July 7th x791

Crocus, Fiore

11:50 PM

The world, as we know it, was entering its final hour. Humanity was on the brink of destruction, and the age of the Dragons was upon us once again. The strongest guilds Fiore has to offer were reduced to a handful of causalities before the day was finished. Former comrades laid dead on this bloody battleground. Morals were reaching an all-time low. They were supposed to win, right? They were the ones who were supposed to fight for what's right. They were the good guys...right? So how did things go so wrong so fast?

Lucy couldn't keep the tears from flowing. She refused to stop them. The pain was unbearable. The despair was consuming her mind. In the span of what felt like moments, she had lost so much, friends and a family that had grown on her. One after another, a Fairy Tail member would sacrifice their life so the rest could escape, and one after another, they would fall against the swarm of dragons. The people she had grown to care about were snatched away by the hands of death and right after the incident on the island. Lucy guessed death had finally caught up to them.

Future Rouge had succeeded in his plan. Ten thousand dragons swept through Fiore, and he was on his way to defeat Zeref, destroying everything in his path. The land was scorn with fire. The sky burned. The air polluted with smoke and ash.

"Please stand Lucy," Mavis knelt down. This outcome was far what she calculated. Lucy's abduction should've been prioritized more. Maybe then, the world wouldn't be ending... Yet, Master Mavis still had hope. "Our work is not done."

"When does it end?" Lucy's body ached from the heart ache, leaving one after another beloved friend behind, and evading the attacks from the dragons flying above. "Master Mavis, we've lost. What is there still do? What's left to save?"

"Who the hell is Mavis? I thought your guild master was Makarov?" Sting raised an eyebrow. After everything that went down today, Sting Eucliffe couldn't believe he was put on babysitting duty. Natsu's dying request was for Sting to protect Lucy, and the dragonslayer wasn't about to let that promise fall through. The White Dragonslayer was trying to turn a new leaf, and this was probably his last chance to prove there was some good in his heart. Plus, the big guy upstairs might send Sting to hell if he ditches the girl in her time of need. Lucy gave him a silent plea for a moment of privacy, and the blond fell quiet again.

"Save humanity and those who have given their lives today. Place your faith in me one last time Lucy Heartfilia, and I will pave the way to a brighter future for you." Mavis she's harden with her firm resolve in mind.

"How is that possible? Natsu and the others are dead. I'm the last Fairy Tail member alive. Even Rouge of Sabertooth was captured by the dragons. We're just waiting for death to come for us. I'm not strong enough to do anything."

"By traveling to a point where they were still alive, we can undo this unfortunate present with the help of some light," Mavis said with determination in her voice. "The Eclipse Gate will be their downfall. If I guide you to the gate and take you to the past, we will have another chance to right these wrongs."

"Bu-But I can't change the future on my own," Lucy shuddered at the memory of her future self passing away. Alone, Lucy would only meet the same ending. "I'm not strong. I'm not strong like Erza or Natsu. I can't do this alone!"

"I understand that Wendy informed me of what happened when the dragons first appeared," Mavis answered with a thin smirk. "Which is why Sting Eucliffe is coming with you."

"Sting?" Lucy's eyes widened as her sight fell onto the last remaining Sabertooth Tiger.

The White Dragonslayer shot her an exhausted look. "Huh? Are you done talking to yourself?"

"Master Mavis, you can't be serious!" Lucy pleaded, but the ghost shook her head as she floated over to Sting.

"The light of a dragon and the guiding star will be the saviors of this world from this pit of despair." Mavis Vermillion hovered her hand over Sting and said with a determined tone. A bright light enveloped the room for a brief moment. Once the light died down, Sting was pale as if he had seen a ghost.

"Who the hell is that?! Where did she come from?" Sting jumped nearly a foot away from he previously stood.

"Sting...? What are you going on about?" There was no way...Master Mavis wouldn't expose herself to someone outside the guild.

"You're joking, right? You don't see the floating blonde little girl?!" Sting clutched the side of his head. "Have I finally cracked? I'm actually hallucinating. I've finally lost my sanity, and it took the end of the goddamn world!"

"Wait, how is that possible? I thought only members of Fairy Tail could see Master Mavis?!" Lucy screamed in horror. Yes, the world might be on the brink of destruction, but there was nothing forcing her to expose herself to an outside member!

"That's Mavis?! This little girl!" The light dragonslayer screamed. The First Guild Master nodded her head before extending her arm out to Sting. Somewhat skeptical, he grasped Mavis's hand. Another white light shined through the gap between their hands revealing the Fairy Tail emblem with 'MV' stamped in the center painted white in the palm of Sting's hand. "The hell? Did you really make me a member of Fairy Tail?!"

"It is important for the mission that I about envoke upon you two." Mavis placed herself in between the two of us. "Our world is on the verge of utter despair and destruction. However, the two of you may very well hold the key to reversing the damage Future Rouge has done."

"Yeah, and how? I'm the last dragonslayer alive, and I doubt he'll just stop because three blondes politely ask him." Sting rolled his eyes.

"Which is why I will be sending the two of you back to the beginning of the Grand Magic Games. There, the two of you will locate me so that I can formulate a plan to prevent the Eclipse gate from ever opening. I will admit that defeating Future Rouge, even fifth days ago will be difficult, but we do not have another choice." Mavis said warily.

"Logically speaking, I agree that a time skip backward of only five days is ideal. I wouldn't want to make any dramatic changes, but how will we get through thousands of dragons? Future Rogue won't make this easy for us." Lucy folded her arms across her chest. Ideally, five days won't affect the outcome too much, but it will bring about an opportunity to change the future.

"We'll be shot down before either of us can even touch the gate." Sting huffed. Master Mavis sighed, knowing this will be turn out to be one of the more difficult choices she will be forced to make. Watching the guild she had created be utterly wiped out through the course of only four hours, Mavis knew she had to place her faith and all of her being in these two capable wizards in order to rebuild the family she loved.

"I will guide you to the gate myself. I may not have my physical body, but I use my remaining magic to protect our last hope and repel the dragons. Will this mission deplete the remainder of my magic? The probability is high, but Fairy Tail must live on. Earthland cannot end here. Fairy Tail cannot end here, not on this note."

"Master Mavis..." Lucy said in a hushed voice before becoming overwhelmed with fierce determination. "We won't let you down."

The world as we know it was entering its final hour.

Lucy Heartfillia was racing against the clock to her future. Unbeknownst to her, Lucy's future was intertwined with the fate and outcome of this world. This day has been a long one for her and Fairy Tail. In the spans of what felt like mere seconds, their family reclaimed their title as the strongest guild and witness the death of a dear friend in an attempt to save herself. Future Lucy had withstood Future Rogue's fatal attack to protect her present self. In Future Lucy's final moment, she was granted one final wish, to see her pink Fairy Tail emblem on her hand one final time. Through the tears and heartache, the present day Lucy forced herself to push forward. For the sake of preserving what could be saved, Lucy ran to her destination, the Eclipse gate.

On the left of Lucy, there was one mage who was secretly fuming at this situation. He wasn't upset that countless dragons swarmed the area and were destroying everything in sight. Was he expecting this outcome? Certainly not, but that was beside the point. No one could have possibly woken up today and predicted prehistoric dragons would erupt out of the damn gate. No, this dragonslayer was hiding his boiling rage inside because of one detail most would overlook.

It was faint but Future Rouge had Sting's scent. Which is virtually unheard of to any dragonslayer. Except for those who killed their parent dragon. For Sting and Rogue, their scents were individualized in their own way since their scent came from their guardian dragon and the lacrima they consumed. Naturally, that would mean Sting has two factors that influence how he smells, but Future Rogue had four factors. Sting would have let it slide if Future Rogue only had three. Light lacrimas are easy to come by. Sting will admit it. Chuck a rock, and you'll probably hit a lacrima. But he'll be damned if someone copied Weisslogia's scent.

The smell itself is impossible to copy seeing how Sting and Rouge are the only ones who know it. But as far as Sting knew, the present-day Rogue had no interest in copying the scents, so why did Future Rogue have Sting's scent?

And, Sting will be damned if he ain't getting an answer!

But the answer was obvious. The facts were placed in front of Sting, yet he refused to see them for what they are. For a reason hidden his Future Rouge's past and everyone else's future, he murdered Sting Eucliffe in cold blood and obtained Light Dragonslayer magic. Now, the blonde dragonslayer was racing towards the Eclipse Gate.

Underneath the veil of Master Mavis's magic, the three of them managed to reach the gate. They averted their eyes from what carnage remain and set their sights on the past. Wielding the twelve golden zodiac keys, Lucy tossed them into the air and began reciting the ancient spell. "O spirits of the Twelve Golden Gates grant me the power to lead us the past and righteous future! Open! Twelve Gates!"

The grandiose twelve zodiac spirits appeared at the feet of their master and friend. Listening to her final plea, they forced the door open with the power bestowed upon them by the Celestial King. The crack in the opening gate allowed a shining glow to seep through and alerting the nearby dragon to the wizard's movements. The dual colored ponytailed man commanded his dragon to rush to the gate for an investigation.

"Can you speed this us a little? Future Rogue is coming back!" Sting's fist glowed a white light as he stood in front of Lucy. "I'll hold him back for long as I can!"

"No! This is my battle, and my battle alone!" Mavis developed a force field around the two wizards. The immortalized girl shined one last smile to Lucy. "Please reverse this horrible future and save everyone. I will leave that in your capable hands."

"We won't let you down, Master Mavis," Lucy promised as the duo jumped into the Eclipse Gate.

A/N: Welp, here we are again! Another Fairy Tail fanfiction with another unpopular ship! This time its Lucy and Sting as our main characters! I don't know. I'm more in favor of the duos who we rarely see interact. Yeah, Natsu and Lucy make great partners and have great chemistry, but why not replace the lovable Natsu with the newly refined Sting Eucliffe and see how much trouble Lucy and Sting can get into? I do know that they won't be a couple because I honestly ship Lucy with no one. If anything, I will be making fun of 'falling in love' tropes in fanfictions.

Give that this story is dealing with time travel, I'll try to keep this a simple as possible.