The previously barren land of Caracole Island that everyone had remembered it by for so long was now a field of bright, glowing flowers that swayed softly in the new calm breeze. The sky was slowly darkening as the stars began climbing upward while the sun made its way downward. The joys of the people were heard throughout as they witnessed the last remnants of the battle, the ship slowly making its way down to the ocean, laying itself there for the rest of eternity.
"We did it," Minerva gasped as tears rolled down her face, falling to the floor. "We actually did it..."
"Mn," Yukino nodded, a joyous smile on her face. "We did it, Rogue-sama!"
"Yeah, we really did," Rogue breathed.
"We won~!" Frosch cheered.
"Honestly, only Lucy could pull this off," Brandish smiled as she held out her hand, a petal falling and nestling onto her palm.
"You mean only those two could pull it off," August said, standing beside her. "Though you might hate to admit it, he is the person who had made everything possible."
Brandish pouted. "Fine...I'll admit it. Just this once."
August smiled and patted her on the head as he looked above at the twilight that was soon to descend upon them, the stars forming a stream like that of a galaxy. His lips curled upwards as he softened the corners of his eyes. The petals cascaded down graceful and not one of them wasn't appalled by how beautiful the scene was.
"It seems like we successfully managed to avoid the disaster," Invel remarked and even he heaved a sigh of relief. "What reckless tactics we used."
"But it's with those reckless tactics that we were able to succeed," Irene grinned.
"Agreed," Mavis nodded her head. "It's good to take risks once in a while."
"I don't need you lecturing me on tactics," Invel glared at Irene.
She flipped her hair. "In any case, this truly is a sight to behold; a sight truly worthy after a long battle."
Zeref couldn't agree more. He looked down at the flowers and Mavis seemed to notice it as well. They didn't think they would ever see this flower again in their lifetime but then again, this flower was a flower that belonged to one specific person and one person only, even among the many gods. It was the flower that grew in Lucy's grace: Perpetua Lilium. Seeing it now, it really was the very definition of the word "beautiful" and it couldn't suit Lucy any better.
"We did it! We actually defeated him!" Gildarts cheered.
Even Fairy Tail was stunned at the fact that they had all accomplished such a feat. The petals continued to cascade down and their eyes reflected the beauty before them. They all agreed that it was truly divine and Sabertooth couldn't help but think that this scene was one of those scenes that Lucy had told them about. A scene that was so beautiful that for humans to even see it in their lifetime, it was almost close to impossible. However, their cries and shouts of joy were short-lived as a loud bang could be heard, the petals of the flowers rustling underneath the impact.
"Why?!" Hades shouted, his long black hair entangled amongst the flowers as he sat there, his head low as his voice shook with pain. "Why, Lucy?! Why did you go so far?!"
They all turned to the person that had made this all possible and as soon as they laid their eyes upon her, they felt themselves turn into stone. Sitting there amongst the flowers, her long blonde hair nestling amongst the flowers, her eyes shining with warmth and relief as a golden light enveloped her, was Lucy. The spell that she had cast remained for the magic circle that had appeared still stemmed from under her. Her face was cracked as more pieces fell to the ground before her before slowly fading away. Her dress was fading away into golden shards and her toes were beginning to as well.
"Myuu..." Kyubey sat next to her, its golden beaded eyes trembling as drops of tears rolled down its face. "Myuu..."
"Why did you sacrifice yourself? Your soul?!" Hades cried as he stared at her, his eyes filled with grief as he choked back tears.
Lucy all but smiled softly as she looked towards the person behind him. Lector had dropped Sting down and he had overheard it all. Staring at Lucy, whose existence was now slowly chipping away bit by bit, he widened his eyes as fear and terror overwhelmed him. He walked slowly towards Lucy before kneeling down before her, collapsing to his knees.
"Lu...cy..." his voice trembled as he feared to even touch her.
"Sting," her voice so calm and sweet but only made his heart ache even more. "You did it."
"No..." he shook his head. "No, no, no," he repeated over and over as tears fell like a waterfall. "If I didn't save you, then I did nothing! Nothing at all!"
"But you saved everyone. You saved the world."
"I didn't!" he yelled back at her. "So what if I saved the world? So what if I could save everyone else? I don't care anything about that! If I couldn't save you, what point is there in even defeating that guy?! I didn't do anything," he sobbed. "It was you who did."
Lucy's eyes filled with pain as she looked at the man she loved cry before her, defenseless.
"Why?" he asked as he looked at her. "Why?!"
Lucy smiled at him, her eyes showing no regret whatsoever. "I did it because I wanted to," she answered. "In the first place, with the magoi of you guys alone combined was never enough. Kyubey knew this as well but it followed along with my selfish wish because it knew what I wished for the most. The only way to stop Lucifer and completely make him disappear was to relinquish all my remaining magoi. In other words," Lucy said the last two words with a dark tone. "My soul."
"But even so...there had to be other ways to stop him!" Sting cried. "There should be!"
"There isn't," Lucy replied. "I'm sure that the moment I cast that spell, Hades realized it as well."
Sting looked at Hades and saw the guilty look in his eyes.
"You-!" Sting stood up and began to rush towards him.
"It was already too late!" Hades yelled before calming his trembling voice. "It was already too late," he gritted his teeth. "The moment she uttered that spell, it was already too late. It's an ancient spell, far older than the spell that Lucifer had used. Once the first word is recited, the spell already begins to take its course of action. It was already too late for me to do anything."
Sting's lips quivered as he widened his eyes.
"What Hades said is the truth," Lucy's voice propelled him to her. "This is what I had chosen for myself."
Looking at her, Sting held her by her arms and shook her. "Why, though?! Why sacrifice yourself for something so worthless?! Why choose to give up yourself to save this world? This world who hasn't done anything for you?! This world who hasn't given anything to you?!"
Lucy looked at him and shook her head softly, touching his hands and holding them as she smiled gingerly, her arms continuing to peel silently away.
"You're wrong, Sting," she said. "Though that might have been true in the past, it's different now. I've received more than enough of my share from you, Sabertooth, and every one of my friends that I hold dear."
He stared at her, shocked, before she continued.
"In Sabertooth, I was able to experience the true warmth of a family again. I was able to experience what it was like to have true friends that actually care for me. I loved the guild and even now I still do. It's my family, after all. The memories that I share with each and every one of you is a treasure and a gift and it's something that I would never give up no matter what. The joy of laughing together, hanging out together, fighting together, going on adventures together," she pressed her two hands over her heart. "It's more than enough."
"It's not-," Sting shook his head but was cut off.
"It is," Lucy answered firmly. "It is enough, Sting. The very reason why I was able to experience and enjoy all this again was because of you. It was you who reached your hand out to me and pulled me out of the glass prison that I had encased myself in. You're the reason why I'm able to smile even at a time like this. Just being able to love you was a gift of itself and when you returned those same feelings, I truly couldn't wish for more. I felt as if I was the most blissful person alive."
"Lucy," he sobbed as he held tightly onto her hand.
"Sabertooth is the guild I belong to. It's the family that I belong to," she continued, her eyes firm and resolute. "And for them, I'm willing to do anything. Give up anything. Even for those that hated me and despised me," she looked to Fairy Tail. "They're still people that I had shared moments with. They're still people that I wish to protect in the very end."
"They don't deserve it," Sting said.
"They might not in your opinion but in the end, they were the people that had first accepted me. No matter how false that image was, they were still people that I held dear to me," she said.
Natsu heard her words and looked up in disbelief. At first, he had thought it was Lucy when the two had met face to face again but thinking and pondering over it once again, he realized that it wasn't her that had changed. Lucy hadn't changed since the moment they met her. She was still the girl that held friends and family dear to her and for their sake, she would be willing to sacrifice anything. In the end, it was they that had changed.
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, a tear streamed down his face as he watched her in agony. Lucy...
"Then what about me?" Sting asked, his voice a heartwrenching cry. "What about me, Lucy?! If you held me dear to you, you wouldn't leave me like this!"
Lucy's eyes flickered with pain as she tried holding back tears. It was painful. Seeing such an expression on his face, it was painful. Her heart felt as if it was tearing into two and she gulped. Curling the edge of her lips upward, she clutched his hand back, wanting his warmth to linger on her for a little while longer. Smiling affectionately at him, she wiped the tears from his face and caressed his cheek.
"It's because I hold you dear that I'm doing this," she said, tears slowly streaming down her face. "If there was any other way, I would've done it a long time ago. I, too...wish to be with you, stay with you! I'm scared. I'm really scared. But it isn't the fear of dying but rather, the fear of being separated from you!" she cried before calming herself down, breathing in before letting it out. "But," she said, looking into his eyes. "Once I realized that it's you who I'm doing it for, the fear that holds me just disappears."
"I don't get you, Lucy," he said, giving up. "Why would you do something like that? Why would you do something like for someone like me?"
"You still don't understand, Sting?" she asked, her voice light and airy.
"Huh?"
"It's because you're my everything!" she embraced him, giving a laugh as tears streamed down her face. She clutched him tightly, afraid of letting go. "It's because you're everything to me that I wish to continue seeing you alive and well in this world. The world that we met in."
Widening his eyes, he felt more tears beginning to rise as his heart ached with happiness yet grief.
She tightened her grip on him and buried her face in his shoulder, his tears staining his shirt. "I want to see you living, Sting. After all, in my eyes, you shine the brightest when you're with everyone and when you're part of the guild. You, who treasure your friends more than anything, that's the Sting Eucliffe that I fell for," she said, saying everything that had been in her heart. "But, it would be nice if you remembered me from time to time."
"Lucy," he held her close and buried his face into her neck, whiffing in her scent once more. "You idiot."
Smiling, she held him. "Honestly, I wished I could've gone on more adventures with you if I knew this was going to happen," she whispered.
He remained silent as tears stained her hair. "Same for me," his voice quaked.
Her body had now turned into golden shards as her arms were now slowly starting to fade away. Nestling herself into his body, she closed her eyes and drew in one last breath, her face and hair now chipping away. "I'm sure we'll meet again someday. For sure..." she breathed with a contented tone. "I love you."
In that instant, she shattered and faded into small golden petals as it scattered along in the wind. The golden light that had enveloped the air around them two slowly dimmed away, the twilight now looming overhead. Everyone stood in silence as the golden petals left the island and blew away, its remnants forever lost. Sting sat there, his face dark and uncomprehensive, as he still had his arms out. However, upon seeing what had appeared before him as soon as Lucy had faded away was the umbrella that she had always been carrying. Tears streamed down his face as he picked it up, his heart aching.
Before, he had no strength to pick it up but now, it was as light as a feather. But, he knew that this was Lucy's umbrella no doubt. He could feel the magic pulsing through it and knew immediately that the only person who could wield the power of this umbrella was Lucy alone. Though Lucy was gone, this umbrella was still hers. It was hers and forever will be hers. He looked around and decided, knowing what to do.
He opened the umbrella, its red paper folds straightening itself out as he planted it onto the ground amongst the numerous blossoms of Perpetua Lilium. He stared at it, his cheeks now stained with dried tears.
"Lucy," he said. "No matter how many days, months, or years it takes, I'll definitely find you. Even if you were to fall from the sky again, I would be ready to catch you. We'll definitely meet again so for now," he turned. "Wait for me. Just as I'll be waiting for you."
With the end of the battle, Sting and the others returned back to Fiore. Zeref and the Spriggans returned back to the Alvarez Empire while Hades returned back to the Underworld, this time closing the Gates shut and keeping a close watch on it. Many members of Sabertooth reluctantly came back, thinking it would've been better to take Lucy's umbrella back but much to Sting's stubborn disposition, they left it. He knew it was better to leave it and wait for Lucy to retrieve it herself. It was hers, after all.
Lucy's sacrifice had brought about a miracle for the destruction that had been done across the world had been mended, no evidence of the battle ever occurring. But what surprised them the most was that the lives of the mages that had been lost during the mages were returned and seeing their fallen comrades return, they broke out into tears of joy at just how much Lucy had given them.
After the battle, Kyubey had miraculously disappeared as well. With the mansion not having an owner anymore, Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch decided it was better to leave it and went on to find a home for themselves. Not long after, Sting departed on a journey from Sabertooth and they all had more or less of an idea of what he planned to do. Smiling, they sent him off with smiles and supported him, wishing that he would come and visit once in a while.
A year later~
Having no destination in mind, Sting wandered here and there across the continents, searching far and wide from the most bustling of places to the most deserted. No matter how many months passed and no matter the hardships he had to endure, he continued walking on in search of her. A year had passed and as he walked along the snowy path of the Snow Continent, he looked up and let out a breath of white. The stars above were clear and shone brilliantly as he gazed upon them in longing. He widened his eyes as he saw a comet rain across the sky and soon smiled. Pulling up his blue hooded cape lined with white fur over his head.
"Now then," he grinned. "On we go to the next destination!"
He wasn't going to stop searching for her and was going to continue waiting for her return. He was Sting Eucliffe, a man who always had his goal clear in his mind and for the woman he loved, he would do anything. Even now, he still believed in her words and knew for sure that they were going to meet again. After all, if he knew one thing about Lucy, it was that she always kept her words.
And so, the curtains of the story came to a close, and Sting continued searching for Lucy until almost a whole year had passed. However, there was one thing that he didn't know and it was that it wouldn't be long before he would see her again.
They were going to meet again.