instead, it merely walked towards him, walking his way down the side of the rock as if gravity wasn't a thing, finally stepping onto the ground before then beginning to walk right up Nathan's leg.

"What is it doing?" Wendy asked as she stood up again, watching the ghost continue waddling up Nathan as if he was a flat surface to do before stopping right over his chest, simply standing on him.

"We don't know, you should be telling us, child!" Carla said in frustration, not at all understanding what was going on for Wendy to be staring at Nathan's chest with so much confusion, only hoping that she was just looking at the spirit that was likely there.

"It's just standing on Nathan's chest, it isn't falling down or anything," Wendy commented as she and Nathan continued to wait for something to happen.

"Perhaps it scenes the pendant?" Zabost suggested, bringing it to the minds of the two, prompting Nathan to reach under his shirt and pull out his necklace.

The response was immediate as the spirit reached for it with incredibly long, wavy arms that were completely oversized for its tiny portions. The moment that it gentle grabbed hold of the pendant did a faint blue glow emanate from its centre, likewise making the pendant it held to respond in kind.

The moment that it did so, the spirit then lifted one of its long thin arms and began to point in a direction off of Nathan's chest.

"I think it's giving us directions now." Nathan said as he looked up, "From my chest…" he slowly added on, looking back at the spirit which was hardly budging.

"If it's staying on you then that's good, just tell us if it starts pointing in another direction." Zabost replied immediately, "Just start running, we don't have any time to waste!"

"Fine, fine!" Nathan hurriedly said before taking one more glance at the spirit who still pointed off in a more eastern direction before beginning to hurry along, with Zabost, Wendy and Carla all following behind.

---

As they continued to run, the spirit continued to change the direction it pointed to in response, leading them through various twists and turns that no one questioned with the baring exception of Carla, although she never voiced any of them, simply hoping that whatever they were going through remained worth the effort.

"There another one!" Wendy noted as they continued to run along through the forest upon seeing yet another spirit that was slowly walking it's away along through the woods in the same direction as them.

It was something that Wendy continued to make note of as they ran along for everyone else until it became completely unnecessary as it became obvious that the further they went the more and more there were, all either walking along or pointing out the direction for them to go. Not that they were necessary for the same spirit remained on Nathan's chest doing just the same job, but the increasing numbers were at the very least confirming that they were going the right way until at last…

"These must be the old ruins," Zabost said as they slowed to a halt, looking at an entrance to a tunnel that had been dug out with old stone workings around it helping support the structure. While unbeknownst to him there was practically a small army of spirits constantly pouring into the tunnel, alongside the same one on Nathan's chest continuing to point in the tunnel's direction.

"I have to wonder if there was any point to all that weaving around that we did…" Carla finally asked as they reached their destination.

"You should expect anything here, it might have been if we took a wrong turn then we wouldn't have made any progress at all, expecting us to take a certain path…" Zabost answered her.

"So only the people guided along by the spirits would be able to make it this far…" Nathan thought aloud as he pieced the last of it together.

"Most likely… which makes it even more interesting that Wendy would be able to see the spirits as well," Zabost said, once again turning the attention back to the sky dragon, no one understanding the situation.

"Is there something concerning about me being able to see them?" Wendy worriedly asked, not knowing how to take the news that she was some sort of abnormality.

"Not anything that I'm aware of, it should be a benefit instead. You're someone else who seems to be acknowledged by the island in all likelihood. There shouldn't be anything wrong with it, it's simply interesting." Zabost answered while the two teenagers listened to his answer, simply nodding to the best answer that he could muster for them before he looked onwards towards the tunnel again, paying them no more heed.

"Anyways, we're almost there now. It should be just through here." He finished, being the first one to start walking into the stone ruins.

Nathan was soon to follow before he suddenly felt the warm feeling of familiar sensation grasping his hand, preventing him from going any further and prompting him to look back to see Wendy meekly looking at him, being the one to hold his hand.

"Wendy?" Nathan asked, trying to suppress the blush that was attempting to find its way onto his cheeks from the prolonged touch of her hand. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just I was thinking about what Zabost said…" Wendy replied, doing her best to hold herself together, trying to deal with conflicting emotions that raged about in her from the moment that she had reached out for him. Wanting to both tighten her grip on his hand yet also desperately want to let go out of embarrassment, and the potential chance that he would possibly see through her feelings.

Something like that… she wasn't ready to hear whatever his potential feelings were…

"Um, do you remember what I said back when we have just gotten Lia to the guilds infirmary, and when we first went to Crystal Cave for the first time…" Wendy said as she quickly retracted her hand to herself again, much to Carla's own disappointment of the awkward pair as she went practically forgotten despite being in Wendy's grasp.

"Back when we were against Zabost right?" Nathan asked, thinking back to the events wondering what Wendy was getting at, trying to ignore both the disappointment and relief that flooded through him from her actions.

"Yeah, when you had your visions, do you remember what I told you both times?"

"That…" Nathan started before revelation began to strike him, "You said that you also saw what I did, didn't you?" he mentioned leaning in, no longer caring about the distance between them.

"Y-yeah," Wendy replied as she leaned back from the enthusiastic response from Nathan. "Do you think that means that I'm like you?" she asked.

"Wait, Wendy, you also saw Nathan's visions? Did this always happen?" Carla suddenly interjected as she listened to the conversation, "What about in Fogbound Forrest, did you experience the same things then?"

"No, it was only those two times. I've never experienced it anytime other than that…" Wendy answered, looking down at the exceed who pondered on her words. "And then the next vision that Nathan had was while he was on watch as everyone else was asleep… It was after that when he then had the same ones you saw…"

"Did something change during that time?" She asked aloud, prompting the two teenagers to stop and think about it themselves, quickly glancing at one another to see if the other even a potential answer.

"So if we both experience the visions on the pendant now, and we can also see the spirits, does that mean that we're both chosen now?" Nathan eventually guessed without any real confidence in his voice.

"Should we tell Zabost?" Wendy asked.

"Well, does it even matter now? Once we're done here we're not really going to do anything else like this are we?" Nathan replied with a shrug of his shoulders, "Besides, even he didn't seem to be able to think of anything definitive about why you could see the spirits."

"That doesn't mean that it might not be something that won't be troublesome later!" Carla shouted back, immediately chewing him out for his carelessness again only for him to yet again brush her off without any care.

"If Wendy's just the same as I am now then is there anything that we can even do about it? And have I ever been in danger because of anything related to… ok, forget that part…" Nathan began to counter before abruptly coming to a stop, bitter regret quickly finding its way onto his face.

"It wasn't your fault!" Wendy hurridly called out, instantly noticing the change in mood from him. "I should have noticed something as well," she said as she closed the gap between them with worried eye's, not allowing Nathan to avoid her gaze as she moved to stay in his sight.

"You shouldn't feel bad about it, nothing happened to us in the end, and it helped us learn about everything that was happening…" Wendy softly mentioned as she began to gently embrace him, making Nathan stiffen slightly at the sensation of her wrapping an arm around him while a naturally soothing scent began to fill his nose.

As blush found its way onto his face he felt both relief, enjoyment and worry alongside his embarrassment. Luckily from having her so close to his own face with them being side by side, it wasn't likely for her to notice his blush, yet at the same time, they were frighteningly close to touching. A simple action that would easily increase his flustered state and make it clear through his heightened heat that he was embarrassed.

But he was oblivious to Wendy's own embarrassment that she got from comforting him, she couldn't help but feel undeniable stiff as she brought herself to embrace him, something that she had only started out of instinct or desire to comfort him.

Her embarrassment only got worse as she started to feel two arms awkwardly beginning to wrap themselves around her to prevent her from getting away from him, Nathan hoping that it was simply better than leaving her awkwardly. Or at least that was his reasoning for his underlying desires.

They were stiff at first, from the touch from one another, but as time went on the world began to phase out for them as they finally began to settle down, basking in the other's warmth more and more, allowing it to soothe them until…

"Hey! The pair of you need to pick up the pace!" Zabost's voice broke through the air, getting them to snap out of the moment that they had gradually worked into in no time at all, getting them to part in the shock.

"R-right!" Nathan yelled back in embarrassment, doing his best to hide his face from Wendy who was frantically looking at the ground, her mind in the middle of a meltdown while steam rose from her head, her whole face consumed by blush.

"To be honest, it was something uncomfortable to be brought between, you can try keeping those sorts of moments to yourself." Carla then spoke up for the first time, her voice somewhat awkward as even she had some blush from what she had been crammed between.

"C-C-Carla?!" Wendy explained, almost dropping the exceed much to her exasperation. She had been completely forgotten… and yet she was already somewhat expecting it to have been the case.

"Honest child…" Carla sighed to herself while Wendy continued to simply stand in shock. "If that's how you end up with him, you need to ask him out soon," she said in a hushed voice, renewing Wendy's embarrassment, sending her into a breakdown from not knowing what to do with all over her overwhelming emotions.

'It should be obvious that they love each other, why hasn't Nathan made any sort of move himself? He better have some kind of good reason for putting it off like this…' She internally huffed.

"H-hey, come on Wendy…" Nathan called out to her, making her jolt from the mention of her name from this voice. "H-he's gonna yell at us otherwise…." he continued with a slightly hushed voice with Wendy only meekly nodding with a hum of agreement as she attempted to power walk past him, wanting to stay ahead of him in the hopes of hiding herself, not knowing that Nathan likewise wanted them same…

---

In the awkward silence, the two teenagers soon caught up with Zabost as they hurried into the tunnel of the ruins, with Nathan soon opting to light the way as he produced a small orb of black light to float ahead of them only for minimalistic effects.

"Hm?" Zabost hummed as he noticed something getting the others to stop for his interest.

"What is it?" Carla asked, taken that there was something of interest enough to stop Zabost.

"These drawings… I believe each of them are legends of your world depicted here." Zabost answered as he walked up to one of the walls, looking up and over the image that was embedded into the surface of it.

The first of the drawings was a large tree that took up almost the whole of a floating island that it was sat on while an orb of brilliant light shone out from its branches. As they walked along then another drawing came into sight, being two individual beings that were back to back, one of them incredibly recognisable.

"Is that Aion?" Wendy asked as interest began to wash over her.

"If so, who's he back to back with?" Nathan added on as he gazed over what was a second dragon god from the extreme appearance of it. While the Aion in the drawings was highly reminiscent of the one that they had met in the future, with the exception of his scales being a lighter blue which they could only assume to be a healthier depiction of it.

The other dragon was back to back with it being of a brilliant crimson, almost seemingly ablaze while its eyes were a bright blue in contrast. Running down his body were similar yet different patterns to Aion as it spread six wings wide with, its spike balled tail interlocked with Aion's.

"It seems rather menacing in its own way…" Wendy mumbled in through, comparing the Aion they saw to the depicted image before thinking about how accurate the drawing before them was.

"Ancient drawings, I don't know who initially drew them but they are likely to be accurate…" Zabost began to analyse. "If Aion is a dragon god of time, then would this other entity be a dragon god of space? They are the two core aspects of the world that are linked…"

"So there's another dragon god in the world?" Nathan asked, glancing at Zabost before taking a few steps back to help him take in the whole of the drawing.

"Quite likely, not that I know anything about it…" he replied. "Nor is it anything that should affect us, these old ruins are merely depicting ancient legends around the world. We should hurry onwards." he finished, finally be looking away from the depictions at the two kids, snapping them out of their awe towards the drawings of the divine entities.

"Usually this would be boring but with what they're showing and how likely it is to be true aren't you even the slightest bit more curious about this? Even you don't come to places like this all the time!" Nathan argued back, hoping that his words would get Zabost to stop for even a moment but to no avail, as he didn't even manage to get a backwards glance from the stern leader, with him doing nothing more than continuing to move further through the tunnel to where an end was beginning to come into sight.

"You need to consider just how little time we might have left, he's right that we can't be wasting any of it!" Carla snapped in response, while looking serious yet not exactly heated at the same time.

"They're right Nathan, maybe we can look at this on our way back? We'll have plenty of time then!" Wendy then suggested in hope allowing a warm smile to find its way onto her face while unbeknownst to them, unlike Nathan's, her words managed to get Zabost to slightly jolt in response to hearing them...

"Your feeling confident then." Nathan smiled back before walking onwards at a more reasonable pace, allowing Wendy to keep up with him whilst she puzzled over his words.

"Why do you say that?" Wendy couldn't but ask in confusion.

"Because you still smiling and talking about coming back together alongside the fact that you're readily pushing on to fight a godly figure." Nathan quickly replied getting to blush momentarily before it quickly settled down as she fully processed what she had heard.

"Godly figure… you mean Aion right?" she weakly asked with slight nervousness entering her voice.

"Wendy? What is with the sudden change in attitude child?" Carla asked from her grasp, looking up to see the expression of the dragon slayer before a sinking feeling entered her chest. "Don't tell me you somehow forgot that we were going to have to fight him!"

But she didn't answer right away, instead merely diverting her attention slightly to look past the situation, not letting a slight bead of sweat show.

"You're kidding me… Even I'm not that bad." Nathan mumbled in exasperation while Carla could do little more than just sigh at the miraculous levels of forgetfulness that Wendy displayed.

"I've just been occupied a bit!" Wendy tried arguing back through a blushing face as she hurried on, no longer waiting for Nathan.

'Is that really enough to explain forgetting about a god?' Nathan thought to himself, not being able to comprehend in the slightest whatever was or had been going through Wendy's mind. At the very least, if there had been something then it was likely highly important to her…

---

"This should be it!" Zabost proclaimed with the rare sound of enthusiasm in his voice as he looked up towards the peak of a stone staircase that immediately greeted them upon leaving the cave, whilst in the sky beyond it was the looming figure of the floating Temporal Tower with all of the clouds in the sky swirling around it, turning a threatening red whilst lightning of a similar colour danced around them.

"Well, the spirit things agree with you," Nathan mentioned as he finally hurried out of the cave, catching up with him and Wendy, noticing the army of small white spirits that were making their way the large stone structure, either walking directly up the walls or all the surfaces of the stairs.

"Um, and your one is still there…" Wendy quietly mentioned as she remembered the white ghost thing that was still standing on Nathan's chest, gently lifting one of its hands to point towards the peak of the stairs.

"He didn't come off when you hugged me?" Nathan noted, looking down at the thing on his chest.

"I didn't feel anything either," Wendy added on.

"Who cares right now, Nathan, pick the girls up we're making our way to the top, and quickly!" Zabost instructed, briefly gripping his shoulder before giving off a rush of magic power, rocketing up the stairs in little time at all.

"No room for anything else." Nathan quipped to himself, trying to keep any tiredness from showing on his face as he moved to scoop up the girls flawlessly, much to Wendy's own embarrassment from how easily she found herself getting swept off her feet. Not that it lasted long however from the sudden rush of wind that hit her from Nathan's rapid acceleration.

"So… how is this the place?" Nathan asked the moment that he arrived, looking around what was seemingly an altar that had little more than a large pattern depicted on the floor while a stone tablet stood to the north.

"What does that tablet say?" Wendy asked as she was placed back onto her feet, rushing over to it while Nathan and Carla continued to glance around the area trying to spot anything else that they would be missing.

But it was pointless for her to try reading it, the moment that she knelt down to get a better look did she immediately lose all hope in doing so. The writing was something that she had never seen before and was willing to guess that it was not even of any living language from all the strange symbols that made up its writing.

"I wish we had Levy here…" She mumbled in response before getting up again while Nathan and Carla approached her.

"So, ancient stuff like in the tunnel?" Nathan asked as he stopped before her. "You would have hope that as someplace connected to all of time that it would have something written in our writing…"

"And you can't expect one place to write something down in every language that has every and will every exist…" Zabost cut in as he walked back up another staircase that was on the other side of the altar.

"Where did you go?" Carla asked while the lone adult pressed forward, soon taking Wendy's place at the stone tablet.

"I thought I saw something when I arrived, so I hurried after it but found nothing." Zabost briefly explained before pressing his finger against the stone tablet, his features narrowing in focus.

"Wait, Zabost, can you read that?" Wendy asked, perking up at the sight of his focus.

"If you don't ruin my concentration, this was all a part of the research and preparations that I made in the future before I started this whole mess." Zabost harshly replied, quickly getting the silence he was after, having it last for what felt almost like a minute before he stood up again with a heavy sigh.

"So, what'd it say?" Nathan asked.

"It turns out that this whole place happens to the stoneship that we were told about," Zabost answered, confusing the audience of three that simply watched as he calmly walked away from the stone tablet to the centre of the altar, sweeping some accumulated dirt to reveal a small little cracked whole in the pattern.

"This is it." He said before looking back at Nathan, making note of how his pendant was beginning to glow faintly, "For once you should be able to take that off and put it in this hole. Doing so will activate the stoneship."

"Huh, wait a moment…" Wendy mumbled as she desperately tried to straighten out her thoughts in a hurry from what they had suddenly been told. "You mean that this place allows Nathan to remove his pendant and that placing it in there will take us to Temporal Tower?"

"It's what I just said," Zabost replied with indifference.

"Suddenly everything starts feeling a lot closer," Nathan noted as he took a few steps forward, reaching behind his neck to begin messing with the chain, allowing him for the first time to feel it beginning to come off as per his wants.

And the moment that it finally came undone, stilling loosely in its hand did a black flame suddenly race through the air, striking the back of his hands making it fly from his grasp and into the air.

"Nathan!" Wendy exclaimed instantly as she rushed to his side while he picked himself up off the ground, ignoring the flaring pain from the burn that he received. Zabost however wasted no time in rushing from where he was into a dive for the pendant, only to go flying backwards from a blast of shadow magic.

"Well, well. We all finally meet again." a familiar voice called out, making everyone quickly go wide in shock.

"So I did see something… it was one of the Guardians…" Zabost practically growled as he got back onto his feet, staring down at the large man that stood just before another set of stairs down the altar, one who had a wide grin that was devoid of any warm emotion for them.

Dimitri...

"You've been letting down your guard to let something like that slip, Zabost. Usually, you would have caught on that there's not supposed to be anything but you on this island and wouldn't have let it go until you either managed to move on or found us…" Dimitri continued with an incredibly smug smile.

"And then you slipped up enough for us to finally get hold of this…" he said while holding up the pendant of time in triumph. "I read it myself and I heard you say the same. If you don't have this then you can't make it any further."

"Give it back!" Nathan roared in response with a frightening glare that would have any normal person frozen in fear.

"I guess it would become something rather important to you after all this time now, wouldn't it?" Dimitri replied while wordlessly multiple hooded figures appeared from seemingly nowhere, surrounding the team as they all stood ready with various different kinds of weapons formed from their magic.

"Being honest, the minimum I need to achieve is bringing this back with me, however, Master Aion has given the orders for your bodies to be brought back as well." he mused to himself before turning on his heel, beginning to leisurely make his way off to wherever he likely had a portal prepared.

"But how did you even get here?!" Wendy eventually cried out.

"That part was quite simple. I merely had to wait for Master Aion to regain the energy to send me into the past, and when doing so he sent me here," he explained, merely casting a glance back at the girl. "Do you forget that no matter the state it's in, this is Master Aion's domain. He can send anyone here."

"So you simply waited there the whole time, knowing eventually we would have to come…" Zabost mumbled, just loud enough for the teenagers to hear him. "You're right, I have let down my guard…" he said as he got to his feet completely, amusing Dimtri even more at the sight of his resistance.

"Do away with them and bring their bodies back." Dimitri order with a wave of his hand before he started walking further and further away without a care, while the stolen pendant in his hand quickly began to lose its lustre in the grip of the unchosen…

"You're not leaving so easily, Dimitri!" Zabost declared before a sudden wave of magic burst from his magic as he shot from his position to tackling Dimitri from behind, causing the two of them to begin falling all the way down the stairs to whatever lay below.

"Zabost!" Wendy worriedly called out after having healed Nathan's hand, both she and Nathan wasting no time in trying to follow after the two men before they went blocked as the Guardians once again got in their way, closing off their path with weapons at the ready.

"We're going to have to force our way through…" Nathan noted as he began to shimmer with black light as he readied himself.

"We have to catch to them quickly!" Wendy mentioned, quickly turning to her dragon force with a burst of wind that barely affected any of the ready combatants leaving Carla to merely hover in the sky cautiously.

"Carla, try to follow after Zabost and Dimitri, if you can get back my pendant then you need to keep it out of everyone's reach!" Nathan then called out to her despite not having the time to spare her a glace in his back to back situation with Wendy.

"Alright, but you two be careful!" Carla called back before flying off, making headway on chasing down the two far more powerful brawling men, only able to place her faith in the two coming out on top of it all…

"Photon radiance!" Nathan called out, wasting no time with starting off the fray, scattering and detonating multiple orbs of light filling the area with a sudden blast of magic that began to throw the Guardians off-guard.

"Sky dragons wind-wave!" Wendy cried out as she cut through the group of Guardians that were before her, leaving a tornado in her wake that continue to ravage their foes.

"Photon edge!" Nathan then yelled out, unleashing a horizontal blade of light to strike at everything that was before him managing to land a direct blow to their torsos. "Lightspeed Flurry!" He continued, sparing no effort in crushing his foes, blitzing through the crowd whilst slamming two of the hooded figures into the ground before noticing two others that were beginning to get their wits about them.

"Sky dragons roar!" Wendy's voice soon cut through the moment before a wind blast intercepted the two advancing Guardians for Nathan, whilst sending another one crashing down on them.

"Light gods dance!" Nathan said whilst performing a sweeping blow with a glowing leg, knocking down yet another Guardian that had been coming for him, ruining the swinging of its sword before Nathan then smoothly transitioned to be standing on one leg with the spinning momentum of his kick, soon landing another in the gut of the Guardian with enough force to sending flying into another group near Wendy.

The two didn't even exchange a word as they soundlessly shared determined smiles before looking facing their opponents again, watching them collect themselves after such an overwhelming start from the two.

'At the very least, all we've got to do is keep this up and we'll be done with them.' Nathan thought with a slight breath before completely regaining himself. 'And idealistically, not too much stamina either…'

---

"You can get your hands off!" Dimitri yelled before he and Zabost finally hit the ground hard, sending the two spawling apart while the pendant of time lightly skipped along the ground before coming to a stop, not lying near either of the two men.

Neither of them said anything, save for a grunt of effort at they both noticed the pendant laying on the ground, both desperately making their moves to get to it first.

"Shadow binding!" Dimitri quickly cast the moment that he saw Zabost give off another glint of magic power, trying to speed up his body again before his own shadow began to move of its own accord, suddenly reaching out and grabbing hold of him.

"Shadow binding!" Zabost quickly copied before the man had the chance to get on his feet, likewise making Dimitri's own shadow begin to act of its own accord as it tried to hold the large man down.

"Your pesky copying…" Dimitri grunted before fighting against the restraints place upon him, beginning to work his magic to start to undo what Zabost had done to him while Zabost himself instead managed to slowly work his way closer and closer to the pendant in desperation before getting yanked back to the ground.

"You need to learn when to quit!" he yelled with an outstretched hand, shadow's quickly building up in his palm before unleashing what was a powerful blast right for Zabost, while with his other he finally began to break the bonds holding him.

"Urg!" Zabost merely grunted in response as he pushed himself to create a barrier of dark light to block it, even then it struggled to hold off the attack before Zabost shifted the position of the shield, allowing the shadow blast to roll off it, being redirected into the distance instead.

Despite his enhanced speed, however, Zabost still couldn't make it to the pendant in time before Dimitri who had managed to progress without having anything try to hold him back in the slightest.

Continuing with what was a desperate attempt he begin to grapple with Dimtri over the pendant, the dark-robed man trying to shake off the more nimble of the two whilst making numerous close-range strikes at one another.

"It's over!" Dimitri suddenly declared as he landed a direct punch to Zabost, sending him sprawling back.

"It's not!" Zabost yelled back with yet another desperate attempt, quickly making a small hurricane flare up from beneath Dimtri taking him by surprise, whilst flinging the pendant high into the air, once again outside of reach for either of the two.

But while the two desperate men noticed the pendant's movements, neither of them made a move for it, noticing that it was already obvious that neither of two was going to get it. Instead with pink glitter to her wings did Carla swoop in, quickly catching the pendant from the air before lifting back high into the sky again where she was well out of reach.

"Good job Carla! Keep hold of it until this is over!" Zabost shouted out with a grin, not quite allowing any sense of relief to come to him, after all, they were still very much in the middle of a hard situation.

"And the exceed arrives just on time," Dimitri grumbled to himself through gritted teeth. "But I shall not rest until the pendant becomes mine! None shall be allowed to change the course of history!" he continued to declare with wild shadow's beginning to swirl around him, beginning to blow Carla around in the air.

"But on the other hand, you've never been able to beat me in a fair fight have you? Without you, the other two don't stand a chance, so this works out well enough." Dimitri continued as he turned to Zabost's panting and bruised form.

"I don't think I've ever seen you get this worked up before Dimitri, you really being pushed this time aren't you?" Zabost challenged as he braced himself, throwing away any hope of maintaining some strength after the fight, giving all his enhancements all the strength that he could.

"And that give's you the confidence now to try and stand up to me?" Dimitri replied, almost laughing at the sight of Zabost seriously sizing him up. "You must be serious this time, there's no running from here and there would be no point."

"Bringing you down now is the only way to go." Zabost finished before he dashed forwards. "Sky dragons crushing fang!" he yelled allowing wind to coat his hand before he slashed at Dimtri who merely stepped back. "Light gods dance!" he continued, unleashing a small barrage of glowing kicks as he pressed the offensive, getting Dimitri to respond in kind as he very quickly built up a think aura of shadow before unleashing it, blasting Zabost back.

"Shadow binding." He cooly commanded, making Zabost's own shadow once again begin to act on its own before reaching out and holding him down before another shadow began to creep towards him before multiple hands began to reach out from it, forming fists before rushing towards Zabost.

"Light gods Apollo!" Zabost chanted as he fought against his bonds, multiple orbs of light quickly beginning to form beside him before rushing forward to counter the shadowy fists, causing them to either dissipate or halt for a few moments from the collision before continuing to move forward.

But it was still enough time for Zabost to remove his binds as they briefly shone with a unique light before fading away, allowing Zabost to avoid the remainder of the oncoming attacks, inwardly smiling at the usefulness of enchantments…

"You didn't waste having that enchantress in your group did you?" Dimitri noted the unique way Zabost managed to get rid of his restraints. "Eclipse!" he then called shouted out, unleashing a wave of shadows to engulf the whole area, removing everything from sight leaving Zabost trapped in nothing but a black void.

But despite how dark it was there was still something that Zabost could tell out, seeing the swirling of the shadows as they began to take the form of certain shapes and forms. "Dam it…" Zabost grunted as he noted that he was surrounded from all angles with various attacks.

And in the next moment, they all unleashed from spikes, explosions, lasers instantly forcing him to keep on the move, constantly looking out for wherever the next possible threat would be coming from to either avoid, block or fend off with his magic.

His every step was sluggish from the floor that stuck to him like goop of mud from a swamp, making him have to twist his body in a variety of ways as spikes aim to piecers his legs, forcing him to increase his durability and resistances with both enchantments copied from Wendy as well as his own boost magic.

"You can't keep up forever Zabost, it'll wear you down before I give it up!" Dimitri yelled through the shadows from somewhere, furthering Zabost's irritation from the sound of his gloating voice, doing his best from stopping his thoughts from running astray as to keep himself from somehow getting into any worse of a situation.

"Since when did you learn a trump card like this, Dimitri?!" Zabost somehow managed to shout back between various grunts of effort and pain from the bombardment.

"I had time waiting for you, and I wasn't about to let you go again." Dimitri grimly replied. "You won't be escaping this."

"You're going to have to!" Zabost grunted out soon standing his ground amongst the chaos that was going on around him. "Sky dragon's aegis!" He shouted out, gathering his strength into winds that began surrounding him, swiftly forming a barrier that blocked out everything that attempted to assault him.

But it did nothing for to the ground that was still inside the barrier that still attempted to strike at him with shadowy spikes, something that he bearly managed to fend off with a free hand as he formed small orbs of lights to float around and move to his will, trying to block against anything which came for him.

Dimitri merely smirked at the response that Zabost had given him as with a snap of his fingers did he begin to change up his attack plan, stopping all the wild blasts that were within the effect of his main spell.

Instead, the shadows of the walls began to swirl around and gather in focused spots while the ground soon became riddled with spikes that soon launched forwards, stabbing at the wind barrier from all sides, slowly but surely wearing away at it as they began to slowly breach its walls, pushing inside.

But Zabost remained perfectly calm despite the worsening situation, merely taking a large breath before he spoke again making sure that he was perfectly collected for his next attempt. "God slayer secret art!" he yelled out as his magic began to surge yet again, allowing it to build up within him, pushing himself as far as he could.

"Dawn of the Divine!" Zabost finally commanded just before a flood of magic began to pour forth from the whole of his body, giving up the barrier allowing Dimtri's onslaught to advance at full force. There was a responding bang when the two opposing forces collided with all the shadows coming to a dead stop in the face of Zabost's dark yet shining light before slowly yet surely he managed to begin pushing back, forcing off every last effect of the Eclipse spell that he trapped in.

Bit by bit, Zabost continued to push back the darkness with his light, the massive dark dome trying to contain the growing light one but to little avail as the best it could do was slow down its rate of growth, forcing more strain on the one man at the source of it all…

"You'll have to try harder than that!" Dimitri declared as observed the ongoing struggle, his words signalling the start of concentrated blasts from the walls that began to push the light back down where it had come from, forcing it to dim out.

"Boost magic: Power, Dues Eques…" Zabost grunted out as he turned to any more enhancements that he could find that would allow him to push through everything, for once trying to somehow overpower Dimitri.

The effect was small yet instant however as yet again did the tides of the battle change with the expansion of light continuing once again, pushing back against the immense amount of darkness that swarmed him from all sides, slowly but surely making its way, reaching the outer limits of the spell.

"I won't allow it!" Dimitri fiercely yelled back in response as he raised his hands to help increase his efforts in keeping Zabost contained, making new swirls of shadow quickly cover over what glimpses of light had been seeping through…

'Just so long as I can keep this a stamina match, I will win! Just so long…' Dimitri thought to himself with a bead of sweat before he was taken by complete surprise.

Without warning a golden ray of light and wind shot down from the heavens above, cleanly striking into the black barrier that kept Zabost contained immediately getting it to crack in response before light poured forth from within, quickly bringing the whole of the spell to ruin and unleashing the raging power that lay inside.

"You already beat the Guardians?" Dimitri noted as he looked back towards the newcomers with amusement in his voice. "It seems that you really do want this to be done the hard way."

"That's our line, you can just leave us alone." Nathan shot back, allowing what golden light that covered his body to die back down into its usual black.

"Why are you even trying to do this?" Wendy asked as she stood by his side in a ready stance for whatever move that Dimtri would try against them.

"You three are trying to change the course of history something which naturally cannot be allowed, I should be asking you why you would dare do something like this." Dimitri returned before quickly unleashing a blast of shadow towards the pair with an outstretched hand only for them to easily shift out of its way.

"But time is going to be ruined! We're trying to save the world! Does the world have to end?!" Wendy cried out, desperately hoping that there was some slim chance that they wouldn't be forced to fight against him.

"It doesn't matter what is going to happen, under Master Aion's command history can not be allowed to change!" Dimitri strongly argued back before unleashing a surge of magic, simultaneously making the pair feel like they were about to get blown away yet get crushed by his mere presence at the same time until another aura began to flair up alongside his.

"Then this last fight will decide everything." Zabost calmly stated as he stood tall again before settling his magic back down again, ready for another round of the uphill fight that they were about to face. 'It's quite likely… that everything will be decided on just how well those two can perform…' he thought will a steely gaze.

"You think that you stand a chance against me? It doesn't matter to me the state that you are in, whether it is here or in the future, you will be finished and brought before Master Aion." Dimitri mentioned before his own shadow began to move and grow despite his lack of action, soon lifting out of the ground and looming over him much like some kind of protector. "Try to resist," he added on before numerous shadowy swords formed in the grasp of his looming shadow.

Nothing more had to be said for it to suddenly reach out with its blades, taking wide swings at all three of his opponents having them leap out of the way, only for Nathan and Wendy to get smacked back down into the ground by more shadows that had appeared from behind them.

"When he gets serious, any shadow becomes something he can and will make use of! You need to stay aware of everything!" Zabost yelled out as he flipped the air, dodging another shadow blade that swung towards him while the teenagers picked themselves off the ground.

"Really?!" Wendy exclaimed before she heard a collision take place behind her, making her hurry to her feet looking behind her only to notice Nathan holding back several shadows with multiple orbs of light, only for him to struggle resulting in him getting pushed back from the struggle. "Dues Eques!" She hurriedly chanted, coating him with a thin black aura soon allowing Nathan to slow down to stand his ground against the attack.

"Thanks…" Nathan managed to say before shifting the attacks to pass them off for the both of them, not that it bought them any time as yet another shadow soon started closing in on them.

"Lightspeed flurry!" Nathan called out before shooting directly for Dimtri with Zabost soon following suit while Wendy retreated into the air, lifting herself up with a quick blast of wind, carefully watching her two teammates.

Dimitri merely smiled in response however as the two speeding mages were easily blocked as a barrier quickly formed around Dimitri absorbing both their blows with ease before blasting them back.

"Sky dragons roar!" "Light gods bellow!" Wendy and Nathan desperately cried out, their wind and light soon mixing together before striking against Dimitri's barrier yet again only for it to split and go around him.

"Watch out!" Zabost called out as he noticed two looming shadows above the two, getting the two to spin around, but not before Zabost had unleashed a blade of light that cut between the pair, holding back the two shadow blades before exploding from the prolonged collision, blowing Nathan and Wendy away.

"Are you two alright?" He asked as he hurried over, closing the distance between them.

"Could be worse…" Nathan panted as he got to his feet with Wendy struggling up alongside him.

"We're changing tactics here. I alongside you will launch the offensive while someone stays back to try and keep whatever stray shadows at bay, got it?" Zabost swiftly ordered as he kept his gaze on Dimitri and the large shadow entity that was looming over him, still bearing swords of its own while more and more tendrils emerged from various shadows surrounding them.

"We're leading the assault?" Nathan briefly asked, his question moreso aimed at Wendy as he gave her a quick glance, making sure that she was happy with the arrangement, quickly ging a determined smile before allowing her wind to flare up again.

"Let go." Zabost simply said before darting forward, leaving the way as Nathan followed leaving Wendy to deal with the already existing shadows.

"Sky dragons gale shower!" Wendy chanted as she spun her arms around herself in a circular motion, causing a tornado to whip around her suddenly before blades of wind quickly began to batter against the shadows preventing them from advancing any further…

Dimitri smile once again at the sight of Nathan and Zabost rushing up to him yet again, the pair slamming into his barrier with a kick and punch respectively before bouncing back on their own terms, soon leaping back in to fight.

"Photon Radiance!" Nathan called out, giving off a quick pulse of light which caused all the shadows so to recoil in response before numerous black orbs of light began to appear, filling the area both inside and outside the shadow barrier around Dimtri before exploding.

"Photon edge: Gigagash!" Zabost yelled out as he clapped his hands together towards the sky having a massive blade quickly form before he brought it crashing down towards Dimitri only for his shadow to block it with one of its own massive blades, the other taking a swipe.

"Light gods dance!" Nathan shouted out as he leapt back, landing on the side of the shadow sword before leaping back inwards towards Dimtri, slamming his still existent barrier with what possible strength he could muster into his leg, delivering blow after blow only for minimum effect as each kick only managed to make small chips that were soon healed over.

"Nathan!" Zabost suddenly called out with a dead serious glint in his eye, something that Nathan found himself understanding without truly understanding why.

"Boost magic: Power!" The pair of the said simultaneously, the pair suddenly having their magic surge to incredible heights. 'Sorry, Wendy…' Nathan then thought to himself as he focused ever harder, allowing his light to turn from black to gold as he activated his dragon's god mode, much to the alarm of Wendy who merely caught a quick glimpse of it.

"Light dragon gods bellowing roar!" "Light gods bellow!" The mages yelled out suddenly, putting their all into the attacks of golden and black light respectively directly for Dimitri before they began to merge together, spinning round and round into a singular black and gold beam formed from the intertwined two.

The sight of it alone being enough to make Dimtri's eyes widen in shock at the combined attempt. Stretching his hands out in reinforcement to his barrier did it blacken, completely hiding him from sight while his looming shadow quickly lowered its arms to help further encompass him.

But it did little to help at all, the moment that the unison raid collided with the shadowy entity it immediately began to pierce through it, soon forcing it to fade away into nothingness whilst continuing to drill its way through the barrier that lay behind it, pushing Dimtri far back before it finally began to crack and give away, filling the area with a blinding light as the attack made direct contact…

"Is it over?" Nathan huffed as he slipped onto one knee from exhaustion. "Can someone take something like that?"

"Just remain on g-" Zabost started to reply before a sudden onslaught of a storm of shadows struck against them, blowing them right back and into Wendy, causing the three of them to end up sprawled across the floor.

"Wendy! Nathan!" Carla couldn't help but cry out in response as she started flying closer until she was stopped.

"Don't come near! If you do Dimitri can get the pendant again!" Zabost desperately yelled out as he hurried to his feet, glancing over at what was the hunched figure of Dimtri who likewise was struggling to stand firm, showing that their attack had done significant damage.

"Carla, please don't worry about us…" Wendy struggled to say it but managed to say it nonetheless before hovering over Nathan and Zabost, quickly holding out her hands as she began to make use of her healing magic to help with whatever wounds that she could deal with.

"It won't matter… I will drag you back…" Dimitri grunted, somehow still with a smile as he lifted his arm into the air causing a strange tattoo to begin to shine with blue light before in the same light it left his hand, travelling past the group of three to soon form an awkward blue ring behind them that soon began to fill in.

"Nathan, Wendy, keep away from that! If we touch it we're going back to the future!" Zabost suddenly exclaimed, instantly being able to tell just what he was looking at.

"But you won't have a choice!" Dimitri shouted out as he gathered his magic again, "Darkness stream!" he shouted out, unleashing yet another storm of shadows quickly making them struggle to keep their ground.

"Hold on!" Zabost called out as he slammed a fist into the ground, cracking it to get a better grip whilst with his other hand grabbing hold of Wendy. "Can you make a wind barrier? Anything to keep us from being pushed further back!" he yelled out as he endured the pain from the onslaught.

"I can try!" Wendy called out as she also pushed past the pain, stretching her hands out preparing to cast a spell before something else caught both her and Zabost's attention. "Nathan?!" she couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of him managing to stand up all, completely resisting Dimitri's attack much to his surprise, the light leaking off his body and spilling into the air only increasing more and more forcing the shadows to back away from him.

"Something about him has changed…" Zabost mumbled in a low voice as he scanned the slayer over, trying to work out just what had changed.

"LIght dragon gods…" Nathan then started to say in a low voice while he faced the ground, not letting anyone see his face, only adding to concern that Wendy felt until she finally noticed why…

'His scales are back!"

"Bellowing roar!" Nathan eventually cried out, unleashing an enormous blast of golden light, far bigger than he had ever managed before whilst the shockwaves from its sheer force showed that it was hardly for show.

With ease did the attack cut straight through Dimitri's much to his surprise before an eruption took place the moment made contact with him, sending his figure skidding a noticeable distance back while his arms were raised in a guard position.

"Nathan! It's happening again! Your dragon seed is-" Wendy desperately called out but her words only fell of death ears as Nathan didn't even give the slightest of reactions to her words.

"He's not himself in the slightest anymore…" Zabost noted, interrupting Wendy as they kept to their position low on the ground.

"Then I have to!" She started, trying to get up onto her feet only to have Zabost tug her back down again, much to her shock and horror.

"Hold on, I know you don't like it and this can be risky, but this could be useful…" Zabost told her as he continued to look on, watching Nathan in his new and curious state, his mind already racing with the possibilities that it presented to them, namely a means to an end in the fight…

"You can't use him like that! He needs help! What will happen if it's too late?!" Wendy exclaimed in disbelief at what she had been told, quickly using any and all strength that she could to try and escape his grasp only to no avail as he made to sure tighten his grasp, assuring that she wouldn't get away.

"I won't let it go that far, but the power he possesses while dragonising might just be enough to overwhelm Dimitri somehow at this rate." Zabost snapped back, silencing Wendy with harsh words finally allowing him to watch the ensuing fight in peace with a hesitant and worried Wendy merely carefully watching out for Nathan's health…

"You couldn't beat me as a human so you started to change to become something else?" Dimitri wondered aloud as he started down the scaled human before him with an analytic look. No, the more and more he looked at the entity before him, the less and less it looked humane to him.

His arms had already become completely covered by golden, glowing scales with his hands effectively becoming claws, while scales even began to reach across his face while his shirt began to tear from the scales forming along his chest. But the main thing that truly began to remove the possible thought of humanity was his eyes that were becoming more and more slit, much more draconic than anything, yet from his half changed formed he was more a monster than anything else…

"GRRAAAH!" Nathan practically roared as he shot forwards far faster than he had ever managed before with a fist already raised and poised to attack before the scales which covered it suddenly gave off a blinding radiant light as magic began to pour through them.

Dimitri barely had time to react to the sudden attack, raising a shadow barrier that quickly went shatter with just one blow, forcing him to catch the punch with a hand, while swiftly catching another punch with his other.

Dimitri's struggling expression quickly turned to shock and pain however as he glanced down noticing the powerful knee he had taken to the stomach, stripping him of his strength whilst the rampaging Nathan spun around in the air, unleashing another full powered kick as he did so that sent Dimitri spiralling back.

"He's winning!" Zabost exclaimed with the faintest amount of shock and hope in his heart that victory was now within sight, but he was the only one who shared the sentiment…

Wendy remained perfectly quiet as she watched the fight unfold while her heart tore at the sight of what she was watching. There was some awe at the sheer level of power that he now possessed, there was some hope in her heart now that Dimitri was the one being forced back but all of it was completely drowned out by the overwhelming panic and fear that she latched onto for him instead.

And she lamented that the only thing that she was currently able to do for him was sit tight in Zabost's grasp, merely able to cross her finger and hope for the best for him…

"What is with that power?" Dimitri grunted as he managed to hold his ground again, catching sight of the dragonoid already rushing for him again, forcing him to quickly raise his arms to catch and grapple with it once again, the two pushing against one another for dominance.

While Dimitri somehow managed to gain the upper hand against it pushing it back, it wasn't long before they came to a standstill as a new surge of strength came that pushed back against him. "I see, you're not even finished yet…" Dimitri noted in his struggle before grunting as the tides of the clash began to change out of his favour, struggling to hold back even the brute strength of the monster that he fought with.

And it was when he was up close did it become obvious that it wasn't just his power that was continuing to develop, but his appearance as well. The longer that it went on, the more of his skin began to crack and chip off, revealing more shining scales underneath while its bore fangs only sharpened until each one was as sharp as a blade…

His hair began to grow as well, reaching further along his back like a main whilst at the same time beginning to look less and less like hair but rather stands of pure light that emanated from him, acting much the same.

Wendy could only gasp in horror as she soon began to see bulges appearing on his back as well before his shirt and cardigan completely tore off to reveal his bare upper body, alongside the two lumps that quickly grew more and more before becoming distinctive wings, a sight that even had Zabost alarmed.

"How much longer until it becomes too late?" Zabost asked, urgency filling his voice.

"I don't know, I never liked this at all! Please let me go, let me go! He needs help!" Wendy cried out in response, furthering her thrashing efforts to break free whilst tears of desperation began to roll down her eyes, the emotional pain of seeing Nathan in his current state becoming something too much for her to bear.

"Fine, but I'm making the approach as well. He isn't himself." Zabost replied in a low voice as he soon began to get up onto his feet, lifting Wendy with him before beginning to sneak towards the rampaging boy, leaving only Carla as the remaining spectator to watch on in horror at the pure chaos that was taking place beneath her.

However, such hope quickly became an impossibility. Sensing the moments of those behind him did Nathan open his jaw unleashing a sudden and powerful light blast that sent Dimitri flying back yet again before he took a firm stance.

Covering himself with his newly acquired wings did countless light orbs begin to appear surrounding him before he quickly beat his wings out, spreading them wide as he roared to the sky, unleashing his attack, raining countless lazers down on anything that happened to by nearby without any care or remorse, blowing everything away.

All three of Wendy, Zabost and Dimitri quickly hit the ground the moment they saw what was coming, praying that they could ride out the one unrelenting storm of attacks that didn't relent in the slightest, while the terrain around them quickly began to be obliterated.

"He's out of control! At this rate, he thinks anything that moves is his enemy!" Zabost shouted out over the sound of the destruction taking place. "Can you cast some sort of-" He started to ask Wendy before noticing that she was no longer anywhere near him. "Where is she?!" he exclaimed before noticing her daring figure getting closer and closer to the rampaging dragon.

Meanwhile, Dimitri gritted his teeth in infuriation and desperation before he plunged both his hands to the ground causing a large shadow to emit from him whilst all other shadows remained despite the blinding brilliance of the monster before him. And all a once did countless spikes and blades suddenly reach out of them, the complete onslaught wasting no time as they all rushed in straight for the kill.

However, it was a futile attempt as the light that Nathan's body gave off began to increase and before long his whole body was completely illuminated, until that very light burst off of him like a shockwave, blowing everyone and everything back, removing all the attacks that had once been aiming to take him down.

He didn't even hesitate afterwards, turning back to Dimitri with a fear-inspiring glare that had even him frozen, helpless but to lie on the ground as he watched the dragon boy raise and slam a foot into the ground, causing an eruption of light to spew out of the ground, cracking up the ground and the trail of light quickly made its way over to him before completely consuming the helpless man in a blinding brilliance from below.

"Nathan! Please stop it!" Wendy then cried out, desperately with tears in her eyes as she stood up, making Nathan spin around in an instant.

'That foolish girl! She's getting herself killed!' Zabost internally cursed in shock at the beyond foolish stunt the small girl was trying before his eyes as he couldn't help but slink back, all but certain that whatever fate that was to befall her was going to be far from pleasant.

"Wendy?!" Carla couldn't help but cry out in disbelief and panic, whilst simultaneously hoping that there was something that she could be capable of doing to help Nathan, rather than just acting blindly on her emotions.

"Nathan, please!" Wendy continued to plead out as began to slowly walk towards the crazed dragonoid, one hand clutched to her beating heart while she carefully inched closer with her other one reaching out

The response was instant as he glared back, intently taking in the whole of Wendy's appearance before in the next moment dropping to his knees as he clutched his head in agony, struggling to bring himself to look back up at the sky dragon.

"Nathan?" Wendy worriedly asked, taking a few more steps towards him before finally rushing to his side, hurridly embracing him, not caring for the feel of his rough scales against her skin that now covered the majority of his body, looking into his eyes to see is shaky gaze.

"I… lost it…" Nathan said through slow gasps before diverting his gaze from Wendy in shame before flitching as a harsh pain filled his body making him sink to the floor.

"Nathan?! Are you alright?!" Wendy continued to ask through her panic.

"No… I lost myself…" Nathan slowly answered with a low, painful voice. "I know it's too late… isn't it? I'm sorry…" He said in a low voice only for Wendy to begin to hug him tightly, much to his surprise.

"You always keep worrying me… but I finally worked out how…" Wendy replied through a teary voice before placing her hand on his chest. "I'm sorry that I didn't learn how sooner…" she faintly mentioned as she emitted a green glow from her hand that swiftly began to cover Nathan, soon turning his scales and wings to a pure green light that slowly but surely began to deteriorate away as if they weren't even there to begin with.

"Wendy?" Nathan called out in shock with a hushed, disbelieving voice.

"When we came here, I was sent back in time and managed to meet Grandina again, she taught me how," Wendy told him as she held his head to her, taking in every little change that his body once again went through as reverted back to his normal humane appearance. "But there is a little drawback…" she added on with a bitter smile.

"What would that be?" Nathan asked with a sigh, allowing his body to relax under the soothing feeling yet mentally resisting in the worry of what he would do if he did allow his mind to drift off.

"I was told that depending on how much your seed had grown… doing this would mess with your magic vessel slightly…" Wendy vaguely answered.

"Meaning?" Nathan asked again, his voice still not brimming with care yet Wendy still seemed to hesitate at telling him the answer before finally taking a quick breath.

"You might not be able to use magic for a bit… and it might feel a little uncomfortable…" Wendy eventual answered as she looked at him directly with worried and expectant eyes, ones that weren't in doubt but rather completely expectant.

And before Nathan could say anything further, just when the last of his scales finally faded away back to human skin, he felt it all at once. "Grk?!" He groaned whilst desperately trying to hold in his voice as his whole body flared up in pain before falling helplessly into Wendy's grasp, with her carefully holding him to her with the mixed feeling of worry and relief…

"It's over… She actually managed to do something about it…" Zabost muttered in disbelief as he slowly pushed himself back onto his feet before shaking his head with the faintest of smiles. Who would have thought that she would have even managed to get through to him so easily?

But then again, both their feeling had been anything but weak for one another. They were so painfully caring and yet both of them were still somehow oblivious about the other, perhaps it was a needless worry after all that she was ever in danger…

Anyone would think looking at the pair as they were then that there wouldn't even be the slightest chance of them ever thinking of harming one another no matter what reason or situation that they could be presented with…

'But it won't last much longer…' He then thought with a grim expression before shaking it off, turning to find the more important matter that was at hand, Dimitri. "You've lost." He plainly stated as he walked over to the body of the beaten man who was still somehow still conscious, with him merely raising his head slightly to get a better look at Zabost.

"Lord… Lord Dimitri has… fallen?!" A horribly distorted voice said from the side making everyone's attention suddenly bolt to the new arrivals, being the group of Guardians that simply stood by the stairs.

"Retreat!" Another distorted voice suddenly exclaimed before the group acted in near-perfect unison, bolting straight for the portal that still hung around, not wasting any time diving right into it and into the past.

"It seems that you have no luck in getting loyal followers. The moment they saw you beat they all fled." Zabost noted before turning back to Dimitri. "Wendy, Carla!" he then called out, getting the girls attention.

"What is it?" Carla asked as she turned around after having landed by Nathan's side, desperately checking on the two teenagers making sure that they were somehow alright despite the hectic situation.

"I want you two to climb to the top of the altar again and put the pendant of time in place. I would like to see if it actually works. I'll stay here and watch over Dimitri and Nathan in the meantime." He coolly commanded without giving them as much of a glance, instead still giving all of his attention to Dimitri still who struggled under his gaze.

"But…" Wendy weakly mumbled as she briefly looked back at Nathan who remained in her grasp.

"I'll be fine for a bit… This is important after all." Nathan replied suppressing a small grunt as he put on a smile for her, perfectly reading her mind and worries. "I think you're getting a little bit predictable now…" he added on.

"It's because you're always ending up in bad situations!" Carla then snapped in response whilst Wendy pouted, nodding in agreement with the feline.

"Yeah… maybe I'm just the worst at promises," Nathan replied with a heavy sigh. "But I'm not doing this because of recklessness anymore through."

"Then what are you doing it for then?!" Carla huffed.

"Because I don't want anything to happen to you two…" He answered simply whilst diverting his attention, unable to look at Wendy any longer in embarrassment with his words.

Wendy meanwhile could only look on with a sense of shock for what she had just heard before her expression began to soften instead, "Idiot…" she softly mumbled.

"Wendy, Carla, can you please go now?" Zabost then shouted out, ruining the moment between the three and snapping them back into reality.

"Um, ok…" Wendy eventually replied before gently laying Nathan down on the ground before getting onto her feet, only able to give one last worried look to him before Carla grabbed her back and lifted her into the air, flying at a high speed directly for the top of the altar with the pendant still in one of her paws…

"Urrg…" Dimitri soon groaned as he shifted again.

"Don't move! We'll make this a lot worse for you if we have to!" Zabost shouted in warning, but Dimtri seemingly paid it no heed as he managed to look up at him before looking over at Nathan's figure who was still lying on the ground not too far from him whilst likewise looking back at him.

"Zabost… Nathan… Is this truly what you want?" he slowly asked, his every word and effort to get out. "If you change history… change the future… then everything and everyone belonging to it will disappear."

"Wait… what?" Nathan asked, wondering if he heard the man right.

"If you change history, then the future that currently exists will cease to exist… everything that belongs to it will cease to exist… it won't be just me, you two also hail from the future, and so we will all disappear…" Dimitri continued to grunt out whilst Zabost didn't even try to do anything, instead remaining silent as he listened to the man, his face turning dark and unreadable…

"Why do you think anyone would fight to protect such a future? I did it… because I don't want to disappear…" Dimitri groaned.

"But that can't be the case… right?" Nathan said before shifting his gaze to Zabost, desperately wanting the man to say something else, anything else that held even a shred of sense. Something that would satisfy his fear, anything…

But not the fear of disappearing…

It was the fear of leaving her… of leaving Wendy…

The mere possibility was something that began to shatter his heart and fill him with childish horror and desperation for absolutely anything else…

"It's… true…" Zabost's cold voice rang out, silencing the whole of Nathan's world. "If we change the future, then all deticens of the future will cease to exist…" he continued, spurring shock that managed to get Nathan to struggle to his feet again, briefly forcing himself to ingest light to regain some of his strength.

"But… it doesn't matter. When I came to this world I was resolved for that, if it meant saving the world then I would do so… Celia as well…" Zabost continued as he stepped away from Dimitri as his thoughts trailed back, far back as to the first moment just before he passed through the Passage of Time for the first time. Right when they first truly began their first attempt to save the world.

"Celia too? So everyone from that community…" Nathan muttered, his shock putting him in a daze.

"Everyone did, and everyone was prepared. Mostly everyone else had been turned mad by living in such a world. Even you had made your peace with it, but… that was before coming here."

"Since coming here and starting another life, you met Wendy and Carla… and you have quite notable grown attached to them… and so have they to you…" Zabost continued whilst Nathan began to want to close his ears to the words that he was hearing, yet at the same time he couldn't bring himself to…

"They both very much care about you, Wendy especially... "

"If they find you you will disappear then they will be crushed... "

"And Wendy especially… will be left so very alone…"

"Then why... " Nathan whispered under his breath before turning to face Zabost head-on. "Then why didn't you tell me any of this soon?! Why only now?!" he couldn't help but cry out in rage and frustration. "You held the biggest, most horrible secret that you could have…" he said with an overwhelmingly bitter voice, for once an overwhelming amount of emotion entering his voice, something that Zabost couldn't help but be somewhat surprised despite his expectation of the reaction.

Was it because he was now younger or was it something else that caused Nathan to react far more strongly than he ever thought possible out of his ex-partner?

"Because I didn't know how well you would take it… I regretted the fact… It became painful to me the moment I realised that you had also forgotten and seemingly never realised what would happen, or perhaps you just didn't want to accept it…" Zabost replied in a low voice, bearly attempting to fight back against Nathan's clear wrath towards him. "And I couldn't risk anything that would make fixing the collapse of time even harder…"

"You… you!" Nathan said as he clenched a fist before loosening up with a defeated sigh. "You really don't know much about people's emotions…"

"But…" he then said, slowly looking back with a completely defeated face, one that sat on the verge of misery yet still somehow held on due to some kind of determination or another. "Won't there be a chance that everything just becomes another timeline or something?! Won't it be possible to continue existing then?!"

"That won't be likely… if this had been any other situation with time then it might have been possible, however, we're changing the collapse of time… something like that is an emptiness, broken part of the timestream. It's natural that it would be built over instead…" Zabost quietly answered him, knowing how little he would be able to take the truth but continued, either way, knowing that it was no longer something that he could keep hidden...

"Then there won't be much of a world if we fail…" Nathan finished as all his strength began to fade whilst Zabost's own heart sank ever further at the horrible and ruined sight of him…

'I guess that we could never be together… the world ends, or I vanish…' Nathan thought to himself in distrawt. 'I… can't be selfish for this but… I can't leave her either… but we can't possibly be together…'

---

"And ever since I've always fought my hardest to protect them, to keep my family." Wendy finally finished, sniffling back the last of her tears as she tightened her grip of Carla slightly.

"Well…" Nathan started, trying to find the right words to say. "I assure you that I'm not going anywhere," He said gripping her hand once again somewhat tightly earning her attention as she looked at him slightly stunned.

---

"I guess I'm going to have to leave a note… but even then I couldn't keep that one promise huh?" Nathan thought aloud with a crumbling voice as the thought back to the one promise that he managed to keep thus far, from all the way back within Fogbound Forst when they had accidentally gone on a S-Class quest…

"I'm sorry…" Zabost quietly mentioned as he lowered his head, only for a brilliant flash of blue light to catch his and Nathan's attention, getting them to look towards the peak of the alter that Wendy and Carla had left towards. "That must be the stoneship! It's ready to leave!"

"And you think… I'll allow you to change history?!" Dimitri then yelled as he forced out any remaining strength in his body to stand, before punching Nathan in the chest, sending him sprawling back before either he or Zabost could react. "At the very least… You're going down!" He delcared before moving in for another blow, whilst Nathan was helpless but to close his eyes…

But the strike never came.

And when he opened his eyes he was greeted to the sight of Zabost having cleanly taken the blow directly to the chest, forcing him to fall to his knees.

"Oh my, coming to the aid of your partner? Then we can simply all go to the future together, as it's supposed to be!" Dimitri said with a wide smile while Nathan still couldn't help but stay in shock, but it only grew with what followed next…

"Dimitri… We'll be the only ones taking that trip!" Zabost suddenly shouted back as he sprung off of his knees, launching for the bigger man and grabbing his arms whilst he slipped behind his back, locking his joints and preventing any method of him moving.

"What are you saying?!" Dimitri exclaimed in shock before Zabost suddenly tugged against him, dragging him back towards the time portal that still lingered makes his eyes widen in shock.

"Zabost?!" Nathan could help but exclaim at the sight while the two adults inched closer and closer towards the portal.

"Nathan! Zabost! I think we can-" Wendy's cheery voice then came into earshot as she hurried down the stairs with a smile on her face that very quickly became replaced with pure shock. "What's going on?!" she exclaimed whilst Carla took a gasp towards the situation.

"Nathan! Wendy!" Zabost called out as he grunted against the efforts of Dimtri who continued to struggle against him. "Unfortunately, this is where we part, I have to leave the rest to you two now!"

"But… How?!" Wendy cried out in disbelief. "Weren't our odds slim before?!"

"They were… and they will most certainly be hurt more now… but you have become the only chance that the world has. Once we're gone, there will be no coming back for me anymore, no matter what."

"But you need to find a way… remember that our goal isn't to beat Aion, just to return these to where they belong!" Zabost continued before a small gush of wind came from him, lifting a small bag with glowing contents out of his pocket and flying into the middle of the ground.

"The time gears!" Dimitri exclaimed at the sight, knowing the instant he saw the mythic glow that poured out of the bag. "Unhand me at once!"

"Silence! We're almost there!" Zabost sharply snapped at him, giving him another tug bringing the pair of them ever closer to the time portal.

"Zabost?!" Carla faintly called out in disbelief, her gaze desperately shifting between both him and the bag that he that launched their way.

"Nathan!" Zabost then called out again, barely managing to look past Dimitri who still struggled towards the lone boy who watched on with overwhelming conflict before flinching as his name was called, snapping out of whatever thoughts he held.

"It was short, but I was glad to have met you again… although parting hurts… everything is up to you now!" He shouted, holding back any pain in his voice, his words leaving Nathan's heart shaking.

"Sorry for the holdup, we're going now." Zabost calmly stated afterwards before with one more tug the two men slipped backwards, touching the portal quickly resulting in the vanishing through it before it swiftly closed behind them, leaving Nathan, Wendy and Carla in complete shock and silence…

---

So, I guess I should apologise for the long wait, but at the same time, I'm just keeping this short and sweet and hope that you enjoyed it! I'll try not to leave no a cliffhanger for too long...

Reviews:

Reader of 1000 stories: It was option B! Halfway there! However now confessions have become the last worry on Nathan's mind with everything getting so much worse... I wonder am I a monster for doing this?

Ushindi: Cool to see you still reading along! Their goals are now being both right around the corner yet so wearifully far away at the same time now...

Twinnassason: I'm so glad to hear, I do wonder what that last 0.5 is weighing me down but it's likely near impossible to be perfect. Sorry that this update took so long though...