Phoenix Fire || Fairy Tail [1]

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫

𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚
❛ 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴... ❜

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"Erza, I'll be going now," Rose whispered. "I think there's something happening, so I'll go to check on the rescue team. Let the Master know for me."

Erza agreed, though her frown was evidence that she didn't quite approve. Rose slipped away from the group into the shadows outside, knowing that the lacrima screens had already stopped broadcasting. No one would catch her if she used her spell here.

It took mere seconds for her to phase into her bird form, though she was notably smaller than usual. Around the size of Happy, at most. At least it worked; with her low reserve of energy, Rose was uncertain about whether or not the spell would succeed.

Rose took off sluggishly, catching a strong gust of wind which pushed her higher into the skies. The moon illuminated the castle, it's windows lit brightly. The girl noticed a particularly large congregation of guards on one of the lower floors, and caught a familiar blonde running past the window. Lucy.

There weren't many options on how she could make her entrance, so Rose chose the simplest one: smashing the window in.

"What the hell?" A guard yelled. They were swooped by Rose, who pulled up sharply and banked to the left.

"Rose!" Lucy exclaimed, waving at the phoenix slayer.

Rose coasted through the air and perched herself on the surprised girl's shoulder. Before she could greet her friend, Rose's gaze shifted to the identical blonde beside her. Her mind took a moment to register who it was.

'Lucy?'

There were two Lucy's?

"Rose!" Lucy Number Two beamed. Rose, on the other hand, was still in a state of shock. She'd known something was up, but what had her guildmates gotten up to?

Apparently her confusion was evident, because the Lucy she was sitting on the shoulder of spoke up.

"Oh! This... this is Future Lucy. She came through the Eclipse Gate to warn us about a dragon apocalypse."

Rose would have clicked her tongue if it was biologically possible for her to do so. Instead, she hopped onto the other Lucy's shoulder. 

She wasn't entirely sure what happened in the future, but something had changed the way about how Lucy smiled. Rose didn't particularly like that, since Lucy was undeniably one of her friends now, but at the moment Rose's state didn't allow for her to investigate. She'd have to find out about what it was that had happened at a later time.

'For now,' Rose decided, 'I'll sit back.'

Sure, she could have helped, but her friends had things under control for the moment. Besides... something told her that there was more to come. When that happened, she need to have enough energy to fight back.

"More reinforcements! We need to wrap this up, and fast!"

Natsu darted forward to fight a man who seemed hellbent on executing him, stray flames blasting in Lucy's direction. Rose was more than happy to absorb them, feeling the strength ebbing back into her. 

Shadows engulfed the soldiers. 

There was something different about them, something familiar. Rose knew she'd felt it not too long ago. It was the same sensation she'd felt when Rogue was possessed, though it was far more intense. The headache she'd felt earlier returned with even greater ferocity. Her surroundings swayed like trees in the wind.