When Natsu and everybody else opened their eyes, the fairies recognized themselves to be in the Dragon Realm as the image of floating islands filled their view. The other guilds, the knights and the royal family stared in awe as full grown and young dragons alike flew throughout the endless sky. The several islands of different elements leaving them speechless. Much like when the Tenrou Team first came to this realm without any contextual knowledge.
However, their awe did not last long when the dragons turned back into their original forms and began to give out a sad resounding roar that spread throughout the air. The other dragons flying in the air and the ones on their respective islands freezing in their tracks and began to join in. The humans realizing that Igneel and the others were spreading the news of the death of their beloved princess and the loss of their benevolent empress. Of course Lucy wasn't just important to the mages. All the dragons love her.
When the reality registered in the fairies' mind, those who stayed behind with Lucy and helped raise Nashi during the last seven years were the first to cripple over and weep pitifully. Next was the Tenrou Team and then one by one did the others hang their head low at the fact that they just lost one of their Wizard Saints, the Athena and a friend to the enemy. The pink headed dragon slayer too at a loss for words as he knelt on the ground with Igneel and Happy behind him.
Using the last of her consciousness and strength, Lucy was able to hold herself back long enough to allow Celeste and Akira to teleport them to the Dragon Realm. Now her mind was locked away and her dragon body is now being used to destroy who knows what on Earthland. The thought of Lucy doing evil against her own will broke Natsu's heart. After a few minutes of mourning, the dragons' roar ceased and no one could bring themselves to speak. The only audible sound being the soft cries from some of the mages.
As no one could bring themselves to speak, Hibiki took it upon himself to ask the first question in everyone's mind when they first opened their eyes to see their surroundings. "Is this the so-called Dragon Realm that Lucy ruled over?"
The dragons and fairies nodded as Igneel looked down in sorrow. "Yes... the space in which all the dragons who fought for peace during the Great Dragon War now reside here." He said as he could sense Hekima, Mirai and Kumiko headed their way. "This is also where Lucy had trained in the dragon arts and where she would go whenever she was absent on Earthland."
"And where she became the monster she is now." Sting said in a low voice while Lector nodded in agreement, causing the fairies to look at him with hostility. A chill going down their backs from their threatening glares.
"Sting!" Rogue said as the white dragon slayer's comment was uncalled for.
"You watch your mouth, buddy. Without Luce, there would've been more than just eight dragons coming out of that huge door." Natsu warned as his dragon instincts kicked in. "You wouldn't have been able to meet your dragons if it wasn't for her. And hell, calling her a monster means calling the dragons monsters too!"
"That's enough, Natsu..." Takeo said, silencing the fire dragon slayer. "What Weisslogia's kid speaks is the truth."
"Whether you see it as becoming strong or becoming a monster is completely based on your perspective." Akira added as Hekima, Mirai and Kumiko landed on the island behind the other dragons. "Because in a way... her majesty is a monster to some extent, considering her power and due to dragonification."
"Dragonification..." Jura said with a stern look as he crossed his arms. "Those two villains had mentioned the term earlier after Lucy turned into a dragon and you briefly explained what happened for her to undergo the process... but what exactly is it?"
"Mirai and Kumiko told me of the events that have occurred." Hekima finally spoke as the rest of Lucy's council stepped back so that he was in front of everyone. "Normally, I wouldn't allow this many humans to this realm unless they are her majesty's most trusted nakama... but I sense within all of you no hostility to my kind and a deep wish to fix what has been done."
"As that is Hekima's judgement of you, we shall answer all of your questions to the best of our ability." Kumiko said. "We shall inform you of this place, dragonification, our knowledge of the time travellers, her majesty's plans and so on."
"I think it be best that Weisslogia and Skiadrum should start off then." Mirai said, making Sting and Rogue raise an eyebrow towards their dragon parents. "I sense their sons would like some answers."
"Of course." The white and shadow dragon replied.
The explanation was pretty lengthy, however, there wasn't much interruptions. Both Weisslogia and Skiadrum explained that, like Igneel, Grandeeney and Metalicana, they disappeared fourteen years ago because they used a secret art that would put their souls within Sting and Rogue's bodies to create defenses against dragonification. However, unlike the other three dragons, they implanted false memories of Sting and Rogue slaying them in order to give them the 'experience' of slaying a dragon.
The two dragon slayers were surprised at this and asked for them to finally explain what was dragonification and the conversation Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy had repeated itself. That originally, 400 years ago, the chaos dragon known as Acnologia was actually born human that became a dragon slayer. Shock going through everyone's faces, except the fairies for obvious reasons. And that the more a dragon slayer who was taught by a dragon uses their abilities, they would inevitably turn into a dragon themselves.
They then explained that even though Lucy was the one who was able to extract a fragment of Igneel, Grandeeney and Metalicana's souls to give them a physical body in this realm, that was not the case with them as they already knew the existence of the Dragon Realm and used the remaining magic they had to send a fragment of their soul there. Once that explanation was out of the way Mirai briefly explained time difference of the realm compared to Earthland and how that would affect the human body.
Finally, Lucy's secretive plans and the information she hid from the guild about the time travellers came to light. How the blonde empress knew from the very beginning of the chance that Nashi was from the future. Reminding the fairies that when she first found Nashi, Vetani had attacked her and demanded custody over the child. How she got Kumiko to look into the possibility of Nashi being some sort of time anomaly, when in fact there were six time anomalies: Nashi, Vetani, the twins, Future Natsu and Future Lucy.
How Lucy and the dragons believed that Usami, Ushin and Vetani were aiming to capture Nashi (when in reality their target was actually her) and that was the true reason Nashi was hidden away in the Dragon Realm, which the fairies were already aware of. Carla and Mirai's precognition and finally the meeting with Future Lucy. What they, including the other dragons, didn't expect was for Igneel to suddenly step up yet again and make eye contact with Makarov. The Fire Dragon King's expression showing regret and seriousness.
"There is one more thing that I must tell you, something that Lucy only told me after solidifying her plan to hide Nashi away here." He said before turning to the fairies' sixth master. "In truth, after our meeting, Lucy requested something of me if the worst ever came to pass. Something that I had hoped that I would never have to do."
"What?" Grandeeney asked. "Why would her majesty only tell you and not the rest of us?"
Igneel only shook his head in uncertainty. "Even now... I'm not sure as to why she gave me this option." He admitted. "At the time, I had thought she meant that if the absolute worst came to Nashi. However... she immediately shut down my assumption and told me that I was only to resort to this option if the worst ever came upon her."
"What!?" The humans asked with wide eyes.
Makarov, who recovered quickly from his shock, relaxed and thought back to his talk with Lucy after she brought Nashi to the Dragon Realm on the night before the fourth day. How serious she had been... how anxious she looked... the uncertainty in her eyes. "So that is why she said those things back then..."
"What things, Master?" Mira asked.
"You children recall the night Natsu and Lucy had that argument about Nashi, correct?" Makarov asked, to which the fairies nodded as everyone else just listened to what he had to say. "That night Lucy had told you lot that after all this was over, she would no longer be able to be Nashi's mother. And as painful as it is to admit... in the end, she was right."
"What does that have to do with anything the dragon had just mentioned?" Lyon asked.
"That same night, Lucy asked me to talk with her for awhile and I agreed. She had told me that the only reason she was doing this was for Nashi's safety and that she also believed after everything was over she was no longer qualified to be a parent." The sixth master continued. "However, she also mentioned, though vaguely, that she may also no longer be a Fairy Tail mage anymore."
"She was able to foresee all that!?" Everyone asked, besides Igneel. "But how!?"
"It doesn't matter how anymore." Makarov said, silencing them. "What matters was that, in the end, Lucy was right to some extent."
The Fire Dragon King nodded and closed his eyes as he recalled that night in the council room. The way Lucy looked upon her guild mark with such fondness and sadness at the same time. "Originally... Lucy had taught this spell to Nashi as a last resort when in an emergency. But she taught it to me in case both she and Nashi were somehow lost."
All the dragons gasped as they all knew the spell that Igneel was referring to. Lucy had created the technique long after her training was completed and also knew just how dangerous and powerful the spell was... depending on the user. It was a spell that was meant to be used only in the most dire of situations and considering that she believed something would happen to her, it was understandable as to why Lucy would teach it to Igneel. He was the strongest out of them after all.
Natsu then recalled the night before the second day, where Lucy briefly mentioned that Nashi would know what to do in case of an emergency. It made him let out an empty chuckle at how far away that night seemed after everything that had happened since then. At the time, both of them fell asleep quickly before he could further question what exactly his blonde partner meant. Now it was finally time that he learned exactly what this spell was.
"What exactly is this spell do you speak of?" Hisui asked. "From the looks of the dragons' reactions, it does not appear to be just some regular attack or spell."
"It is precisely as you say." Celeste confirmed. "It is one of her majesty's Dragon Empress Secret Arts, and she was the one who created the spell in the first place."
"Her majesty had called it: Dragon's Redemption. In order to cast this secret art, the user must use a massive amount of magic power to create a dragon of pure magic energy." Metalicana explained. "The more magic power, the larger the dragon will be. It was only meant to be used if her majesty had no choice... but to kill a dragon."
"Excuse me!?" The dragon slayers asked in surprise. "She's the Dragon Empress but she created a spell like that!?"
"She had wanted to use it on Acnologia as, in theory, could slay a dragon in a single blow." Arhad spoke up while crossing his arms as the humans gasped. "She wanted to finally rid Earthland of the chaos dragon."
"But then she found Nashi and learned of the girl's incredible magical prowess." Kai added, another tear slipping from his eye upon thinking of the little princess. "Though Nashi was young and could only use just a fraction of her power, milady found that there was a separate case of magic energy that was very similar to her own... but far superior."
"Future Lucy had told us that the reason for Nashi's incredible magic ability was because she had given up her dragon slaying powers and placed them inside Nashi for safe keeping back before they did the time jump." Romeo said as the rest of the fairies recalled the fact. "That must've been the magic you felt."
"Yes... Igneel had informed us after his talk with Future Natsu." Raiden replied. "Who would've thought that our beloved princess would really be our empress' future daughter?"
"So why did Lucy teach it to you, Igneel?" Happy asked, the rest of Team Natsu noticing the fire dragon lowering his head.
"Lucy had a feeling that something inevitable would befall her, whether it was this or death I do not know." Igneel explained. "However, she told me that if there was no other way to rid Earthland of a dragon... I'd have to use it."
"But we got rid of the dragons!" Wendy protested. "We now just need to figure out a way to rid the twins control over Lucy!"
If the dragons could lower their heads even deeper into the ground, they would have. Lucy's final command to them ringing in their ears. "I'm afraid... we cannot help you in that regard." Lunaria finally spoke. "We just can't."
"What her majesty asked of us... it all makes sense now..." Isla added in a vague manner. "Fighting the dragons of our past was one thing... but we are physically and mentally incapable of battling our empress. Which means..."
"You can't help us?" Yukino asked with a disappointed look, the dragons all nodding in response.
"Why not!?" Gray asked, stepping forward in anger. "She's your empress! You have to help us save her!"
"Isn't she your nakama!? Have you no pride!?" Erza demanded. "You will abandon the one whom you treat like a daughter!?"
"You don't understand anything!" Ava cried. "What her majesty asked of us... we just cannot bring ourselves to help you fulfill her wishes!"
"What a load of bull!" Sherry retorted. "You're telling me you don't have enough love to help your ruler!?"
"You're just going to leave us to deal with this problem on our own!?" Rogue shouted, staring straight at his dragon parent.
"If you knew what her majesty asked... you would feel the same as we do." Skiadrum replied.
"Then tell us what she told you!" Sting yelled. "How can you expect us to go back to Earthland and save everyone from her without your help!? Tell us!"
"Do you want her to die!? If not, then do not force us to go and help you!" Weisslogia warned, causing the mages' lips to seal. "If you don't want her majesty to perish, we cannot allow Igneel to even go with you."
Natsu, after being silent throughout the entire situation, finally perked his ears. No one had noticed it, but when they came to the Dragon Realm, it had been around midday. But now... it was already sundown. He had listened to everything everyone had to say, but was just unresponsive. But at the mention of Lucy dying, he snapped out of his trance and stared straight to the Fire Dragon King. He promised his future self that Lucy wouldn't die... and he was sure as hell going to keep that promise.
"But why...?" Sherria asked in a small voice.
The Fire Dragon King just let out a long sigh, taking a moment before he revealed Lucy's wishes to the humans before him. When he looked up, he stared straight at Natsu with utmost seriousness. He was not going to kid about something like this. "Lucy... she..." He began to say as everyone listened closely to his words. "Lucy wants me to use Dragon's Redemption... to slay her."
Sorry for being dead for so long! Writer's block is slowly lifting so here is a very short chapter and a decent sized chapter for you guys! I finally got some solid events going so maybe (hopefully?) I can finish this story around mid July to early August? That's me hoping anyway. Hope you guys are staying safe and healthy during these times! Remember to be careful whenever you go out!