A/N: Episode 198.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: GOLDEN GRASSLAND
Lucy was standing in front of the portal. "We'll just have to slam into it with all our magical power." She claimed.
"Right." Yukino agreed.
All of the Zodiac Keys flew into the air once more, creating a circle and shining a gold light. Lucy and Yukino joined hands and had their eyes closed.
"Open..."
"...the 12 Gates!"
"Zodiac!" Lucy and Yukino shouted together as the Zodiacs appeared once more.
"Everyone, please!" Lucy pleaded.
The Celestial Spirits charged forward towards the portal as a bright golden light was shown. When it dispersed, the portal still stood.
"I don't believe it! We didn't even make a dent!" Lucy stated.
"It's made of Magnanium alloy, which is highly resistant to Magic. It won't be easy to destroy." Arcadios informed.
"Even so..." Lucy trailed off.
Atlas Flame was on the ground before taking flight and slamming himself into Mother Glare as Natsu and Sebastian hopped on its back.
Levy was running through the town. "Gajeel!" She exclaimed to herself.
"Go back to your own..." Sebastian presses his foot on Future Orion's stomach. "...time period!"
Sebastian struck Future Orion with a flaming kick, making him stumble back.
"I have no intention of going back." Future Orion claimed.
"Then what'll happen to the current Orion?!" Sebastian questioned.
"Eventually, Spectre and I'll become one." Future Orion answered.
"So you wanna steal Orion's future, too?" Sebastian asked.
"There is no future! Not as long as Acnologia exists!" Future Orion shot back. "That's why I came here to aide Rogue, to create the future!"
Future Orion struck Sebastian with arrows that rained down from the sky as he fell down from Mother Glare, but he quickly hung on. Future Orion chuckled darkly. Sebastian climbed back up on top of Mother Glare as he coughed, making Future Orion laugh.
"Where's future me?" Sebastian asked suddenly.
"Dead." Orion responded after a while, making Sebastian widen his eyes.
"What about the guild?"
"Also dead." Orion replied as he smirked. "I killed them all."
Sebastian had an angry look plastered on his face. "You murdered our own guildmates?!" He questioned.
"Yep."
"Someone who has never known despair wouldn't understand." Future Rogue was saying to Natsu as he activated his Magic. "I finally obtained hope, and I won't let the insanity of a desperate man interfere!"
Natsu easily moved through the attack. "Your hope..." He leaped over the attack. "...means turning the past into despair?!"
"Not everyone can be equally happy! Grow up, Natsu Dragneel!" Future Rogue shouted.
"Even if you're right, everyone has the right to choose the future! We're headin' for the future that we chose! Not the one you chose!" Natsu claimed.
"Natsu! Sebastian!" Atlas Flame called out.
"We don't have to know what tomorrow holds!" Natsu continued, joining with Atlas Flame's hellfire and slamming into Future Rogue while Sebastian slammed into Future Orion.
"That's why we can live for everything we're worth today!" Sebastian finished.
A huge sphere made of flames appeared.
The Celestial Spirits tried once more to attack the portal. "I've reached... my limit!" Lucy exclaimed as she and Yukino had their hands clasped together.
A large golden sphere soon shined brightly before it dispersed again. And still, the portal stood. Lucy collapsed to her knees.
"How can the portal be that strong?" Lucy asked herself.
"It hasn't mooved an inch..." Taurus stated.
An orange glow soon got everyone's attention. "Huh?" Yukino said in confusion.
Happy looked up to see a large flame sphere heading in their direction. "Get back! Everyone, get away from the portal!" He warned as everyone did so.
The flame sphere soon crashed, making Lucy get thrown back as Happy, Carla, Lily, and Raden ducked. When the smoke cleared up, it was revealed that the Eclipse portal was destroyed as Future Rogue and Future Orion were knocked out.
"The portal is broken!" Happy cheered.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Sebastian!" Raden shouted as both Natsu and Sebastian were breathing heavily.
"I don't believe it... A door made of Magnanium, destroyed..." Arcadios commented.
"What will happen now?" Hisui asked.
"We believe the portal in the future can't be used." Yukino replied.
"In other words, Rogue and Orion can't come back to this time period." Lily elaborated.
"History will return to normal." Carla added.
Mother Glare soon began to have a golden glow. "The dragon's body..." Happy noticed.
"It's glowing!" Lucy said.
Atlas Flame's body was glowing as well. "Are we going back to our own time?" He wondered.
All of the other dragons bodies were glowing as well.
"Running away with your tail between your legs?" Cobra taunted. "No..."
Zirconis's body glowed. "What is this?!"
"The dragon..." Laxus started to say.
"It's disappearing?!" Wendy finished.
"Humans did this?! Lowly humans did this?!" Zirconis exclaimed.
Hisui walked forward. "I'm sorry."
"It's still dangerous!" Wendy warned.
"Princess!" Arcadios called out.
"Hey!" Laxus said.
Hisui stopped in front of Zirconis. "I'm the one who constructed the time portal. I disrupted the natural flow of your time stream. You, who live 400 years in the past... and we, who live in the present... have no real reason to fight. I perverted nature."
"Who are you, wench?" Zirconis asked.
"Hisui E. Fiore."
"Hisui?"
"That's right. Hisui, or jade, the same color as your body." Hisui stated.
"The same, you say?" Zirconis quoted.
"The same." Hisui smiled.
"Stare..."
"Jade Dragon..." Hisui said.
"Jade Dragon... I kind of like the way that sounds. Wait a second! Dammit! I fell for it! I'm..." Zirconis's sentence was cut off as he disappeared completely into a ball of light as did Mother Glare.
The mini dragons vanished as well as the remaining dragons.
"Did we do it?" Sting asked.
"It looks like we won." Lector said.
"Fro thinks so, too."
"I won't forget you, my son..." Atlas Flame spoke before he vanished.
"Thanks, Father." Sebastian thanked him.
"They're gone!" Lucy said in relief.
The rest of the little dragons disappeared. "The little ones are disappearing!" Aster exclaimed.
"Did we beat 'em?!" Eric questioned.
"The dragon vanished..." Gajeel muttered as Levy rushed up to him.
"You did it, Gajeel!" Levy cheered.
"Yeah. But..." Gajeel trailed off.
"This isn't satisfying." Cobra commented.
"None of the Dragon Slayers... were able to take down a dragon." Mavis muttered as she was levitating over Crocus.
"Pathetic, huh?" Sting questioned.
"Makes me sick of hearing the term 'Dragon Slayer.'" Rogue replied.
"It just goes to show how strong dragons are. And Acnologia is probably stronger than them."
"Yeah, well, forget him for now."
"Agreed. It doesn't feel like we won, but for now, the battle is over."
"We won." Sting and Rogue looked at each other. "We protected our comrades."
Sting grinned in response as Rogue returned it.
Future Rogue's body was glowing, as well as Future Orion's. Sebastian walked up to Future Orion as Natsu walked up to Future Rogue. "The Orion I know ain't gonna become you." Sebastian claimed.
"Spectre... He's always in my damn head, taunting me. The day you die is the day I slaughter our whole guild, and that's when Spectre and I finally absorb into one." Future Orion stated.
"I'm not gonna die."
Future Orion chuckled. "A year from now... Don't go on that job alone, Seb." He warned, making Sebastian raise an eyebrow in confusion. "If you do..."
Future Orion says a name, making Sebastian's eyes widen. "...is going to kill you." He finished.
With that, Future Orion vanished, leaving Sebastian to contemplate the information he heard.
Underneath Mercurius, Future Lucy's body glowed as well before it vanished.
She soon work up, being met with blue sky. She sat up, seeing she was in a golden grassfield.
"Where am I?" She asked herself.
Lucy looks at her hand to see her Fairy Tail mark was on her hand, making her sigh in relief.
She begins walking through the field, looking around.
"Hey! Lucy!"
Lucy turned around at the sound of someone familiar calling her name.
"Get over here!"
"We're all here!"
Lucy teared up as Natsu rushed forward and grinned, holding out his hand.
"Come on, the adventure continues!" He exclaimed.
Tears fell from Lucy's face. "Okay!"
She takes Natsu's hand as they rushed towards their guildmates who were waiting for them.
In the present, the memo pad in Lucy's hand also glowed before vanishing, tears falling down her face as she touched her cheek with her fingertips.
"Tears..." She mumbled.
Lucy rushed forward towards Natsu, hugging him from behind and surprising him. Natsu looks up at the palace.
"What's wrong, Lucy?" He asked as the moon finally became normal.
"Nothing. Just a feeling... Thank you." She replied.
A/N: And that's the end of the Eclipse Arc!
Thanks for reading!
~ Kaleb.