Place in your guesses! How many chapters do you think this story will end?
119
Harry, Ron, Natsu, Mira, Lucy (both present and future), Wendy, Yukino, Arcadios, and the three Exceeds were walking down the hall, being led by Yukino. They got lost, but before anything could be done, they were surrounded by the army.
Harry sighed in frustration while pinching his nose. He wanted to get to the gate and stop it from opening, but dragons would set the city on fire by the rate they were going. He looked up when he felt five army men jump at him with spears.
The black-haired wizard pointed his wand up. "Concursores Fluctus." A shockwave punched the army men in their guts, sending them away from Harry and meeting the white marble walls.
Harry turned to see more men kneeling a little ways away, aiming guns at them. "Guys, get behind me!" Harry called out. The two Lucys did as told while dragging Arcadios with them; Wendy followed, along with the Exceeds. Ron stood there looking torn, not knowing if he should listen to Harry or keep fighting. Natsu ignored the Master of Death, and Mira used her Satan Soul Magic to fight without Harry's protection. Harry shrugged, knowing Ron could protect himself if needed, and Mira and Natsu were strong.
The elder wand was held out in front of Harry, who cast a shielding spell he had yet to use. "Contra Protector!" A yellow shield formed around Harry and his friends in time to block and send back weak magic bullets at the army. The bullets hit their mark, taking out 20 guys at least. They weren't expecting their attack to return, but some had better reflexes. Some army men dove out of the way, crashing into friends and comrades.
Ron turned to Harry slowly and said, "Bloody hell, Harry. Where did you learn a spell like that?"
Harry shrugged. "I can't remember which book I learned it from, but I can teach you and Hermione sometime in the future," he said.
Ron grinned. "That sounds brilliant!"
Harry grinned in return, but before he could continue fighting, a flash of fire appeared close to his face. He jumped back and watched as Fawkes flapped the flames away.
{Jeez, Fawkes! You nearly gave me a heart attack!} Harry groaned mentally.
Fawkes trilled a laugh, {Sorry about that.}
Harry glared. {You don't sound like you're sorry.} He noticed his familiar's talons were empty when he looked to see if the phoenix did as asked. {Where are Lucy's and Yukino's keys?}
{The princess has them. I couldn't get close enough to get them, but she was about to open the gate!}
Harry's eyes widened in horror. He looked around to see how many army men were left and cursed. He didn't have a spell that could knock everyone out cold. If he did, he would use it right now and get out.
"Natsu, we need to take these guys down now!" Harry urgently said.
"You got it!" replied Natsu. "Fire Dragon's ROARRRRRR!"
"Columna Ignis!"
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Evil Explosion!"
"Bombarda!"
Natsu, Harry, Wendy, Mira, and Ron cast their attacks at once, causing a massive explosion to rock the castle at its foundation. As the dust cleared, Harry noticed a hole in the wall and scorch marks on the floor and ceiling. He cringed.
"Master Makarov is going to kill us," he said with dread.
Ron eyed the damage with shock. "Did we really cause that much destruction?"
"That's Fairy Tail for you!" Happy declared.
Harry flexed his fingers. "At least no one died." He looked ahead when he felt a life force approaching. "Someone's coming," he informed.
Everyone turned to face the direction Harry was looking and saw someone with dark and light hair, red eyes, and a scar crossing his nose. The young man wore a red vest, white cape, gray pants, and something black with golden rings wrapped around his form.
Harry was shocked to see the young man. His life force told the dark-haired wizard who was standing before them. It was Rogue, but he looked and felt different, not unlike Future Lucy, but also dark and hostile.
"Rogue, why are you here?" asked Harry. He understood why Future Lucy was here but couldn't understand why Future Rogue would be too.
"Hello, Harry," said Future Rogue. "I'm here from the future to ensure the Eclipse Gate opens. Dragons are on their way, and we'll need to unleash the power the gate has built up for years to wipe them out."
{That's a bald-faced lie,} stated Fawkes.
"You expect us to believe that?" asked Harry. "We know the dragons will come through the gate because there are no dragons in this era. So the doors need to stay closed. Besides, the gate doesn't have that kind of power."
Future Rogue sighed while shaking his head. "I guess I should have known that lie wouldn't work on you, Harry. After all, you're buddies with the Black Wizard himself." Harry heard a gasp from behind him, causing him to flick his eyes at the group behind him. Yukino was the one who gasped in shock, while Lucy, Mira, Wendy, Carla, and Panther Lily were wide-eyed at the news.
{Hey, where did that knight go?} Fawkes asked when he matched Harry's actions.
{He's with the princess. When he left us… I have no idea,} Harry replied as he turned back to face the shadow mage.
The Master of Death shrugged his shoulder. "So what if I am? Zeref is really a good guy. It's sad how history was mistranslated and made him out to be evil," he said casually. "So why don't you tell us the truth as to why you're here?"
Future Rogue laughed softly, the sound being dark and full of madness. "Okay, I'm here to stop the gates from closing because I need an army of dragons so I may kill Acnologia. That dragon will rule this world seven years from now if I don't kill him."
{That also sounds like a lie,} Fawkes said, unimpressed.
Harry turned to Future Lucy. "How many years from now did you come from?" he asked.
Future Lucy snapped to attention. "Um… a year," she answered.
"How did you open the gate to come here?"
"I had help from a man with dark eyes and hair. He wore all black except for a white toga wrapped around the upper part of his body."
{Looks like Zeref helped her,} said Fawkes, sounding surprised.
Harry returned his gaze to Future Rogue. "From what I understand, the dragons that come through the gate destroy everything and everyone. So you are lying again, or you're from a different timeline. Which one is it?"
Future Rogue smiled, showing a sharp tooth. "I don't see how that matters now. That gate will open and allow the dragons to come, and Lucy Heartfilia will not stop me!" Future Rogue thrust his hand forward. "Shadow Dragon's Eruption!" A black shadow ball wrapped around his hand and burst out at the group, forcing them to jump out of the way in different directions. As Harry landed with his wand at the ready, he spun to face the enemy, only to see Natsu was already attacking the man with Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.
Future Rogue dodged the flame-covered fist and kicked Natsu in the back, earning a grunt from the fire dragon slayer. Natsu spun on his heels and tried to punch Rogue, but the man jumped over the attack. The pink-haired mage got on his hands and swung his feet in the air, landing a kick to his opponent's side.
Rogue crashed into a wall with an oof, but Natsu buried his fist into the shadow dragon slayer's gut before he recovered. Natsu pulled back his other fist, covering it with fire. As he threw his arm forward at Future Rogue, the grey/black-haired dragon slayer melted into the wall behind him. Natsu's fist met the wall, causing it to crack in a spiderweb pattern.
Future Rogue appeared behind Natsu. The pink-haired mage turned as if he felt him and tried to block the attack but failed and got kicked down the hall. Rogue didn't attack again, but Harry saw him look toward where the princess and her guards' life forces were.
"I think I stalled long enough," said Future Rogue, making Harry's muscles tense in anticipation. Rogue snapped his eyes onto the present Lucy with a murderous gleam. He shot an arrow-like shadow at her before Harry could adequately react. He was about to cast Death's Shield, but the body of Future Lucy jumped in the way of Rogue's attack. The shadows pierced the left side of her chest, causing Harry and his friends to gasp in horror. Harry felt Future Lucy's life force quickly leave her body.
The dark-haired wizard felt rage slowly boil his blood as he turned to glare at Future Rogue. Rogue looked disappointed at missing his target but turned on his heels and took off down the hall. Ron noticed Rogue's retreating form too.
"He's getting away!" Ron shouted as he ran after him.
Harry stepped to follow but turned to Mira. "Stay with her, so she doesn't die alone!" he told her before following Ron. Natsu, Lucy, Yukino, and Fawkes were hot on Harry's heels as they ran through the halls.
When Harry got outside with his friends, he saw Ron standing in the middle of the plaza, frozen stiff. Harry wondered why but felt a huge rumble beneath his feet. He looked up and saw a dragon head enter their time through the open doors of the Eclipse Gate.
Harry groaned and cursed under his breath while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We've got to close that gate!" shouted Lucy as she ran toward the danger, followed by Yukino. Harry reached out to stop her.
"Lucy! We can't close that without the Zodiac keys!" he yelled, but she couldn't hear him because of the dragons roaring and stomping.
"Actually, there is another way," a male voice said from behind Harry, causing him to turn around. He saw that Ron turned to face who spoke as well, and they both saw Zeref and Hermione walk closer to them. "I made sure to have a backup plan in case something like this happened."
"Hey, Cerberus," Harry greeted, using the codename in case someone heard him. "You took your sweet time."
"I tried to get here as fast as possible," Zeref said, looking annoyed. "By the way, why did Natsu run that way?" He pointed to his right, making Harry look and sense his life force. He looked up and found Natsu on a dragon-shaped inferno.
Harry made a face when he noticed something. "Is Natsu trying to eat the dragon?" he asked.
{I wouldn't be surprised,} said Fawkes.
Harry also sensed Future Rogue up in the air on the back of another dragon. "I guess Natsu is getting ready to fight." He turned to Zeref again. "So how do we shut the gate, and what would happen when we do this?"
Zeref pointed at the dragons flying around and said, "Those dragons are from the future timeline. So, if we destroy what's powering the Eclipse, the dragons will vanish. I will need some tools, however."
Harry nodded, "Alright, Hermione, Ron, look for the tools for Zeref, so he can shut that gate down. I'm going to back everyone else up. If you see dead dragons, don't panic."
Ron made a confused sound. "What do you mean by that?"
Harry smirked. "You'll see."
Zeref smirked as well. "I think I know what you're planning. Try to make it quick before everyone dies."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll have Fawkes help. You stay hidden until you get the tools."
Zeref shrugged. "I'll hide behind my gate. Now get moving; you're wasting time."
Harry turned to Fawkes. "Let's go. We have a ritual to do."
{What does this ritual entail, and where am I going?} asked Fawkes.
{You'll see, and to the northern outskirts of the city.} The firebird nodded and flashed himself and Harry away from his friends.
Harry and Fawkes appeared at the border of Crocus. They were at the Northern point, allowing Harry to quickly burn a symbol into the ground. Once he finished, Harry and Fawkes repeated the process in the East, South, and West of the City.
Harry straightened his back, looking down at his handy work. He nodded with satisfaction and looked at his familiar.
"Now we just have to place smaller ruins in between," he said.
{Okay, but what is this going to do?} Fawkes asked with a tilt of his head.
"Again, you'll see. After we finish drawing these symbols, we'll need to connect them."
Fawkes continued to look confused but did as told. He flashed them to the Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. At each location, Harry burned smaller symbols in a four-pointed star.
Harry summoned his broom and hovered 30 feet in the air. He told Fawkes to head for the center of the City at an angle alongside him to create an incomplete triangle. Fawkes nodded in understanding and began burning the ground. Harry pointed his wand near the symbols and cast a fire spell to burn lines as they flew from the Southwest toward the city center, then turned and met up with Fawkes in the West. They repeated this until they made a full circle. Harry returned to the center, connected each triangle with a process, and burned the final and most extensive symbol into the city's core.
The Master of Death dropped from his broom, landed on the gigantic symbol, and began chanting. "I call upon you; come through the vale and join me in this fight, so the living may see the sun rise again." The burnt lines glowed an eerie green, similar to the killing curse, but with a black tint coursing through like blood in veins. "I call upon the lost to come to fight one last battle, so you may protect the land you once called home." The ground began to rumble, but it went unnoticed by many because of the rampaging dragons. "Come forth: Dragons of Death!" Harry ordered with power amplifying his voice. The ground shook harder, causing humans and dragons to fall over. The magical energy filled the air and underfoot, drawing attention from every living creature in the city. The green glow shined as brightly as the sun, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
Harry opened his glowing eyes and watched as cracks formed in the streets around him. Through the opened, jagged mouths of the earth, skeletal talons reached up and slammed onto the cobblestone. It pushed up, revealing a dragon skull, followed by the rest of its skeletal structure.
All around the city, more and more dragons made of bone climbed out of the ground. Harry could feel the panic in the air from the humans, but he ignored it and counted how many dragons he brought back: seven. It was more than what Future Rogue brought with him.
The dead dragon in front of Harry bent its head to level with him. Death's master could feel his magic coating the beast, which helped him keep track of his dragons. Another dead dragon was standing behind him. That one will be his ride. As for the dragon in front of him, Harry thought back to Death's teaching.
"You want me to do what now?!" Harry exclaimed after hearing what Death told him.
"I want you to learn how to merge with a skeleton," said Death. "When you can do this, you will be able to use that skeleton like its armor. Depending on the type of skeleton it is, the stronger the armor. It'll be weak if it's a human skeleton, but a dragon skeleton will be powerful." Death then handed Harry Necromancy. "Now get to reading page 106."
Harry laid his palm on the nose of the animated skull and closed his eyes to focus on the magic still inside the bones. Once it was within his grasp, Harry pulled it into himself. "Mors arma fieri." After saying these words, the dragon skeleton became mist and wrapped around Harry's body, forming armor. The helmet looked like a dragon's skull, the chest was like a closed ribcage, same for the arms and legs, but at the hands and feet were dagger-like claws. The material of the armor didn't change, but the magic within made it more durable than diamond.
Lifting a hand, Harry examined his claws. They had wrapped around his hand like a glove, so no harm could be done. It was the same everywhere else. He looked like a walking skeleton. Harry was glad that skulls had so many openings for him to breathe and see through, or else this would be a problem.
The bone-covered wizard turned to the dead dragon behind him and jumped onto its head, planting his feet firmly on the surface and summoning the Sword of Gryffindor. "Let's go."
TBC
I ran into a small writer's block. Anyway, around when Natsu left to fight the dragons: I thought I had to change that part, but after proofreading it, I found it - kind of - funny, so I left it as is. After that, I had to edit it. This chapter gave me a hard time! :(
Natsu: At least I saw some action!
Zeref: I look forward to making everyone look like idiots! *evil grin*
Harry: What's he planning? :/
Enj/Dark: You'll find out either at the end of the next chapter or the chapter.
Voldy: I think I already know. *Whispers into Enjali's ear*
Enj/Dark: Wow, I thought your insanity removed your intelligence.
Voldy: WHAT?! *glares murderously at Enjali*
Enj/Dark: Natsu, you're up! *Mutters: I need to write down whose turn it is…*
Natsu: Please review! XD