Song: OUR FATES ARE BOUND TOGETHER
          By: Olexandr Ignatov

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Hisui

It was almost time for the Gate to be opened. The Dragons have not yet arrived, but in less than an hour, this city will be overrun with those beasts. I strode quickly authorizing soldiers to ready everything that needed to be done when the time comes. "Hurry, we have no time to waste!" Soldiers ran to their destination when I turned to find Arcadios. "Arcadios!" I said running to meet him. My knight looked down at me with his beady eyes. "Princess, I have troubling information to tell you."

"What is it Arcadios?" The tall knight moved forward in front of me as he stared at the Gate. "What is the purpose of this Gate? Why do we intend to use this...this thing against an army of Dragons that we don't even know is arriving!" I stared at Arcadios back as he huffed in anger. "Arcadios, we have to do this. We can't take any chances if what the stranger told us is true." He turned and glared into my eyes. This was the first time I have seen Arcadios so...against my decision. "Is that so..." Arcadios muttered as he was now in front of me. "that is not what I heard."

"What's wrong?" I asked now concerned for my knight. "Princess, that stranger was with Fairy Tail mages inside the palace. Somehow, they escaped the Pits. They were with the stranger from the future. From what he warned us, it was far different when he was talking to them. Something is not adding up! There is something going on here that we are not aware of!" My knight pulled his sword out and placed it into my hands. The heavy weapon nearly fell out of my grip when I firmly latched it. Arcadios pulled the tip of the blade of where his neck was and positioned it on his skin. My eyes became wide from his action. "I must know the truth Princess, or else you will release me from my duty of being your knight." My hands came to be shaky while Arcadios looked down into my eyes. "The truth is the stranger from the future told me that the Gate will stop the Dragons. I swear it Arcadios. I would never hold the truth from you."

Arcadios didn't move, and I was afraid he didn't believe me. "That pink-haired man lied Princess Hisui! You must tell me the truth!" I suddenly became confused. A pink-haired man? The only pink-haired man I knew was the Fire Mage from Fairy Tail. "But Arcadios," I whispered pulling the sword away from his neck. "the man I spoke to didn't have pink hair. It was black." My knight clenched his jaw, a moment later nodding. "Then we have a situation, your Highness." Arcadios said as he grabbed the sword from my hands. "There are two people telling two different stories, and I stress only one of them is confessing the truth." He returned his sword into its scabbard and fell onto one knee. "It is your order of what we do next Princess." I stared at my knight, lost of what is now right and wrong. The black-haired man I met has told me stories of the future, he has told me of what the Dragons did to everyone. The beasts that burned the city in one fell swoop, destroyed EarthLand with only their flames. And now there's another person in the mix? A person I haven't even heard of until now?

"I..." I clutched my fists in frustration. "We must continue readying the Gate. This is the only way I can protect my people if the Dragons do arrive." Arcadios stood back up. "Very well Princess." My knight stood back up and bowed. "We must finish the preparations. We have very little time left." I nod in agreement and followed closely alongside Arcadios. We have not even an hour left, we needed to hurry.

Before it's too late.

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~Lucy~

"Come on Lucy!" I couldn't tell where I was. One moment, Natsu was in my arms no longer breathing, and the next thing I could see was fire eating away the castle. I felt Gwen and Levy tugging me to keep up with them as we ran out of this hellhole. Where was my Natsu?

I lost all feeling in my body, it was as if I suddenly became a rag doll while I was being hauled away. I looked down at my feet, seeing them not moving but only struggling to keep up with the two girls that were fighting to make sure I kept up with them. "Natsu..." I sobbed allowing the tears to keep running down my face. There was a hollow sensation in the center of my chest swelling like a virus inside of me. It was a quarrel to keep up with my nakamas and to just give up.

I just wished for all of this to end. I wanted to return to Natsu.

"LUCY!" Gwen snapped halting us. I glanced into her foggy blue eyes, her anger showing on her face. "You need to snap out of it! We have to keep moving!" I sighed, and put my head down. "What's the point Gwen? Just...just leave me alone." I didn't expect what happened next. I felt a force hitting my cheek making me face the other way and soon a sting grew to life on my skin. Gwen just slapped me. I placed my hand over my bruised cheek having lost my voice to speak. "Cut the bullshit, Lucy. Natsu didn't forfeit his life just for you to give up this easily! You and Yukino are the only people to stop that Gate from bringing Hell itself into EarthLand! The Future Natsu died in order to save this timeline! Don't let him die in vain dammit!"

I only shook my head in denial. "It's my fault! It's always been my fault, Gwen!" I closed my eyes and looked down. "I can't do it...I can't save the people I love. When I try, they only end up getting hurt. Everything I touch dies overtime!" Gwen pulled my face up. Her cheeks were rosy as she was fuming with rage. "LISTEN TO YOURSELF! The people that died for you only passed away because they just wished to protect you! Lucy you can't keep blaming yourself for everything that ends poorly! Our Natsu, your Natsu right now is fighting off Rogue just so he'll buy us enough time to reach the Gate! You have to keep fighting! You have to honor by fighting for those that died for you!"

More painful tears descended down my cheeks. "But I don't want any more people to die! I wanted all of them to live!"

Gwen put her forehead on mine and inhaled deeply. "Listen to me closely Lucy," Gwen whispered as she closed her eyes. "it doesn't matter how many people have lost their life for you, it only matters why they gave their life for you to keep living. They believe that you can bring greatness to EarthLand. They saw what you've been trying to convince Fiore of who you are. Lucy you can't just let their deaths mean nothing in the end. You are far more important, far greater than all the lives I have encountered. You are the Balance of Light and Darkness. You are the most powerful Celestial Mage of your generation. And most importantly, you are Lucy Heartfilia."

"Gwen..." I said bawling like a child. I felt her pull me into a tight hug and shushed me. "Just breathe Lucy. Breathe..." She murmured into my ear. I did what I was told, and inhaled and exhale slowly. Levy put her hand on my shoulder. "We're losing the group. We have to continue moving before we lose sight of them." I nodded, feeling the Balance stabilize and wiped my bloodshed eyes. "I-I'm okay. I'm okay now." I puffed out loudly and stood back up. My senses were returning, and I could stand up on my own. "I hope Natsu is safe. I won't be able to live if I lose him again." I felt the Dragon Slayer grab my hand. "He'll be fine Cub. You have to trust him." Levy was ahead, looking back to us.

"Come on!" She screamed, pointing in a certain direction. "We're losing time!" Levy ran, and soon Gwen and I were following. I peered back. Behind me was a large cloud building up smog. 'Please be safe Natsu,' I prayed, returning my eyes in front of me. 'or I will never forgive myself for letting you fight my battle.'

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Hisui

"Princess! Everything is in order! All we wait for now is your command!" I stared into the dark sky. I begin to see smoke in the distance, smoke that belonged to a Dragon. One last time, I glanced at Arcadios. His eyes were not on me, but only what was ahead of him. His trust was in me, and I could only hope what I was doing was the right thing. I closed my eyes and bent my head.

The time has come.

"OPEN THE GATE!"

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~Lucy~

We continued running, gaining closer and closer to where the Gate stood. Until I noticed a horrifying turn of what we were racing against. The Gate was beginning to open! "NO!" I cried out and by instinct, my wings appeared and took flight.

The wind crushed me as I fought to fly faster. The ginormous Gate was gradually opening its doors as the thousands of soldiers stood in place. I didn't care, my only goal was to stop the Gate before it was too late. I landed hard on my feet causing a small crater. "CLOSE IT!" I warned, sprinting to where the leaver was that would stop this catastrophe. "CLOSE THE GATE!"

"STOP HER!"  A familiar voice ordered when I was ambushed by large armored soldiers jumping on top of me. The metal armor bashed against me, but I felt nothing at that moment. I effortlessly threw them off of me and kept going. I was growing closer, I was about to stop this all before it began.

Until a searing pain penetrated my thigh. I screamed when I fell on all four and landed my head into the concrete ground. There was a sword lodged in my flesh as it dripped with my blood. I clenched my teeth and reached my hand out to the leaver. "NO! You must close it! The Gate isn't a weapon! It's a Death Machine! Please listen to me!" I felt a large foot kick my side which caused me to be thrown a yard away from my destination. Another cry escaped my lips as the guard I knew very well marched over to me. He pulled his sword out of my thigh and returned it into its scabbard after another cry escaped me. "Stay." He ordered, soon returning to Hisui's side. My hair covered my eyes, while my hands tried to cover the large wound inflicted on me. I would survive it, but that doesn't mean it hurts like hell.

"Hisui!" I begged while forcing myself to kneel. "You must believe me! You need to close the Gate! I'm begging you Princess Hisui, the Gate is not a weapon!" My eyes were solely on Her Majesty, and I only watched her turn away from me. "The smoke in the distance, it's a sign. The Dragons arrival reaches shortly, and our only defense is what you seek to stop!" I smashed my blood-soaked hand into the ground. "HISUI THE GATE IS WHAT BROUGHT THE DRAGONS IN THE FIRST PLACE! THE GATE DOESN'T KILL THE DRAGONS, IT BRINGS-"

My words were broken off when I heard a large booming sound. Like a large step of a giant. The other side of the Gate radiated a pure white light. It continued shining, as the booming grew closer. "Oh no..." My voice whimpered under my breath. In the white light, I could vaguely see a silhouette.

The silhouette of a humongous Dragon.

A Dragon's roar tore our ears when I could only stare in disbelief of what was happening. Hisui's personal guard stood in front of the Princess, as he shook her violently with both of his hands on her shoulders. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" He screamed as more silhouettes grew behind the first one. There was only one thing I knew about our situation.

It was too late to stop it...

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As alwaysssss... love you all!❤️