A/N: I was going to release this yesterday, but FF was acting up and I wasn't able to log in. I would have released it earlier, but my work schedule is pretty out there ;-; Here it is though! A bit longer than the last chapter, so I feel like I somewhat made up for it!

"Let me go! Erza, I said let me go! We have to go back for her!" Lucy was screaming, trying to get out of her lover's grasp.

The roar had gotten them out of the cave rather quickly, and they were now standing in front of the entrance, no longer surrounded by snow. The instant they had touched the ground, Erza had woken up, immediately understanding what had happened. As she'd noticed Lucy edging towards the entrance of the cave, she'd quickly grabbed a hold of her, rooting her in place.

"I can't do that. We have to get out of here, right now."

"We didn't even get the job done damn it!" Natsu roared in frustration causing Scarlet to glare at him. He looked away, clearing his throat. "But Lucy's right. We should go back in!"

"Absolutely not! If Kyouka really is on her way, then the liar will have to take care of herself. She's probably the one who called her here anyways, and it was for the demon to take me back with her. Why the hell should I help her now?"

"Because she could have killed you and she didn't! She just knocked you out! And maybe you've forgotten, but you tried to kill me! She saved me from you!" The blonde yelled, with tears in her eyes.

Knightwalker looked away, momentarily closing her eyes. "That's a low blow Lucy. You know full well I wasn't myself at the time."

Realizing how what she said could have hurt her lover, Lucy calmed down. But before she could apologize, Erza turned around and began walking away. "Do whatever you want. You won't be able to defeat her."

"Erza, please wait!" The blonde ran to her, grabbing her arm only for it to be flung away.

"No, Lucy! I'm not going to wait! I'm not going to wait for you to go back in there and die. I JUST got you back. And you want to go fight a sadistic demon who will kill you because for some illogical reason, you've chosen her over me. Was the sex really that good? I'm sorry I couldn't exactly get you off in a fucking cave of all places. I'm sorry that she got in my fucking way before I could find you during the dragons attack. I'm sorry that I got captured during the seven years you decided to play in time limbo with your friends while all of us were wondering what the hell happened to you. But you know what? Most of all, most of all, I'm sorry I'm in love with you. I'm sorry that I'm trying to look out for the woman I love. I'm sorry that I'm trying to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life, and that isn't choosing that lying piece of garbage over me. It's going back into this cave and being unlucky enough to encounter Kyouka," her yelling subsided as she stopped looking at Lucy. She was out of place. Her anger, though justified, should not have been towards Lucy. But she couldn't help it. She was just so frustrated.

Taking in a shaky breath, she let out, "Kyouka won't kill her. She'll probably use her to get to me. So if you want to save her, you still can. But please, don't do it now."

Wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist, she rested her head on her chest and simply nodded. Placing her hand on the blonde's head, her lover whispered, "Thank you."

They stayed like that for quite a bit, until Scarlet cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we head back? You can fill us in on what this Kyouka person is. I'm assuming it's the same woman who was with you at the river?"

She received a slow nod as approval.

"We'll put the job on hold for now. First, let's go regroup at the guild. Maybe we can enlist some help."

"Before that," Lucy let go of Erza and looked between her and Scarlet. "Can I be filled in, as to what the hell is going on here? I just assumed that she was from the future, but how, from how far back, and why? Not to mention, you become a sky dragon slayer? What kind of future does she come from? Is she even from the future?"

"She is," Scarlet confirmed. "I'll fill you two in with what I know as we head back. Come on," she indicated, as she began marching to Magnolia, the three of them on her sides.

"From what she told me, she is your future self, 7 years from now," she began, indicating to Knightwalker. "She was brought here a little after the dragons attack began."

"You mean through the eclipse gate? Lucy asked.

"Yeah. Her timeline was the exact same as Rogue's. She was one of the few survivors left. She didn't exactly have time to go into detail as to what she did to get here though. Much like you right now, Knightwalker, she joined Fairy Tail after the Tenroujima incident and left on a journey to find us a year later. She encountered Zeref and Kyouka who later saved her life at the expense of her freedom. When the Grand Magic Games began, Kyouka sent her out on a job to kill Lucy. For whatever reason, she stated that the curse weakened whenever Lucy was near and she couldn't afford to lose Erza to a human. Who knows what she was really thinking though. Knightwalker said, the second she saw Lucy, the second you ran towards her, after you realized it was her, it was as though most of the curse vanished. You two were able to spend a few moments together, but when the dragons attacked, you ran away from her to get to the eclipse gate. She tried to stop you. It had been seven years since she last saw you, so she didn't want to let you go. But it didn't work out. The only thing that remained from you when you tried to open the gate and go in was your hand. That's probably why when she came here, future Lucy was missing a hand. It was still in the future. Though, she explained that for seven years, she thought you were dead. She tried looking for you but to no avail. Eventually, she ended up successfully traveling back in time. But the time she traveled to was a few minutes after future Lucy had died," she paused, looking at Lucy.

"For the seven years she thought her lover was dead, she was actually alive. Only to later be found dead in the past...That's just too cruel," Lucy whispered, as she felt Knightwalker intertwine their fingers.

"Afterwards, she decided on getting another chance. The future had already changed because of Rogue's interference, so she didn't think it harmful to mess with it a bit more. She got in your way before you could carry out your mission to kill Lucy, that's why you two never saw each other during the dragon attack. She tried to make a deal with Kyouka, to have you stay as her slave, which would have worked if it weren't for the coincidence that we took the same job. I don't really know why she has dragon slayer magic though. She didn't exactly explain that bit. But I do know she was trying to break your spirit when she was telling you that you weren't Erza Knightwalker. She wanted another chance with Lucy, and she hated how weak she considered herself in the past for being unable to protect her. Honestly, I think your future self has lost any ounce of self-esteem she once had, so bullying you was a way to stay in control of the situation."

"So, I'm supposed to forgive her because she has her own issues?" The older Erza tilted her head and frowned.

"I never told you that you should forgive her. What she did wasn't right at all. She lied and manipulated us and that isn't easy to forgive. But...All I'm saying is, she had her reasons, whether right or wrong."

"But she's been through more pain than any of us have," Lucy whispered. "I can't really blame her that much for wanting things to go back to normal," freeing her fingers, Lucy stretched. Unsuspectingly, something fell from her pocket.

"Yo, Lucy, you dropped something," Natsu brought it to their attention as he went to pick up the small book. "She was talking to me about it. About the pain and loneliness she went through when everyone she knew died fighting the dragons. I won't say what she did to you is right, Knightwalker, but she definitely saw some pretty gruesome stuff in her time," he handed the book to Lucy.

"I'm curious though. It didn't cross my mind then, but, we closed the Eclipse Gate right? So why didn't she go with it?"

"Like this," Knightwalker stopped walking. "Natsu, throw a fireball my way," she stated as she transformed her spear into Rune Save, albeit looking somewhat different than what they were used to.

Shrugging and doing as he was told, he conjured up a fireball and threw it her way only for it to disintegrate before it even got close to her.

"What the hell just happened?" Scarlet raised in eyebrow.

"Rune Save cuts down magic. It was enhanced when I was cursed and they put demon particles in my body. They were trying to turn me into one of them, so I needed a curse of my own. This was one of them. As long as Rune Save is in my hand, any magic around me, other than my own, will disintegrate. This is what she probably used to counter the Eclipse Gate's time magic. I doubt I could do that though, which begs the question of how strong she truly is," she reverted her spear back to normal, as her hair had begun to show specks of white.

"One of them? You have others like that?" Natsu asked.

"All my weapons have a cursed form now, but using them means I get white hair, red eyes, that demonic voice. So, I'd rather stay away from them."

"Is that why you didn't use it when she used those sky dragon slayer enchantments?" Scarlet wondered.

"No. I was just caught off guard. I didn't expect her to have weaponless magic."

The three had begun walking after Natsu threw the fireball, so it went unnoticed for a little while that Lucy wasn't with them. Turning around, Knightwalker saw the blonde a bit further away, eyes wide as she was holding onto the book Natsu had given her. Walking back up to her with the other two, she asked, "Lucy, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"This, this book. I know what it is...It's...It's the memoir she had with her. The one she didn't want to let me read," the blonde looked at her lover for guidance.

"It must've flown away from her with the wind," the fire dragon slayer spoke.

"That doesn't make any sense. It was in Lucy's pocket," Scarlet shook her head.

"She must've put it in there before she blew us away then," Lucy whispered. But why? She hadn't wanted the blonde to read it, so why would she give it to her? Had she changed her mind? Erza wasn't one to typically change her mind very easily. That's why, Lucy worried. Was the reason Erza gave her the memoir...because she thought she wouldn't be returning to them? She shook her head and held onto it. She'd read it when she got home. There was bound to be some very important information in there about the future that they had so narrowly missed.

She groaned as her eyes slowly opened. Taking in a deep breath, she hacked it out again. The air here wasn't as clean as one would think. It was as though the air had anti-magic particles in it.

Her eyes quickly darted around the room she was in, attempting to inspect it. It actually looked like a bedroom. Though she knew full well it couldn't be a normal room. There was a very familiar, distinct smell to this place.

"Demons," she let out only then realizing how dry her throat actually was.

She willed her body to get up but it wouldn't cooperate. Had she been drugged? Possibly. But there was something else clearly in the way of her movement. Both her arms were cuffed above her head as she lay on the bed. Her legs however were free and Erza wondered how stupid her captors were.

But then she remembered. There was someone who would do something like this. Give a false sense of freedom. Though Erza could have used her magic to get out of the cuff because her feet were free, she couldn't use any magic at all. The air was polluted with antimagic particles and her cuffs were definitely magic blockers. It wasn't a coincidence that she'd smelled demons.

Willing herself to calm down, she closed her eyes. Soon, she began hearing sounds coming towards the room. She couldn't make them out at first but they eventually became clear.

"Is this really necessary? We should just turn her into a very very ugly demon. As though she's not ugly enough already!"

Erza sighed. Lamy.

"Kyouka-sama, we should not be wasting resources on someone like her. She's completely unnecessary for our plans. And you have me! Why would you want anyone else?!"

"Great, Sayla too."

She had to get out of there. But how?

"Return to your posts."

There it was. The voice she had been dreading. The one voice she could never escape, no matter how hard she tried.

"But Kyouka-sama!"

"Now."

A few instances later, the door had opened, to a scowling Kyouka, making her way to the bed.

"I'm not sure what to do with that girl," she began, as she laid down on the bed, putting an arm over Erza's waist, the other behind her head. "She's so needy and jealous. It's somewhat unnerving. I absolutely love her loyalty however." She turned to look at Erza. "Something you clearly lack," she whispered, trailing a claw on the now white haired mage's neck.

"Why is it that when I went to that stupid cave, I expected to see my sweet Erza laying on the floor. Instead, I see her walking further away from the cave with her little friends and when I go in, I see you. With all your ugly scars."

Erza moved her head away without opening her eyes. She had no need to feel insecure, but she did. About a lot of things that she had no control over. "Is that why she left you in the cave? Is that why I had to pick you up like trash?"

The silence and lack of eye contact annoyed the demon. Grabbing the sides of Erza's face with her hand, claws digging into her cheeks, she turned her over. "What makes you think you don't have to look at me when I talk to you? No matter how many years pass and no matter what time you decide to come from, you will always belong to me." Squeezing a bit more, she let out, "Do you understand?"

Erza, paralyzed with memories of the past, opened her eyes and simply nodded. Her mind was engulfed by everything Kyouka had done to her in the past and how they all felt. As such, she was caught off guard when a pair of familiar lips attacked her own, in a tantalizingly short kiss.

Licking her lips, Kyouka smirked, trailing her hand over Erza's body. The white haired knight's eyes mellowed out, reminding the demon of a scene from a few years back. She gritted her teeth in frustration and landed a sharp slap to the other woman, causing her to flinch.

"Stop pretending to be someone you're not," she hissed. Enough was enough. She had to kill the younger Knightwalker before Mard Geer found out what she had been doing. If the King of the Underworld found out that...that she had feelings for a human, she'd be turned back into a book before she had a chance to explain herself. Worst of all though, her mind had been clouded so much by Erza, that she didn't even care about Zeref.

That look the tied up mage had just given her. That look that screamed, "Protect me," was what Kyouka had fallen in love with years ago. Even if it had been situational, and even if it was because of the curse, at some point in time, Erza had needed Kyouka.

The tied woman moved her mouth a bit in an attempt to lessen the pain she received to her cheek.

"I feel sorry for you," she whispered, causing Kyouka to turn to her, anger beginning to boil. "You're in love but you don't know how to show it, so you hurt the person you're in love with in an attempt to convey feelings. I'm surprised books even have feelings."

She didn't care if Kyouka was going to rip her to shreds. At that moment, she didn't particularly feel much, aside from being honest. To her surprise however, Kyouka didn't attack her. She simply turned around and walked out of the room.

The cuffs unlocked.

In her mind, a voice began speaking.

'Your injuries were healed. Your lungs were cleansed. As long as you don't overexert yourself, you'll be fine for a while longer. As for the curse, well, you have the blonde human. Remember one thing as you return to her however, I let you go. You did not get free of your own accord. You did not save yourself. I let you go. You owe me. More than your life. I expect to be paid back in full. Get me your younger version. If you don't, I'll leave a trail of dead bodies as I make my way to kill your little blonde friend. No matter how free you think you are, you will always belong to me, Erza.'

The voice dissipated, causing her blood to boil. As though she didn't know she owed Kyouka. But the fact that her being set free wasn't even thanks to her own efforts pissed her off more. She was still Kyouka's pawn, no matter how much time would pass. Getting her spear from the weapons vault, thankfully for her, the cube was still the same, she found an open window. She took in a deep breath, swallowing the air. The magic particles seemed to only be in that specific room, and though the air still tasted bad, she needed the magic boost. Right as she jumped out of the window however, an odd dizziness hit her and her vision began getting blurred. Unable to control the wind well enough to navigate back to the guild, she swirled around and crashed down in the middle of a city.

'Oh. One more thing, it seems I forgot to mention. The moment you set foot off of the cube, any healing done will vanish. I'm sure you won't die though, so it's alright.'

"Motherf..."

'How many bones did I break with that fall? Am I even in Magnolia? I can barely breathe. Shit, no. Erza, stay awake. I can't afford to fall asleep now. Fucking Grandine, why the hell aren't you coming out? Useless...dragon.'

Eyeing her spear, she stretched her arm out. She wouldn't die there. She'd lived through worse. She'd lived through an apocalypse! No way in hell some fall was going to beat her. She successfully got up on shaky legs.

"Miss! Are you okay?! That was some crazy fall!" Some random stranger asked as people were surrounding her. "Your head is bleeding and it seems like you may have broken a few bones!"

Ignoring the man, she began to walk slowly as the people around her spread out. She walked a few steps until a young girl stood in her way, simply looking at her. Erza smiled. "I guess I'm going crazy if I can see you without a mark."

"Once a member of Fairy Tail, always a member," the young girl replied.

"Get the fuck out of my way," the knight let out venomously.

"I can't do that. If you continue, you'll die."

"What the hell do you care?"

"I can't willingly allow the deaths of my children."

"Ha. I wasn't even a member of the guild for a year. Mavis Vermillion. You're the reason I was cursed to begin with. Don't think I haven't forgotten."

"I simply pointed to the location of the necklace, Erza. You're the one who jumped into the water."

"That's a nice way of putting the blame on others."

"Is that not what you're doing?"

"I'm not the one who used a member of her guild to see her boyfriend."

Mavis' eyes widened a bit, as she looked hurt. "Child, do you truly believe I used you to get to Zeref?"

"Get out of my way."

"I am a spirit, you can walk through me as you see fit. But you won't. Why is that?"

Erza didn't answer.

"Admit it. You're afraid, Erza. And that's perfectly fine."

"It's not death I'm afraid of, Mavis."

She couldn't do it. She couldn't stay conscious anymore.

Her spear dropped and she fell face first to the ground.

'It's that I'll never be able to see her again if I die now.'

"Erza-san!" The voice of a young child stopped her from fainting temporarily. "I'll heal you! Stay with me!"

"Wendy! Is she okay?!" The voice of her blonde lover resonated in her ears.

"Let's get her to the hospital once Wendy stabilizes her. Then we can call Porlyusica," the voice of her counterpart.

'Should I kill her?'

Kyouka's voice...Just what she needed.

'I think I will. Maybe I'll kill her and then take you, the younger you and Erza Scarlet and make an Erza harem. Doesn't that sound nice?'

She opened her mouth to speak only for Lucy to silence her.

"Don't talk. You'll feel better soon, okay?"

All she could do was nod.

'Leave us alone, please.'

She had to beg. She no longer had a choice. She had to protect Lucy, no matter what. 'I'll bring her to you, so please don't hurt Lucy.'

'You have a week. I want her back where she belongs.'

She closed her eyes and let the exhaustion take her. She knew even she belonged with Kyouka. She remembered the first few times the demons had whacked her, pulled at her hair, tortured her. It was hell. Jackal would put seals on her skin, almost burning her alive. They were trying to break her even though she'd already been broken. The only person who had taken care of her and protected her, even if she stole her memories countless times and punished her whenever she failed, had been Kyouka. Kyouka had always been there for her and it pissed Erza off. She knew full well that if her memories hadn't returned, she'd be in love with the demon. Which meant the only reason she wasn't was because she was in love with Lucy.

At first, she had a choice. She had wanted her younger self to stay a prisoner of the demon so that she could have another chance with Lucy. However now, she'd messed up. Kyouka had threatened to kill Lucy, and the knight knew the woman would stay by her word. Now, she had to deliver her younger self to Kyouka in order to save Lucy's life. Would she though? She mentally shook her head. She'd decide when the time came. She could even make a deal with her younger self to protect Lucy together, but...Then what? It wasn't as though she wanted to share Lucy. No. Erza Knightwalker had lost the moment she failed to protect her lover 7 years ago. She'd lost Lucy to the Eclipse gate. She had absolutely no right to come back to the past and try to steal her when her younger self and Lucy actually had a real chance of being happy together.

She wouldn't sell her younger self off to the demon. She'd protect Lucy and let them be happy together, no matter how much it hurt her. She'd deal with Kyouka along the way. She'd messed up her own life enough as is. She couldn't do the same to Lucy.

When she woke up again, hopefully within the guild, she'd decide on her next plan. Preferably one that involved killing the Nine Demon Gates.

A/N: Mmm, I'm honestly not too sure what to make of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it though. Next chapter has some fluff! Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!