Thank you so much for all the favorites and follows so far! I cannot believe how much people love this little story of mine... I am working diligently to get new chapters out as fast as possible. No more disappearing acts! Hopefully... keep your fingers crossed just in case, this world we live in is full of twists and turns that can catch you off guard when you least expect it.

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As always, I do not own Fairy Tail! I wish...

Desperation

Back In Magnolia

A lone dark figure stood on the cliff overlooking the destruction of Crocus. This is where it all began, where the rip in time occurred to change the events of not one time line, but two. The Fairy Tail guild spent the first two weeks after the destruction of the gate searching the wreckage for their lost celestial summoner. Laxus, Natsu and Wendy amongst those that barely slept and covered the most ground. Each slayer followed their nose and confirmed her path towards the gate. Wendy sobbed quietly as Laxus held her, the two being the last to see Lucy.

The figure shimmered and shifted, moving to the range overlooking Magnolia. Currently, they were sitting in the guild hall as a small task force poured over every ancient text and scroll with any mention of the Eclipse Gate. They were all desperate to find someway to bring the bubbly blonde home. The figure shook their head, there was no way. They could search until the end of time, with the destruction of the gate and Zerefs change before his disappearance, no one would be using the gate.

Natsu broke the eerie silence in the guild hall when he stood to toss the table he was using across the room. "ARRGGHHHHH! Why are we just sitting here when we should be looking for Luce?!"

"Natsu…" Levy let out a quiet sigh as she closed the last book she had in front of her. Nothing, she found absolutely nothing to help. "There is nothing we can do to bring her back. If what Laxus and Wendy saw is what actually happened, then it's just not possible." No one missed Lucy more than her blue haired best friend. Levy took a deep breath and dropped her gaze to the cold coffee before her. Her mind was running a mile a minute, yet she couldn't seem to grasp anything solid. If Lucy could see her now… a bitter smirk crossed her face as she fought to force back the tears threatening to spill over. After spending so much time apart training before the games, Levy felt like she couldn't remember the way Lucy would scrunch her nose when completely engrossed in a good book. The blush that stole across her face when reading a particularly steamy chapter in the newest romance novel. The sparkle in her eye when she would get inspired for a new chapter of her own novel. No more late nights drinking wine and gossiping about the latest drama in the guild. Lucy was so much more than her best friend. Levy never got the chance to tell her how she really felt. Now, no one would ever know.

Gray watched Natsu throw his tantrum from his place at the bar and cringed when Levy responded. She sounded so defeated. He had hope when the smartest people in the guild began taking over the largest tables to pour over countless resources, but everyday that went by with no solution, the pile got smaller and smaller. Today, what was once a mountain of texts between three tables, is now a small stack of six books shared between Mira, Levy, and Freed. Without Lucy, even the research dynamic changed within the guild. The small blonde would usually be the one perched between Levy and Freed, Mira serving coffee and snacks to keep them motivated. Now, Kinana was serving the three as Mira pitched in to help. Gray didn't want to be here the moment they finished the books. The desperation was fading and the somber mood of failure and despair quickly taking its place. He slowly took and quietly exited the guild through the back door, going unnoticed by the rest of his team."Where are you Lucy? We need you."

Natsu felt like his world was falling apart. One moment, everything was happening in true Fairy Tail fashion. They were having a good time and enjoying themselves, catching up in points with the games. Erza defeating 100 monsters during a challenge, Cana using Fairy Glitter, even RavenTail and Ivan were defeated by Laxus. His own fight was amazing and he managed to do it alone, Gajeel leaving him in the middle of the fight. Once Lucy was kidnapped by the royal guards and the princess, he should have known something big was going to happen. Luce always gets kidnapped for some big plan or another. However, they even managed to win the games and save her from the dungeon. Then, the weird Rogue showed up. Natsu grit his teeth and growled in frustration thinking of them watching future Lucy take her last breath. At that moment, Natsu would have given his very life to keep that from happening again. With the chaos of the gate, he managed to get separated from Lucy after escaping the death bell from the fiery pits of oblivion itself. 'If only…' he thought to himself, 'If only I stayed with her instead of running off to fight Rogue and Mother Glare.' He was berating himself over abandoning his best friend when she really needed him. Now she was gone without a trace. What happens now? "Dammit!" He yelled out in anger before storming out of the guild and heading to the one place that would calm him. Lucys apartment. Stepping into the feminine space, he took a deep breath in of her calming vanilla scent. Her bed sat under the window, empty and unassuming, calling to him, begging for attention. Dragging his feet in defeat, silent tears streamed down his face as he collapsed in exhaustion, burying his face in her pillow, and dragging in lungfuls of air as he finally let go of the emotions he's been hiding within.

They were never going to see her again. No one had to tell him, the books were a waste of time. Each slayer could scent it in the wreckage. The gate was destroyed, magic gone, dragons forever lost to time; Lucy with them.

The figure shuddered before falling to their knees. The time for action was fast approaching. Soon they would meet, soon they would talk and explain what they could. If only they could survive until then. Shifting home, they removed their cloak at the door before striding through the room to take in the view beyond the double paned glass wall. Once upon a time, they were living in the very woods they were cursed to watch over, blissfully ignorant of everything yet to come.