𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚
❛ 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴... ❜
◊
"Erza, I'll be going now," Rose whispered. "I think there's something happening, so I'll go to check on the rescue team. Let the Master know for me."
Erza agreed, though her frown was evidence that she didn't quite approve. Rose slipped away from the group into the shadows outside, knowing that the lacrima screens had already stopped broadcasting. No one would catch her if she used her spell here.
It took mere seconds for her to phase into her bird form, though she was notably smaller than usual. Around the size of Happy, at most. At least it worked; with her low reserve of energy, Rose was uncertain about whether or not the spell would succeed.
Rose took off sluggishly, catching a strong gust of wind which pushed her higher into the skies. The moon illuminated the castle, it's windows lit brightly. The girl noticed a particularly large congregation of guards on one of the lower floors, and caught a familiar blonde running past the window. Lucy.
There weren't many options on how she could make her entrance, so Rose chose the simplest one: smashing the window in.
"What the hell?" A guard yelled. They were swooped by Rose, who pulled up sharply and banked to the left.
"Rose!" Lucy exclaimed, waving at the phoenix slayer.
Rose coasted through the air and perched herself on the surprised girl's shoulder. Before she could greet her friend, Rose's gaze shifted to the identical blonde beside her. Her mind took a moment to register who it was.
'Lucy?'
There were two Lucy's?
"Rose!" Lucy Number Two beamed. Rose, on the other hand, was still in a state of shock. She'd known something was up, but what had her guildmates gotten up to?
Apparently her confusion was evident, because the Lucy she was sitting on the shoulder of spoke up.
"Oh! This... this is Future Lucy. She came through the Eclipse Gate to warn us about a dragon apocalypse."
Rose would have clicked her tongue if it was biologically possible for her to do so. Instead, she hopped onto the other Lucy's shoulder.
She wasn't entirely sure what happened in the future, but something had changed the way about how Lucy smiled. Rose didn't particularly like that, since Lucy was undeniably one of her friends now, but at the moment Rose's state didn't allow for her to investigate. She'd have to find out about what it was that had happened at a later time.
'For now,' Rose decided, 'I'll sit back.'
Sure, she could have helped, but her friends had things under control for the moment. Besides... something told her that there was more to come. When that happened, she need to have enough energy to fight back.
"More reinforcements! We need to wrap this up, and fast!"
Natsu darted forward to fight a man who seemed hellbent on executing him, stray flames blasting in Lucy's direction. Rose was more than happy to absorb them, feeling the strength ebbing back into her.
Shadows engulfed the soldiers.
There was something different about them, something familiar. Rose knew she'd felt it not too long ago. It was the same sensation she'd felt when Rogue was possessed, though it was far more intense. The headache she'd felt earlier returned with even greater ferocity. Her surroundings swayed like trees in the wind.
"What's happening?"
"I can't move my legs!"
"The shadows are dragging them down!" Happy murmured, eyes round as he watched the soldiers slowly sink into the tiled ground.
"Is that some kind of shadow magic?!"
The terrified screams of the soldiers and the execution squad were drowned out abruptly as their heads disappeared below. Their last words hung in the silence, pleads for salvation from the Fairy Tail mages. It was far too late to act.
Darkness consumed the far end of the hallway, extinguishing the lights on that side. Wendy was closest to the presence, so Rose took a short flight from Future Lucy's shoulder to the young dragon slayer. She seemed unfazed and kept her gaze fixated on what was coming.
"That shadow..." Future Lucy's tone was nearing hysteria. Rose contemplated returning to her side to perhaps calm her, but she needed to be near the source of the threat. "I've never seen anything like it, it didn't happen like this!"
Natsu's gaze shifted between the two Lucy's, then back to the darkness. "What the heck's going on here?"
Rose shuffled slightly, ruffling her feathers unconsciously. There was something within the darkness, and she had a feeling that it was the same thing she had fought just hours ago.
Would she be able to face it a second time? Rose doubted it. She'd barely been able to stand after the last battle, and from what she could tell this time the spirit was even stronger. Not to mention, she had her friends with her. They weren't in good states themselves. She'd have to ignore her limits if she wanted to protect them, or...
...Dark thoughts began to encroach on her mind like scavenging vultures, picking her thoughts apart. It wasn't as though this was the first time she'd failed to protect someone important to her. Why even bother? Just give up, this is your fate.
Fate...
... she despised that word.
"Why... why didn't the shadow target us?" Pantherlilly seemed hesitant to approach the mass more than he needed to. Footsteps resounded throughout the hallway.
"Okay," Natsu stated blandly. "Who are you?"
The man who'd emerged from the darkness seemed somewhat familiar. A black fringe covered his right eye, and the one which she could see was a familiar red. The rest of his hair was a shade just off white, tied back into a high pony-tail. A scar across the bridge of his nose disappeared under the fringe, and an intricate black tattoo decorated his left cheekbone.
"Shadows can reach beyond the present to both the past and the future." Rogue murmured, striding confidently towards the group of mages. "And into the hearts of men. It seems we meet again, Natsu Dragneel."
Rogue stopped in his tracks, smirking at the dragon slayer. "I travelled quite a way from the distant future. I am Rogue."
Without her consent, Rose swore. Of course, having the vocal chords of a bird, it sounded more like an angry squawk.
"Ah, Rose." Rogue's head tilted to the side as he observed the bird. "I see you haven't changed in the slightest."
Apparently that pissed Rose off enough that she underwent the transformation without even trying. She managed to roll off of Wendy's shoulders just in time, landing on the ground in a crouch. Water vapour misted her breath and escaped her lips in a hiss.
Rogue didn't seem particularly surprised by that. Before anyone could speak, the phoenix slayer rose to her normal height and crossed her arms with a scowl. What was he planning? He hadn't tried to hurt them yet, for some reason...
Rose's questions were answered not by words, nor actions, but the lack thereof. She froze. No words escaped her. Her arms wouldn't budge. The headache worsened into a migraine which consumed rationality. Was that why she couldn't move? She hadn't recalled this being a side effect of ethernano exhaustion...
As she searched for a resolution, Rogue spoke with her friends. For a split second, she noticed his eyes flicker in her direction, and a small smirk dance across his features.
'That piece of—'
"So... why did you come back?" Carla questioned. "Just what do you want?" Rose felt pretty glad that the logical exceed was around at that moment, despite how snarky she was. At least there was someone in this group who didn't automatically trust every stranger they came across. 'I'm beginning to wonder what these kids were taught by their parents...'
In the meanwhile, Rogue grinned. "All I want... is to use the Eclipse."
"What's that gonna do?"
"It can save us all," Rogue lied, "If we tap into its hidden power."
Rose zoned out after that, knowing that anything he said was bound to be garbage. She focused on escaping the strange spell instead; at that point it was clear that 'future Rogue' had used some kind of magic to keep her under control. He must have planned for this moment.
"So then it's really possible..." Future Lucy murmured. "We can still win."
"That sounds pretty simple. Glad we've got you on our side," Natsu smiled. Rose would have groaned if she could. Why were none of these people in the least bit suspicious? Even Carla had stopped giving her opinion on the situation.
"Aw, yeah! Let's go kill some dragons!" Happy cheered.
Wendy spoke up hesitantly. "Does... does this mean everything is going to be okay?"
"I'm afraid not. You see, I come from seven years in the future... a time, where the world as you know it will have ceased to exist."
Ninety per cent of the human population had their lives extinguished, Rogue explained; they had died because the Gate had been closed. And the one who had closed it?
"It's you, Lucy Heartfilia!"
Time slowed as though everyone in the vicinity was trapped in syrup. An arc of darkness cut through the air, aimed for Lucy. The girl stood, eyes wide with shock. She was unable to comprehend the situation.
"Lucy!" A hoarse scream tore itself from Natsu's throat. The dragon slayer lunged forward a moment too late, fingers swiping through empty air.
Crimson arced through the air, and then time resumed.
Lucy lay crumpled on the ground like a broken ragdoll. Rose felt her mind slowly filling in the gaps; Future Lucy had taken the hit for her past self.
'Shit.'
Static buzzed in Rose's mind, and suddenly the rest of the world sounded muted. Like she had a pillow over her head.
Happy was at the fallen wizard's side in an instant, tears trickling from his eyes as he wailed, "No!"
Lucy knelt by her side, eyes darting for something to block the wound. "Just hang on!"
"I didn't do it..." Future Lucy coughed, "... I didn't do it. I didn't close the gate... I would never do that..."
"I know you didn't... I promise I won't either. No matter what." Lucy had begun to cry, and her voice broke mid-sentence. "But... why? Why didn't you protect yourself?!"
Future Lucy said something more, but Rose couldn't hear the words which came from her lips.
Ba-dump.
What was that?
Ba-dump.
Her heart?
Ba-dump.
Lucy went limp, and her hand fell weakly to the floor. This... this was all just another nightmare, right?
Ba-dump.
Lucy... Lucy wasn't really dead, was she?
Ba-dump.
When the final heartbeat rang, Rose found herself being elsewhere.
Blood coated the ground, and broken bodies littered the burning remnants of the village. Despite the desolate area, she could hear threats being whispered in her ears. The hair on the back of her neck prickled, but when she turned, there was nothing.
"You killed us."
"Stop,"
"You didn't even try to save us..."
"No... I did..."
"We were your family."
"...I know..."
"You failed us."
"I'm sorry."
"...you don't deserve redemption."
Rose's eyes fell upon the prone corpse of her friend – the friend who had just been murdered in front of her. The friend who'd been murdered, whom she'd been powerless to save. The spell unravelled in an instant.
Again.
She'd failed again.
A memory of a day not too long ago, a lazy afternoon spent laughing and training at the beach, resurfaced in Rose's mind. Lucy had been like a ray of sunshine then; for Rose it had been just weeks since then, but for the Lucy from the future... the one who'd had her friends stolen from her...
How long had it been since she'd last felt happy?
How long had she lived a life without hope?
"... you—!"
She moved without thinking, and suddenly Rose was kicking the culprit to the ground and fire was in her eyes; suddenly she was hitting him, over and over, and she wasn't pulling her punches. It was a blur to her, but she faintly recalled a grim sense of satisfaction. She only stopped when she could feel the intensity of the gazes concentrated on her back, when she remembered that her friends were watching.
Lucy... she had to be traumatised. Rose backed up slowly, and felt Natsu push past her with his fists aflame.
"Thanks," he'd gritted, anger barely contained. "I'll take care of this, so... look after her."
A sinister sensation lurked in the corner of Rose's mind, flitting about, but she quickly drowned the poisonous thoughts with a violent shake of her head. She rubbed a knuckle against her lower lip, realising that there was blood too late. A vivid smear of crimson ran across her cheek.
It wasn't her blood.
"... Lucy." Rose wiped her bloodied hand on her skirt. "Let's go."
Lucy's face was paler than a sheet of paper, but Rose managed to coax her into standing. The phoenix slayer escorted her from the hallway with a hand on her back, not sparing a glance back to the empty cloak on the ground. Future Lucy's corpse had disappeared, but Rose's anger was very much still present.
Lucy pretended not to notice that Rose's hands were shaking.
Published: 03/12/2017
Edited: 19/08/2018