Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
This chapter will be pretty short as I am only going to use it to move the story along faster. The next 2 chapters will also be kinda short as I am preparing a story for my birthday next week.
Lucy's pov
To be completely honest, the past week has been weirder than the time we went to Elodas. It's been about three days since the Natsu from the future appeared, and currently, the whole guild is sitting in the guild hall as usual; however, I know they are all wondering if he is okay or if the Natsu from the future will ever wake up after he passed out.
As I was telling the guild about what had happened to the other Lucy, a yell was heard from behind us, causing most of the guild to turn around and stare at an older version of Natsu who looked concerned.
As I was staring at him just like the rest of the guild, I finally realized all the scars and how different he looked from my Natsu. For instance, the future one had a scar going up his neck to his cheek and looked a bit older than the one I knew. The most surprising thing about all of it was that he didn't have the only gift he had left from his father.
The future Natsu looked at us, nervously waving his hands. "Geez, this is awkward," he mumbled to himself, looking at the strange looks he was getting from everyone.
I glanced over at Wendy for a split second, who nodded her head at me with a look of pity. I took a deep breath and turned back to face the older Natsu, deciding it would be best to tell him what had happened to his Lucy.
C'mon, Lucy! You can do this!" I thought to myself as I finally arrived and looked up at the older Natsu, who was just staring down at me in confusion.
"Look, Future Natsu," I started, looking at him while playing with my fingers. I could have sworn he looked like he was about to break down in tears. "I'm sorry to say this, but the Lucy that traveled through the Eclipse Gate didn't make it. There was a problem and she disappeared."
"I know what has happened to her; you don't need to explain it to me because I have seen it for myself."
I paused for a moment to process what I had just heard, and I figured the rest of the guild was doing the same.
"What do you mean you knew about it?"
Gray looked like he was about to cuss his future friend out for not being able to save her, probably thinking he was there the whole time it was happening.
The older dragon slayer just shrugged, pointing over towards the present Natsu who was just as shocked as I was.
"I am him," Natsu said with a frown on his face, pointing towards the Natsu of our time. "I'm not from the time of the 10,000 Dragons; I am from your current future."
The entire guild was shocked; some even dropped what they were holding in their hands. Future Natsu only glanced at us before going to sit at the bar.
"One drink, please," he said, his back leaning against the bar as he looked at us with a tired expression on his face. "You all are probably wondering why I'm here, right?"
The rest of the guild was still too stunned to speak, so I ended up nodding my head yes in response to his question.
The future you're going to wish for sooner or later is going to be ruined by a single person," he said, his face full of seriousness. "And if you don't do something about it now, then you're all not going to have a future at all."
Gray looked at the future dragon slayer then at the Natsu from their time, looking as if he were contemplating how much Natsu had changed in just a few short moments. Erza seemed to be trying to understand what he meant would happen to our future and who would ruin it. The rest of the guild seemed to be doing the same.
The Natsu from my time finally had enough as he jumped up from his seat next to me and stalked his way towards his future self, getting right in his face and yelling "Who is it?! Who's the bastard who's gonna ruin our future, I swear I'll turn them to ash before they can even try it!"
The rest of the guild jumped up as well, screaming threats at the person; even Wendy was joining in with her own threats.
"Calm down, brats!" The master shouted, standing up on top of his seat at the bar. The guild calmed down as the master turned back to face Future Natsu. "Now, as you can see and probably know already, our guild is ready to face any threat to protect our family, whether it's the king or the dragons themselves!"
The guild nodded their heads in agreement with determined looks on their faces. It made me smile, remembering just how much we all cared for one another, through thick and thin.
"Now who is that bastard we'll have to take down anyways?" Natsu asked, now standing a little farther away from his future self to give him some space to speak.
Future Natsu sighed before pointing at his past self with a serious look on his face. "You. Your that bastard who's gonna ruin everyone's future"
Time seemed to slow down as I tried to process the words he said. I felt almost nauseous, thinking and imagining what exactly had Natsu done so badly in the future that caused his future self to go back in time just to stop it.
The two Natsu were keeping eye contact with each other. The future one looked at his past self with pity, while the other looked sick; his body trembling in what seemed to be fear. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. A cold sweat seemed to be running down his face. The tension in the guild hall was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"W-what?" Gray stammered in disbelief, looking at the future Natsu, expecting him to say it was all a joke and that the future was fine and he was only here by accident, that everything was going great. But the look in the future Natsu's eyes told Gray everything he needed to know; there was no happily ever after especially not for us.
"Explain!" Erza shouted, standing in front of Natsu's future self with a sword drawn toward him. Her face left no room for questions; only answers. Future Natsu sighed before looking up at her.
"I can't say much but I can tell you for sure that I'm the last survivor of our guild."
Erza lowered her sword, staring at the future Dragon Slayer in pity for what he had gone through.
Suddenly, as Erza was about to speak, Natsu spoke up. "Why? Why did I ruin our future?"
Future Natsu looked at his past self, his face softening as he looked at him. "Because this world is never fair to anyone, not even us."
That's the end of this chapter I hope you enjoyed!
