A/N: For those of you who want to submit an OC for the Tartaros/Alvarez Empire Arcs, the SYOC is now open! Please go look at the updated OC form if you're interested, as I did change a few things - including new rules.

Episode 198.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER FIFTY: GOLDEN GRASSLAND

Lucy was staring at the portal. "We'll just have to slam into it with all our magical power." She claimed.

"Right." Yukino agreed.

All of the Zodiac Keys flew into the air once more, creating a circle and shining a gold light. Lucy and Yukino joined hands and had their eyes closed.

"Open..."

"...the 12 Gates!"

"Zodiac!" Lucy and Yukino shouted together as the Zodiacs appeared once more.

"Everyone, please!" Lucy pleaded.

The Celestial Spirits charged forward towards the portal as a bright golden light was shown. When it dispersed, the portal still stood.

"I don't believe it! We didn't even make a dent!" Lucy stated.

"It's made of Magnanium alloy, which is highly resistant to Magic. It won't be easy to destroy." Arcadios informed.

"Even so..." Lucy trailed off.

Ryujin was on the ground before taking flight and slamming himself into Mother Glare as Sting hopped on its back.

Levy was running through the town. "Gajeel!" She exclaimed to herself.

"Go back to your own..." Sting presses his foot onto Future Rogue's stomach. "...time period!"

Sting struck Future Rogue with a kick infused with holy light, making him stumble back.

"I have no intention of going back." Future Rogue claimed.

"Then what'll happen to the current Rogue?!" Sting asked.

"Eventually, I'll become one with myself." Future Rogue answered as he turned into a shadow. "Like two overlapping shadows..."

"So you wanna steal Rogue's future, too?" Sting questioned.

"There is no future! Not as long as Acnologia exists!" Future Rogue surrounded Sting, who glanced around. "That's why I came here, to create the future!"

Future Rogue struck Sting with holy light as he fell down from Mother Glare, but he quickly hung on. Future Rogue soon appeared as he chuckled darkly. Sting climbed back up on top of Mother Glare as he coughed, making Future Rogue laugh.

"Ever since I began battling you, I asked myself what went wrong in the future for you. But now, I think I know." Sting confessed, getting Future Rogue's attention. "Where's Frosch?"

"Dead." Future Rogue answered.

"He's alive. And I bet he's terrified right now... because of you..." Sting claimed.

Lector had a stick in his hand as Frosch covered his eyes. "It'll be okay! I'm here with you!" Lector reassured.

"He'll die... about a year from now."

"You can't protect him?"

"I couldn't protect him."

"He's alive right now!" Sting argued.

"I don't care. I'm not the same man who kept a cat as a sidekick." Future Rogue said.

Sting charged forward. "You..."

"Someone who has never known despair wouldn't understand." Future Rogue activated his Magic. "I finally obtained hope, and I won't let the insanity of a desperate man interfere!"

Sting easily moved through the attack. "Your hope..." He leaped over the attack. "...means turning the past into despair?!"

"Not everyone can be equally happy! Grow up, Sting!" Future Rogue shouted.

"Even if you're right, everyone has the right to choose the future! We're headin' for the future that we chose! Not the one you chose!" Sting claimed.

"Sting!" Ryujin called out.

"We don't have to know what tomorrow holds!" Sting continued, joining with Ryujin's solar light and slamming into Future Rogue. "That's why we can live for everything we're worth today!"

A huge sphere made of solar and holy light soon appeared.

The Celestial Spirits tried once more to attack the portal. "I've reached... my limit!" Lucy exclaimed as she and Yukino had their hands clasped together.

A large golden sphere soon shined brightly before it dispersed again. And still, the portal stood. Lucy collapsed to her knees.

"How can the portal be that strong?" Lucy asked herself.

"It hasn't mooved an inch..." Taurus stated.

A bright glow soon got everyone's attention. "Huh?" Yukino said in confusion.

Happy looked up to see a large light sphere heading in their direction. "Get back! Everyone, get away from the portal!" He warned as everyone did so.

The light sphere soon crashed, making Lucy get thrown back as Happy, Carla, Lily, and Ace ducked. When the smoke cleared up, it was revealed that the Eclipse portal was destroyed as Future Rogue was knocked out.

"The portal is broken!" Happy cheered.

"Sting!" Ace exclaimed as Sting breathed heavily.

"I don't believe it... A door made of Magnanium, destroyed..." Arcadios commented.

"What will happen now?" Hisui asked.

"We believe the portal in the future can't be used." Yukino replied.

"In other words, Rogue can't come back to this time period." Lily elaborated.

"History will return to normal." Carla added.

Mother Glare soon began to have a golden glow. "The dragon's body..." Happy noticed.

"It's glowing!" Lucy said.

Ryujin's body was glowing as well. "Are we going back to our own time?" He questioned.

All of the other dragons bodies were glowing as well.

"Running away with your tail between your legs?" Cobra taunted. "No..."

Elexion's body glowed. "What is this?!"

"The dragon..." Laxus started to say.

"It's disappearing?!" Wendy finished.

"It seems so." Lucas stated.

"Humans did this?! Lowly humans did this?!" Elexion exclaimed.

Hisui walked forward. "I'm sorry."

"It's still dangerous!" Wendy warned.

"Princess!" Arcadios called out.

"Hey!" Laxus said.

Hisui stopped in front of Elexion. "I'm the one who constructed the time portal. I disrupted the natural flow of your time stream. You, who live 400 years in the past... and we, who live in the present... have no real reason to fight. I perverted nature."

"Who are you, wench?" Elexion asked.

"Hisui E. Fiore."

"Hisui?"

"That's right. Hisui."

"Stare..."

"Wait a second! Dammit! I fell for it! I'm..." Elexion's sentence was cut off as he disappeared completely into a ball of light as did Mother Glare.

The mini dragons vanished as well as the remaining dragons.

"Did we do it?" Atlas asked.

"It looks like we won." Nero replied.

"I won't forget you, Sting... Eucliffe..." Ryujin spoke before he vanished.

"Thanks, Uncle." Sting thanked him.

"They're gone!" Lucy said in relief.

The rest of the little dragons disappeared. "The little ones are disappearing!" Max informed.

"Did we beat 'em?!" Warren asked.

"I don't know how, but it's over!" Macao cheered.

"The dragon vanished..." Gajeel muttered as Levy rushed up to him.

"You did it, Gajeel!" Levy cheered.

"Yeah. But..." Gajeel trailed off.

"This isn't satisfying." Cobra commented.

"None of the Dragon Slayers... were able to take down a dragon." Mavis muttered as she was levitating over Crocus.

"Man, talk about embarrassing." Shiro sighed as he sat down on the ground. Blaze had eventually joined him.

"You did your best, Shiro." His partner tried to cheer him up.

"If these were strong dragons... It makes me wonder what Acnologia is like." Shiro said, shivering at the thought.

"Well, don't think about that for now. Hopefully you and the other Dragon Slayers won't have to know."

"Yeah..."

Future Rogue's body began glowing as Sting glanced down at him. "I'm sorry, Sting..." He apologized.

"For what, exactly?"

"Everything. For killing you to gain more power... For murdering Luke." Future Rogue replied.

"It's not my place to forgive you, but I think my future self would've understood. Luke, too. All you did was end his misery. I felt how much he was suffering. Besides, you know how he is." Sting stated, making Future Rogue smile.

"The Rogue I know ain't gonna become you. I'll make sure of it." Sting then promised.

"The shadows... The shadows try to consume me... They follow me around, wherever I go... and the day I lose Frosch is the day the shadows and I became one." Future Rogue said.

"Frosch ain't gonna die."

"A year from now. Be sure to tell me... to protect Frosch in one year." Future Rogue says a name, making Sting's eyes widen. "...is going to kill Frosch."

With that, Future Rogue vanished, leaving Sting to contemplate the information he heard.

Beneath Mercurius, Future Lucas's body glowed as well before it vanished.

He soon woke up, being met with a bright, azure sky. He sat up, seeing he was in a golden grassfield.

"Where am I?" He asked himself as he began walking through the field, looking around.

"Hey! Luke!"

Lucas turned around upon hearing a familiar voice call his name. He teared up as he saw the Sting of his timeline rushing forward.

He soon began to back up, choking out a sob. "You're... You're not real..."

Sting grinned at him before lifting his chin up. "You've kept me waiting, Luke. I missed you." He said.

Lucas buried his face into Sting's chest. "I missed you too." He mumbled as Sting runs a hand through Lucas's green hair.

"We'll be alright, Luke."

"Yeah..."

In the present, tears fell down Lucas's face as he touched his cheek with his fingertips.

"Huh? Why am I crying all of a sudden?" He asked himself.

Lucas rushed forward towards Sting, hugging him from behind and surprising him. Sting looks up at the palace.

"What's wrong, Luke?" He asked, lacing his fingers with Lucas's as the moon finally became normal.

Lucas hugs him tighter. "Nothing. Just a sudden feeling I had... Thank you."

A/N: And that's the end of the Eclipse Arc! I wanted to make that small talk between Sting and Future Rogue. So I hope you enjoyed that.

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.