Earth Land

Ishgar / Fiore / Hargeon Ruins

Year: X799, January 14th

Five graves.

He managed to finish digging five graves.

The fact that he had the time to do such a thing, would have caught anyone off guard. But to be honest, even if he didn't have the time, he would have made time to do this anyway.

A proper burial; he owed them that much.

So, using that iron shovel of his, the youth finished patting the earth into blace before taking a much needed breath. That one simple breath though, it felt heavier than any one he ever let out in his entire life. There was far more emotion carried in that breath than he'd like to admit. Emotion that he wanted to choke down. "To think…" He began. "I thought that I was emotionally drained from all this." He thought as he released a choking, hollow laugh. "Guess when you think you're completely hollowed out, there's still something scraping at the bottom of the barrel." He muttered before looking at his work.

5 graves added to the 25 that were just sitting here in this quiet little settlement in the ruins of Hargeon. To be honest, it didn't seem right. This port town being as deserted as it was, these unmarked graves who'd probably carry the lost souls forever. None of it seemed right.

"I'm sorry." He muttered as he looked at the wooden grave-markers. None bore names, but he knew every last soul that rested before him; they were his friends, his family. "I never wanted this to happen." He told them. "I… I could have stopped this, couldn't I? If I was faster, if I was stronger... I could have stopped all of this… right?" Alastor muttered as he clenched his fist and closed his eyes. "So why didn't I?" He didn't get a response, instead he just opened his eyes and stared down, looking at the necklace that was resting around his neck. With a hand he grabbed onto it and bit his lip. Without a word he tightened his fist around the piece around his neck and brought them to his temple. "I just… I just… damn it I'm so damn pathetic, aren't I?"

"Lucius…"

When he looked up again he saw the sky, saw the storm that threatened to consume him and the rest of the world. Beyond the settlement, beyond the trees he saw heard it, some monster wandering away from their once safe haven. It roared, and it sounded like a bomb going off.

"Lucius you can feel sorry for us later, right now we got a job to do."

"I know." He muttered to himself. "I really wish we didn't have to though…"

"I know, but we have to stop him, we have to make sure it doesn't take over again."

"I know."

"We're gonna have to -"

"I know!" Lucius muttered as he leaned forward on his shovel, taking a breath before wiping his hand across his face and running it through his hair. "I'm sorry, I just…" He didn't even know what he was trying to say. So he just walked off, stopping only when he looked back to the graves littering his home. "Everyone, please…" He muttered. "Please forgive me for what I'm going to have to do…"

Elsewhere

This wasn't what he wanted.

A monster screamed, his unholy bellow erupting from its lips as he stared skyward. Clawed hands clutched it's head hard enough it drew blood that became wisps of dark magic. The scream it released sent a shockwave throughout the world, a world that began to bend to it's will.

And yet, as powerful as might be, the world refused to shatter under its might. Still it screamed, and… it cried.

Trapped inside the body of this monster, there was something inside it wrestling for control. Something human.

Damien, at least what remained of him, fought against the beast that he had nestled itself into his body and mind. Fought against the monster he had invited into his own soul.

"StOp… StOp." Two voices trying to harmonize broke out from the titans lips as it shook. Its body seemingly confused, trying to figure out which will to follow. One told it to go, the other told it to say. One told it to destroy, another told it to stop. "Go AwAy! I dOn'T… wAnT tO dO… tHiS!"

Damien struggled against the Beast inside him, the beast that made him take the lives of those he cared for. This monster - this demon, that he had invited to live into his skin. "WhY?" He continued to cry. "wHy DiD i?"

Thinking back brought fresh tears to his eyes, each one falling like a light rain shower crashing into the ground with the speed and power of a bullet dropped from orbit. He screamed again, and another shockwave tore through the world. As he screamed, he remembered, he remembered everything that had led to this point.

It began four years ago.

Four years ago he'd just been a regular highschooler, four years ago he'd been normal - they all had. They went to school, hung out with friends and did everything a highschooler would expect. One day they were at school, and the next they were "here", lost in this ruined world that wasn't their own. Something - rather someone - had brought them to this world, just like in some Isekai anime or manga… but the reason they were brought here never reached their ears. They hadn't been summoned to great heroes, they hadn't been given legendary weapons or anything of the sort, they didn't even have an audience with some stereotypical king who wanted their help slaying the Demon Lord. They just came here, and this world had been hell for all of them.

This World, this place called Earth Land… was a living nightmare.

In the agonizing four years they'd been here, it feels as though they barely learned a thing about it; this… "Ultimate Magic World". Yes they met others, yes they heard the rumors and yes they managed to study what they could. But in the end they didn't really learn much. They knew that more than 2/3rds of the population were either dead or dying in this world perverted by magic. They knew that the world entered this "stage" only twelve years ago, and they knew with the abundance of magic, what used to be "simple" creatures were now mutated into monsters

For four years they survived in this hell. They struggled, but they survived; against fauna and flora alike, and against demons and mages and nature alike… together they survived in this nightmare.

Their haven, they built that settlement together, they learned about one another - forged friendships they thought could never exist. They made a place for themselves in this nightmare world. They even awoke their… "Origins" as the survivors called it, which granted them the gift of magic.

But in those four years… things changed.

They changed, some were corrupted by their own powers, others fell due to environmental reasons, and sometimes due to their own frailty and choices, and one after another they were buried, and dwindling survivors died a little more with each grave they dug.

34 souls were sent to this world. Of those 34, 30 of them were his schoolmates.

Damian had taken the lives of five, and was one of the last four to survive up till this point.

"I'm SoRrY." He wept as he lowered his head to the ground and pressed it against the dirt. "I dId'Nt... I dId'Nt MeAn To…"

The Beast in him had done it. That thing that had nestled in his mind ever since he took in part of that demon he once fought years ago… scavenged books called it Take Over or Satan Soul or something like that. He couldn't remember at the moment, not with the Beast in his head was starting to erode what remained of him.

Still, knowing that, he fought, fought the Beast inside him, trying to hold onto that last shred of humanity he had. It had taken his body, warped him beyond recognition, but it hadn't won yet. The Beast, the thing that wanted him to accept and "truly ascend" to demonization had not succeeded in forcing him to cast off the chains of his mortality and humanity.

Another scream left his body as he dropped to his knees, and in that time he punched the ground, tearing up a portion of earth as he took a ragged breath that sounded like a hurricane blowing.

"Hey." The fighting stopped and Damien wasn't sure if it was either him or the Beast inside him that turned to look at the figure standing before them. And just looking at him caused the Beast eroding his mind to start growling.

"YoU…"

"Come on man, you know I have a name." Standing before him was a nineteen year old with black hair and crimson eyes.

"LoHeNgRiN."

"There we go, how are things Damian?" Lohengrin asked as he walked around his counterpart, taking in his counterpart's new appearance. He still had two legs, still had two arms, but he also had horns and wings. His skin had turned a sickly purple and green liquid bled from places where his skin failed to properly stretch across muscle. "Gotta say, I'm kinda liking the new look."

"YoU." Damian stepped forward and clenched his fist. "YoU BrOuGhT uS hErE…"

"No, I HELPED bring you here." Lohengrin corrected. "The difference being I can't take full credit." He admitted. "But anyway - your look, I admit, its growing on me, but what do you think about it?"

"I hAtE iT…" Damian muttered. "My HeAd… ThIs ThInG iS cLaWiNg At My bRaIn."

"Yeah if you don't got the mental fortitude, it's gonna do that." Lohengrin admitted with a shrug. "Sad thing is I actually had hopes for you of all people. I mean." He waved his arms slightly. "You were the one that seemed to keep his head together the most, not to mention you were the strongest of the others brought here." He lowered his hand. "I mean without the augments… Ooh well."

"WhY dId YoU bRiNg Us HeRe?" Damian asked as he curled his fists.

"Hey, that wasn't my call." He stated smugly as he stopped walking. "I mean I told you before, what conditions were set to bring us to this world, and you met those credentials, that's all." Damian made to say something before dropping to his knees and clenched his head, spikes growing out of his shoulders as he clenched his head. "Looks like your conversion is getting worse." He stated simply. Yeah, I know I didn't do anything to cause 'that' but I feel like I should apologize anyway." Lohengrin stated. "So, sorry."

"I-I dOn'T wAnT tO hEaR tH-" He stopped talking as his mind started to fade away.

"Not much longer eh." Lohengrin stated as he walked up to his old classmate. "Well, since I always liked you, I'll give you a choice." He stated as he held out his hand, an odachi appearing in his hand . "I can let you run wild, Or I could end it right here, right now."

"F-fUcK yOu." Damian reached trying to grab his counterpart.

"Damian!" Damian froze as he looked to the side, his attention turning to a new figure running up to him and his counterpart.

"L-lUcIuS?"

"Oh hey Lu." Lohengrin began. "Been a while." Lucius froze, his eyes shifting from Damion to Lohengrin in a second as he bit his lips. "Come on, don't give me that look." Lohengrin stated as he stepped away from Damian's extended grip and walked over to a tree only to lean against it. "How you been?"Lucius didn't say anything as Lohengrin stared at him. The cocoa skinned, purple-eyed young man just reached for his longsword as Lohengrin smiled. "Come on Lu, I'm not here for a fight."

"Then what are you doing here?" Lucius asked as he clenched his fists and Lohengrin just gave him this confused look.

"What can't a guy visit some old friends?"

"Were we ever friends?" Lucius bit out as Lohengrin seemed to think - actually think before nodding his head.

"Yep, at least in my mind we were."

"Then why?" Lucius asked. "Why did you bring us here, why did you put us all through this?" Lohengrim made a noise, seeming to think again before looking to Damian as he continued to change A tail starting to grow out of his pants. "Damian…"

"He's running out of time." Lohhengrin's smile didn't change in the slightest. "What will you do, Lu… keep asking questions or… save him?" Lohengrin chuckled slightly. "Can you even save him, or will you fail him like you did everyone else?"

"Lohengrin…" Lohengrin just pushed himself off a tree and reached for his odachi, taking the time to unsheath it before swinging it at air once than twice before sheathing it again, and a portal - rather a tear formed in reality. "Wait!"
"No time, got places to be and things to do." Lohengrin stated. "Mean time, do have a good time boys." He did this overhand wave as he walked through the portal as it closed behind him.

"I never understood that guy…"

"It doesn't matter." Lucius muttered as he looked to Damian as he got to his feet, his tail swinging wildly before slamming into the ground as the now demonized youth looked at his counterpart, bared his fangs as a mist crept out his mouth. "Damian…" He pulled his sword off his back, its form appearing identical to Devil May Cry's Force Edge. "I am sorry."

With a roar that scattered the wildlife , Damian - rather the Demon in his place charged. Lucius' blade slammed into an arm as he started sliding back from the force. The demon followed it with another fist as Lucius dodged, letting it come crashing down into the ground and tearing apart the earth. Lucius made it to the demon's side, a thick purple-pink aura wrapping around his sword as he swung it at the demon's neck, hoping for a quick finish.

Nothing was ever that easy though.

When it slammed into the demon's throat it cut into skin, but it wasn't deep enough to hit the artery. He'd need to put more power behind the swing next time. The demon retaliated by turning, roaring at the young man as magic gathered in its lips as Lucius's eyes widened.

"Heads up!"

The demon fired, a ray punching through the woods as Lucius went sliding back, his sword acting as a makeshift shield before he managed to maneuver out of the blasts way, letting it fly off into the distance before exploding.

"Close…" Magic danced around Lucius's body as he shot forward, blurring for a moment as he thrust his sword forward as the demon countered by smashing its fist into the blade as they both pulled back. Lucius swung and the Demon countered again, stone like fists colliding with the blade several times before it grabbed the weapon and held it at the side to raised its opposite fist and brought it down.

In turn Lucius released his sword and dodged, barely acknowledging this sword suddenly disappearing as he clenched a fist. "Gilgamesh." He slammed his fist forward as the demon staggered back a bit and looked at the new weapon on Lucius's form. Gauntlets and greaves styled after the Devil Arm associated with one of Devil May Cry's renown Sons of Sparda. The drills on his gauntlets retracted as the mask appeared on his face. He lunged, his punch landing on the demon's chest before it was followed by a kick that had enough force behind it to push his opponent back. He charged as his opponent swung at him, dodging the first attack before throwing a series of punches that more or less went ignored as his opponent tried attacking him. He followed his assault with a few kicks, each one backed with a bit of extra magic as the demon began to stumble. His last kick had enough magic in it to send his opponent flying through a tree, but it didn't seem to stop it.

Almost at an instant it got back to its feet and inhaled, breathing out a twister of magic as it cut through the area. Lucius just braced himself trying to stand his ground but to little avail as he went back. Landing on his back he rolled to his feet and got ready, more magic being loaded into his body as he charged. The demon screamed, calling down lightning from the sky as Lucius started to slide and turned. His first kick smashed into a lightning bolt, directing it to the side as the second knocked it into a tree. The next punch sent it towards the ground and the one that followed sent a bolt upward. The demon growled, watching the display before bringing a hand back and gathering Darkness magic into the space between its fingers as Lucius continued defecting bolts sent from the sky. It threw the blast towards the occupied youth and watched as the blast started to expand.

"Incoming!"

"I see it." Lucius cut another bolt out of the sky and turned cocking an arm back and focused his own magic before punching forward, releasing his own bolt of magic. When they collided the Demon's quickly found itself overtaking his own and Lucius found himself having to hold onto the blast so as not to get consumed by it. He went sliding back, greaves digging small paths into the earth as the Demon threw a second blast and made the first grow larger. The third time made it grow large enough to start wiping out part of the nearby trees and sent Lucius flying.

"Come on… come on…" He cursed under his breath and loaded as much of his magic as he could into his hands and tried lifting the blast upward. He didn't get far in that endeavour, as his opponent breathed creating a sphere of magic in his lips before firing.

That blast ripped through the woods sending the sphere towards a mountain and caused it to explode.

It roared in triumph as it started pounding its chest like an ape before looking ahead, seeing Lucius laid out on the ground and breathing hard.

"That was close, if I hadn't tripped that blast would have fried me." Trying to get up he found the demon dropping from the sky and instead chose to roll, moving just fast enough to avoid getting his chest caved in under its feet. He wasn't fast enough to avoid having it snap its arm out to grab one of his legs and started raising him up only to throw him into the ground repeatedly Lucius coughed up blood as the demon raised a fist and brought it down. And Lucius raised his gauntlets to protect himself from the punches that followed. His gauntlets started to crack under the stress and Lucius bit his lips. Its next hit never made contact, his magic lifting the creature up and throwing it back.

Telekinesis; it was the first magic he ever learned to use upon coming to this world.

Getting to his feet Lucius slammed his fists together as he let magic mend the wounds on his gauntlets. "Reforge." The gauntlets mended, he charged as the Demon got to its feet, looked at him before meeting his charge. It stopped when something stabbed into its back and turned slightly to see Force Edge digging into its shoulder. That opening was all Lucius needed, cocking his hand back before slamming it into his opponent's jaw. He followed it with a second before grabbing its face and pulling it down to meet his knee before releasing a straight hook to send it stumbling. It swiped at him and he dodged, weaving to the side before ripping Force Edge from its shoulder and started swinging, making small but noticeable cuts across the demon's body before it blasted him back with magic.

Lucius rebounded, putting Force Edge on his back and found the demon already on him, Darkness magic gathering around its arms as it threw a punch.

"It's using Suppression Arts?"

"It still has access to Damian's spells."

Lucius met its punch with his own and cracked the landscape. The next one cracked it further, as did the one after that, the fifth broke it, leaving the two in a crater as they locked hands and held each other at bay.

The demon narrowed its eyes before they started to glow and Lucius twisted, bringing his arms to the side and forced his opponent to do the same before sending a kick to the side of its head as it looked elsewhere and an explosion went off. It responded by twisting its head, biting into his greave and forced the metal to start bending inward. Lucius flinched as metal started grinding against skin and forced himself to focus. Force Edge came flying off his back, spinning in an arc as the blade came down, telekinesis driving the weapon into the demon's other shoulder as it was forced to let go and Lucius backed away, with his sword returned to him as it started to orbit around him. Lucius breathed, glaring as the demon charged at him again and threw three punches, all three hit air, but the telekinetic shockwave that left them slowed the demon down for a moment before sending it flying back. Soon as he got some good distance he dropped to his knee checking the damaged greave before biting his lip and touched it. "Reforge." The greave returned to its normal state as he breathed a sigh in relief. "Good that could have turned bad if the steel started digging into the skin."

'You're lucky you read that book on Iron-Make Molding Magic."

"Yeah, I would have lost my leg if that bite hit it bare." He muttered as he turned to the demon, watching it jerk its head in his direction as he was sent flying, a blast forming out of nowhere and slamming into his chest. He hit the ground with a thud and clutched his chest in pain, a hole tearing through his shirt as his skin started to smoke.

"Get up!"

The demon roared, magic going with it as Lucius looked at it, watching as demonic magic condensed in the air and picked himself up. The magic condensed itself into an array of spheres that became a shower of dark bolts.

"That - that a Dark Delete! Better get a move on!"

"I can't dodge something of that scale!" Lucius shouted as he glanced at Force Edge and focused his magic into it. He made it do a full spin on his back before going still, with eight spectral blades now orbiting behind his back around it. "Take control of these!"

"On it!"

Lucius started throwing punches, and the swords started dancing around him. Each one acting to deflect the volley that was being sent his way. The shower kept coming though, and the blades kept deflecting even as he got low and loaded some magic into his legs to strengthen them. He blurred forward, a streak of purple-pink rushing up to the demon and stopping just before it. He slammed a fist into its jaw and caught some air, before spinning to drop a heel on its face as he came down and dragged it along the ground behind him before grabbing Force Edge and bringing it down, as the demon went still.

"I'm sorry Damian…" Lucius whispered as his spectral blades disappeared and looked at the falling demon.

A suckerpunch to the face sent him flying into a tree.

Gasping, Lucius forced himself to open his eyes, his attention quickly turning to see that the demon was getting up again, swaying slightly before seeming to shake out of a stubber. "Still?" Lucius realigned his nose and forced himself to his feet as the demon looked skyward, it's hands raised as a mass of darkness magic started to gather. Lucius's eyes widened. "That's too big to dodge…"

"Well you're going to have to try anyway!"

It threw its arms forward, and Lucius crossed his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself, the blast overtaking his vision as a giant blaze destroyed part of the forest.

Opening his eyes Lucius found himself staring at the demon, who seemed to clutch its head and roar towards the sky. "I'm… I'm not dead?" He muttered before looking around seeing that the blast had been aimed elsewhere. "Why did it…"

"Damian…"

The demon roared as it continued to thrash about. Lucius just watched for a moment before biting his lips. "You… you're still in there, fighting…" Lucius released a weak smile. "You always were a fighter, weren't you?" He muttered before clenching his fists and stepped forward. ""Well, can't let you be the only one fighting… can I?" He muttered before slamming his fists together. "Let's go one more round, old friend."

Some Time Later

31 graves.

Thats how many there were now.

Pounding the last bit of dirt into place Lucius just took a choking breath as he counted each of them again. 31 graves. His entire freaking class was here now. His teacher, his friends… his family.

34 came to this world, and 31 of these lost souls were never gonna make it home.

Who was he kidding; none of them were going home.

"As Lohengrin said… there's nothing to go back to."

Still…

He rested his hand on Damian's marker and patted it a few times. "I hope you're in a better place." He muttered as he looked at the others. "I hope… I hope all of you are in a better place." He whispered as he looked at his free hand and seemed to settle down next to the gathered graves. "It's… gonna be lonely without you guys here." He muttered before making a noise. "All I got now is the voice in my head." He muttered before leaning back.

"Is that a problem?"

"No." Lucius muttered. "You at least will never leave me, right?"

"I'm with you till the end of the line mate."

"That's how it's always been right?" Lucius muttered as he. "Just… you and me, together forever." The voice in his head stayed silent. "I already miss them." He confessed. "Why did it have to turn out like this?" He muttered. "Why did any of us have to come here? I've watched anime before, I know how the whole Isekai trope thing is supposed to work so…"

"Lucius…"

"When this happens in anime and manga the "Otherworlders" aren't supposed to die off one by one. We get summoned, do… something important and just… we get sent home. We go home to our world… go be with our families or something right…" He started muttering as he fought back tears. "It's… it's not fair. Why did we have to come to this world? Why did it make us care for people just to tear them away from us like this?" The voice gave no response. "I hate it here. I wanna go home." He muttered before feeling something hit his face. "It's raining…" He mused. "Of course it's raining."

"Better get indoors."

"Yeah…" Lucius got to his feet and took another moment to stare at the graves as he heard something behind him.

"It's rare to find graves out here." Lucius nodded as he looked down. "Most shelters simply burn their dead or leave them where they fell."

"I know." Lucius grumbled. "It's sad really but… but it seems to be how things work around here." "Yet you seem to have enough humanity to give them a proper bed.

"It's the least I can do." Lucius shrugged as he wiped his eyes with a sleeve. "So…" He turned around. "What brings you here, if you're here to pilfer things then you're out of luck, there's nothing to really steal here." The man simply gave him a weak nod as he looked at the youth before him.

"I'm simply looking for a place to get out of the rain."

"Well, we got rooms available." Lucius stated as he made a half hearted gesture towards the wooden huts. "Feel free to settle in for a minute."

"You have my thanks young man." He states before watching the youth turn back to the graves ans seemed to drift away for a moment. "Tell me… what is your name?"

"My name is…"' Lucius simply made a chuckle before glancing back at the man. "You know, I don't think it really matters now, I doubt I'll see you after this so why bother giving it?" His smile was tight and tired. "But since you asked, it's Lucius…" He paused. "Lucius Graves."

"I see." The man seemed slightly amused. "You may call me Hades."

The rain wasn't gonna turn into a storm, but it would last for a while. Least that was what intuition told him. Lucius just looked at the kettle he'd made and watched it boil over before picking it up and poured it into two wooden cups. "Here." He muttered as he passed a cup to Hades and watched as the old man took it. "Sorry it's not much, but we don't got much here."

"This is more than enough." Hades stated as he took a drink and raised his one visible eye. "This is excellent tea." He mused. "Where did you learn to make this?"

"Ren taught me." Lucius admitted with a fond smile. "She was really into this tea making stuff, and liked to try getting the rest of us into it. Not everyone took to it but hey, I like it."

"By us you mean…" Hades glanced outside to see the graves in sight.

"Yeah." The two fell into a silence as Lucius just looked at his tea for a moment before taking a drink.

"You were close to them."

"We were family… or at least the closest we could get to being a family." He admitted before sighing. "Bonded by school and being completely out of our depth when we got here." Hades raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Lucius shrugged.

"Not from around here, that's all, got stuck here because of some isekai bullshit and we just wanted to go home."

"Where is your home?" Hades asked. "Caelum? Sin? Enca perhaps?"

"I have no idea where any of those are." Lucius stated. "I just know I'm in Fiore, and that this place used to be a port town or something."

"Hargeon…" Hades stated. "Or at least what is left of it."

"That so?" Lucius didn't really seem interested. Why would he? It didn't change anything, he was still trapped in a world. Hades just looked at him, seeming to think about something as he did.

"Are you perhaps… from another world?" Lucius stopped drinking, his eyes widening at the guess as he looked at Hades.

"How did you -"

"Ah… it seems I was right after all." Hades muttered as he took another drink. "The way magic fluctuates around you, yes it's 'similar' but it's not exactly common amongst those in this world, if anything it is… similar to that of a Celestial Spirit."

"A Celestial Spirit?" Lucius was on guard now, Hades could tell. The way his body tensed at the apparent reveal. "What is that?"

"It is a being summoned from a world near this one. They are powerful beings, but there are conditions to their summoning."

"Ok…" Lucius muttered as he started to think. "But… if you have ways to summon people here… there's got to be a way to send them back, right?" Lucius asked. "So… is there a way… for me to be sent back home."

"Lucius…"

"There is always the possibility." Hades admitted. "But whether that's something I'd know is the question." He muttered. "Tell me, what brought you here, to my world?" Lucius fell silent… thinking back for only a moment.

"A fools endeavour." He eventually admitted. "I… we were at school when we suddenly wound up here." He muttered. "We were brought here by something called the Crimson Aera." Hades perked up at the words, but said nothing. "You know what spell I'm talking about."

"Yes…" Hades muttered. "The Crimson Aera… an ancient spell, one that transfers others wherever desired… at a cost."

"A cost of life." Lucius muttered. "The one that came here, sacrificed the population of New York in order to send him and those he was associated with his organization."

"People like you." Lucius shook his head.

"No actually." He muttered. "I just met the 'credentials' needed to be picked up too." He half muttered/half hissed.

"What credentials?"

Lucius held up his hand and stared at it. "Blood." He whispered. "My blood carries traces of "Earth Land" in it. I don't know how much but just having trace amounts of it is enough to allow me to be picked up and transferred here.

Hades said nothing, seeming to think for a moment. "I… am sorry."

"Don't me. You had nothing to do with it."

"Still…" Hades started up again. "Four years…" He mused. "That's a long time."

"Yeah."

"How did you survive?"

"I have to thank the others for that miracle." Lucius grumbled. "But I can't deny that luck played a part of it and getting magic certainly helped." Lucius admitted as he shook his head. "Guess there's a benefit to having this blood in my veins."

"I see." Hades looked elsewhere. "This is a world where only mages could have a chance to live, it is where their magic lies at its zenith, and any without it would die and wither away." Hades muttered. "But this… this is not the world I desired."

"What do you mean?" Hades took a drink.

"I created this world 12 years ago." Hades confessed to Lucius's surprise.

"What?"

"Using the power of the Black Wizard; I created this world in order to reach the One Magic."

"The One Magic?"

"All mages have their own interpretation of it but what all agree on is this; it is the source of all magic itself." Hades stated, seeming to drift away. "Like many I sought to reach it, but the way I began to see it was wrong." He stared at his tea. "I saw it as darkness itself and felt that it could be obtained… but over the years I have come to see what I created was wrong." This is not how things are supposed to be."

"I think I get it." Lucius muttered as he took a drink and stood, heading towards the door before stopping and leaning against it. "You know… I feel like knowing that you're responsible for making the world this way… I should be angry with you… but I'm not, I'm just trying to make sense of it."

"Why is that?"

"I've been here for four years now and I just buried the last four people I ever cared about since coming here." Lucius stated simply. "I'm just… so tired I don't think I can even be mad." He admitted as he took another drink. "I just want this long nightmare to end… I want to go home."

"I see." Hades took another calming sip of his tea. "I'm afraid I can't send you home young Lucius."

"I know." Hades stared at his cup, staring at his reflection for a moment.

"But maybe… maybe I can give you a chance to find home again." Lucius turned around to look at Hades.

"What do you mean?"

"I know many magics, including the Ancient Magic known as the Arc of Time." He admitted. "I can send you back; back to before I created this world. To a time where we thrived and when the cities stood."

"You could send me to the past." Lucius muttered.

"You could start over, live out a normal life, perhaps start your own family." Hades admitted. "It would be like… waking from a nightmare."

"But it wouldn't be the same." Lucius admitted as he took a drink. "Make a family, get a job, maybe finish school sounds nice and all that, but…" He paused. "Waking from a nightmare… Thinking about it that way would be to deny everything that happened to me here; Deny the memory of what I saw, the things I did to survive and memory of the people I lost along the way." Lucius shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't disrespect those I lost like that."

"Well said." Hades stated as he took another drink.

"Still." Lucius started up again as he fully turned to Hades. "Why offer to send me back? What would you gain from that?" Lucius looked at Hades for a moment and saw something he was too damn used to. Exhaustion. The old man was tired. Not in the traditional sense. He was weary of this world he'd created, this nightmare forged by his own hands and sought some form of release. "Never mind." He muttered. "I can see it on your face. You're just… spent."

"Yes…" Hades agreed. "I told you I was searching for someone." Hades stated. "I… seek someone to send back… someone who may be able to stop what I did."

"You want to prevent this timeline from happening." Lucius received a faint nod. "Stop everything that happened to this world before it came to this." Lucius muttered as seemed to think. "And you think I can be the one who does this?"

"Do you believe so?"

"Hell no." Lucius muttered. "I couldn't even save those close to me, how can I save the world?" He half-joked before sighing. "I can't save anyone… hell, I can barely save myself." He looked at his arms and seemed to frown. "But hey, why not give it a shot?" He mused. "I got nothing left to lose."

"Neither of us do." Hades admits as he returns to his drink.

"So, how does this Arc of Time thing work anyway?"

The Ancient Magic known as the Arc of Time housed a number of spells, each allowing the manipulation of "time" within both sentient and non-sentient things; it mattered little if they were trees, people, metal; all could be moved forward, paused, slowed... and even rewound. Of it's spells, Last Ages was perhaps one of its most advanced. With Last Ages, time is rewound for the entire world, it didn't matter how far away the city might be, it didn't matter how many people it affected, when Last Ages was cast, the clock was forced to turn back. In an age where magic was still growing, this spell could only go back mere seconds. But when it was cast with magic at its zenith. It could go back days.

Weeks.

Months.

Years.

Decades.

Centuries even…

Opening his eyes Lucius found himself standing in a city he didn't recognize, one that had once vanished under overgrowth and wildlife. Hades said his settlement was built over the ruins of a town called Hargeon. It was a port town. "Gotta say it's hard to imagine this is what this place once looked like." Lucius muttered as he looked around. "It's hard to believe… this was what it was like just seven years ago…" He muttered as he watched people walk by in the streets.

"When was the last time we saw so many people?"

"Years ago." Lucius muttered as he fingered the bottom of his jacket before pausing to look himself over. As Hades put it, the Arc of Time would have reset his age back seven years had it been cast normally, so the old man first moved him outside of time so he'd still be 20 instead of 5 years old. "Least I'm not gonna have to go through puberty again." Lucius muttered as he released a light chuckle.

"Hey, focus."

The voice in his head muttered.

"Let's do a bit of review."

"Right." Lucius muttered as he started walking on.

"We've been sent back 15 years, to July X784, and we have till December to stop Hades and his guild from meeting the Black Wizard Zeref. That is what caused that nightmare to come into reality."

"Right, so how are we gonna do this?" Lucius muttered as he shook his head.

"I'd recommend finding Hades in this time period. We talk to him, give him the thing Future Him gave us to prove we're not crazy and convince him to not make the Ultimate Magic World."

"Sounds simple."

"It's never that simple; He didn't say where his guild was at this time."

"Well, it has been seven years for him. Probably doesn't remember." Lucius muttered as he crossed his arms. "What if we get to Tenrou island, that's where "he" is right? What if we tell him someones coming and get him to skip town for a bit."

"You think a 400 year old evil wizard will just leave his island?"

"I thought it was Fairy Tail's island." Lucius continued to mutter. "What if we talk to them and get their permission to go maybe then we can talk to him and get him to leave.

"We know he's there in December, we don't know where he is now. Plus we don't know where Fairy Tail is stationed."

"Right, right…" Lucius muttered. "Damn it… how are we gonna do this… we barely know crap about this time and…" Lucius paused. "Actually…"

"What?"

"Messing with time usually doesn't end well in the shows we've watched… and we're not supposed to be here to begin with."

"You're wondering if it'll cause a domino effect."

"Will it?" The voice fell silent, and stayed silent as screaming ripped through the streets. Turning Lucius caught sight of women running, in his direction, hearts in their eyes as they started to run up to him and almost over him as they went on their way.

"A famous Mage is in town!"

"It's Salamander-sama!"

"Who?" Lucius asked as he stared at the crowd growing ahead of him. Walking up m to the crowd he stared at the sight before raising an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"Fuck if I know."