Here's another new chapter. I added another perspective to it so you can get a better idea what's going on. You will see what I mean when you read it. The plot thickens but I think everything is coming along just nicely. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me anytime. And thank you to those of you have added this story to your favorite or follow list. It means a lot to me that you're giving this story a chance, especially since it's my first fanfic and it's a dark one.

Also, I noticed I'm not getting much reviews but I will like to thank Moon Stone Tiger Lily and silver light of dawn for leaving me encouraging ones. It lets me know where this story stands in the rank of things. :)

Chapter 7

"The Other Side," I repeated.

"Y-es, L-uce," he barely said. He swallowed, looking completely different from the confident Natsu I saw before. Apparently, he needed me to believe him. Whenever he got quiet, or his body ceased to move, or his tone lowered an octave, I knew he was seeking my approval. This was where the other side Natsu and this Natsu were alike.

"It seems a lot to take in," I whispered. "To consider that you're from there." Yet, it made sense. He appeared different. His magic was immensely powerful to a point I could feel it pulsing along my skin. I shuddered. There was also the fact that he didn't act like the Natsu I knew.

"I am and I'm here to change what will happen in this world."

I licked my lips and realized my mistake a bit too late. His eyes narrowed on my mouth. Nervously, I swallowed before looking away from him. "You make it sound like you're from the future."

"I am, Luce."

My eyes rounded at him. "But… how can that be? Why?"

He extended his arms at his sides and made a move to come to me. I flinched and he paused. Slowly, he put his hands to his sides. He turned his face away from me but I saw the sadness in his black eyes.

"Bad things are about to happen and if we're not careful in this world like how I was careless in the other world, there will be a lot of deaths."

I stared at him for a moment, my heart racing. "What do you mean you?"

He swiped a hand through his messy hair and breathed in a long breath. I tried not to notice how big his hand was or how smooth he moved with a simple gesture but I utterly failed. "In my time, darkness spread throughout Magnolia and the Fairy Tail members or even I am not strong enough to stop it. I came back to change everything."

I understood his feeling better than anyone else. When future Lucy tried to change the events of the Eclipse Gate, she died to protect me. It was the contents in her journal that helped me learn how to close the gate to prevent more dragons from entering Crocus. If it weren't for her heroic actions, the events from her world would have replayed and everything I know would have been turned to ashes.

"I understand."

He glanced at me and blinked his eyes. I would have laughed if we weren't discussing something very serious. "I'm shocked."

"Why?"

"You're taking this better than expected."

I sighed. "You forget that we met a future me and you took it better than everyone else?"

He nodded and turned away but I saw the smile tugging on the corner of his lips. "And I didn't mind there being two of you?"

"Wait, what?" I openly gaped at him.

"Pretend you never heard that."

"No, you better explain what you mean by that."

He looked at me with a playful expression on his face.

"Okay," I hesitated, looking around the room. "Maybe, it's better not to answer that."

"Don't tell me you're not entertaining the fact that there are two of me?"

"I'm not!" I exclaimed as my cheeks heated from his insinuation.

One eyebrow raised mockingly. "Really? I don't believe you."

"Natsu!"

He chuckled at my embarrassment and lightly shook his head. Then he raised a hand to me. "How about we get you to eat your food before you rest?"

I stared at him with wide eyes. "You're going to let me eat my own food?"

"Oh yeah," he said as he realized he was going to feed me.

I violently shook my head at him as I raised my hands in the air to put distance between us. "I can feed myself!"

Again, he chuckled. His shoulders shook with mirth. I couldn't help but smile at him. It was only when he stopped laughing and he looked at me with mischievousness glinting in his eyes, did I realize I was in big trouble. My body tensed as he approached me. The atmosphere once again thrummed with uneasiness as he suddenly jumped right next to me on the bed.

Elsewhere, the Magic Council Archive in Era, was being updated with the newest mages that joined the Magical Guilds throughout Fiore. The Grand Magic Games didn't end too long ago when unexpectedly, Fairy Tail won their first game in seven years. Apparently, it was a shock that Natsu, Laxus, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Mirajane, and many others appeared at the arena after being presumed dead. Before the Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail had suffered immensely for losing its top mages. The guild went sourly from being number one to bottom rank. They were the underdog who embarrassingly competed for prestige and hoped to gain sponsors to support their guild. Usually, they received nothing.

This year, they received high-ranking sponsors, great jobs and prestige. They had returned from the ashes and dominated over the other magical guilds in Fiore. However, this made them the center of attention, which was considered both positive and negative. The positive side of Fairy Tail being noticed meant they could once again receive good jobs, get funding for extending their guild, and get private missions with the Wizard Saints. The negative side was the Magic Council was going to scrutinize the progress of the Fairy Tail mages since they were known to be reckless and for a long time the Magic Council had been looking for a good reason to disband Fairy Tail for good. This might be their opportunity.

But there was one thing that was delaying the process for closing Fairy Tail. That one thing relied on a certain project called "Animus." Animus had been going on for four decades. The goal was to look at the magical auras of a particular group of mages since their magic worked differently from the usual mages. The subjects were known as celestial mages; the project focused on their ability to unlock gates. Except, there were a few mages whose powers went beyond unlocking gates. They could summon beings that weren't from the celestial world. And this was what amazed Lucious.

He stood before a group of different men and women. All were different in sizes and facial features. Yet, Lucious didn't focus his attention on them. His back faced them while he displayed pictures and information on a screen.

"As you all know, project Animus has been going on for the past forty years. Only the last decade, however, we developed enough capabilities of reading different magical auras."

He waved his hand in the air, and some different line charts appeared on the screen.

"If you look at the waves, you will see a difference on both sides. One side has a constant reading while the other appears volatile. The constant reading comes from ordinary celestial mages we have observed calling on their celestial spirits. The other one comes from a certain celestial mage calling on Caelum."

"And?" one voice interrupted Lucious.

"Celestial mages ability to summon spirits shows a transferring of power from themselves to their key. To do this, their magical aura has to be stable to make a successful transfer. This means that celestial mages have to be able to control the output of their magic. Subject 104 doesn't show this ability. The magic that surrounds her seems to fluctuate from high to low, yet with every call, Caelum becomes more powerful."

"Is this even possible?" the same voice questioned.

"I assure you it is. We tested Subject 104 summoning multiple celestial spirits at once, and she was able to summon eight before becoming inadequate."

There was a moment silence. "That's quite an amazing achievement."

Lucious lips tugged upward in a smirk before he shook his head. "Not as amazing as the Fairy Tail girl who summoned ten golden keys to close the Eclipse Gate."

"Where do you get your information from?" a feminine voice pitched in. "Master Makarov reassured me that the Sabertooth girl and her summoned all twelve keys together."

Lucious, again, shook his head. He swiped a hand through his dark locks while his smirk vanished. "Everyone knows that celestial keys only respond to their master."

"I heard the princess of Fiore was able to summon all twelve of them-."

"She was only capable of such a feat because the Eclispe Gate was meant to harness their power as it was a vacuum for magical energy. The moment she transferred her power into the twelve keys, the gate got the power needed to activate it's opening. The princess has no true energy compare to the Fairy Tail girl."

One of the Magic Council members raised her hand and the information on the screen flashed to an image of a blond haired girl with pinky tails and large brown doe eyes. She and the other members skimmed through the information before looking to Lucious. "You are mistaken. According to her Magical Output Chart, she is far from worthy to become an S-Class mage. Although she possesses ten golden keys, which is impressive, she can only summon two of them for a short period of time. That compare to other stellar mages displays weakness. Besides, her display of power in the arena was pitiful compare to the other Fairy Tail members."

Lucious couldn't believe he was talking to idiots. He almost snarled at them for wasting his time. Yet, he still needed to present his research to them if he and his team wanted to continue their research on Animus. "Celestial mages shouldn't be compared to other mages so easily. Whereas ordinary mages are able to create a physical form for their magic, their output isn't as controlled as celestial mages. Their magic is a holder type, which means they possess great mental magical power."

"But that magical power takes time to build up. By the time they conjure enough power to summon a celestial spirit, another mage will have already taken them down."

"I disagree."

"Sabertooth's celestial mage's humiliating lost was an example and she summoned the rarest golden key; the thirteenth one."

Lucious clasped his hands behind him. "Again, you underestimate their magic."

"Care to explain?" an elderly voice joined in the conversation.

Lucious dark eyes moved to the small man standing next to the taller members. Quietly, he recognized him as Fairy Tail's master's friend. He raised his hand to the air and his fingers curled over his palm. He left only his pointer finger standing and the Fairy Tail's girl image was replaced with t-graphs that had both positive and negative numbers. Again, one graph showed a constant positive reading, while the other t-graph showed fluctuations. His lips tugged into a small smile when he saw dawning on the Magic Council members' faces. They were close to being speechless.

"The right side has positive readings from Subject 100, who is classified as a regular mage. The other one is Subject 99's readings, and as you can see, Subject 99's magic is on a different scale."

"Isn't Subject 99 the one who escaped prison a while back?" asked the same man.

"Yes, but that's because we underestimated her ability. This time we have taken better precautions."

"Yet Subject 104 is the convict we're looking for-."

"Are you sure?" Lucious returned. He snapped his fingers and a white haired woman dressed in a white hospital gown entered the room. Her pale eyes appeared lifeless as she slowly made her way to Lucious' side and stopped next him to face the Council members. Her arms were limp at her sides. Her feet were bare. Some of the Council members frowned at the sight of the female. She looked too pale, almost sickly. Lucious didn't care about her well-being. He only cared for the power she was about to cast in the meeting. He was sure once the Magic Council was aware of what he was about to show them; they were going to provide more funding to Animus.

"Sorano…" Someone breathed Subject 104's name. The woman didn't respond to her name. She remained as still as death.

"As seen here, the escape from the prison was all a ruse," he revealed to the Council members.

"What the hell?" a female voice shouted. There was an uproar before Lucious bilious laughter stopped them. The room quieted as his mirth subsided.

"My apologies for not notifying you about the plan," he said.

"You can't do that," the short old man accused him.

"In fact, I can. Anything pertaining to the Animus project has allowed me to override the Magic Council rules and authorities and you will see why."

"Do you know how many mages have died or how many have been injured because of your ruse?"

Lucious sighed. "Do you know how many more will die if we shut down Animus? Hundreds, maybe thousands will die. Zeref will be known as an ant compare to what we're dealing with."

"That's a whole line of baloney!"

"Is it?" He snapped his fingers again and the woman's hand reached inside her white gown. Instantly, the mages in the room were alert. The white haired mage pulled out a strange old-fashioned black and white key. They stared at it apprehensively, sensing a different magic at play.

"As you can see, this key is neither gold or silver."

"We can definitely see that."

"And this key responds differently to celestial magic." He procured a small knife from his pocket. The Council members warily watched as the white haired woman took the knife from him. Instantly, she slit her wrist. She didn't wince in pain as the knife fell to the floor. The blood dripped down her arm to the hand with the key. Some of the red liquid pooled around the key. Lucious smirked.

"Open gate of time," the woman said and a bluish light engulfed the room. The moment it subsided, the Magic Council stared in awe at the spirit standing before them. The magical reading in the room spiraled off the charts as they tensed where they were standing. A tall and lanky spirit dressed in male clothing stood next to the woman but his face was the most astonishing part of his appearance because he had no eyes, nose and mouth. Instead a ticking clock stared at them before he bowed to them in greeting.

"My name is Seer," he said. Some of the members almost gaped at the spirit. He didn't have a mouth to talk but they all heard him clearly as day. "It's nice to meet all of you."

Lucious chuckled at their reaction.

"How can he-?" one of the Council could barely finish his sentence.

"He communicates telepathically in your mind," Lucious revealed.

"But how? I mean he can't-."

"I assure he can. Although we are all powerful mages and some of us have the highest defense mechanism to ward off magic from interfering with our minds, Seer can easily penetrate through any mind. It's part of his power to talk to us and it comes to him naturally as we breathe air."

"And his magical aura is off the chart. In fact, I never felt one like it," another member said.

"That's due to difference in summoning." Lucious glanced down at the key clutched tightly in the woman's hand. Blood dripped on the polished floor but none of the Council was looking at it.

"What difference?" the elderly man who was Master Makarov's friend asked.

"Subject 104 didn't use her magic to call on Seer. She used her blood."

There was a sudden gasp in the room before there were many outbursts.

"Is that even possible?"

"Blood, but how?"

"No one can use blood. There's no magic in blood."

"She had to use magic. She opened his gate."

Lucious shook his head. Apparently, it was going to take more than seeing to believe what was right in front of their faces. He turned his attention to the spirit, as any more explanation on his part was going to turn all the Council members into imbeciles.

"Care to explain or show them, Seer?"

The spirit bowed before them all. When he rose to his full height, he raised a hand into the air. Automatically, a bulky man froze in his spot. The others didn't notice until the Fairy Tail's friend shook his arm. "Jura?" the old man called out. "Jura, are you okay?"

Lucious chuckled again.

"He is alright. I simply stopped time for him," the spirit said.

The mages' eyes widened at the revelation. Jura was one of the wizard saints. He was stronger than most mages yet Seer halted his movement with a lift of his hand.

"And he won't remember any of what happened during his frozen state," the spirit said.

"How?" the elderly man questioned him.

"I froze his body along with his mind. He can stay the same age as long I deem it while most of your internal clocks keep ticking. In a way, I'm postponing his internal clock."

"Meaning?"

Lucious walked a little further from the spirt. "We all have internal clocks, which Seer views as our hearts. He has the power to stop our hearts without killing us and keep our hearts from beating for a long period of time. If a couple of years pass us by, we still look the same, even if he chooses to free us."

There was a loud whoosh of breath coming from somewhere in the back.

"Should I free him, Sir?" the spirit asked Lucious.

"Wait- why is the spirit asking you for permission and not Subject 104?" a feminine voice questioned from the center of the room.

"Good question. I recently found a spell that allows me to control the spirits of summoners but in order to do so, I have to have control of the summoner." He took a step back and lifted a thumb to place it under the white haired woman's chin. He tilted her head up.

"Seer, hand me the knife on the floor," he commanded.

The spirit did as he was told. Some of the Council members were shocked that the spirit handed Lucious a bloody knife. Lucious didn't bother to wipe the blood off as he sliced through Subject 104's gown. The fabric fell down to the floor, revealing an overly pale body with gashes and bruises. She only wore a white bra and underwear to cover her private areas. There was a long reddish and bluish wound that stretched from the woman's hips to under her breasts. It looked fresh and deep.

"Subject 104 had a grave injury that almost took her life. Fortunately, Seer prolonged her life by stopping the bleeding. This means her internal clock had to stop as well."

His dark eyes scanned the different faces from the Magic Council. He could see some members' astonished looks. Others vaguely looked disgusted. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Her body is frozen in time like Jura's, except she's under a spell that allows me to control her. This also gives me access to her powers at free will. Seer no longer answers to her. He answers to me." A wicked smile broke off on his lips before he continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, a summoner's power is too powerful to let a summoner do as what he or she pleases. We have to stop them because if we don't, their power will be devastating. Imagine the destruction they can bring. And with their ability to summon spirits from other foreign worlds, think of what they are bringing into our world."

The room was silent as everyone was concentrating on Lucious' presentation.

"If you still don't believe me about their power, I could show you more. Seer."

Seer raised his other hand at one side of the room. Before anyone could react, half of the Council stilled.

"What the hell did you do?" the elderly man accused.

"I simply stopped time for them," Seer answered before looking at his master. "Master, do you want me to send them in the future or in the past?"

The others wheezed at fact the spirit still had more power to send the members he froze into a different setting. Time traveling magic was extremely rare and it usually required sacrifices.

"No," Lucious replied. "It seems we have made our point clear."

Seer nodded his head and let his hands fall to his sides. Automatically, Jura's voice boomed in the air. The other members who were frozen blinked their eyes.

Lucious snapped his fingers and spirit shimmered and disappeared into his world. The woman, then, let go of her key. Lucious was quick to catch it while her body slumped to the floor. Instantly, the elderly man noticed that Lucious didn't care for Subject 104. She was just an end to a means.

"You should take better care of Subject 104."

"I should, shouldn't I?" Lucious raised a black eyebrow. "But then again, I treat her like the criminal she is."

The old man growled low in his throat. Yes, the white haired woman was a criminal, but she deserved to be treated humanely.

Lucious raised his eyebrows in skepticism. "Unless you're growing too soft, old man."

The old man tightened his fists behind his back while he schooled his expression into a calm mask. "No, I'm just warning you to keep Subject 104's power, you will have to take better care of her."

Lucious began laughing. Only when his laughter died down, he smirked. "You still don't get it, don't you? She can't die. Seer has stopped the internal clock in her body. Her power is mine."

"But her blood. You can't replenish that."

He clucked his tongue in a mocking manner. "With medical discoveries, her blood is the least of my problem." He snapped fingers and the woman used the cut material of her hospital gown to clumsily wipe the floor until there was no blood present.

"All I need is this."

The old man gritted his teeth. The woman stood up stiffly next to him. Her light eyes stared lifelessly at the ground. The other Council members were quiet.

"What do you think?" Lucious questioned the members around him.

"You're right. We should be going after these summoners if they're powers are that enormous. That thing's magical output was incredible and that display was terrifying."

The other members started to agree with the person.

Lucious couldn't ask for better. His smirk widened when he waved his hand into the air. Automatically, the screen showed a picture of a blond haired woman. Under her picture was a name "Subject 99." Then, he waved his hand again and right beside Subject 99's image was another picture of a blond haired girl, who looked similar to Subject 99. Lucious didn't miss how the old man's eyes widened.

"To obtain summoners' powers, we have to get them from the source. Since Subject 99 disappeared on us awhile ago, I had the best team research her whereabouts. They discovered she went under a name, Layla Heartfilia."

"Are you saying the Fairy Tail girl…?" the other member never finished his question.

"Her name is Lucy Heartfilia and as you can see the resemblance is uncanny. Lucy is the daughter of Subject 99 and she also carries the same powers of a summoner."

"How can you be so sure?" the same person asked.

"Did I not mention that a summoner's magic is within the blood? That blood is carried to the next generations in the family line, except each bloodline gets more powerful. Imagine how strong Lucy Heartfilia's powers must be." There was a deadly glint in his eye.

"Produce proof." The old man glared at him.

Lucious lips twisted in the corner of his mouth. "I can once I capture the girl."

"You have our approval, Head Master of the Archive Department, Lucious Bane."

The elderly man would have said something but Lucious beat him. "Of course, and thank you." He bowed before the Council in a gentlemanly fashion. "Now if you excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." He walked out of the room with the young woman following him. However, his dark eyes flickered over to the old man who watched him with an angry scold.

He shook his head. Too bad not everyone agreed him. He would have to keep a careful eye on the Fairy Tail's friend. Lucious licked his lips and smiled wickedly in anticipation. He had a feeling that things were going to get interesting.