"Mama! Papa! Hurry up!"
"Wait up Nashi! Gheez Luce, where does she get all that energy from?"
"You're seriously asking that when you literally live your life the exact same way?"
"Hey! I'm way more toned down compared to before!"
"Mhmm... keep telling yourself that, Natsu."
"Mama~ Papa~! C'mon~! Storm, Senna and Gale nii-san are waiting for me!"
"Remind me exactly why we let our daughter be friends with the Ice Princess' son? Couldn't she just be friends with Senna?"
"Because unlike you and Gray, Natsu, Storm and Nashi actually know how to cooperate with each other."
"Yeah but they still fight at the guild hall, Luce."
"And which two fathers are responsible for that habit again?"
"You don't gotta be snippy about it..."
After Future Natsu finished explaining to Lucy the same things that his wife had explained to Fairy Tail, he immediately told the blonde empress that they should go to the Dragon Realm and ask help from the dragons to prepare for the opening of the Eclipse gate. However, Lucy remained skeptical. If Future Natsu and everyone else from the future was able to defeat the hostile dragons the first time, wouldn't it be better for them to stick to the original circumstances and just go about the battle without the dragons?
The time traveller had agreed with her logic, but because the events in which they were written were already starting to change because his and his wife's interference, it wouldn't hurt to change just one more thing. Plus, there had been a lot of damage when the dragons attacked in his memory. Even if both he and his wife knew the solution to stop the dragons, it was up to the current Natsu to finish the battle and put a stop to the mayhem. If they prevented the event from ever happening, who knows what they would change.
Future Natsu knew that Lucy wouldn't be completely convinced of his explanation, but he appreciated that she understood that though the events that were written in the threads of time were changing, they still had to try and get close to what had originally happened. It was one of the things that he always loved about her personality, even before the time he had realized his feelings for Lucy a couple of years from the current one. She had always understood him during the times others might have not.
Though to say keeping the balance of the written events was the only reason for them to go to the Dragon Realm would be a complete lie. The time traveller had an ulterior motive... and that was to finally catch a glimpse of his daughter up close. He hadn't told Lucy about Future Lucy sealing her dragon slaying magic within Nashi's body nor the fact that he had a daughter (though he did mention that her future self inevitably lost her powers), Future Natsu thought it better she not know until she sees Future Lucy with her own eyes.
It had been long since he was able to see his daughter in the flesh, never mind hold her in his arms like before. Both he and Future Lucy had missed out on practically three years of Nashi's life. They had sent her to the past, of what specific year they did not know, for her own safety and when they travelled through time to find her, they found out that they had arrived three years after Nashi's arrival. Not only losing her memories of what had happened before the time jump, but also losing a few of her memories with them.
"I can't hope to actually hold her... just seeing her smile will suffice." Future Natsu thought as Lucy opened the portal to the Dragon Realm. "Too bad my Luce can't be here to see just how much she's grown..."
Once the both of them went through the portal, Future Natsu and Lucy began to make their way to the council meeting room. Both of them knew that the dragons in this world wished nothing more than peace, so convincing them (the dragon council especially) to volunteer in fighting dragons again, would not be easy. "Hopefully Kai, Takeo and Akira join at the very least..." Lucy thought.
However... "Have you lost all rationality, your majesty!?"
Raiden's words rang throughout the council room. Not only was the council present, Isla also joining the meeting for once, but so were Hekima, Mirai, Takeo and Akira. Both dragon successors, even Kai, honestly did not mind Lucy's request. They had been training their whole life, training their combat abilities since they were able to roar yet had never been in a real battle before. However, those in the dragon council, had undoubtedly participated in the bloody war and barely escaped for their lives.
"Your majesty, I understand that you are thinking about the consequences when these dragons do come." Isla spoke up. "However, we cannot afford to break our peaceful lifestyle after all this time."
"It is also far too risky for Igneel, Metalicana, Grandeeney, Weisslogia and Skiadrum to even step foot outside of this realm as they are only soul fragments." Celeste added.
Neither Future Natsu or Lucy decided to lie to the dragons. After gathering all of the dragon council and the dragon successors, Future Natsu repeated the situation to the dragons. When they first saw the fire dragon slayer, they were all in shock just as Lucy was. The blonde empress then informed that he and his wife were two of the unidentified time anomalies while the other two, Ushin and Usami, were the ones behind Vetani - which meant they were the ones who were after Nashi.
This ticked the dragons, obviously since they cared for the peach haired girl greatly, and they became silent. As they considered their options and consequences, Future Natsu couldn't help but feel relieved. No matter what year or how the dragons met Nashi, whether she was found randomly or if they were there on the day of her birth, the dragons would still love Nashi unconditionally and want to protect her just as much as her own parents.
As he chuckled to himself while thinking of Nashi, Igneel met eyes with Future Natsu. While Lucy was busy listening to each of the dragons' comments, fire dragon was curious as to what had got his son's future self to chuckle amidst the crisis. That was until he sensed something about Future Natsu and then soon eyed the wedding band on his left ring finger. "He really-!?"
It took everything for Igneel to hold back from yelling about Future Natsu actually succeeding in mating with Lucy in the future. He knew well it was not the time or place for that, especially with said current blonde empress in the room. It also didn't take Igneel long to realize that the dragon slayer's wife is most definitely the empress' future self. Considering how none of the other dragons realized that Natsu and Lucy's mates were each other, no one but he alone also figured that Nashi was practically confirmed to be their future child.
Future Natsu made eye contact with the Fire Dragon King and noticed how deep in thought Igneel was during their silent staring contest. Knowing what he did about the future (Igneel being the one who had made him realize that he loved Lucy in the first place), the time traveller couldn't help but chuckle at his dragon parent's reaction. Future Natsu then placed his finger to his lips, unknowing to any of the other dragons and Lucy, giving off a silent message that they would talk after the meeting.
"Dad should've realized by now that Lucy had already been chosen as my mate..." He thought. "Maybe he can let me see Nashi..."
Lucy sighed. Since she only had less than four days in the Dragon Realm before the Eclipse is opened, she only had that amount of time to convince the dragons to aid her and the others in the coming invasion. Like Celeste said, it was too high of a risk to allow Igneel and the other dragon slayer parents to go, but that didn't hold true for everyone else in the room. Hekima and Mirai hadn't said anything yet, the only reason she could think of was that they had nothing to refute as of yet.
"I'm not ordering any or all of you to participate in this battle." Lucy finally said, her tone stern and her voice hard. "I understand very well that many of you in this room do not want to face the bloody battle that took many of your brethren all those centuries ago so this is not an order from your empress."
"Your majesty, if you know all this... then why bring us all together?" Arhad asked.
"I don't expect any of you to agree right away, and quite frankly, I don't expect any of you to agree no matter how many times I bring up this matter." She admitted, looking down at her clasped hands. "As your empress, I could simply order you to follow me into battle. But I won't do that to you. For now... this is me asking a favour of you."
"A favour?" Lunaria asked.
"I will stay here to prepare with Future Natsu for the next two or three days. If, by any chance, any one of you decide to join us into battle, I will only take volunteers who are sure of their decision." Lucy explained. "I won't stop you from concealing this from the other intermediate levelled dragons, but we would appreciate it if you told only those you deem worthy for such a mission."
"In other words, you intend to still go into battle with or without us." Grandeeney summarized. "You trust our judgements and our opinions so much so that you believe we will decide for ourselves as individuals whether this fight is worth it."
"Precisely."
"Your majesty." Weisslogia and Skiadrum called in unison.
"Though you and the others may think it is unwise, we would be grateful if you allowed us to join you, not only in preparation, but also in battle." The white dragon said, the non dragon parents roaring in disapproval.
Skiadrum roared loudly in response to silence them. "Enough! Our decision is solely us following our hearts." The shadow dragon said. "By our selfish trickery, our sons believe they can slay any dragon. We cannot sit idly by when there is a high chance of them dying. If they die, we die."
"We placed ourselves in their bodies and thought we could never see our sons again." Weisslogia continued. "But we are here. Able to interact with them like Igneel, Metalicana and Grandeeney can. So we shall join their side once again."
None of the other dragons said a word, knowing that once a dragon makes a decision, it would be next impossible for that decision to change. Future Natsu and Lucy bowed their heads in appreciation to the white and shadow dragon. When looking at Takeo, Akira and Kai, the blonde empress could see the conflicted looks in their eyes. As dragon successors (a sort of placeholder in Kai's case), they had a duty to follow their superior's words, but clearly wanted more than to also just wait out the invasion.
Lucy trusted that they would also do what their hearts tell them. Though a dragon's loyalty and honour is held at such a high regard, they are also taught to follow what they choose to believe is right - regardless of what their superiors may say. Hekima and Mirai didn't seem to reject the idea either and thus, it only seemed fitting to finish the council meeting with that. There was still time before the Eclipse gate opens. There was still time to gain the upper hand.
"Usami. Ushin. Vetani..." Lucy thought as the dragons began to leave. "I will not forgive you for slandering the Dragon Empress' name."
When she turned to face Future Natsu, she kind of wanted to introduce him to Nashi, the time traveller as well as Igneel had already vanished from the council room. Usually the fire dragon would stay behind to see if there was anything else on Lucy's mind, but now only Metalicana and Ava remained. The two had already turned into their human forms and Lucy looked at them with a raised eyebrow. They obviously knew where Igneel was and had stayed on his behalf.
"It seemed like the Fire Dragon King wanted to discuss some things with his son's future self." Metalicana spoke first, the information making Lucy massage her temples even though she was not surprised about his actions.
"Though I am unsure on whether I shall participate in this fight, I do intend to help you and that time traveller prepare." Ava said.
"Thank you, Ava." Lucy replied. "The only thing making me less anxious is the fact that Nashi will be here safe while this all happens."
"Give me your daughter, Lucy Dragneel. And maybe we won't have to kill any of your precious guild mates."
"Or better yet, why not just surrender yourself? We just need either one of you."
"You're gonna have to go through the guild if you want my daughter and my wife, lady."
"Mama... what's happening?"
"Just stay close to me, okay sweetie? Papa is going to get rid of the bad guys while Mama protects you."
"We're already inside your guild. Unless you want this entire place to go boom, it's probably better to just hand yourself over."
If you want Lucy so badly, just try. We're not letting you near our nakama."
"Lucy. Levy. Juvia. Protect the children. We'll handle these three."
"Such foolish fairies... but very well. If it's annihilation you want, we shall bestow on you what you so desire."
The next few chapters are taking longer to write than I thought ^^" After this update, it's going to be awhile before the next updates but I'll post all the next three to five chapters at the same time once I'm done! You might hate me with what I'm about to do but there's a lot that's going to happen when the Eclipse gate opens, so look forward to it!