A/N: Episode 198.

Enjoy!

edited on april 11th, 2025 @ 9:57pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴,
𝓖𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙴𝙽 𝙶𝚁𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙳.

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𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗟. "We'll just have to slam into it with all our magical power!" She claimed.

"Right." Yukino agreed.

All of the Zodiac Keys flew into the air once more, creating a circle and shining a gold light. Lucy and Yukino joined hands and had their eyes closed.

"Open..."

"... the 12 Gates!"

"Zodiac!" Lucy and Yukino shouted together as the Zodiacs appeared once more.

"Everyone, please!" Lucy pleaded.

The Celestial Spirits charged forward towards the portal as a bright golden light was shown. When it dispersed, the portal still stood.

"I don't believe it! We didn't even make a dent!" Lucy exclaimed.

"It's made of Magnanium alloy, which is highly resistant to Magic. It won't be easy to destroy." Arcadios informed.

"Even so..." Lucy trailed off.

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Atlas Flame was on the ground before taking flight and slamming himself into Mother Glare as Future Samuel hopped on its back.

Levy was running through the town. "Gajeel!" She exclaimed to herself.

"Go back to our..." Future Samuel presses his foot on Future Rogue's stomach. "... time period!"

Future Samuel struck Future Rogue with a hard kick as a trail of purple ice followed, making him stumble back.

"I have no intention of going back." Future Rogue claimed.

"Then what'll happen to the current Rogue?!" Future Samuel asked.

"Eventually, I'll become one with myself." Future Rogue replied as he turned into a shadow. "Like two overlapping shadows..."

"So you wanna steal Rogue's future, too?" Future Samuel questioned.

"There is no future! Not as long as Acnologia exists!" Future Rogue surrounded Future Samuel, who glanced around. "That's why I came here, to create the future!"

Future Rogue struck Future Samuel with holy light as he fell from Mother Glare, but he quickly hung on. Future Rogue soon appeared as he chuckled darkly. Future Samuel climbed back up on top of Mother Glare as he coughed, making Future Rogue laugh.

"I see. I get why you're doing this now." Future Samuel claimed, grabbing Future Rogue's attention. "And I also understand why you murdered Sting back then. It was payback for—"

Future Rogue's eyes widened as he sent an attack at Future Samuel, who clenched his side in pain. Future Samuel chuckled. "You're only pissed because I'm right. He murdered Frosch, so you stole someone important to me in return." He stated. "But he's alive. Just like Sting is. And I bet he's terrified right now... because of you..."

Lector had a stick in his paw as Frosch covered his eyes. "It'll be okay! I'm here with you!" Lector reassured.

"I don't care. I'm not the same man who kept a cat as a sidekick." Future Rogue said.

Future Samuel charged forward. "You..."

Future Rogue activated his Magic. "I finally obtained hope, and I won't let the insanity of a desperate man interfere!" He yelled.

Future Samuel easily moved through the attack. "Your hope..." He leaped over the attack. "... means turning the past into despair?!"

"Not everyone can be equally happy! Grow up, Samuel Fullbuster!" Future Rogue shouted.

"Even if you're right, everyone has the right to choose the future! We're headin' for the future that we chose! Not the one you chose!" Future Samuel claimed.

"Samuel!" Atlas Flame called out.

"We don't have to know what tomorrow holds!" Future Samuel exclaimed, slamming into Future Rogue. "That's why we can live for everything we're worth today!"

A huge blast of purple ice soon appeared.

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The Celestial Spirits tried once more to attack the portal. "I've reached... my limit!" Lucy exclaimed as she and Yukino had their hands clasped together.

A large golden sphere soon shined brightly before it dispersed again. And still, the portal remained standing. Lucy collapsed to her knees.

"How can the portal be that strong?" Lucy asked herself.

"It hasn't mooved an inch..." Taurus stated.

A purple glow soon got everyone's attention. "Huh?" Yukino said in confusion.

Happy looked up to see a large ice sphere heading toward their direction. "Get back! Everyone, get away from the portal!" He warned as everyone did so.

The ice sphere soon crashed, making Lucy get thrown back as Happy, Carla, and Lily ducked. When the smoke cleared up, it was revealed that the Eclipse portal was destroyed as Future Rogue was knocked out.

"The portal is broken!" Happy cheered.

"I don't believe it... A door made of Magnanium, destroyed..." Arcadios commented.

"What will happen now?" Hisui asked.

"We believe the portal in the future can't be used." Yukino replied.

"In other words, Rogue can't come back to this time period." Lily elaborated.

"History will return to normal." Carla added.

Mother Glare soon began to have a golden glow. "The dragon's body..." Happy noticed.

"It's glowing!" Lucy said.

Atlas Flame's body was glowing as well. "Are we going back to our own time?" He wondered.

All of the other dragons bodies began glowing as well.

"Running away with your tail between your legs?" Cobra taunted. "No..."

Zirconis's body glowed. "What is this?!"

"The dragon..." Laxus started to say.

"It's disappearing?!" Wendy finished.

"Humans did this?! Lowly humans did this?!" Zirconis exclaimed.

Hisui walked forward. "I'm sorry."

"It's still dangerous!" Wendy warned.

"Princess!" Arcadios called out.

"Hey!" Laxus said.

Hisui stopped in front of Zirconis. "I'm the one who constructed the time portal. I disrupted the natural flow of your time stream. You, who live 400 years in the past... and we, who live in the present... have no real reason to fight. I perverted nature."

"Who are you, wench?" Zirconis asked.

"Hisui E. Fiore."

"Hisui?"

"That's right. Hisui, or jade, the same color as your body." Hisui stated.

"The same, you say?" Zirconis quoted.

"The same." Hisui confirmed, smiling.

"Stare..."

"Jade Dragon..." Hisui said.

"Jade Dragon... I kind of like the way that sounds. Wait a second! Dammit! I fell for it! I'm..." Zirconis's sentence was cut off as his disappeared completely into a ball of light as did Mother Glare.

The mini-dragons vanished as well as the remaining dragons.

"Did we do it?" Sting asked.

"It looks like we won." Lector said.

"Fro thinks so, too."

Atlas Flame soon vanished as well.

"They're gone!" Lucy said in relief.

The rest of the mini-dragons disappeared. "The little ones are disappearing!" Max informed.

"Did we beat 'em?!" Kali asked.

"I don't know how, but it's over!" Macao cheered.

"I bet it was Samuel. Damn show-off..." Takashi huffed out.

"The dragon vanished..." Gajeel muttered as Levy rushed up to him.

"You did it, Gajeel!" Levy cheered.

"Yeah. But..." Gajeel trailed off.

"This isn't satisfying." Cobra commented.

"None of the Dragon Slayers... were able to take down a dragon." Mavis muttered as she was levitating above Crocus.

"Pathetic, huh?" Sting questioned.

"Makes me sick of hearing the term 'Dragon Slayer.'" Rogue responded.

"It just goes to show how strong dragons are. And Acnologia is probably stronger than them."

"Yeah, well, forget him for now."

"Agreed. It doesn't feel like we won, but for now, the battle is over."

"We won." Sting and Rogue looked at each other. "We protected our comrades."

Sting grinned in response as Rogue returned it.

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Future Rogue's body was glowing as Natsu walked up to him. "The Rogue I know ain't gonna become you." He claimed.

"The shadows... The shadows try to consume me... They follow me around, wherever I go... and the day I lose Frosch is the day the shadows and I became one." Future Rogue said.

"Frosch ain't gonna die."

"A year from now. Be sure to tell me... to protect Frosch in one year." Future Rogue says a name, making Natsu's eyes widen. "... is going to kill Frosch."

With that, Future Rogue vanished, leaving Natsu to contemplate the information he heard.

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Somewhere else, Future Samuel had crashed down where his present-day self was as he began glowing. His present self walks up to him.

"Promise me one thing." Future Samuel spoke as his present-day self looks at him in confusion. "Don't take his Magic."

"Whose Magic are you talking about?"

"You'll find out eventually." Future Samuel replied. "I took his Magic to protect Nii-san. Because I wanted him to live happily with Juvia-nee. But I couldn't control it. I spent my whole life trying to take down END. But once I found out his identity, I couldn't kill him. That's why you have to give the Magic to Gray. He'll... be able to kill him."

"END? What are you talking about?" Samuel questioned.

"END is none other than..." Future Samuel spoke a name, making Samuel's eyes widen.

"Shocked? I was too." Future Samuel chuckled. "Remember what I said."

Future Samuel vanished, leaving Samuel to take in the information he was just told.

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Beneath Mercurius, Future Lucy's body glowed as well before it vanished.

She soon woke up, being met with a bright, azure sky. She sat up, seeing she was in a golden grassfield.

"Where am I?" She asked herself.

Lucy looks at her hand to see her Fairy Tail mark was on the back of it, making her sigh in relief.

She begins walking through the field, looking around.

"Hey! Lucy!"

Lucy turned around at the sound of someone familiar calling her name.

"Get over here!"

"We're all here!"

Lucy teared up as Natsu rushed forward and grinned, holding out his hand.

"Come on, the adventure continues!" He exclaimed.

Tears fell from Lucy's face. "Okay!"

She takes Natsu's hand as they rushed towards their guildmates who were waiting for them.

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A/N: Yes, I had Future Samuel reveal who END was to his present-day self! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1604 words.