Doo doo doo doo doo I'm so busy even though its summer don't mind me...
Also, sadly, Wattpad is not one of my priorities. I'm sure y'all can understand. Thank you guys for continuing to read!
. . .
"Here's what we'll do," Jellal stood in the middle of a circle made by his guildmates. He had just gotten done explaining what was happening to the younger members, to which their responses were quiet. "We'll have to separate into three teams. We'll name them A, B, and C. The A team will be the ones who find the base of the demons and storms it as a distraction. B Team will stay here in the case that battles spread to corners of the island.
"C Team will leave the island to find more information on the spell, then use a lacrima to give us the found information. We'll give you the teams in the morning, but for now, get some rest."
Everyone went their own ways to get ready for bed. It was a long day for everyone.
Gale was about to get into his tent, before he saw Nova and remembered something.
"Nova!" He exclaimed. She turned around with tired eyes. He jogged over to her, "I need to talk to you."
"Um, okay," she said timidly.
They walked over to the edge of the tree line. Nova rubbed her arms, nervous and cold.
"You didn't eat dinner," Gale stated.
"I... Wasn't hungry."
"You didn't eat lunch or breakfast either. Or dinner last night."
Nova shrugged. "I haven't been hungry."
"You still need to eat, for energy and..." He let out a sigh, "why are you not eating?"
The blonde clenched her teeth, "I told you. I'm not hungry."
"Bull crap!" He suddenly exclaimed. "I saw you. Watching everyone else eat, you're starving yourself. Why?"
"God Gale!" She exclaimed back, "we have more pressing matters than me right now. We should deal with that first." Her sentence ended in a grunt as she pushed passed him and headed back to her tent.
Hr turned around and followed her, "we're not done talking. You're going to lose your position as S-Class!"
"Is that what you're worried about?" she retorted. "No, I'd say we're pretty much done talking."
Gale stood there, dumbfounded. How had no one else noticed it? How in the world does she not care, even a little bit? She always stayed close to food, but never had it in her hands, never-
His thoughts were cut off when he felt a cloth go over his mouth. He reached up to pull the hand away, but he passed out before it could happen.
He awoke panicked. A cloth was tied around his mouth, and he felt cold metal around his wrists and ankles. The chains were heard as he tried to get up as well. However, he wasn't sitting inside a cell. He could feel the leafy ground beneath him, and tree bark behind him. He was still in the forest, somewhere.
How had someone managed to chain him in the forest? And why, for that matter?
"This job was easy," he heard someone say. Another male, and the voice was oddly familiar. "She's ruining herself, and you were like a fly without wings."
A figure appeared. The blue eyes and blonde hair was hard to miss, especially with Gale's eyesight.
It was Zeke.
"I'm not all for killing people, I don't know if you knew that, Gale," he said, hovering over him. "So instead of killing you, I'll let you starve like my sister. Whether or not someone finds you doesn't matter, you'll be weak by the time they do. Unable to battle." He turned around and started to walk in another direction, "until our next encounter!" He waved his hand as he left.
Gale tried to make noise with the chains, maybe the other dragon slayers would hear it. But the chains pulled taut, and he sat slumped on the ground.
He could do nothing. He sat still, hoping and praying that someone would be able to smell his scent, or stumble upon him.
. . .
Nashi sat in her tent, nervously rocking back and forth, when Nova walked in.
"You're nervous," Nova stated blatantly.
Nashi stumbled over her words, "I- erm, well, obviously!" She sighed, "my... My child from the future? Tonight? It's... It's a little messed up. Plus... I'm worried about tomorrow."
"What do you have to be worried about? You'll probably get to battle, it'll be fine."
Nashi shook her head, "you've all been avoiding it, but we still don't know when Judgment Day is. And, we don't know what happened with Caleb or Luna or Remington- my mom isn't telling me anything."
Nova swallowed, "I know. Gale's been on the edge too, can't say I'm staying far from it either though."
She couldn't really say that she was talking about the day after anymore. Nova knew what she was doing for herself was for the best. It was painful in more ways than one. Having to lie to her friends and family has been the hardest thing, but she needed to do it.
"I better go to sleep," Nova said, climbing into her sleeping bag.
"I'm going to go wait for them," Nashi said quietly. "Rose should be here soon, goodnight." Nashi immediately left the tent.
Sylvia was still in the medical tent, so while Rosemary was away, Nova was left alone with her thoughts.
. . .
Nashi smelled someone familar when she got to the camp fire. No, there was two other people who wasn't her mother.
She furrowed her eyebrow's when she saw his face.
The crown prince of Fiore... Was the time traveller?
"Prince Jay?" She muttered out. "I was expecting one of the triplets!"
"Oh, please," he sighed out. "They're powerful, but they're idiots."
Prince Jay was next in line for the throne of Fiore, and with the current situation they are in a neighboring country, specifically Sill, he's usually surrounded by at least 5 guards. He used to be outside, fighting off monsters and such to be one with the people. That's changed since negotiations between Fiore and Sill have gone farther than South. Now, his brothers, the triplets, have taken the role as public face for the royals.
He raised one green eyebrow at Nashi, "but we aren't here to talk about that or me," he turned his head and made eye contact with the girl he brought with him. Her red eyes and jet black hair... Nashi has only ever seen pictures of Zeref... But Mika looked just like him.
Nashi squatted down to her height, "hi... Mika, I'm Nashi." She held out a hand for Mika to shake.
Mika hid her hand behind her back.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes," Mika whispered.
"Show her your hand," the prince said quietly.
Mika slowly showed her hand to Nashi. Her sleeve was draping over her wrist, there was no hand.
Lucy, who hadn't said a word the whole time, gasped.
"The future has changed," Jay explained, "she no longer exists."
"What? How?" Nashi asked breathlessly.
"That's what Prince Jay sent me back to this time for," Mika began to explain, "to protect the future. What you do here will change everything in the future."
"What happens now that will change it for the worse then?" Nashi asks, afraid of the answer.
"Reiki and Storm die, and you let Caleb live," Jay answers. "That's the worst possibility."
Nashi's breath hitched and her eyed widened.
"Where is Caleb right now?" Lucy asked in a low voice.
"We don't know. But we know it isn't a good place... For him to change like that..." Jay's sentence died off.
"In my future, the one that started all this," started Mika, "you and... Er, Storm, survive. He's fine. But Rin finds this power he didn't know he had, and doesn't know how to control it. Luna gets involved and... Um..." Tears start swelling up in her eyes.
Jay stops her from speaking anymore, "you don't have to say anything, I can-"
Mika shakes her head and whispers, "it's okay... Um... Luna... She freezes. Wendy said that she died... She was frozen from the inside out. After that, out of anger, Igneel attacks Rin and..."
"Mika," the prince muttered.
She snaps out of her small trance, "I'm getting off topic. The point is that... You have to defeat the demons. All of them, don't let any of them get away with this."
Nashi swallowed, then her worried face hardened. "Not Caleb. We're going to get him back to our side."
Jay's eyes widened, and then glared at Nashi, "no. We're telling you, that's dangerous. Destroy his book. He'll get a quick defeat."
"You mean death," Nashi retorted. "We're not killing an ally."
"If I might intervene," Lucy cut in before anything got out of hand, "why are you willing to tell us so much of the future? It won't change anything?"
"The future is a strange and difficult place to understand," Jay explained. "All these time travelling theories are only partially correct in their own ways. You can change the future, however hard it may be. But, it won't hurt if we tell you the future as long as we know what needs to be done to change it. And what needs to be done is the demon's defeat." He stared hard at Nashi.
"You said that if we let Caleb live now, it's a possibility for disaster," Nashi pointed out angrily, "but if everyone were to live with him, then there's a possibility of success."
Jay was getting annoyed, anyone could tell it in his voice, "I looked at that possibility. It won't change anything, Nashi."
"What would happen then?" Nashi asked irritably.
"I can't tell you if I don't know how to fix it," Jay's voice got harder.
Lucy's and Mika's eyes went from Nashi to Jay as they argued.
"And why not?"
Jay stood up, followed by Nashi. He pointed a finger at her face, "Because then you'll try to fix the future and will ruin everything we're trying to fix now."
"What? Did you look into that possibility too?!" She flailed her arms around.
He nodded frantically, "yes, I did! Actually!"
"Why don't you just go back and change it if it fails then?!"
Jay knocked his crown backwards, it landed on the dirt behind him. He didn't seem to notice, or care. Mika picked it up solemnly, with her visible left hand.
"That's not how this works! That's not how any of this works!"
After that was said, Nashi stomped right through the fire that separated them. She grabbed the collar of his nice shirt, and whispered fiercely to him, "Caleb is a friend of ours. We are not leaving or killing him. We're getting him back. I don't care if he's a demon or a leprechaun, we're not killing a friend."
His hard stare kept up through the lecture. He scoffed, she let go, and then turned around to her tent.
Lucy was just going to let her go, then realized who Nashi just talked down upon.
"Nashi Luna Dragneel!" She yelled out as she stood on her feet. Nashi froze. She hadn't used her middle name since Luna came back. She swallowed. "Come back here."
Mika sat there, astonished. Lucy could sound just like Nashi when she really wanted to, even scarier, if she really wanted to.
Prince Jade took his crown from Mika, and fixed his shirt.
"You apologize right now," Lucy said as soon as Nashi came near.
However, Nashi wasn't having it. "I am not apologizing to someone who wants to kill one of my friends. He could be the prince of Fiore or the king of the universe, I don't care."
"It's alright, Lucy," the prince said as he dusted himself off, "I can handle it."
Nashi glared at him one last time before returning to her tent.
"Tell me," he said quietly, "has everyone returned to their tents?"
"I believe so," Lucy responded, "do you need somewhere to stay for the night?"
He waved his hands in front of him, "no, no, I'm going to head back tonight. Would you like Mika to come back with me?"
"If it isn't too much trou-" Lucy continued to scream a muffled scream.
That wasn't the prince or Mika.
"There," Chalice whispered, staring at Risu with his red eyes. "There's one of yours down. Good luck with the ruby."
Risu's brown hair had a reddish tint in the light of the fire, "thanks, I'll repay you later." He threw Lucy across his shoulder.
"Now," Chalice stretched out his arms as if he was going on a run, "I just need the Rose."
Chalice nonchalantly went up to the tent he saw Nashi go into. Quietly, but loud enough for them to hear, he said, "hello? Is anyone in there?"
The first thing he heard was a groan. He knew it was from Nashi.
The one who opened the tent was Rosemary, who was greeted with the face of Prince Jay.
"I'm sorry my prince," she sighed, "she's a little... Salty right now."
"Well, I was going to apologize for the trouble I've caused you," Chalice exclaimed. All he got was silence as a response.
"I wouldn't waste your breath," Rosemary assured, "she can be extremely stubborn.
"I understand. It's quite alright," the fake prince smiled what seemed to be a sincere smile, "you know, I've always wanted to have a talk with the daughter of a wizard saint, would you humor me?"
Rosemary blushed a little bit, just enough for Chalice to know that he got her.
"Of course, your highness," she said brightly, then stepped out of the tent. Nashi grunted before zipping it up behind her.
Her heart was fluttering. She didn't know why, either. Was it that the crown prince of Fiore was talking to her? His looks, his voice, his humbleness... Her mind felt it all to be too good to be true.
But it wasn't, right? He was standing right in front of her, crown and all.
Chalice invited Rosemary to sit on the logs by the fire, where they began talking.
They talked and they talked. They talked for hours.
About Rosemary's family, about her powers, about Reiki and how he's doing. They talked about Rosemary's struggles, and everything that has changed since getting her dad back. She laughed about the jokes the prince had made, about his brothers. The stories he told about him and his castle were mesmerizing.
She trusted him.
She really, really did trust him. It was as if they'd known each other their whole life.
Of course, they'd met before, on a couple missions she'd went with Reiki on. However, he was always too busy to really be able to talk to her. She never would've thought that he was this much of an enjoyable human being.
"Hey, Rose," the prince quickly grabbed Rosemary's hand, "um... I know we just started talking seriously but... Can I ask for advice on something serious?"
She smiled that sweet smile, "of course."
"Have you ever felt... vulnerable?"
Her smile twisted into a look of confusion, "what do you mean?"
"I mean..." His eyebrows furrowed, "Rose... Are you... Falling asleep?"
"Hm?" She hummed, "no... No, I just... I'm..."
She fell forward, right into Chalice's lap.
His sister came out of the shadows of the trees, "that was just cruel, brother." A bubble of curse circled them. Melody made it so anyone who was outside the bubble couldn't hear them speak.
"Maybe so," he breathed. His hand stroked the top of Rosemary's head, "but, we got her, sister."
"Ever since that night," Melody squinted at Chalice. A look of suspicion and disappointment, "you've been fawning over her. Why?"
"Well, her hair is quite lovely..." He answered in a sing songy voice. "But more than that... She's so fragile, and powerful... I suppose I get joy from seeing people like that break.
"And oh," his smile. That wide, and devilish smile. "The ways I can get her to break."