A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: THE FUTURE SPEEDING TOWARDS DESPAIR

As Kagura unsheathes her sword, everyone was in shock. "I can feel the thirst for blood even from here..." Makarov thought.

However, Kagura pauses, causing a huge explosion to erupt and destroying half of Crocus. Erza had blocked Kagura's sword just on time. "I can't afford to die!" Erza claimed.

Meanwhile, Natsu and the others stopped in front of another door. "Another door? I thought the last one was the exit outta here." Natsu complained.

"I have a feeling we're going around in circles." Lucy commented.

"I feel a breeze here and there, so I can't figure out which one leads to the outside." Wendy stated.

"This is a problem, especially since we've got wounded." Loke informed.

"Anyway, we have to let everyone in the guild know we're safe." Carla said.

"That's right! So we've just gotta get outside!" Happy agreed.

Fera turned to Drake, who had released Arcadios' arm while they were walking as a dark Magic Circle with a star design in the middle was in front of him. "Any luck, Drake-san?"

Drake sighed in frustration as he opened his eyes, the Magic Circle disappearing. "It's no use. Even though we're no longer in the Hell Palace, I still can't transport us without seeing where I would transport us too." He replied.

"If we're lucky, this passage will lead us out." Mira reassured.

"And if we're not, we'll just waste more time wandering around." Lily added.

"I'm sorry. This wouldn't have happened if I knew more about the layout here." Yukino apologized.

"I'm sorry, too. My memories are slowly returning, but I got nothing that could help us." Lucas said.

"You both got nothing to apologize for." Lucy reassured.

"She's right. It's not your fault, Luke. You spent your time here as a child, and you're still recovering from amnesia that you didn't even know you had." Sting informed before glancing over at his former guildmate. "It's not your fault either, Yukino."

Yukino flinches at Sting's voice, as this was the first time he had addressed her directly since they got stuck in the Hell Palace.

"Anyways, let's keep goin'. I'm curious about this Luke, too." Sting said, referring to Future Lucas that was on his shoulder.

"Agreed." Wendy said.

"All right, then let's go!" Lucy exclaimed as the group continued on their way.

Inside Mercurius...

All of the current battles were shown on the Lacrima screens. "Certainly, it's only natural for you to be concerned. Deciding whether to use the Eclipse Gate based on the results of the game... If possible, I'd rather take measure of the situation more carefully, too. Especially since it's connected to the future of everyone who lives in this country." Hisui glanced at Darton. "But right now, there's nothing else I can base my judgment on. He told me the results of the Grand Magic Games. If he's right, it definitely proves that he has knowledge of the future. We'll have our conclusion shortly. To be honest, I don't want to believe it either. If the future he foretold comes to pass..."

Lucy peeks her head out from a hallway, looking around. "Well, Lucy-san?" Wendy questioned.

"It looks like nobody is there. Let's go." Lucy responded.

"Right."

"I wonder what's going on with the Grand Magic Games." Ace commented.

"I'm sure they're kickin' some major ass." Lucas replied. "Anyway, let's get the hell outta here and meet up with Master and everyone else."

Pillars soon fell over from Kagura's attack as the audience cheered. "She parried Kagura's Archenemy!" Risley exclaimed.

"I don't believe it!" Arana said in shock.

"Kagura-chan!" Beth spoke with concern.

"I'm alive because of Simon..." Erza stated as she began to glow and a flash of Simon appeared. "I'm alive because of old Rob..." A flash of Rob defending a younger Erza appeared. "I'm alive because of my comrades."

Erza had changed into her Clear Heart Clothing Armor, pointing her blade at Kagura. "Giving up on this life... would be a sacrilege against those who went on that journey!" She said.

Kagura gritted her teeth. "I'll kill both you and Jellal!" She declared, raising her sword up.

Kagura charged forward as Erza stopped her sword with hers. "If that's what drives you, that's fine." Erza leaped into the air. "I don't intend to ignore that feeling... but I don't intend to lose either!"

Erza soon slashes at Kagura, landing on the ground and making Kagura collapse. The audience soon cheered.

"Amazing!"

"It's Erza! What a force of will! She was totally worn out, but pulled off a reversal!" Chapati said.

"I'm not surprised, though." Yajima claimed.

Mato was jumping up and down. "I-Incredible-kabo!"

"She unsheathed Archenemy..." Arana started to say.

"Kagura... lost?" Risley questioned in disbelief.

"Unbelivable..." Beth muttered.

"Magnificent! Even my eyes couldn't follow that slash!" Makarov commented.

Kaiba hummed. "I'd say she's on the same level as Eric..."

"That's true..." Bella agreed.

Kagura struggled to stand up. "Kagura is getting up! This isn't over yet!" Chapati announced.

"I... I..." Kagura started to say.

Erza looked up, seeing that debris was about to fall on Kagura. "Look out!" Erza warned as debris fell down.

"Erza..." Makarov mumbled.

The dust cleared, showing Kagura was fine and that Erza's leg was crushed under the debris. "Why...?" Kagura questioned.

"I... know... you." Erza confessed. "Or, no. I should say I remember you. I just... remember... Simon's little sister."

Kagura was now standing up. "Y-You mean..."

"That's right. I'm from Rosemary Village, too." Erza revealed. "Same as you... and Simon..."

Kagura widened her eyes, remembering the child hunt and people running.

"Take the children! Kill all the adults!"

A younger Kagura was surrounded by flames. "Big brother... where are you?!" She called out as a younger Erza grabbed her wrist.

"They'll find you if you stand here!" Erza said as she took off running.

"But my brother is..."

"I heard a child's voice over there!"

"Hide in here!" Erza ordered as Kagura was in a crate.

"What about you?" Kagura asked.

"Don't worry. I'll find another place!" Erza responded. "Live!"

"I found a kid!"

"Grab her!"

Erza began running before getting pinned down by the child hunters.

Kagura was in tears as she had covered her mouth in shock. "I remember..."

"Simon often talked about you. I was worried all that time, too. I prayed for your safety." Erza said. "I still do."

Kagura soon lifted up the debris off of Erza's leg. "I don't have any sense of closure yet." She released the slab of debris. "But... as for this fight, I..."

Kagura gets cut off as Minerva stabbed her, causing her to collapse to the ground. "The winner is Erza. However, I get the points." Minerva claimed.

"Minerva took down Kagura! Sabertooth gains points!" Chapati announced as Sabertooth's point count goes up to 54, leaving God Pegasus in second place. "Since the leader was defeated, that's 5 points! Sabertooth has bypassed God Pegasus to become the current front-runner!"

Minerva drops the sword. "I told you, remember? I'm going to give you a battle worthy of a king." She said.

"Then you're looking at the wrong person, you wench."

Minerva glanced up as she saw Nero walking over with his arms crossed. "How troublesome. Looks like I'm gonna have to fight after all." Nero sighed before looking at Erza. "Erza, get Kagura out of here."

Erza widened her eyes in shock. "But...!"

"I'm not looking down at you in any way, but you're worn out and injured. I'll get your friend when I defeat this overgrown cat, I promise." Nero said.

Erza hesitates as she looks at Kagura before finally nodding. She lifts Kagura up gently, wrapping her arm around her neck and limped away. Once Nero was sure Erza and Kagura were out of the way, he glares at Minerva.

"With this, all the Mermaid Heel participants are out! So now it's just down to Nero and Minerva!" Chapati announced. "Does the Pegasus have any chance at victory?!"

Meanwhile, Laxus, Orga, and Shiro were staring at each other. "You're Shiro, another Lightning Dragon Slayer, right?" Laxus asked.

"Indeed. But unlike you, I was taught by the Lightning Dragon, Zeldris. Which means I'm far more powerful than you'll ever be." Shiro responded.

"Don't count on it." Laxus retorted.

"Hey... Aren't you forgetting about me?" Orga questioned.

Shiro glanced at him. "You're not my top priority at the moment. Nero told me I'll be fighting Laxus, so that's what I'm gonna do. Besides, you'll be taken out with a single strike, anyway." He answered.

"Nero? He must be the one intercepting First Master's calculations." Laxus thought.

Laxus shot yellow lightning at Shiro, making him sigh as it went past him and destroyed a nearby building. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're frozen in fear." Laxus taunted.

"No such thing. You never intended to hit me." Shiro claimed, throwing a blast of blue lightning at Laxus, which went past him and destroying a few buildings.

Shiro, Laxus, and Orga all joined their attacks, shooting a mixture of black, yellow, and blue lightning in the air. Footsteps were soon heard. "Well, well..." A voice spoke up, revealing Jura. "I've come across a couple of strong wizards."

"Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints!" Orga exclaimed.

"You appeared at last, monster." Laxus said.

"Finally got tired of hiding, eh?" Shiro smirked.

Juvia and Sherria continued bickering. "You're leading Lyon astray!" Sherria shouted.

"Juvia is devoted to Gray-sama!" Juvia claimed.

"This is a tough fight for Sherria. Then again, her opponent is Juvia." Lyon spoke up, getting Sherria's attention.

"Dammit. I feel like I'm getting deja vu right now." Alyssa sighed.

"Looking a little rough there, Alyssa."

Alyssa turned, seeing Eric had arrived. "Yeah, well, you would be too. Gray was a tough bastard." She said.

This caused both Lyon and Juvia's eyes to widen in shock. "Gray-sama was defeated?" Juvia exclaimed.

"That's impossible! Gray wouldn't go down that easily!" Lyon said.

Alyssa smirked. "Will you be the second ice wizard I take down, Lyon? I guess we'll have to see." She stated, causing Lyon to grit his teeth.

Mercurius...

"Un-friggin'-believable." Natsu commented as the group had made it to the palace dining hall. Arcadios and Future Lucas were on the ground, resting.

"Who figured we'd get lost after all that?" Loke questioned.

"This is a real pickle." Mira stated.

"I just don't have enough knowledge of the castle-sama's structure..." Yukino said.

"Castle-sama?" Wendy and Fera both repeated.

"We got a lot to tell everyone, so we'd better get out of here soon." Lily informed.

"Like about Eclipse and Future Lucas..." Ace mumbled.

"This is a pain in the ass, so let's just plow through some soldiers." Natsu said.

Sting raised his hand. "I agree with Natsu-san."

"No surprise there." Lucas sighed.

"Forget it! We've got injured people here!" Carla rejected.

"Maybe we could handle them with our numbers." Happy suggested.

"No, that's not all. We're also fighting in the Grand Magic Games, right? It's a kingdom-sponsored tournament. I don't think we can afford to make a bad impression on the imperial forces." Mira said sheepishly.

"Well, we did beat up the executioners, so it may be too late." Wendy sweat dropped.

"We're far passed bad impression." Fera agreed, also sweat dropping.

"Maybe we should have gone a little easier on them." Happy claimed. "If you think about it, it's not like they're especially bad people."

"Well, we couldn't afford the luxury of saying that at the time." Carla said.

"We didn't put anyone out of commission permanently. They'll probably be waking up any time now." Lily stated.

"Though, to be fair, they were trying to execute us." Ace added.

Lucas glanced down at his future counterpart. "Stop your worrying, dumbass." Drake told him.

"Yeah."

"It seems you're still an idiot, even in the future." Drake smirked.

"Asshole!" Lucas sends a punch towards Drake's face, causing Fera to rub a hand down his face.

Future Lucas soon began to stir. "Are you okay, Future Lucas?" Ace questioned.

Future Lucas sat up. "Where am I?"

"We don't know." Lily replied.

"It looks like the palace dining hall."

"So we're still in the palace..." Future Lucas mumbled, placing his hand on his head. "According to my memory... after escaping from Hell Palace, we're all captured by imperial soldiers. Lucy came rushing back here so she could warn us beforehand... but all I can say is, we were unlucky. And until that time came, we were in a prison."

"'That time'?" Happy quoted.

Future Lucas stayed silent. "You're talking about the reality that you experienced, Future Lucas?" Lily asked.

"What are you talkin' about? Those guys could never capture us!" Natsu declared.

"True. I don't feel like they could take us." Mira agreed.

"We get close to Eclipse while we're on the run. Because of that, we can't use our magic and all get thrown into the dungeon." Future Lucas informed.

"Our future selves sure are careless, huh?" Sting mumbled as Natsu hummed in agreement.

"Um, how did you come from the future, Lucas-san?" Fera asked.

"Good question. You haven't told us the important stuff yet." Drake said.

Future Lucas's whole body began to shake uncontrollably, getting Sting's attention. "In order to change a terrible future..."

"A terrible future?" Sting quoted.

"What happened in your future?" Yukino questioned.

"Actually..." Future Lucas started to say.

"He told me... what lies ahead." Hisui claimed. "Despair... A swarm of more than 10,000 dragons attacks the country. The city burned down. The palace is destroyed. Many lives are lost. Are those words true or false? He entrusted me with the answer. The results of the Grand Magic Games... will guide my decision."

A/N: Question for those still reading the story - Do you guys want Sting to fight Future Rogue (and find out his demise in the process), or Present Lucas? I was heading more toward Sting for obvious reasons, but I want to hear your opinions!

Also, I'm going to be improvising my version of Future Sting's death as a flashback for Future Lucas in the next chapter. Since, you know, we never actually see his death.

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.