Twin Paradox Slayers

Crocus: X803

Sting could feel his legs threatening to give out on him. Every step brought him closer and closer to the point of exhaustion. He wanted nothing more than to stop, to give himself at least a few minutes to catch his breath. But he knew full well what such a ridiculous action would cause.

If he stopped even for a second, he was dead.

So he kept running, using every ounce of will he had to ignore the pain traveling through him. The path ahead was a blurry mess, made so by the endless stream of tears falling from his face. But even though he could see nothing, his goal was still clear. All he had to do was get to the middle of the city, then everything would go back to normal.

As his vision slowly cleared up, Sting forced his eyes shut as quickly as he could. He had absolutely no desire to see the area around him. The smell of death filled his nostrils, and several thunderous explosions nearly shattered his dragon-enhanced eardrums. Growing up, he'd heard the word 'Hell' used countless times, but he never expected to experience it first-hand.

"Sting! What are you doing?!" a familiar voice called from the darkness. "Get behind something! It's not safe to be out in the open!"

When he heard the voice call his name, Sting reluctantly opened his eyes. No more than a second after doing so, he felt a tremendous wave of regret wash over him. The city of Crocus looked even worse than he imagined. Nearly every building around him had been reduced to a pile of rubble, and those that weren't looked ready to collapse at the slightest disturbance.

But the worst of it had to be the sky, which housed over one thousand dragons in its midst. From his position, the dragons resembled a single swirling mass. Squinting his eyes, he could just make out the occasional talon swipe or roar attack. To think the second greatest war in history was happening directly above him, it certainly made this days significance hit home.

That thought left his mind alongside a hard tug on his shirt. The tug forcefully pulled him sideways, and released when his body was concealed behind a nearby pile of rubble. Now safe for the Moment, he wiped free the tears falling down his cheeks. It wasn't a second after that a sharp pain hit the top of his head.

"You idiot!" the same voice from before scolded him. "What were you thinking just running through the middle of the street?!"

Cringing at the words he knew he deserved, Sting raised his head to meet his friend's eyes. Rogue's red-eyed gaze held its stern look for a Moment, but quickly softened as time went on. "You really should be more careful" the black-haired boy said solemnly.

"We can't just sit here" Sting said while rubbing his head, "If we got separated, we were supposed to keep heading for the castle. Remember."

Rogue poked his head over the rubble. "I'm aware of that, but we won't make it there alive without a plan."

A Moment to regain what little composure he had, and Sting joined his friend in surveying the street. Apart from the explosion's sounding in the distance, the area was eerily quiet. "Hey Rogue" he said lightly, "our parents, you don't think they...I mean, they're okay right?"

"Now!" Rogue yelled, leaping over the rubble in one fluid motion. Sting kept a single step behind his friend, constantly ducking as he ran down the dilapidated city street. Together, the two made their way slowly (and quietly) to the end of the street.

Before they could travel any farther, Rogue forced him into the open doorway of a nearby building. This time, Sting could no longer hold in his frustration. "We'll never get to the castle at this rate!" he said, perhaps a bit louder than he meant to. "Why the hell are we moving so slow anyway?!"

Determined to answer his own question, he looked around what remained of the building's entrance. The street's end opened up to a circular intersection, which split into four separate streets including their own. The street due north was defiantly their best bet. Neither boy knew much of the cities layout, but they both knew the giant spire on the horizon practically screamed 'castle'.

Perfect as it was, one look down the road made it clear why Rogue was being so cautious. A green scaled dragon sat perched atop a building halfway down the street. While not anything near a full grown dragon, this so called 'baby' could easily dwarf the size of your average magic-mobile. That, combined with the blood trickling down its massive maw, sent a violent chill down Sting's spine.

"You see him" Rogue said rather than asked, "but he hasn't seen us, not yet anyway. There's no way we'd last in a fight with that thing, we'll have to loop around to avoid him."

His friends words barely rang in Sting's ear. Every fiber of his being was boiling with hatred at sight of the dragon. Throughout most of his life, he'd been forced to run and hide from these monsters. Now that his parents weren't around to stop him, it was finally time to get some payback.

"Run if you want" he said to his friend, "I'm pounding this bastard into the dirt."

Rogue tried to grab his shirt as he ran out into the street, barreling directly towards the unknowing dragon ahead of him. His friend knew better than to call after him. Instead, the black-haired boy cursed under his breath and ran reluctantly in his pursuit. 'You idiot, all you're gonna do is get us both killed.'

Having inherited some extremely good hearing, Sting heard every word of his friend's insult. Once again, he clearly deserved it. Rogue could act calm and patient all he wanted, but this was something both of them wanted to do. Even if they were only little kids, they still had a fair amount of dragon blood flowing through their veins.

Not only that, they'd inherited quite the eagerness to fight.

The dragon either heard or sensed their approach. Long before they were close enough to attack, the creature turned its head in their direction. The closer they got, the more Sting felt his blood boil. Coating both his hands in a bright magical energy, he shot a single beam of light into the sky.

His shot missed wide of its target, but did anger the dragon enough to move it from its perch. One flap of the creature's wings nearly knocked both boy's off their feet. Sting watched through squinted eyes as his enemy rose high into the air, letting out an ear splitting roar that stopped him in his tracks. It was at that moment, that the reality of his decision finally hit home.

He hated to admit it, but Rogue's idea had probably been the smarter one. In a straight up fight, neither of them were a match for a creature this powerful. All it had to do was roar, and both of them were on their knees in the blink of an eye. Clutching his throbbing ears, Sting could barely stop himself from crying.

The painful tremors traveling through his body felt endless. For every second the dragon wailed, he could feel his anger being replaced by overwhelming fear. If this was what the creature did before an attack, he was as good as dead when it decided to strike. And judging by Rogue's equally scared look, he guessed his friend wouldn't put up much of a fight either.

They were out of their league, plain and simple.

As his fear reached its breaking point, Sting made the mistake of looking up. The dragon had just closed its bloody maw, but in doing so, finally locked eyes with the frightened child. Sting could feel the creature's bloodthirsty gaze crawling over him. The feeling chilled him to his core, but it was nothing compared to how he'd feel in a moment.

Almost too quickly to see, the dragon flattened its wings and dove out of the sky. His mind screamed at him to run, but that ability left his body long before this. With his legs refusing to do anything besides shake, Sting could only watch the demonic creature barrel towards him. If he had any hope of surviving this, he needed the help of a true Dragon Slayer.

He needed his father.

"D-D-Dad" he said in an inaudible whisper. Swallowing a solid lump in his throat, he tried to ignore the threat above.

"D-Dad" his voice was somewhat clearer this time around, but still far too quiet.

One last time, only inches stood between the approaching dragon and himself. "Dad!" he screamed in a tone higher than he thought possible.

"Fire dragon iron fist!"

A sudden burst of flames stopped the dragon's attack dead, sending the creature crashing into the side of a nearby building. Through the smoke that resulted, a head of bright pink hair was clearly visible. Sting couldn't help but smile as his father approached him.

"So this is where you've been hiding" Natsu said teasingly, kneeling down to eye level once he cleared the smoke. "I told Lucy there was nothing to worry about."

Sting's smile quickly vanished, replaced with a few stray tears as the boy averted his father's gaze. "I'm sorry Dad" he said to the ground, "I tried to stay by you guys like you said, but everything started happening so fast. I...I got scared."

"What are you apologizing for?" Natsu asked earnestly. The pink-haired mage then stood to his feet. Looking up at the sky above him, he clenched both his fists instinctively. "I'd say you have every right to be scared. All you did was act on your emotions, I could never be mad at you for that."

That did it. Another hard stream of tears falling from his face, Sting stood up and ran straight into his father's chest. "D-Daddy!" the boy sniveled into Natsu's shirt, "I thought you were dead. I'll never leave your side again, I promise."

For whatever reason, Sting's last few words caused his father's body to stiffen. But before the boy could say anything more, Rogue walked over to join them. "Mr. Dragneel" the boy said softly, "what...uh...what about my parents? I mean, are they okay?"

Natsu flashed a toothy smile. "Of course, Levy's safe with Lucy at the castle. And Gajeel was right behind me a second ago, I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

As if on cue, the building beside them went up in another puff of smoke. This time, the reason behind it was a mystery. That is until the dragon from before came rolling out from a hole in the wall. Just missing the group of mages, the creature slammed painfully into the opposite building, and went limp a second later.

"Damn it Salamander" a gruff voice said from inside the building. "How many times do I have to tell you? You gotta make sure these bastards stay down when you hit 'em."

"Oh shut it" Natsu shot back, not bothering to turn and face his scolder. "Is that what took you so long? I can't believe one that small gave you so much trouble."

Gajeel stepped out of the building brushing off his dusty clothes. After joining the group, he took a moment to playfully run a hand through Rogue's hair. "Hey there kiddo" the man said with a grin, "sorry if I spoiled your fun, but your Mom kept nagging me to come get you. How about we head back before she gets too mad?"

Determined not to cry in front of his father, Rogue wiped a single tear from his face. "Okay" he answered simply.

All four Dragon Slayers started to share a laugh, but a thunderous roar from above stopped the moment short. "That's our cue" Natsu said in a serious tone. Crouching in the middle of the street, the pink-haired mage gestured for Sting to climb onto his back. "We don't have much time, we need to get back to the castle before it's too late."

Gajeel mimicked the man's actions with his own son. "No kidding, hopefully Levy and Lucy have found what we're looking for by now."

With a shared nod, the two men took off down the street at a swift run. Using their individual magic to fuel their movements, they made quick time of the destroyed city. Within a few minutes, the castle was only a block away.

"Hey Dad" Sting said, holding onto his father's back as they continued down the street. "I was wondering, what exactly at the castle will help us defeat the dragon's? Is it some kind of super powerful ancient magic?"

"Uh..." Natsu started, obviously taken off guard by the boy's question.

"All in good time shrimp" Gajeel said after a short silence, "it's nothing you kids need to worry about right now."

"Everything will be fine once we reach the castle" Natsu added with a forced smile, "I promise."

His father's tone made Sting's heart drop, but he still answered the man with a silent nod. Even if the worst came to pass, he knew his dad would never let anything happen to him or Mom. As long as everyone got out of this alive, he wasn't concerned about the details. Their salvation was somewhere inside the castle ahead, he believed that with his very soul.

Shaking such gloomy thoughts from his mind, Sting focused back on the present. Natsu and Gajeel had at last reached the castle's front gate. The two mages stopped at the large open archway.

"Mercurius" Gajeel said in a distant voice, "this place is built like a damn maze, your woman better not get mine lost somewhere in there."

"I got Lucy's scent" Natsu said, completely ignoring his friend's comment. "Follow me!"

During the next several minutes, the four mages made their way through a series of surprisingly intact marble hallways. Once they were deep inside the castle, the battle raging on outside seemed nonexistent. Only the occasional rumble reminded them of the situation at hand. Despite everything going on, Sting felt somewhat at peace in these surroundings.

"Whoa!" Natsu screamed as he fought to keep his balance. The hallway ahead of them simply ended halfway, in a rather abrupt drop into darkness. As the man readied himself to jump the gap, a hand stretched out to stop him.

"Hold up Salamander" Gajeel said, his gaze aimed down at the hole below them.

Natsu followed his friend's gaze. Next to his feet was the end of a thick rope, tied around a sturdy piece of debris. Without the slightest hesitation, both mages jumped straight into the darkness. Sting closed his eyes as they fell, something about quick motions always made his stomach queasy.

Thankfully, the fall didn't last that long. Sting opened his eyes to see Rogue doing the same. Both boys then looked over their father's shoulders, and simultaneously had the air ripped from their lungs. The room ahead of them was more of a massive hallway. But it was the door at its end that had stolen their breath.

The door easily towered some of the buildings outside, and featured an elaborate design Sting could barely make sense of. The door's center looked to resemble the sun, but with a darkened moon positioned behind it. Around the sun, twelve segments each led to a small hole, almost giving the impression something was meant to be placed inside them.

It wasn't only the door's design that frightened both boys. Somehow, the strange door was draining the magic from their bodies. With every second that passed, Sting could feel his body getting weaker. Before long, it was all he could do to hold onto his father's back.

"Dad" Rogue said, no doubt experiencing the same thing as his friend. "Where does that door go to?"

Gajeel didn't have the opportunity to answer. The sound of footsteps behind them turned the mages quickly around. A second later, both men were smothered in the warm embrace of their true love.

Lucy was the first woman to pull back, gently kissing Sting's head as she did so. "Thank god you're okay, I was really starting to get worried."

"Mom!" Rogue cried out, climbing over his father's back to jump into Levy's arms.

Levy laughed despite the tears falling from her face. "Ha ha, it's okay Rogue, you're safe now."

"Is everything ready?" Natsu asked, attempting to force all of them (including himself) back on track.

At the question, Lucy's expression instantly switched from happy to serious. "Pretty much" she answered, stepping back as Natsu lowered Sting to the ground. "We just need one of you to put my keys in place. After that, there should be enough magic in the Eclipse to give us one shot at this."

"One shot at what?" Sting asked, confused and angry by the way his parents were acting.

Rather than answer him, Natsu pulled Lucy's keys off her waist and started for the door. Lucy in turn looked to Levy, sharing a silent nod with the blue-haired woman. An emotionless look in her eyes, Levy stepped forward and put Rogue down next to his friend.

"What's going on Mom?" Rogue asked in a worried tone, "why won't any of you tell us why we're here?"

Clearly at a shared loss, all three parents looked at one another for an answer. It was Lucy who eventually found the will to speak, kneeling down to place a single hand on both boy's shoulders.

"Sting, Rogue. That door behind you is a time machine" she started slowly, fighting her watery eyes with every word. "It lets whoever uses it travel backwards in time. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"It could take someone back to before the world turned to shit" Gajeel added roughly. "Ouch!"

Levy elbowed the man in his side. "What Gajeel means is. If someone stepped through that door after it opened, they'd be transported to a time before the dragon's attacked. They'd be free to live their lives in peace."

"You want us to run away!" Sting screamed, clenching his fists as he shrugged off his mother's hand. "No way! How could you even think about running away now?! What about all the people we'd be leaving in this time, who's going to protect them from the dragons?!"

"I agree" Rogue said, his tone noticeably calmer than his friend's. "After everything that's happened, we can't just abandon this world because a better one's within our grasp. It's not right."

Lucy stood back to her feet, looking passed her child to the door ahead. "I know that, we all do."

"Damn brats" Gajeel said with a grin, "guess we raised 'em better than we thought."

With every word, Sting's anger continued to rise. Opening his mouth to speak again, he was cut off by a hand ruffling his hair. Natsu walked passed him to stand beside Lucy. "Don't ever forget what you just said you two" the man said solemnly, "that mindset will serve you well in the future."

"Dad?" Sting's anger began to drain when he met his father's eyes.

"We're not starting this thing for us" the man explained, smiling as Lucy wiped a stray tear from his cheek. "The three of us are gonna fight it out here. This door is for you and Rogue, so you can have the chance to live a normal life."

"But..." Sting's words were lost to a steady stream of tears.

"You want us to leave you?" Rogue asked in his place, although he too spoke while crying. "But...why? I don't want to leave. We don't care what happens, we want to stay here with you!"

Sting nodded furiously to show his support. This was the first time either of them had seen their parents cry, it wasn't a sight that was easy to take in.

"You have to understand...we don't...we..." Levy managed before covering her eyes, "damn it, I can't do this!"

Pulling the crying woman into his chest, Gajeel did his best to finish her sentence. "You have to understand, none of us want this. I know this feels like we're asking you to run away, but that isn't why we're doing this at all."

"You two are the only hope for a better future" Lucy added in soft tone. "If the Eclipse sends you back to the time it should, you'll have plenty of time to grow up before the dragon's attack."

A look of fierce determination on his face, Natsu rose a clenched fist between himself and Sting. "Together, I know you two can become the strongest Dragon Slayer's ever! Those dragon's won't know what hit 'em!"

By this time, Sting's gaze was stone set on the ground. "I get it now. You're giving us the chance to fight back, to stop this future from happening in the first place."

"But...if we succeed, doesn't that mean all of you won't exist?" Rogue asked.

Levy, having just pulled herself back together, met her son's eyes with a wide smile. "No, we'll still exist. But we'll exist in a future worth fighting for, and we'll be ready to help when and if you need it."

Turning all six heads in its direction, the Eclipse gate began to open. A blinding light filled the hall, causing Sting and Rogue to cover their eyes as they looked into the door. Both boys turned to face their parents, running into their outstretched arms when all four fell to their knees.

"This isn't goodbye" Lucy said, squeezing Sting with every ounce of strength she had. "We'll be waiting for you on the other side of that gate, all you have to do is find us."

"I know you'll kick butt son" Natsu said with a toothy smile, one his kid mirrored perfectly in response. "If anyone tries to question the power of a Dragon Slayer, you give 'em one for me okay."

Just a few feet away, Levy and Gajeel were equally busy hugging their own son. "Promise me you'll stay safe" Levy said through bloodshot eyes, "if you join a guild, don't go on any dangerous missions until you're ready."

"Of course Mom, I promise" Rogue said with a smile.

"Don't you go letting anyone push you around either" Gajeel ordered, his arms wrapped tight around both members of his family. "You have your Dad's permission to clobber any smart-mouths, understand."

"I know Dad."

Pulling away from his parents was by far the hardest thing Sting had ever done. It took several minutes, and once it finally happened, he wanted nothing more than to undue the action. Side by side with Rogue, he took a single step backwards.

"Goodbye Mom, goodbye Dad" the two boys said in unison. "I love you."

If they said anything else, both boys knew it'd be impossible to leave. The Eclipse had already started to close behind them, causing both to turn and immediately sprint away from their parents. Every step sent a dagger through Sting's heart, but he refused to stop nonetheless. Taking Rogue's hand at the last second, he ran head first into the overwhelming light.

Neither knew exactly what was waiting for them on the other side. But in the end, they both knew it wasn't important. Their parents had sacrificed everything to give them this chance, they weren't about to let anything stop them now. They'd stop this future from happening, no matter the cost.