7 years later

"Hey shrimp. Shrimp..."

Something tickled Levy's nose as she was dreaming of another battle in the dark hall. It made her scrunch up her face and open her eyes groggily, unwilling to fully wake. Hanging over her head was the figure of a tanned man with eyes redder than any berry in the entire world. His hair was unruly, the raven locks growing longer then his midsection down to his hips. He was teasing a feather over her nose and smirking at her reaction to getting woken.

Levy shoved his large hand away with a sleepy wave. "Do we really have to continue on today, Gajeel? Even us shepherds need a break."

Gajeel shook his head. "Ain't no rest for the wicked, shrimp." The man reached down to pull her up. "Give me yer' hand, let's go." The blunette reached back to him, her left hand showing off her white and red mark. Gajeel took a half step back and tugged the stand in tactician to her feet.

Four other people stood waiting. The first was Lucy with her trusty mount Michelle standing beside her. The next was Natsu, his large sword strapped to his back and his scaly scarf wrapped around his neck. Gray was also there, hands in his pockets and his spear on his back as well. He had grown from when his father died and began to train and fulfill his wish to be a knight. The last was a fairly new face. It was a girl named Wendy, apprentice to Aeris the Gentle Lamb. She had her dark blue hair up in two long pony tails.

Wendy waved her arm and clutched her healing staff to her chest. "Miss Levy! We must hurry back to Lady Aquarius! She sent a hawk saying there was trouble."

Levy waved back as Gajeel smiled at the sweet little cleric. Even though she was only thirteen and arrived at Ylisse only seven years ago, he and Natsu guarded her like she was their sister. The pair walked up to the group, continuing back to Ylisse Castle.

The group walked for hours, chatting of their next mission and enjoying the wilderness around them. The sun was high in the sky when they reached the nearest town, just ten miles from the capitol of Ylisse.

Natsu held up his hand to stop the group. Everyone halted, Gajeel stepping forward to be next to the pinkette. "What's wrong, Natsu?"

The man sniffed the air, making Lucy mount her steed and Gray begin to reach for his spear. Natsu had an adept sense of smell and saved the group if something seemed funny. Gajeel, being his older brother, also had this enhanced sense. The raven haired male also took a wiff of the air.

Levy started to draw her sword, a tome at the ready in her coat that she always wore being taller. Wendy clutched her staff harder, knowing what was wrong.

Looking closer at the town, there was a billow of smoke beginning to rise from the tallest building. Lucy reared up with Michelle, assuming her battle mark. She reached out hand to Wendy and pulled her onto her pegasus.

The group made haste to the town, ready to help.

In the charge, Levy started shouting orders.

"Alright! Lucy, you and Wendy will be our eyes in the sky. Make sure nothing happens to our Cleric, Lu!"

"Got it!"

"Natsu, take care of any archers that may be around. I don't feel like watching Lucy die today!"

"Don't need to say a word!"

"Gray and Gajeel, I want you to charge first. If there's a horse Gray, it's your territory!"

"You can count on it!"

"Just stay sharp, shrimp!"

The blunette got a tome ready as the town was closer than ever. If there was fire, it couldn't spread unless they wanted civilian casualties.

Once they entered under the small archway, they saw that more and more buildings were beginning to catch fire. Levy sheathed her sword and pulled out a tome. She raised her arm and shouted "Elwind!"

A tornado appeared near the flames and snuffed them out. As the group went further into the town, Levy put out fires on her way. When they reached the center, there was a group of men rounding citizens into carts, tying them up and tearing them from their families.

"Charge!" Levy yelled, switching her tome out for a sword. Lucy flew at the thieves, impaling them with her spear. Wendy held tight to Lucy as Michelle weaved and bucked around to avoid the blades of enemy swords.

An archer was poised to shoot down Lucy, but Levy saw him. The blunette sliced down a man twice her size and called to Natsu.

"NATSU! Archer in Lucy's blind spot!"

He whipped around and saw him right away. In a flash, he cleared the space between him and the attacker and dealt with him swiftly. After that, he went back into the fray.

Gray had stolen a horse from one of the ruffians and began using his spear to fight off the others. While Natsu opted to cut down foes as quickly as he could, Gray used his training as a cavalier to charge his attackers on his new horse.

Gajeel used his sword, a killing edge, to mow through enemies. Levy was his shadow, ducking and jumping to avoid the swinging to get closer and kill thugs that he had missed. The pair made sure to watch each other's backs and cover them if they were left open.

Levy heard a voice call out "Come and get us, shepherds! I dare you!"

Knowing that it might be their leader, Levy dodged a swing from another attacker and shouted to Gray "Take out their leader!" Making a quick sweep with her eyes, she found the one in charge of the ruffians.

"And use a sword!" she added before returning to her own battle.

Gray spotted the leader and returned his spear to his back. He drew his sword from his hip and charged the man. The leader threw his axe, but missed due to Gray's unusual speed and grace. Once in range, the cavalier cut the ruffian down right away.

One of the underlings saw and yelled for the remaining forces to retreat. Lucy had been too quick through and blocked their escape. Natsu and Gray brought up on another side, weapons at the ready to cut down anyone who tried to go the other way. That left Levy and Gajeel to barricade them in further in their trap.

Levy stepped forward, drawing a fire tome to show she was ready incase they attacked her. Her eyes combed over the remaining five enemies. One was on horseback with an iron spear. The other were on foot and had steel swords, obviously stolen from the local blacksmith due to how new and virtually unused blades looked.

The tactician then cleared her throat. "I am Levy McGarden, the assistant tactician of Ylisse. Surrender now, or we will have to use force."

At first, the four on the ground looked at each other in defeat and dropped their weapons, raising their arms in submission to the group's terms. The fifth was agitated though, and lashed out at the girl.

"Why should I listen to you, royal trash!" He reared his horse and began to rush at Levy. She leapt away from spear point, rolling away from his steed. When he got himself together again for another charge, a pink blur rushed in the corner of his vision.

Before he could begin his second charge, something tugged his spear hard enough to pull him off his horse and he toppled to the cobblestone. Standing over him was Natsu, sword drawn to the thief's chest.

"We're giving you one last chance. Surrender or die." Natsu said, face stoic and void of any hint of mercy. The ruffian didn't listen, he simply gave his last words.

"Go to hell-"

Natsu swiftly ran his blade through the man. He gave a couple more curses before his eyes rolled into his head, head lolling onto the ground.

Natsu removed his blade to wipe the blood away. The corpse was left alone for now.

After tying up the ruffians, the group freed all the villagers from the carts. There were many thank yous and Naga bless thine traveling heros. It was nothing new the group it made their days all the more happy to serve their fellow countrymen.

One elderly man, the duke of the town stepped up to congratulate them with a strong handshake and a smile.

"Thank you, Shepherds. We would like you to stay the night and rest yourselves for your return to the exalt."

Wendy perked up at the prospect of a bed and home cooked food. Lucy sighed and opened her mouth to already request some extra hay and carrots for Michelle. Gajeel, Gray, and Natsu were jumping in their boots to meet the local women and a fresh ale in their possession.

Levy just raised her hand and spoke up. "We are thankful for the offer sir, but we really must decline. Our group needs to report back to Lady Aquarius as soon as possible." The small lady bowed her head to the duke and added "But some provisions would be nice, thank you."

All of her companion's mouths dropped to the dirt at the blunette. "B-but we can stay one night, shrimp!" Gajeel complained while stepping up, towering over his shorter friend. She matched his look, crossing her arms over chest. "You said so yourself. What were your words again? 'Ain't no rest for the wicked'?"

The swordsman ruffled her hair, rolling his eyes as she tried to swat him away playfully. "Alright, let's just get some extra provisions and hit the road."

The rest of the group reluctantly agreed and did just that.

There was something nicking the back of Levy's mind as she and the others left that town though. It was an unexplainable feeling that was familiar to her when she was asleep. The dark room, a voice telling her "This isn't over", and a young man with short black hair and red eyes calling her a strange title.

Whatever it was, it could wait.

Meanwhile, In a random point in time

A young man with a white cloak stood with his sword Falchion planted firmly into the ground. It was all he had left of his father, exalt of the once great kingdom of Ylisse. His head tilted to watch the sky with careful eyes. The ground he stood on was barren and void of life. Helmets, weapons, and bodies littered the field ahead of the man, the sun hiding behind clouds and permanent smog.

He ran a hand through his ash ridden hair, once a bright blonde color that was rivaled by only the missing flowers of spring. How he missed the feeling of having clean hair as prince of Ylisse. Now, he was prince of no man's land.

"Sting." a deep voice called from behind him. Turning, Sting saw his best friend and brother in arms, Rouge. He had on his tattered black coat and his trusty sword strapped at his hip.

"Yukino has found a way to the past. We need to hurry before Grima finds out about this new development."

Sting nodded. "Alright, let's meet her."

Together, the pair set off to fix this future that had transpired before their eyes. It was time to challenge the fate that had been dealt to their world.