Fairy Tail Next Generation: Thrown Back

Chapter 33 - The Life of a Fairy

I quickly ducked back behind the barricade before anyone could see me. "What is it?" Nova questioned. 

"It's the other half of the rescue team," I answered. "There's also a huge shadow at the other end of the hallway," Everyone's eyes expanded tremendously. 

"What happened to the army?" Gale added. 

"My guess is that the shadow at em,"

"An entire army doesn't just disappear into a shadow Nashi," Lukas argued.

"Would you care to take a look?" I said sarcastically. We all just sat there for a second, pondering what we should do. 

"Someone's inside that thing!" We all peered around the barricade to see Pantherlily pointing out a figure walking into the light. 

"Okay," Natsu growled. "And who are you?"

"Shadows can reach beyond the present, to both the past and future... and into the hearts of men," The stranger said. He wore a white and black tunic of sorts with pants and boots. His hair was long and white on one side and short and black on the other. I hardly recognized him at first, but he was clearly Rogue Cheney of Saber Tooth. The only problem was that this Rogue looked much older than the one in this time. 

We listened intently to their conversation. 

"It's been a while Natsu Dragneel, I am Rogue from the future," He stated simply. 

"No way, how can you be Rogue,"

"You came from the future?" Lucy added.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"All I want," Rogue started. "is to use the eclipse, it can save us all if we tap into it's hidden power. As you all know the eclipse can be used as a doorway into either the past or future, well it can also be used as a cannon to launch magic at the dragon hoard coming this way,"

Lukas nudged my shoulder, I looked back at him and he whispered to all of us. "This must be the guy from the future that launches the dragon attack,"

"Rogue?" I questioned. "But why? In our time, he would never do something like this,"

"This isn't the Rogue from our time, he's from a timeline where humanity failed to defeat the dragons now."

"But Fairy Tail's gonna win right?" 

"We won't know, the timeline has two paths that it can take depending on the outcome of this battle. If Fairy Tail wins, our timeline will continue to flow in the direction of our future. If Fairy Tail loses, Rogue's timeline will solidify and we will cease to exist."

"So we just have to make sure that Fairy Tail wins," Gale determined. 

I looked back at the scene on the other side of the hall. Something is missing. What am I forgetting? The question was screaming at the back of my head. Something was certainly wrong with this picture, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "Lukas, something's not right,"

Lukas eyed me for a second then looked around the barricade. "What are you talking about,"

My heart was pounding in my chest. It was like I could sense that there was something off about the situation, that it was dangerous. The hair on the back of my neck stood on edge and I knew that something bad was about to happen. Before I could even think, my legs were running to the scene. I heard Lukas calling my name, he was running after me but my legs wouldn't stop. 

"It's you," Rogue shouted. His fist was engulfed in shadows and a sword formed as he threw it at his target. "Lucy Heartfilia!"

Everything moved in slow motion, I saw Natsu lunge after the sword only to barely miss it. Lucy stood frozen in fear and all I could do was run. My instincts made me push on her shoulder as I came in contact with my mother. What came in contact with me was less than comforting. 

I felt the cold cut into my stomach as the sword rammed through my torso. I looked down in horror as the blade disappeared and the wound became visible. My yellow tank top now ran red with my own blood. I felt my knees give way and I began to fall for what seemed like forever until finally I felt strong arms catch me. 

I could hear Lukas yelling my name and when I looked up I could see his face streaming with tears. I heard footsteps running and soon saw the petrified faces of my friends. "Nashi just hang in there!" They pleaded. I could feel my feet getting cold and soon the coldness was spreading up my legs. 

"Wendy do something," Storm shouted. Wendy had tears in her eyes as she placed her hands over my wounds, trying her best to heal it. While the coldness did slow down a bit, her magic did nothing to fully heal the wound.

"Oh my God! Nashi!" Lucy shrieked, I felt her warm hands quickly taking mine. "Hang in there sweetie," She pleaded. I could feel her tears falling on my face. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

"To save your life, duh Mom." I tried to smile. "If you had died, Fairy Tail would have lost a lot more than me,"

"but now I'm losing you," She cried.

"That's not true," I said. "I'll never leave any of you,"

"Don't talk like that," I heard Natsu say. I craned my neck to see him standing and shaking a foot away from me. "We're not gonna lose you, you'll be just fine," he choked. I felt a tear slip from my own eyes as he moved to my side, tears were now streaming down his face. "I swear, I'm gonna save you next time,"

I smiled and looked up at my big brother who was sobbing like a little girl as he held me in his arms. "Lukas," I soothed. He choked on his tears when I said his name and I couldn't help but feel sorry. "sorry I didn't listen,"

"Damn it Nashi," He wiped at his tears. "if you weren't so rebellious, we wouldn't be in this mess," He joked. 

"I love you big bro,"

"I love you too,"

Then I saw Kali back in her exceed form, tears and snot running down her face. She came running up to me sobbing louder than anyone else. "Don't leave me Nashi, you're my best friend!" She cried. I pulled her into a gentle hug, kissing her on the head. 

"Nova," I asked. Nova leaned over and I could see her normally calm exterior  was shattering by the second. "take good care of my brother,"

"I will, I promise," she sniffled. 

I looked up at my friends. They all had tears in their eyes that poured down their faces. By this time, the coldness had consumed both my arms and legs. "I'm sorry guys," I choked. "Tell everyone at home that I'm sorry,"

"No," Storm stated firmly. "When we go home, we'll tell them about your bravery. We won't say that you were sorry, we'll say that she was proud to save Fairy Tail,"

"Yeah," Gale agreed. 

"We're proud to be your friend," Reiki added. 

I couldn't help but smile softly as tears continued to roll down my face. "Thanks guys," The coldness had now moved into my torso and as it approached my heart, I took one last look at the people surrounding me. 

Yeah, I'm proud to be in Fairy Tail. 

Closing my eyes, the cold and darkness overtook me.