Hello all. I promise I'm not abandoning this story. I had to plan the 4th arc and was with the last few weeks of school and graduation.
I've come up with names of the arcs for future references. Arc 1: Genesis chapters 1-8. Arc 2: Saints chapters 9-14. Arc 3: Past chapters 16-22.5
Chapter 16. Into the Past
Ultear worked on her garden on a cloudy day. The weather had been most accommodating. Despite it being the beginning of December it was nice and hot outside with no snow falling for weeks. That's what troubled her. Though the warmer weather was easier on her brittle bones, it left an uneasy feeling because she knew it was unnatural.
The weather had been acting strange all over. Not only in Fiore but also the rest of the world. It was snowing in the desert, hot high up in the mountains and stormy everywhere else.
Buildings vanished. People collapsed out of nowhere. More demons sprung up and the Magic Council could hardly contain them. They ravaged cities and towns, killing thousands of people. Homes crumbled as if they were never lived in and babies were born without the mother even knowing she was pregnant.
The world was having a panic attack and for good reason. It all started to go to shit after the sudden disappearance of the S-class wizard Ophelia. Witnesses said it looked as if a piece of her started turning invisible until the whole thing was gone.
The Magic Council concluded that someone somewhere had messed with her timeline and investigated the issue. A cult of Zeref opposers, that happened to be Spacetime mages, was found to behind the heinous crime. After seeing the display that Lia put on during the Annual Wizard Celebration, they decided she needed to be eradicated. Actually, they first tried to go back and kill Zeref multiple times but failed at each attempt. They then turned their sights to the other black mage they thought was conspiring with The Killing Mage. Somehow, someway, they managed to kill Lia years before she was placed inside the book, causing a ripple and several wounds in time. It needed to be fixed before it became permanent and the world would suffer immensely for it.
Members of Fairy Tail and Jura Neekis made their way over to the little cottage on the hill that Ultear lived in. After getting word from the council that they would be entrusted with putting time back to normal since it was their member that was the victim of the crime, they tried to figure out the best way to go about. To their surprise, Mavis Vermillion showed up at the guild one day, alive, saying she had the only solution to the problem.
"Hello hello. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Ultear asked. She was glad to see Gray again whom she hadn't spoken to since the Grand Magic Games.
"We've come to ask you for a favor," Gray answered.
Ultear quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
She shuffled them inside the cozy cottage. It was large enough for them all to fit and still have room to move around freely.
"As you might have noticed, the world has become… different over the past few weeks," Jura started.
"Yes. I've noticed the disturbances. I wrote it off as another wizarding problem that would soon be fixed. But I can see I was wrong in my assessment, since all of you have shown up here," Ultear mused.
"Well to put it short, everything you now know will change forever if we don't fix it now. Ophelia disappeared a while ago and ever since the world has drastically changed. We believe a group of Zeref opponents went back in time and killed her. Since it happened so long ago, it's taking time a while to catch up with the present day. Her premature death will soon cause time to collapse and we will all be lost forever," Jura explained with a somber tone.
"All the disturbances is time trying to fix itself," Mavis interjected. "Unfortunately, time can't be fixed properly without the aid of a Spacetime wizard. Soon all the distortions will accumulate and Earth-Land will be lost in time."
"I can see the problem. But what can I do? I only use Arc of Time. It won't be able to fix time. I could barely rewind time and look what it cost me," Ultear gestured to her rapidly aged body. To go from young and vibrant to old and slow was death in itself. But, she dealt with it knowing she had to repent for her sins.
"Since you wield the ability to control some aspects of time we believe if you combine your Arc of Time magic with this Spacetime lacrima you should be able to open a portal to the past. I've written a spell that should work." Mavis cradled the lacrima that contained the Spacetime magic. "I better get started then," Ultear said.
Mavis stopped them before they could proceed into the portal. "Now listen very carefully. The time you're going to is not at all like you're used to. It's dangerous and vicious and I need you all to be cautious while there. As soon as you get there try to find anyone of us, meaning the Sinister Six. Avoid contact with any demons or… other things and just try to find Lia as soon as you can. It's imperative that you stick close to her at all times and never stray away from any of us. The level that the magic world was back then is unparalleled to today and you won't be able to handle the threats they had. Don't mention anything about my death to Lia, or her being in the book, or anything that's not on a need to know basis. And whatever you do, avoid Zeref. He's not the crybaby you met before. Nor is he as inactive as now. He will kill you if he doesn't know of your intentions. We only had enough for a one-way trip so you'll have to complete the mission successfully or you'll be stuck back then forever. Only Lia can send you back unless you can find another willing Spacetime wizard. Here, take this. It has a recording of me on it explaining everything so she'll believe you and be filled in." Mavis handed Erza a lacrima.
Team Natsu plus Gajeel, Juvia, Mirajane, and Laxus prepared themselves. The entire guild was worried sick over Lia and wanted her back home as soon as possible. They were willing to risk being trapped in a different time to save her. Lisanna would have gone as well as Cana and Levy but Lisanna still wasn't well. Cana and Levy opted to stay and look after Lisanna with Elfman.
"One more thing," Mavis stopped them again. "The Lia you're about to meet is different from the one you know. To be honest we all were. So be careful okay? She won't be as friendly as she is now."
Everyone else wished them luck. They ventured into the time portal and walked out on the other side of time.
With varying degrees of shock, they reacted to their new environment. It certainly didn't look like the world they knew. The land was barren and filled with fire. The sky was dark and smoked. They saw dragons flying overhead, dozens of them everywhere. The first generation gasped at the sight. They wondered if any of their foster parents were up there as well. If they would run into them and get to spend time with them.
They wandered around for a while. Walking several miles until they came upon a town that seemed uninhabited. It wasn't until they saw a five story high demon that they understood why. The townspeople hid inside their homes and businesses inside cellars and steeled basements.
Forgetting Mavis's warning, the Fairy Tail mages went to attack but halted as they saw someone had already beaten them to the punch.
They watched as she ran up the length of its arm shooting blasts of magic on her way up. Recognizing the spells and magic type, they congratulated themselves on finding her so soon. They saw a look in her eyes they had only seen once before. The same look she had when fighting Chaos. Within minutes, the giant demon was dead beneath her feet and she made to leave.
"Lia! Lia!" Natsu yelled as they chased her down.
She came to a stop and turned her head steadily to look over her shoulder at them. They saw that she looked slightly younger than the one they knew. Maybe 18?
"What did you call me?" Her words were clipped and cold.
"…Lia. That's your name isn't it?" Lucy nervously asked. Maybe she was called something different back then. Maybe only people she knew were allowed to call her Lia.
She spun on her heels to face them. Accessing them with her eyes, she said, "Who are you? What are your intentions? You come to me as if you know me but I don't have the faintest idea as to who you are and don't take kindly to strangers as suspicious as you." She held a sword to Lucy's Adams apple. She was afraid to swallow.
"We're from Fairy Tail," Erza said in a calm manner.
Lia's eyes narrowed.
"You say you're from Fairy Tail but that can't be so. For one, Fairy Tail does not exist. And two, I know everyone in Fairy Tail." She pointed the blade closer to Lucy's throat drawing blood.
"I don't understand. How can it not exist but you know everyone in it?" Wendy asked. She couldn't be afraid of Lia. She was her friend. Even if this one before her didn't know her yet, she knew she would never do anything to intentionally hurt her or the others.
"Well that's simple. Fairy Tail won't exist for years."
"Oh. This must before the guild was formed."
"Yeah… I'm still not too sure if I can trust you. Why are you here?"
Laxus answered. "Mavis sent us."
"Mavis? Hey wait… you look like…" She tightened the grip on her sword. "Why would Mavis send you here?"
"Here we have a message from her." Erza handed the Lacrima to Lia and she held it with her free hand. As the future version of her friend explained the situation to her, she dropped her blade. When the message finished she gave the lacrima back. "That... doesn't make any sense."
"What doesn't?" Mira asked.
The Spacetime mage was visibly troubled. "Time is linear. If I was killed in the past, around this time, and you say you knew me before I disappeared in your past, you shouldn't remember me and time should have rewritten itself to fit the new history. It doesn't make sense that the future is collapsing. It only collapses when it has been manipulated or interfered with too much. You shouldn't even be here to 'fix' anything. This is a paradox. This shouldn't be happening right now… unless…" she trailed off. Her eyes lit up as an idea formed in her head.
"What is it?" Gray asked.
Lia pulled out a key hanging on a chain. It was lustrous and jeweled with precious stones. She stared at it for a minute, her eyes flashing. "Nothing," she said as she tucked it back under her shirt.
"Alright, well I guess you guys can follow me. For now. But don't call me Lia. Or Ophelia for that matter. I don't go by that in this time."
Puzzled, Erza asked, "What year is it?"
"It's 400 hundred years before your time."
"Four hundred years?!" Wendy yelled.
"What are you doing in this time?" Gray asked.
Lia looked amused. "She really didn't tell you? Wow, I guess I have to take care of everything like usual.
"You can call me Devi. Devi of the Seven Deadly of the Ancient World."
Big reveal. With even bigger within the rest of the arc. Until next time :)