Here is the forty-sixth chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. Tragedy has struck Crocus as several fighters have been taken down at almost the same time including Asta who was hit right before Noelle's eyes. Is this the end for them or will there be a last minute reprieve? If so what will that mean for some feelings that have long been denied or dormant? Well it's time to find that out as that is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no questions that need answers nor guest reviews that needs a response. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. Anyway, that is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the forty-sixth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 46: Second Chance Realizations
Ultear stood alone in an unoccupied but damaged part of Crocus as she thought back on what she'd learned as a child, on the specific spell she'd learned and why she'd learned it. It had turned out that even if she used it, the cost of it would be giving up her remaining time, according to Hades, and that was why she couldn't use it for what she wanted to. Now, though, after contemplating killing Rogue to stop him from becoming what he would become in the future, Ultear had decided on her course of action and that course of action required her to use the spell.
She'd not done so before because of the price but now she was willing to pay it if it meant giving up her life of sin and sorrow, if that could truly set the world back to as it was then she'd do it. With that, Ultear set herself and activated the spell, magic flaring to life in her hands before she slammed them down on the ground and poured the magic into it as she fell to her knees. As she did the magic flared around her, a bright blue with flashes of other colors as she invoked the ancient spell.
"Arc of Time: Last Ages!"
As Ultear cast the spell the nearby clock tower ticked over to half past midnight, a clock face that was within her field of vision if she turned her head. Ultear didn't though as magic power surrounded her body and flared out all around her. As it did Ultear let out an internal, continuous, scream of pain as agony rocked her body and her veins began to bulge starting at her hands before they started to move up her arm. A second later they bulged on her legs as she knelt on the ground and moved up, every cell in her body feeling like it was fire.
Despite this, despite all the pain that she was going through she was going to endure it because it was nothing compared to all the pain that she'd caused in her life, all the suffering and death that she'd inflicted upon others. The very fabric of her existence was being ripped to shreds; her life torn from her but she willingly gave this to the world for the pain she'd caused it. This pain and more, no matter the cost, was what she was willing to pay up to the sacrifice of her life and future to save the world.
Finally the scream escaped her lips as Ultear let it out looking to the sky as the magic shot off her. As it did her life flashed before her eyes, the reasons for why she'd done what she'd done, the loneliness she'd felt and the realization that she wasn't alone in this world as she'd once thought.
There had been those there for her in their own way. People like Gray, Jellal, and her dear sweet Meredy, she'd wronged them but they'd forgiven her which she didn't deserve, their warmth wasted on her and she was blind to it as she'd been obsessed with her past to the point that she could not live in the present much less the future. However now, at long last and with one great sacrifice she could find the redemption she now sought by giving the time that she would have wasted in this world back to the ones that she loved so that they could live and be a part of it.
With that there was a boom and the magic blasted upwards all around her as it ascended high into the sky, her veins bulging, hair on end, and mouth open in a continuous scream of agony as Ultear asked the hands of time to reverse, to return the world to what it once was if only for a moment so that it was the way it was before it was thrown into chaos by the Eclipse Gate. Her life had to be enough to change this as she pushed through the spell and with all she had finished it, rewinding time, and seeing the sky as the circle of her spell spread all over the world.
With that it was complete and Ultear was left there kneeling on the ground in the ruins of Crocus her head to the sky and her arms wide, her body horribly burned from the cost of the spell. She'd done it and with the last of her strength she lowered her arms and turned to the clock she knew was there and looked at it knowing that she'd turned back time.
However, as she looked at it her eyes went wide as she realized that she'd only turned back time one minute. That was apparently all her life was worth, just one single minute. It wasn't enough and as Ultear fell forward, the last thought that passed through her head before her body hit the ground was that her sacrifice had not been enough and that she'd failed everyone. Little did she know that that one minute would be worth an immeasurable sum to those she sought to help.
In the hectic and intense fight that was Asta, Noelle, Erza, and Jellal verses a horde of dragonlings things weren't going well. Even with the combined strength of 4 of the strongest wizards in Fiore they were hard pressed by the sheer number of dragonlings that were attacking them. Soon even their skills might not be enough to stem the tide and their defenses would break.
They were doing all they could to prevent that but as the clock struck half past midnight several of the dragonlings got through their defenses with a coordinated attack that blew a crater in the ground that was in the center of their formation. The blast missed them but the shockwave didn't and it slammed into them with a concussive force.
Erza as she was the nearest and so the blast knocked her off her feet and sent her tumbling over the ground. Jellal countered by sending a ball of magic at the dragonlings that had attacked and rushed to cover her while Asta moved to cover Noelle just as two blasts tore at her back from two more dragonlings that had used the explosion as cover for their own attack.
Alas Asta was only able to move Slayer into place to deflect one of the mini roar attacks away from Noelle while the second one got past him and cut through her left wing right at the base where it connected to her back plate just as she twisted to avoid it. Thankfully, Noelle was able to partially twist away from the attack and thus ensured that the blast only grazed her side drawing blood but it wasn't a lethal or crippling blow. However it sheered her wing off fully and the moment that it was no longer attached to her armor it burst into water vapor which staggered her around more now off balance.
Noelle was still getting used to the wings so she was completely thrown by the loss of one, especially in such a violent and sudden fashion. This resulted in her being open to two more blasts from the same pair of dragonlings that were already coming at her faster then she could bring her trident around to intercept them or get off her raw magic to block the impending attack.
Suddenly, just as the attack was about to come, all four of them were hit with a massive sense of déjà vu. It was as if they'd been here before and as they sensed it they all saw what had happened. The two blasts were on target and would have hit Noelle in the chest, almost certainly killing her, but before they could Asta had lunged at her and slammed his hand into her chest sending her back and out of the way of the blasts. However in the process one of the two beams had hit Asta right in his Guild Mark and tore through his body. As his Guild Mark was right over his heart the blast had killed him.
As the sensation hit the quartet, Asta sensed the two dragonlings ki and knew they were preparing precisely the attack that they'd just had a premonition about while the other three sensed the magic as it built in the dragonlings. It was going to happen again only this time they knew what was going to happen if they kept with their current course of action.
"Stay back Asta!" Noelle shouted right before he would have tensed to leap at her as she used the momentum of her stagger to her advantage to push off the ground with her right foot and launched herself backwards just as the attacks came for her.
Asta too was acting differently to his original plan of action and moving as he sensed Noelle's own movements. His ability to read ki told him that her leap would take her to safety so he pulled up from his planned leap and mentally focused on Slayer. He used that focus to swing it around and back to get in the way of the beams that Noelle had just leapt away from. There was a loud gong as the two beams hit the flat of the massive great sword and were reflected directly back at the dragonlings with twice the speed and power that the dragonlings had blasted them at.
It took only a second for the beams to hit the two dragonlings upon which they blew up with a massive boom that shook area and took out several dragonlings that were amassing behind the pair. Said pair were vaporized along with a good chunk of rubble and street beneath it but they had been far enough away to not be an issue for the quartet as they shifted focus to making sure they were ok.
Noelle's leap back had been a desperate move to save herself with no grace or finesse so she mistimed her landed and slipped as her right heel hit the ground so that she fell back and landed on her ass with a painful thud. However, that was much better than the premonition she'd had about Asta dying to save her so she didn't mind it at all.
"Man that was seriously weird." Asta said shaking his head to clear it as he hurried over to Noelle while Erza got to her feet several yards away, the Sea Dragon's Trident that Noelle had made for her still in her hand as Jellal moved to make sure that she was ok while also scanning for dragonlings so that Asta could help Noelle out. "I saw myself die there. That was seriously freaky."
"Yeah that was really strange." Erza admitted, in the premonition she'd been unable to do anything but watch as Asta saved Noelle at the cost of his own life unable to do anything about it so now she was on high alert to protect her new friends. "What just happened?"
"No clue but whatever it is, I totally would have been hit by one of those beams though it would have been worth it to save Noelle." Asta said as he reached her and crouched down holding his hand out to his friend smiling at her while Jellal remained silent as he watched for dragonlings because he alone had a feeling he knew what had happened but didn't want to voice it. "But it all worked out in the end so I'm not complaining. You're not hurt, are you Noelle?"
"Dorksta, d, don't say something like that." Noelle said flushing at Asta's words her tone a mix of embarrassment, anger, and annoyance at what he'd said as she took Asta's hand in hers just like she had the day they first met and he'd saved her. "I saw you die before my eyes, I, I…"
Noelle couldn't finish the sentence because the next words out of her mouth would have been 'I couldn't bear to lose you, especially not like that' and that gave her pause. As she sat there, her hand in Asta's, the warmth of his palm transferring to her fingers and looking up at his smiling face above her as he checked up on her, it all hit her.
Between the premonition of seeing Asta die saving her, the strength his presence and support always brought her, and the fact that the premonition felt like it was more than just a simple gut feeling meaning that she'd almost lost Asta for good before she could tell him, it was all too much for her. It was in that very moment as she held Asta's hand that it all finally came together for Noelle.
To think that it would come at a time like this but it did as all the denials and excuses washed away from Noelle's mind following everything that had just happened. She'd been explaining it away for years but she could no longer do that, she couldn't deny reality, and she finally said the three words to herself that she knew deep in her soul were true and had been for almost as long as she'd known him.
'I love Asta.'
Of course, now wasn't the time to deal with or dwell on this realization, a helpful explosion nearby distracted Noelle from that, so she pushed them to the back of her mind and let Asta help her to her feet. As he did she focused on her magic and repaired the damage to her armor, the wing regrowing as she did and with a great reluctance she let go of Asta's hand. If not for the situation her cheeks would be bright red at the physical contact right after accepting that she was in love with him but thankfully they were on a battlefield and she could focus on that.
"I'm good." Noelle said finally answering Asta's question while Erza stared at the armor with stars in her eyes as it had healed itself, a factor that only added to her desire to find a way to get a set of it. "It's just a graze, Mimosa will patch me up later."
"Good then let's get back to the battle." Asta said grinning as he trusted Noelle's assessment of her injury and turned towards where he sensed some dragonlings. "I feel like we're entering the final stage of this battle. Let's show these things what we're made of."
Noelle nodded at that as she used the battle at hand to quell her racing heart. They could deal with that later, or more precisely she could deal with her feelings later, along with what had happened. For now they had to find a way to win it. Little did they know that that answer was almost upon them as the quartet resumed the battle taking it to the dragonlings unaware of what had truly happened and the sacrifice that had saved Asta.
"Asta! Look…huh." Mimosa said as she yelled at the screen showing Asta, Noelle, Erza, and the man that Erza seemed to know fighting a large horde of dragonlings just as Noelle's wing was sheered off and she staggered because as that happened Mimosa got a premonition about what was going to happen and wanted to try and warn Asta that he had to protect himself as well but before she could Noelle had leapt back on her own. "What? What just happened?"
Mimosa shook her head trying to process the sensation but she kept her eyes open as she watched the screen. She could have sworn that she'd seen Asta save Noelle the way only he could but as he did he was hit in the chest, right where his Guild Mark was, and killed because the beam went through his heart. She'd seen it clear as day from where she was in the command center and watched in horror and unimaginable pain as Asta's lifeless body hit the ground and there was nothing that she could do about it.
However, that wasn't the case. Instead Asta had pulled up short while Noelle had leapt backwards to avoid it at the same time. This, no doubt coupled with Asta's abilities, gave Asta the time to bring around his great sword and deflect the attack back at the dragonlings killing them with ease and clearing the area of dragonlings for a few moments.
All Mimosa could do was breath a sigh of relief that the premonition had been just that, a premonition, and that Asta was still alive. Still, seeing him die on the screen and knowing that there had been nothing that she could do to save him was really hard for Mimosa even if it wasn't real, though it certainly felt real.
Just seeing it and watching Asta go over to help Noelle up, she'd fallen over in her haste to flee but Mimosa was just glad that her cousin was ok as well though she was injured from the earlier beam which Mimosa would of course heal, reinforced something to Mimosa that she'd felt ever since the dungeon mission. She wasn't strong enough.
Ever since she'd met Asta in that dungeon she'd been impressed by his strength. That had led to her thinking about him and wanting to be close to him, which in turn made her chest feel tight and she'd get embarrassed around him. She'd wondered what that feeling was but she'd eventually pushed it aside in the wake of the Royal Knights Selection Exam because that was when she was on a team with Asta and the exam had taught her so much. She may be strong, she was a royal after all, but she wasn't as strong as Asta or Noelle for that matter.
Part of why she'd volunteered to join the Black Bulls in their banishment was to use the time, 6 months their time but 6 years in Earth Land so they'd all get a massive amount of training in a new world with different kinds of magic, was to get stronger. It was also so that she could be with Asta for his banishment and it was that feeling that had made Mimosa realize what she really wanted.
She wanted to be able to stand by Asta's side one day as his equal, to fight with him as his comrade and partner and support him the way Noelle did rather than being solely healing and long range support. That's what she wanted.
Mimosa hadn't felt bad about not being selected for their Grand Magic Games team, she had her role to play as the only true healer in the Squad, and one of the few healers in Earth Land period, and her role had been vital in their victory, but still she did wish she could have been with Asta during it. Add in that Noelle's magic had evolved into something that was unique to this world with added benefits and Mimosa was feeling left behind.
She'd already sworn that once the Grand Magic Games were over she'd do all she could to get stronger and thanks to Gordon she had a good place to start on that journey but that didn't feel like enough. Seeing Asta die in her premonition had hit her in the heart a lot harder than she'd expected and the fact that she'd not been there with him to help him made it even worse. She wanted that, she wanted to be by his side forever and be his equal, to make him proud of her.
It was in that moment, as Asta was helping Noelle to her feet, which caused her to be a little annoyed at the physical contact between them, that it all finally hit Mimosa. She'd thought it was true a while back and had grown to quietly accept it but with everything going on and her desire to be by his side she'd pushed it to the back of her mind. Now, though, seeing Asta fall even if it didn't happen, Mimosa could no longer just leave it be and as she watched Asta and Noelle head off with Erza and the other guy to fight more dragonlings she fully embraced it and said the words to herself that she'd long known to be true.
'I love Asta.'
That alone filled Mimosa's chest with warmth and determination. She would get stronger, she would become Asta's equal and stand by his side in battle and she'd do so before they returned to the Clover Kingdom. Then, when she felt that she could do that, she'd tell him how she felt and hoped that he'd accept her feelings. That would have to wait, however, as they still needed to survive the night and things had just been a lot closer than anyone realized.
"Yeah that was weird." Magna said his voice breaking Mimosa from her thoughts as he looked at the screen that was showing Yami, Sting, and Rogue's battle with two dragons. "I was watching Captain Yami's amazing battle and I could have sworn that I saw him get hit by a combined attack from those dragons but he didn't. It was like he knew what was coming, more so than his usual predictive skills that is, and evaded it before countering and taking off the top spike on that dark red dragon with the aid of the shadow guy's magic from just before the attack came."
"I know, that was strange." Vanessa said as Rouge mewled from her shoulder as she too watched that screen and the rage that the red dragon was showing at Yami's latest successful blow. "I, I think that something actually happened though. What we experienced doesn't feel normal."
"What do you mean?" Nero asked, she'd been watching Asta as well and had been as worried as Mimosa though without the romantic feelings as she was loyal to Asta in a different way. "We just saw premonitions of our squadmates getting hit but they didn't. It's odd that we all experienced it but that's about it."
Nero was right, all the Black Bulls in the field had been struck in the minute before Ultear's sacrifice. Zirconis had recovered enough to blast Gauche with his magic stripping him of his clothes, not that Gauche cared though those watching that screen were still scared by the memory. The Rock Dragon had realized the threat that Gordon posed and blasted him as he tried to help Cobra out which resulted in Gordon being pierced through the chest by a rock spike. Finally, the Dark Dragon had recovered from Charmy's attack and turned the tables on her and Gajeel.
All had been bad but that was what they'd seen in their premonitions depending on the screens that they were watching at the time. At least one person was watching each fight, but in the end that hadn't happened.
Instead Gauche had used his Full Reflection to rebound the spell back on Zirconis, not that it did much as he didn't wear clothes, while Laxus and Wendy evaded attacks aimed at them and then launched their own attacks at the same time to land a devastating combo that knocked him out again. Gordon had evaded and then used his poison to free Cobra from the rock prison that he'd been caught in melting it away as it wouldn't harm Cobra and giving Cobra a boost in the process. Lastly, Charmy and Gajeel seemed to know what was going to happen and worked around it to land several hard blows on the Dark Dragon.
To top it off, Yami's evasion and attack had distracted Levia, not that those watching the battle were aware of that dragon's name, and allowed Sting and Rogue to use a Unison Raid to slam a White Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic blast right into the wound on the blue dragon's back. It had been a devastating, though not crippling or fatal, blow and brought Levia to his knees really giving the trio fighting two dragons a huge boost in their battle.
"I'm not sure why I know it, likely because of Rouge and how she can alter fate, but I do." Vanessa said in response to Nero's question. "However, those premonitions, we all had them not because of some foresight or gut instinct. As you pointed out everyone had them, which is not natural and I'm pretty sure we had them because they actually happened. Someone, someone damned powerful, rewound time but we kept our memories of the first time we experienced that time however long it was hence why we knew what was coming and thus acted to avoid what would have been fatal, or seriously painful, attacks."
Vanessa was still a bit shaken by what she'd seen happen to Yami and how she'd been unable to send Rouge to him because she was protecting the command center, but she knew what she said was the truth. She also knew that she couldn't send Rouge out now because her cat had been vital in protecting them as Rouge was the reason why they'd not been attacked since the slaying of the Sea King Dragon. She was also why Vanessa was sure that what she'd seen was real. It was like when Rouge changed fate only on a grander scale and after it happened rather than changing the outcome of subsequent events.
"To turn back time, can it be done?" Nero asked looking at Vanessa. "I'm not sure the Wizard King can do that though I am not aware of all the spells he can use."
"I take it that that's someone from wherever you were before Fiore." Warren said. "Because I don't know the term."
"Yeah he's like our top Emperor of Ishgar on our home continent." Nero said using the best comparison she knew and adding that the Wizard King could kinda turn back time for himself if he used Swallowtail to store his time but that was a special item she'd created and didn't really count as it was more a second chance than turning back time. "He's a Time Wizard, the only one on the continent, but I don't know how his magic works."
"We have a few types of Time Magic here but to actually turn back time, that's gotta be some kind of Lost Magic." Warren said. "That would put it in the same category as Dragon Slayer Magic in that regard but I know little about it. Regardless, if there was Time Magic at play, whoever did it had to be powerful to pull something like this off. Wizard Saint level I'd say."
"It has to be that." Vanessa said. "I'm certain. I know fate as I can influence it to some extent, it's why we've not been attacked since we killed that dragon, and what we just experienced felt like a defiance of it rather than a mere premonition."
"If you say so then I see no reason to doubt you." Nero said while Mimosa gulped realizing that Asta had actually died and it only reinforced her desire to get stronger so that next time she could fight by his side. "You are the expert there."
"Hold up, you can influence fate?" Warren asked shocked. "There's no way that that's not some kind of Lost Magic."
"Only for those who I see as family and that means the Black Bulls and even then only those within Rogue's range." Vanessa said gesturing to the cat on her shoulder that the non-Black Bulls were noticing for the first time as they'd been too focused on watching the battles and looking out for dragons or dragonlings to notice. "It's why I'm in the middle and we're all grouped up, so that we're in her protective range. You and the mermaids are only protected because you're near Rouge."
"I see." Warren said though he didn't really.
"Damn that there's a good kitty." Beth said. "Good thing Millianna isn't here. She'd scoop that cutie right up."
"She is a bit cat obsessed." Lislie said. "Come to think of it I don't recall it appearing though I was watching out for her and Kagura's return."
"I formed her after Asta and Noelle left as that was when we needed her the most." Vanessa said as she ate some of the little remaining mana replenishing food as besides Mimosa she needed it the most with Rouge active. "She's a very strong spell so I can't maintain her indefinitely, especially in an environment like this were her power is regularly being used to protect us. While we had Noelle, Asta, and Yami I didn't need her except to help them and I can cast her quickly but without them I need her out."
"That does explain why we've not been attacked." Araña said. "That is a useful spell."
"That she is but we can't get distracted." Vanessa said. "Whatever that was, it was just a reprieve that we capitalized on briefly but if we don't find a way to truly turn the tides the next time we might not get time rewound."
"I'll reach out, see if there is news on that front." Warren said as he closed his eyes and focused on his telepathy unaware that the command center was about to get the answer they needed that could bring this battle to an end once and for all.
Lucy ran through the ruined streets of Crocus as fast as she could heading for the Eclipse Gate and those stationed there. To say that it had been a trying day would be an understatement.
Between the arrest, the issues in the Palace of Perdition after the failed attempt to break her, getting out of that place and meeting her future self, watching her future self be killed by future Rogue when he tried to kill her to stop her from closing the gate, the opening of the gate and the revelation of future Rogue's deception, closing the gate, Zirconis and his magic, the humiliation of that, being tossed into Natsu naked and that that entailed, finding her future self's diary, Flare saving her, and the premonition about dying, Lucy had been through hell and back. However, right now all that didn't matter because she finally had something, something that could finally end this nightmare.
It had been in the diary her future self had written and which she'd found during the chaos after Natsu had returned to the fight following Zirconis throwing her into him. Hopefully, no one found out about him groping her bare breasts, she'd never hear the end of that and she'd rather not get into the complicated nature of how she felt about it, but it had all been worth it in the end. That was because the book she now held as she closed in on the Eclipse Gate was the most important thing in Crocus at the moment.
Not much had changed by the gate, personnel wise at least as the area had been leveled minus the gate and palace, though Laxus and two Black Bulls were now present as they and Wendy monitored a charged, smoking, and unconscious Zirconis. That really surprised Lucy and she wondered how they'd managed to knock out the annoying dragon. Lucy could get answers to that later as she put that out of her mind as she hurried towards the others noting as she did that Arcadios, Mira, and Yukino were trying to persuade Princess Hisui to leave the area for her own safety.
However, she wasn't going to do that and was refusing their offers saying that she would not abandon her people in a time of crisis as Lucy neared them. Not that Lucy heard this as she was focused on her own task and called out as soon as she was in earshot of the Princess.
"Hey!" Lucy shouted to get their attention. "I think I've got a way to end this!"
This immediately got their attention and they all turned to Lucy with a little confusion at her outfit as the last time they'd seen Lucy she was naked thanks to Zirconis. The outfit was courtesy of Virgo and from the Celestial Spirit world and Lucy didn't have time to discuss how she'd come to be wearing it as she reached the others and panted from the run.
"You need to look at this right away." Lucy said as she held out the diary.
"What is it?" Hisui asked looking at the blonde woman.
"It's my future self's diary." Lucy said as she passed it to Yukino. "Please, read it."
"Our one hope is that the Eclipse Gate in this time period gets destroyed." Yukino said reading as soon as she opened it to the page that Lucy had marked when she herself had read it. "If that happens then the one that exists in the future will disappear as well because it will no longer exist. If it does then none of the horrible things that happened in my timeline will occur."
"But can that actually work?" Arcadios asked as soon as Yukino was finished reading.
"Yes it can and it will." Lucy said seriously. "Think about it. If we destroy it now then it can't be around in the future. That will mean that there is an entirely new future were the Eclipse Gate was destroyed in the past, a future where Rogue can't use it to come back and set his plan in motion. If we destroy it now then it will be gone forever, nothing more than a part of history, the ancient history of Zeref. Without it there will be no way to travel back in time thus ensuring that this doesn't happen. We do this and we create a whole new future timeline."
"But all that has already happened in our time so is it still possible to do so?" Hisui said. "And besides, things that the man from the future predicted didn't come to pass and yet this still happened. Admittedly that was in large part because of his manipulation of me when I questioned him on it but still, is it possible to change the future?"
"Yeah it will work because if we're lucky then Rogue and the dragons will get out of our time for good." Happy said having followed Lucy here and was now with Carla and Lily. "Surely the future isn't set in stone? Right?"
"Regardless it is worth a try." Carla said knowing a bit more about future predictions, though hers were easy to misinterpret at times. "We have to use all avenues to end this."
"The logic is there and there is no harm in not trying." Lily added. "Not like it will make things worse than they are now after all."
"You are right but it is still a rather daunting task." Arcadios said looking at the large magical gate that stood before them which caused everyone else to look at it as well. "How can we destroy that massive structure when our resources are spread so thin and scattered all across the city? I can't even begin to think of the kind of power that it would take to destroy it."
"It won't be easy." Lily said. "But it has to be possible."
"Easy or not we have to find a way." Lucy said determination in her voice and eyes as she looked at the Eclipse Gate. "The future of the entire world is at stake here so we have to destroy it. I made a promise to myself and there's no way that I will break it."
"If there is no future then there will be no way to return to Marie."
The new voice made them all jump and they turned to see Gauche, who'd still not introduced himself to any of the them, standing there having wandered over during their chat as he'd heard that there was a way to end this battle. As with many things, he didn't care about Crocus or those in it but he did care about Marie and if Crocus fell he might die in the battle, or at least never get back to see his angelic little sister. He couldn't handle not returning to Marie so he'd come over to hear the plan and when he heard what it was he knew that it wouldn't be too hard.
"Er who are you?" Arcadios asked looking at the brown haired man and while he didn't recognize the man he did recognize the robe. "I see, you're a Black Bull but you weren't in the games. Do you have a way to destroy the Eclipse Gate perhaps? Your Guild has proven to be rather surprising and much more powerful than anyone realized so it wouldn't surprise me if you had a way."
"Yes, surely one of you has magic that can help." Hisui said as she looked at the man from another world, if there was one thing that might really help it was magic that Earth Land didn't know. "You lot have magic we've never seen before after all."
"I can't help, my magic is basically spent after helping the Luck knockoff blast the green dragon and what little I had left I used to reflect that attack I saw coming." Gauche said, a statement would need some explaining to Lucy, Happy, Hisui, and Arcadios as they'd not seen it but that would happen later. "And besides, my magic wouldn't scratch that thing. However both my Guild Master and Asta should be able to destroy it, I doubt there's anything that they can't destroy if they put their minds to it. I'll call Finral, have him relay the message to them via that creepy mind guy we're borrowing."
"Bit rich for you to call someone creepy and Warren isn't creepy anyway." Carla said but Gauche ignored the talking white cat as he pulled out a transmission device from a pouch at his belt and activated it.
"Hey, Finral, I've got a message for you to pass onto the Captain and Asta via that mind guy with you." Gauche said and then continued before Finral could say anything, or if he did Gauche just ignored it as he plowed on. "The blonde girl with the keys and spirits says that we can end this by destroying the Eclipse Gate thing, you know what those dragons apparently came through, as it's connected to the future. I don't care how but if it works then I can ensure I get back to Marie and she'll be so proud of her big brother for saving the day so we should try it. Man I can't wait to tell her that I was key in winning this battle. Well? What are you waiting for, get on it right away."
With that Gauche clicked off as blood flowed from his nose and everyone looked on slightly creeped out by the end of Gauche's message. Gauche didn't care though, he was just smiling at the story he'd tell Marie and how he'd been key to saving the day. It was going to be good.
"Well, did you catch that?" Finral said blinking at the transmitter in his hand as Gauche disconnected it before turning to Warren who had clearly overheard it as Gauche's voice was clear to all of them present in the command center. "Sounds like that Lucy girl in your Guild found a potential solution, one we can help with."
"After seeing what your Guild Master and top member can do, yeah I'd say you can help with this." Warren said as he closed his eyes and focused on the two minds he had to find. "Make the portals to get them there right away. There's no time to waste."
Finral nodded as he looked to where Yami and Asta were and prepared. He'd only be able to make one given Asta's swords were out but that wouldn't stop him from getting there as fast as possible and finally ending this nightmare once and for all.
Well there it is, a major developmental moment in the series for Noelle and Mimosa and significantly earlier than in canon so now they will have to deal with that and what comes next for the rest of their banishment but that's good because it's more time for them to figure it out and decide how to proceed regarding their feelings. I know that many of you were hoping for me to do something different with Ultear and not have her sacrifice and I did consider it but I weighed the pros and cons of her sacrifice and what it could mean for this story and in the end the short and long term benefits of keeping her sacrifice significantly outweighed the cons of not having it. Trust me there is going to be a major effect from this much later in the story that I wouldn't have been able to do without Ultear's sacrifice, it's one of three critical things that need to happen for me to achieve something major that I'm planning and thus with this sacrifice that first thing is now in place. Also, if she'd not done her sacrifice then Gray, Lucy, Marco, his father, and many others would have died without any recourse because all of that canon stuff still happened in the other parts of Crocus in addition to what happened to Asta so there is a lot more to all of this. That was the main thing to explain as the rest of this chapter was straightforward and helped Noelle and Mimosa come to terms with things while also setting things up nicely for the culmination of the Dragon King Festival. Also a side note as it was a fair bit subtler than usual but part of the reason why Vanessa realized that there was more to what happened than anyone, beyond her ability to manipulate fate, was a nod to the fact that she and Ultear share an English VA so that really played well into things. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog