Hello all. Back to regular updates(hopefully).

kurahieiritr JIO: The problem with Natsu is he's so immature and it's hard to write for him as he rarely thinks before acting. I hope I can mature his character by the end. There won't be much more interaction with the dragons unfortunately. They won't show up again until the next arc I think. A training session would have been cool but unneeded to be honest as the dragons already have humans their training because they're right in the middle of the dragon civil war and wouldn't have time for that.

Thank you to WomanOfFlames for favoriting.

Chapter 18. Where the Sun Doesn't Shine

All eyes were on the three looming figures above them. It was only two years previous that they had seen the parents of the resident Fairy Tail dragon slayers. The three dragons shifted their eyes onto the humans, unnerved by their response to their presence. Three of them smelled like them. They tried to recall crossing their path before but came up short. They could sense dragon slayer magic in them, and with their supposed friendship with Devi, they suspected they could be from another time. A future where they were intimate enough to shed tears for them.

"Igneel…" Natsu's voice caught in his throat as he tried to hold in his tears. His fists clenched the scarf his beloved father had given him. Igneel fixed him with a stare.

"Human, what is my relation to you?" The Fire Dragon King asked.

Natsu hesitated. Mavis said to avoid revealing any information that was not on a need to know basis. However, if they managed to save the future it wouldn't matter if they knew or not since they won't remember the encounter, as to all they interacted in the past, it never happened in their timeline. Wendy took the initiative and answered for him. "We're," pointing to herself, Gajeel and Natsu, "Your children. You raised us from when we were very little and taught us magic. It's… It's great to see you again Grandeeney!" Wendy ran and hugged the female dragon who was caught off guard with the show of affection. "I missed you so much! I've become stronger since I last saw you. I know you don't know me yet but thank you for everything you've done for me. I love you Grandeeney," Wendy whispered the last part into her foster mother's scales.

Gajeel and Natsu finally broke their silence and shared embraces with their dragons as well. After explaining the situation, the dragons gave them a ride to the Seven Deadly hideout, which happened to be where future Magnolia would be, as it was not formed yet. They flew slowly to prevent anyone from falling off. Devi woke up mid-flight to see Gajeel lying flat on Metalicana, a content smile on his lips. She still felt disoriented and weak; Acnologia's roar had severally damaged her magic supply. If he had his normal strength, they would surely all be dead and the mission a failure. They landed near a large shack emitting a high amount of magical energy. A magic barrier similar to the one around Devi's house was placed around it, not allowing any unwanted visitors inside. The shack door burst opened and out came Yury much to their surprise. "Oi! Who said you could ride our dragons?" He leaned up against the doorframe with his youthful body, mimicking the severe look they often saw from Makarov and Laxus. "Who the bloody hell are all these people? This one looks like you!" Laxus sneered at the green mage.

"Oh, yeah he does." Mavis had floated out of the shack to examine the resemblance between the two lightning mages. "I'm his great grandson", Laxus bluntly stated. Gasps were heard from the founding Fairy Tail members as they looked between the two for confirmation. Yury's jaw was slacked in amazement. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Yury shouted.

Laxus gestured to Devi who Natsu had bridal style in his arms. Mavis let out a tiny gasp at the state of her friend. "You told us to come back here to save her and we are. Our time got fucked up because some Spacetime cult came back and killed her." Fairy Tail sweat dropped at Laxus's candid explanation. "What's this about Spacetime wizards?" Reiki asked as he stepped out of the shake with Pretch closely behind. Pretch raised an eyebrow at the arrivals but all together stayed silent. "And what did you do to Devi?" Reiki held an accusing look in his gaze.

"It was not the humans, Prance, but Acnologia," Igneel clarified.

"Acnologia?" Mavis spoke surprised. She and the original members shared a silent conversation through looks. "We were minutes away from our usual meeting spot when he attacked, going after the pink haired boy," Metalicana explained.

"And why would he do that?" Pretch directing his question to Natsu.

"I don't know but that bastard has tried killing all of us before. In our time."

"He almost succeeded too. Until you saved us Mavis," Lucy praised.

"Me?" Mavis asked.

"Yes, with Fairy Sphere," Erza confirmed.

Warrod clapped Mavis on the shoulder. "Hey you finally perfected the spell!"

Pretch drew closer to the group. "Not that we don't believe your story but we'll need more than just your words to trust."

Erza nodded in understanding and took out the lacrima with the recording of future Mavis. The founders gathered round the lacrima. "You think she would have croaked by then…" Yury thought out loud. He received a slap from the tiny blonde.

The future of Fairy Tail tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't give anything away. They had to protect the future as much as possible if they couldn't save Lia and nothing would be fixed. Gray replied after a short silence. "Well… they say everything in our time went crazy. We were just as surprised when she showed up at the guild. Plus all of you are alive in our time too." Future Fairy Tail wondered why the Sinister Six weren't the least bit fazed by Mavis's young appearance.

They seemed to accept Gray's explanation when Reiki took Devi out of Natsu's arms and had them follow him inside. The dragons took their leave as the dragon slayers felt a pang in their hearts at their departure.

The shack was roomy and neat with various doors stairs leading to an upstairs. Reiki put Devi in one of the rooms upstairs to recuperate without disturbance. When he came back, Mavis steered the conversation back to Acnologia.

"Why would Acnologia attack even if he was after Natsu? He knows he's not supposed to."

"Why isn't he first master?" Erza asked.

"Acnologia fears the wrath of Zeref. He would never purposely hurt any of us. If Zeref hears of this he could have serious consequences."

"I didn't know Zeref had any control over Acnologia," Lucy admitted.

"Future Mavis did tell us once that Zeref was the one who summoned him to the island…" Mira said.

"Tenrou Island?" Mavis asked.

"Yes. He attacked us after…" Erza sent a nervous look over to Pretch who was thankfully not looking in her direction. "After we had just defeated a dark guild bent on waking Zeref up. Shortly after, we were blind-sided by his assault. It was then that you used Fairy Sphere to protect Fairy Tail."

"Why would Zeref not want Acnologia to kill any of you?" Gray questioned.

"We have an agreement with him," Warrod answered.

"Why in the hell would you make any deal with that guy?" Natsu boomed.

Gray thought to himself that the deal must have been void in their time because Zeref clearly didn't give a crap about Hades when he killed him. It was also just two years away from when Lia was trapped inside the book since the one upstairs was 18. Now that he thought about it, Lia did mention once that Mavis died shortly before she was sealed away. Was there a connection? He bet that Zeref went back on their deal and royally fucked them over.

"When you live in a dark world you have to make deals with the devil," Yury uttered. Laxus cut his eyes to him. "What a saint you are," he said. "What was that?" Yury demanded. Laxus turned his head and defiantly said, "You heard me."

"Why you little brat-" Yury jumped out of his seat. Warrod held him down before his temper heightened.

"Calm down Flash. Don't let this punk get to you. You'll dishonor yourself and the group by fighting with your descendent," Reiki lectured with his eyes closed. He opened them when Lucy said, "Flash?!" The Seven Deadly let out collective sighs in exasperation.

"I see Devi didn't get that far before she passed out. Yes we're the rest of Seven Deadly besides emo death kid," Prance grumbled.

"Reiki is Prance, Yury is Flash, Pretch is Brutus, Warrod is Arc and I'm Mei," Mavis listed.

"I can't believe this," Lucy said. "You're all legendary heroes from the ancient world and we all thought you were just the founders of our guild."

"Makes me wonder what else we don't know or realize," Erza voiced.

Brutus got up from his chair. "I have an inkling you'll be having quite a history lesson during your time here. I'm going to bed. Set up the living room for them." He closed the door to his bedroom.

Mei gathered sheets and pillows for the time travelers to have a comfortable sleep on the couches and floor.

The next morning, the Seven Deadly sans Zeref and Devi travelled with Fairy Tail to a nearby hospital. It was in dire need of repairs and filled to capacity with patients.

"We come here when we can," Arc started. "With the thousands of demons and dark wizards roaming, there are many victims and casualties. We can only protect and save so many. Prance happens to be a very good healer and the rest of us help out where we're needed. There aren't enough doctors and nurses so if any of you know anything about healing then please, help out the wounded and sick."

Wendy stepped forward. "One of my powers is healing. I've gotten better at using my energy longer to heal."

Arc smiled. "Good. You can start with the ones with the more severe injuries as they have little time before they become critical."

Mei grabbed Juvia's hands making the blue haired woman blush. "I'm so-sorry but Gray-sama is the only one for me Mav-Mei," Juvia babbled. Mei giggled at her reaction. "Juvia, you're a water woman right?" Juvia sheepishly nodded. "Well, there's a river bed close by. It used to flow with water before a demon evaporated it all. Can you replenish the supply? The hospital needs it to treat the patients and it's quite an inconvenience to travel so far for fresh clean water or wait for it to rain. Devi would do it as it is within the abilities of a Spacetime wizard but only the masters and she's not ready for that sort of thing yet. And the last time Flash tried, he caused a flood with his storms that did more damage than good. What do you say?"

"Of course! You can count on me first master!" Juvia hosteled out of the hospital and to the riverbed quickly. The hospital celebrated with resurgence of the water supply.

Flash bumped his shoulder into Laxus' with a grin on his face. "So you're my great grandson huh?"

Laxus spared him a sideways glance. "I am," he replied tersely.

Flash pouted at the unenthusiastic reply. "You'd think you'd be more excited at seeing me in my glory days. I guess it's true that kids don't appreciate the older generations."

"Maybe I would appreciate your more if you're older self acted like more than distant family member to me," Laxus glowered

Flash paused. "What?"

"I don't even know why I'm bothering. If all goes well you wont remember this visit anyways." Laxus strode away from the stupefied mage.

Prance had the men with him as they cared for the sick women. "Oh Prance, your handsome face makes me feel better already," one of the women said as he bandaged her up. Prance flashed a charming smile. "Your beauty stuns me every time. There you go. All good now." He moved onto another patient that Natsu was also helping. "What kind of name is Prance anyway? Couldn't you have picked a better name to go by?" Natsu mocked.

Prance didn't miss a beat. "Prance is my real name. Just as Devi is hers. Reiki is the name she picked for me when we first joined the guild. I would heal the injuries she sustained during our training when we lived in Caelum and so she went with that. I always hated my name anyways so it was no problem for me to go by Reiki."

"Really? You acted as if you disliked the name when I first said it." Devi stood behind them looking rested. "I did at first but it's better than Prance. Feeling better?"

Devi shrugged her shoulders. "As good as it's going to get for now. When we go the guild back I can properly rest." She sat down on the chair next to Natsu. He turned to face her.

"Hey Devi?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for protecting me back there. You didn't have to risk your neck for me. If Igneel couldn't even put him down then there was no hope for me making it out of there alive." Natsu recalled what Gildarts had said to him during the S-Class trials. Admitting his own weaknesses is what will make him strong enough to protect those he cared for.

"No problem Natsu," Devi dismissed. "I couldn't stand by and watch him kill you."

"Devi?" The three of them turned to see Mei with a neutral face. "It's time."

Devi sighed heavily before spreading her hands in front of her. A map of the hospital appeared in front her. Hundreds of images popped up along with an ancient language no one could read except Prance and Devi, as they learned it when they were children. Devi's eyes glazed over as the information provided was processed in her brain.

"It's called Ananke," Devi spoke as the glaze on her eyes vanished. "My brother and I created it as part of our black magic research. It shows me when a person was born, will die if it's relatively soon, how severe their injuries are, any prominent moments in their history… it helps me weed out the sick from the dying. And half of this hospital is dying. They'll die soon and painfully."

Devi moved to the bed across from the one they were sitting. A young man was laying there, pale and sweating from a high fever. He understood what she was implying and nodded before succumbing so coughing fit. "We also expanded upon that idea and invented a way to kill a person in the most painless way possible. God's Mercy. First I put them into a coma," the man's eyelids slowly closed as his breathing evened. Devi's hands hovered up and down the length of his body as a soft white light issued from them. "Then I paralyze their muscles including their respiratory muscles which if left untreated will cause asphyxiation." Devi placed her hands over his left pectoral. "Finally, I stop their heart, which causes death by cardiac arrest. All while they feel nothing and travel to the afterworld in peace."

"That's… awful," Wendy whispered.

Devi remained calm and composed as she went to the next person asking if they wanted to die peacefully. "It's a necessary evil. Not everyone gets the privilege of dying in their sleep and many would give up anything to go out that way. But unfortunately this is a time of war and the battlefield is not a place for compassion."

Wendy watched as she went to the next patient in the room and brought up Ananke. She found nothing wrong and moved on, stumbling into a table that was right in her viewpoint. She felt her way around it and to the next bed. Devi could feel her vision blurring as she felt a massive headache forming. She ran into a wall after she started swaying on her feet. Mei helped her up and guided her to the next room. Wendy followed behind wanting to know what was wrong.

Ananke while useful and diverse in its usage besides seeing symptoms and illness had temporary side effects, as did most spells. Repeated use could cause severe magic depletion, leaving the user on the edge of collapse.

Mei escorted her friend before she was pulled away to the other side of the hospital and had Natsu guide Devi.

Devi spent the next few hours making her rounds through the hospital, taking small breaks in between, before making it to her final patient.

"Good evening. I'm sure you already know, but you're going to die soon and it's going to hurt. Would you like me to give you a quick and easy death?" Devi was far past the point of speaking with restraint. Her shirt was soaked with sweat and stuck to her like a wet suit.

An older woman narrowed her eyes at Devi. "No I would not," she spat. "You come in here expecting me to be happy and thankful you're willing to end my life in seconds. I bet I'm just another body count for you aren't I?" Devi said nothing as the woman insulted her. She had dealt with difficult people before.

"My daughter didn't have the option to die old in her sleep like she should have. She was sent flying out of our home days ago when a demon destroyed it. Her neck didn't break all the way for her to have died upon landing and she spent the rest of the night bleeding out in the field alone because I was under the rubble of our house. If my daughter couldn't find peace before she left this cursed world then why should I?"

Natsu shifted uncomfortably at the story. "I see. Well you wouldn't mind company? I'm sure your daughter wouldn't want you to die alone like she did. I stayed with my step father as he died because he didn't want to bleed out by himself," Devi took a seat next to her bed and felt around for her wrinkled and weak hand. The woman did not have the strength to grip it back.

Natsu sat on the other side of her bed. "What are you doing?" Devi questioned. Devi expected Natsu to go help one of the others while she sat with the old woman.

"Sitting. Hi, I'm Natsu. What's your name?"

"April," the woman answered.

"April. Nice to meet you. What was your daughter's name?"

"May. It's silly but we found it cute," she too had a coughing fit. Blood splatters stained her tissue. She didn't say another word after that.

"I've only known a handful of people to stay with people as they die. Mavis has been around enough ghosts as it is and the others find it plain creepy," Devi said.

Natsu slumped forward in his chair. He laid his head on the hand of April's hand, which he was holding. "I'm not good at healing. I usually destroy everything I touch. I'm not much help anywhere else so I can stay here with her until she passes on." Devi raised her eyebrows in surprise. She found herself impressed with the dragon slayer and respect for him appeared. She laid her forehead on April's hand as well and they sat there like that for the rest of the night. They woke up to April's freezing hands still in their hands.

This is the longest chapter so far but it might be taken over quickly depending on the last two for this arc. Until next time :)