Chapter Text
Caelum – The Purge Room
Year: ???
The Goddess of Chaos, also known as Kaos, was standing in the dimly lit Purge Room in the Caelum's palaces forbidden area where only the goddess and her Warriors were allowed to enter. Nobody else in the city or the palace knew the secret that was hidden in those corridors – the capsules where the Time Mages from the timeline were sleeping in, ready to be transferred back there. Kaos would make sure that this time they would do exactly as she wanted at all times. This time the timeline wouldn't be destroyed by the meddling Gods of Time, she was sure of it.
She had done everything quietly, slowly, carefully. It would be way too late to stop the progress. And this time she had multiple plans ready if the main plan didn't work. Her main goal was to get Regina Heartfilia's Soulless Army under her command. She had been foolish when she hadn't taken the Army from Seer Nox during the Time Mages' civil war. If she had come up with that idea back then, she would have every timeline under her command – but no, she hadn't realized the Mastery of those creatures was inherited in that wretched family line.
She still had a hard time to accept the fact that the Heartfilias had created Horologium Saeculum as well. It still made her angry how close she had been on taking out Zephyrus during the war, after she had dealt with Nox and Serena – she didn't know they had a daughter hidden in the city, who would use such a spell to delete Kaos along with Caelum and her army from the timeline.
”It'll be great when I can finally get rid of this wretched body of Sae's. I'll be able to use all of my powers once again”, Kaos whispered as she looked at the reflection of a face that wasn't really hers. Sae looked too kind and too warm. She had been everything that Kaos wasn't and would never be. Kaos was cold, pale, heartless. Sae had been her exact opposite. She tried to stop Kaos after she had executed the Saviour publicly but ended up dying in the Goddess' hands instead. She took Sae's place as the Goddess of Time and had been playing that role for generations now.
”I can't believe Rogue went back to my world with Lucy's friends”, Kaos chuckled. ”Didn't he learn that I always have my eye on that place just in case someone tries to find out the truth about me? Silly child, now I know exactly how to get to Regina...”
Kaos smiled as she looked into the capsule in front of her – the Great Seeress Serena slept in it – imprisoned after the civil war in Caelum so many centuries ago. She and a bunch of other Time Mages had all been traitors.
Just like in her own world where a group of people had decided to follow a man who had been marked as Sae's Seer once. Kaos had been lucky that she had been able to get rid of that man before he had succeeded in his mission to kill the Goddess of Chaos like the ancient prophecy had foretold.
Kaos smiled as another bloody tear fell from Serena's eye and rolled down on her cheek. It happened every time when she tried to stop herself from seeing the visions of the glorious future under the Chaos – but Kaos wanted her to See all of it. Over and over until she succumbed to her will again.
”You will become the Messenger of Chaos once more, Serena, you like it or not, that is your fate”, Kaos whispered to her. ”The End of Days is finally upon us – when the false illusion shall break and everything will be rewritten just as I want.”
Another bloody tear rolled down on the Seeress' cheek.
*********
The face of his beloved Serena was still on Nox's mind as he entered Regina's fortress after the encounter with Natsu and the others. He hadn't expected Aurora to be powerful enough to enter his memories and remind him of his main goal. He couldn't forget that smiling blonde woman from his memories. His mind was filled with memories of their time together – and the promise he had given her silently on the day when he had been imprisoned.
”I will find you even if it's the last thing I do”, were the last words he had told her after he had realized she was still alive after their fierce battle in Caelum so long ago – how had he been able to forget such a promise?
It was a good thing that we met, Aurora, Nox thought as he pushed open the doors into the room where Lucy Heartfilia was working on the door to Dimensions Beyond. He could sense how frustrated with her task she already was.
”Why can't you just open? You're just a door!” Lucy said in an irritated voice.
Nox found it amusing. ”It requires something special from you before it opens”, he said.
”What?” Lucy asked, turning to look at him.
”It requires your power as the Seeress of Guidance, Lucy. You probably should try to find that side of yourself somehow.” He chuckled.
”Are you mocking me?” she asked in disbelief.
Nox smiled. He remembered Serena had also asked that from him once on the day when they had met for the first time when Nox had mocked her for not understanding things the way he did. ”Of course not. I have my faith in you”, he told Lucy.
”Then why are you here?” Lucy asked curiously.
”I've returned from a trip that taught me a lot. I met your friends along the way.”
”Which means you chased after them until they just had to confront you”, Lucy translated, still sounding irritated yet her eyes had a curious look in them.
She doesn't know they escaped Caelum? Interesting, Nox thought. ”Yes. I chased them down to teach them a lesson.”
”But you failed?”
”I was defeated by Regina's daughter Aurora.”
”That's pretty ironic... eh, whatever your name is.”
”Oh yes, I never really introduced myself to you – I'm Nox.”
”Nice to meet you, Nox”, Lucy said and smiled. ”You were the Seer of Darkness in Caelum a long time ago, weren't you?”
”You're not shocked like Aurora was?” Nox asked curiously. ”Also yes, I was.”
”I think I've always known who you are”, Lucy answered, looking thoughtful. ”I also know that you needed a reminder of your goal and you needed to meet Aura to get it.”
Nox smiled. ”I was correct about your Seeress power, Lucy. You do have it in you.”
”I do?” Lucy said, surprised. She was quiet for a moment. ”I think you might be right. I've guided people all this time even if I sometimes did the wrong things...”
”I don't care about my revenge anymore, Lucy. Aurora opened my eyes. I just want to save Serena now.”
”In that case you should know that Aurora really wants to help you with that. She knows how to get her without getting caught”, Lucy told him. ”Damn, I did it again, did I?”
”Yes, you did”, Nox said and chuckled. ”You have to concentrate on this door, Lucy. It'll open to you eventually. Just don't give up.”
Lucy smiled. ”I will, Nox.”
*********
Natsu and the others were standing on a slope on the outskirts of Crocus from their year of 794X. City was frozen in time in the same state where it had been sucked into the Horologium Saeculum on that fateful day when they had failed in their mission to stop Regina Heartfilia's plans. Crocus was covered in flames and smoke. Everything was on fire. All the flames and parts of the houses – and even buildings – were floating in the air as if they were getting sucked into the sky.
Natsu couldn't forget those events. He relived everything in his mind the moment he looked at the city. They had went there to get information regarding Lucy's whereabouts from Sting, who had been in contact with her. And when they got into the city and started the meeting they had been invited to, all hell broke loose when Regina attacked. Crocus up in flames had been glued to his mind ever since.
”I'm speechless”, Happy whispered.
”Me too”, Natsu told him. He sniffed the air and smelt something familiar. ”Oh, I can smell Luce!” he said, excitement replacing the sadness he had felt since he had left Caelum.
”Me too”, Sting said. ”Regina's scent, too”, he told Theodore and Aurora who both nodded, looking relieved about that fact.
”They're probably in Regina's fortress over there”, Rogue said, pointing on the other side of the city where a familiar looking flying fortress stood on the ground.
”That's Zephyrus' palace”, Theodore corrected him.
”Zephyrus' palace?” Sting asked. ”No wonder that place has always looked so familiar then...”
”What do you mean?” Natsu asked him.
”We've visited the palace in Zephyrus few times before, Natsu. I've always thought they looked really familiar but I never thought the flying fortress was the palace”, blonde man explained.
”I don't pay attention on things like that”, Natsu just said, shrugging.
”I just find it very interesting that the afloat system has existed long before the 1300X events took place”, Erza said, looking thoughtful.
”Tomas and his father before him did not like the fact that Zephyrians were so intelligent”, Theodore said, shaking his head. ”He thought they were a threat so the city had to be stripped down of all things that might educate them on such matters...” he sighed.
”Those kings really were douchebags”, Gray murmured.
Theodore nodded. ”Tomas' father dethroned the Heartfilia who was in charge in Zephyrus and his son proceeded to make their lives even more hellish.”
”Wait”, Natsu said. ”'Dethroned the Heartfilia who ruled the city'?”
Theodore nodded again. ”Heartfilias were in power in Zephyrus for a very long time. Nobody really knows how it happened, however, there isn't really anything mentioned about it anywhere up until a girl called Regal Heartfilia.”
”That's because the notes of the previous Heartfilias such as myself were wiped out”, said a familiar male voice. It was Nox, who was walking towards them.
”I knew you'd come to me sooner or later, Nox”, Aurora just calmly said.
”Yes, Aurora, you have opened my eyes and made me realize that fighting you is pointless. And that my main goal has, and will always be, save my beloved Serena from her prison”, Nox told her. He smiled. ”You have my gratitude, young Seeress.”
”Thank you”, Aurora smiled. ”Now, I assume you want to know how to get to Serena?”
”Yes, that's why I'm here. I understood you know how to get to her.”
Aurora nodded. ”I want to transfer the information into your mind so you will remember it better than me just explaining it. Will you let me do so?”
Nox nodded.
Aurora put her hands on the sides of his head. A golden light flashed for a minute and then disappeared. Aurora put her hands down. ”Good luck on your mission, Nox”, she said. ”Don't worry, my goddess will help you. Her name is Sapientia.”
”Goddess of Memories has a Seeress now? That's very, very unusual for her”, Nox said before he disappeared into a swirl of black smoke.
”Hmm, I don't know about any of you guys, but he sounded like he has met Sapientia before”, Lector murmured.
”You're probably right”, Aurora said. ”Well, anyways, we should go now!”
”I agree with her”, Natsu grinned. ”I really wanna see Luce.”
”Regina just informed me that she has sensed our presence in here”, Theodore informed them. ”She's waiting for us at the palace doors.”
”Which palace?” Sting asked.
”Oh, I mean the floating fortress over there, not the Merkurius Castle.”
”Alright then. Let's move.”
”The Soulless Army around this place won't be attacking us”, Theodore said. ”Regina has ordered them to stand down unless we attack them.”
”I think fighting is pointless anyways right now”, Erza said. ”We'll get out of this timeline faster if we don't get distracted, ok?”
Everyone nodded, and they began their journey towards the Zephyrus palace in the distance.
*********
I wonder what could've happened if we had actually succeeded in stopping Regina from using that spell, Natsu wondered as the group walked through the flaming city. They were walking on the main street that had usually been busy and lively but now it was all gone. While Natsu had been saving Lucy in the floating fortress, everyone else had been fighting in the middle of this hell.
”I wonder why we haven't met anyone else from that time period”, Lector suddenly said. ”I understood that some of the Fairy Tail members never arrived on the new timeline”, he added.
”Yeah, our master, Mira and Wendy never were nowhere to be seen on the new timeline”, Erza confirmed. ”I've tried to keep an eye on them as we've moved through time, but they're nowhere to be seen.”
”If they weren't on the timeline, they've gotten lost in time and never found their way home”, Aurora said. ”Unless they were guided to safety like you were, Natsu.”
”Yeah, I was with Sting, Luce, Happy and Lector and that goddess guided us to Caelum.”
Aurora nodded. ”So there's a possibility your friends are somewhere safe waiting for a way to get back home.”
”Will they need help or will they come back on their own, I wonder”, Erza said.
”Lucy's power of Guidance will show them the way when it's time”, Aurora said.
”Guidance?” Natsu asked.
”All Seers has their own powers, Natsu”, Aurora explained. ”Nox has the power of the Darkness, Serena has the power of the Light. Lucy's power is Guidance and mine is Healing. Nox and Serena are the most powerful Seers in history.”
”Was Regina ever marked as a Seeress?” Lector wondered.
”She's what the Time Mages would call a 'Fallen Seer'. Someone who has turned their back on their god to walk on their own path”, Aurora explained. ”Basically, mother would be an outcast and hated by everybody in Caelum for doing so.”
”You really spent some time reading books in Caelum, didn't you, Aura?” Theodore asked smiling.
”Yes, father, I read every book they had there”, Aurora said proudly. ”My mother was a Seeress of Darkness until she turned her back on that goddess... and I have to ask her why she did it.”
”We have to keep moving”, Rogue quietly said. He shivered. ”Something's different in the air...”
”What do you mean?” Gray asked immediately. ”An enemy?”
”Now that you mentioned it, something in me is telling me to run into the palace as fast as I can”, Natsu said.
”The goddess may have found out where we are going”, Rogue said quietly. ”She must have been monitoring the Dark World the whole time when we were there.”
”Shit, that's not something I wanted to hear”, Sting sighed. ”So we gotta prepare for a battle after all.”
”I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, everyone. I really thought we'd be able to avoid it”, Rogue told them.
”We can if we're fast enough”, Natsu said. ”Let's go now. We aren't even that far away from it anymore!”
Everyone nodded, and they began to run towards the palace front doors that were only few meters away from them. As they got closer, Natsu was able to smell Lucy even better. She was definitely in the palace, and he got more and more excited about it the closer he got to the doors. Natsu also noticed that Sting had been right about the palace reminding him of the floating fortress. The building was exactly like the palace in the different time periods that he had visited with his friends earlier. How hadn't he noticed it before? It made absolutely no sense to him.
”Mother!” Aurora yelled excitedly and ran past Natsu. He slowed down as Aurora wrapped her arms around Regina Heartfilia, whose face had a mix of different emotions written all over it. She then smiled and hugged her daughter tightly. Theodore smiled and hugged them both tightly once he reached them.
”Oh, Aura, I thought I'd never see you again...” Regina whispered quietly – she probably hoped that no one would hear her but Natsu heard her anyway. ”Where have you been?” she added when she let go of her.
”I was in Caelum, mother”, Aurora answered. ”When the time was distorted in Zephyrus, I was caught by a girl in red and found myself in Caelum.”
”I'm so relieved that you're OK, my dear, but how come you've grown this much?”
”Time flows differently in Caelum, mother. Few weeks on our timeline is 13 years in Caelum”, Aurora explained.
”I would've saved you if I had known you were there, Aura. I'm sorry”, Regina said. ”I didn't even sense your presence when I was there getting Lucy.”
”It's fine, mother. I had a mission I had to do elsewhere so I wouldn’t have come with you at the time. I was doing research for Sapientia. She's one of the six Gods of Time.”
”Can she be trusted?” Regina immediately asked, suspicion evident in her voice.
”Yes, mother. This goddess is nothing like Kaos”, Aurora said. ”She's very kind.”
”Alright, I believe you”, Regina said, and smiled. Then she looked at Theodore for a moment and kissed him. Theodore smiled at her in lovingly as they broke apart.
I've never seen a family that loves each other the same way as those three does, Natsu thought. I'm happy for them. They're finally together.
”Excuse me”, Erza said politely. ”I'm sorry for interrupting your reunion, but could be possibly go to the door to the Dimensions Beyond now?”
”Oh yes”, Regina said. ”How are you even aware of that door's existence in my palace?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
”We were told about it by Sapientia. She wants all of us to go through it and find her so we could take down the Goddess of Chaos”, Natsu explained. ”She told us when we were escaping from Caelum.”
”So this goddess whom I have never heard of has decided to meddle in the events of this timeline?”
”She has her reasons, mother. She thinks we have what it takes to take Kaos down”, Aurora told her. ”It'll be fine.”
”Fine. Come in then, everyone. I will take you to the door and hopefully Lucy has opened it by then so we can leave this doomed place”, Regina said as she snapped her fingers and the doors into her palace opened.
*********
The portal in the Time Chamber in Caelum opened. A man with silver hair and blue eyes walked into the room that hadn't been in use for generations. He looked around and snorted at the sight of the poor condition of it. Was the fake Sae trying to erase the history of the Time Mages by not allowing them to walk through time as they were supposed to do? They were the guardians of Time itself, after all! He remembered that in his time they were allowed to travel through time as long as they didn't change anything unless it was something it would have shattered the whole timeline. But now the Time Chamber looked like it hadn't been used at all.
”Nox, is that you...?” a voice whispered in his mind, interrupting his thoughts. A calming sensation washed over his very soul, making it easy to recognize the owner of the voice.
”Yes, my beloved, it is me”, Nox answered gently.
”Finally...” then her calming presence disappeared from Nox's mind.
Serena must be tired from being here for so long. I must hurry to her side and save her, he thought as he walked towards the wooden door on the other side of the room.
According to the information Aurora had given him, he had to walk through the forbidden area of Caelum's palace to reach the hidden Purge Room which was located in there. Nox did have a hunch of where the door might actually be because back when he first visited Caelum, he had ventured into the areas of the palace where outsiders were not allowed to go. He had been ambushed by a group of 'Sae's Warriors' who had guided him out of the area, and it had bugged him ever since. There had been a secret there, but Nox never knew what it was. Now he was going to get his answers at last.
”Remember when we first met on the day when I had invited you to Caelum for the meeting about the relations between our four cities?” Serena's voice interrupted his thoughts.
”Yes, how can I forget the day when I saw you for the first time?” Nox said and smiled as he walked through the familiar looking corridor. This was where he had been caught and taken back to the main hall once during that same day. He had been doing research to find out what the phony goddess was really up to.
”I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, Serena”, Nox told her. ”You were the only one willing to be civil with me. Aqua and Terra were openly hostile towards me because of who I was...”
”I just wanted peace. Not the war that destroyed us...” Serena's voice was full of pain.
”Don't blame yourself for it, Serena. You did what you thought was the right thing to do because that's the kind of a person you are, and all Zephyrians loved you for it. You were the true blessing for our society”, Nox told her as he walked past the line of paintings on the stone walls. He chuckled a little bit at the sight of his painting having been sabotaged with red paint and felt surprised that it still hang there anyways.
”Nox, you're so sweet. How anyone can hate you is beyond me”, Serena told him. ”Thank you for your words. I really needed to hear those.”
Nox smiled as Serena's presence in his head disappeared once more.
The door at the other end of the corridor opened as he got close to it. He stopped walking and listened for a little bit – he wanted to make sure there was no surprises waiting for him in the throne room – but all he heard were the sounds of silence.
He went into the throne room. They still had Sae's statue standing behind the throne. This was were Nox had introduced himself to Serena for the first time and she had welcomed him with the kindness that she was infamous for. Her calming presence made it easier for him to relax during the meeting where they had been talking about reinstating Zephyrus as a part of the society as it had been off limits for 200 years before that. Aqua and Terra, who had been twins with opposing elemental powers, were strongly against it while Serena had stood behind her words. Nox remembered how amazed he had been by the newly chosen Seeress' determination and passion towards the issue. He later learned that Serena's biggest wish was to reunite the Time Mages to the state where they had been before Zephyrus had been outcasted from the others. To Serena it had been an unfair treatment – Nox had agreed with her on that one.
”Where's the switch...?” Nox murmured as he walked on the right side of the throne. He remembered that there was supposed to be a switch that allowed people to enter the Purge Room area, but he saw nothing.
”Touch the right wall, Nox. The switch should appear on the surface. Press it and you'll find the Purge Room from the other side”, Lucy's voice whispered to him.
”How did you know I'm here?” Nox asked, surprised.
”I just know, Nox”, came the answer and her presence from his mind disappeared.
”Must be her Guidance power”, Nox murmured as he raised his hand and put it on the surface of the wall. He slid his fingers on it until a square shaped outlined plate appeared and rose from it. He pushed the 'unlock' button and the door on his left opened. He quickly went into the new corridor and the door behind him closed.
”They dragged me here after our battle, Nox. I was told that it's my punishment for betraying the goddess. I was forced to See everything on the timeline from then on until the end of time”, Serena explained as Nox walked through the dust covered corridor that looked just as old as the previous one. There were more paintings on the walls, and abandoned piles of boxes laying on the floor.
”I was imprisoned for generations in a tower here”, Nox told Serena. ”I sensed your presence the whole time, Serena. I just didn't know where you were and how to get to you at the time. I'm sorry.”
”Don't be sorry, Nox, you're on your way to me and that's all that matters to me right now”, Serena said. Then her presence disappeared from his mind once again.
Nox entered a hall where parts of the walls and the roof had collapsed so he could see the moonlit sky outside easily. He walked on the other side of the hall and wondered if this building was actually the old abandoned temple that Caelum had had. He remembered that when he had been a younger kid, Zephyrians had been pretty shocked to hear that Caelum's old temple had been ordered to be abandoned as the goddess needed it for 'her own purposes'. Now Nox knew what those purposes had been – build a place where she could imprison Time Mages for who knows what reason.
He opened the door and found himself in a yet another long, dimly lit corridor. There was also a door at the end of it and he walked towards it, feeling Serena's presence closer than ever. When he opened the door, he found himself in a dome shaped room – the very same one that all the past Zephyrian Seers had talked about for 200 years – and the anger took over his heart as he looked at all the capsules that were on the walls up until the roof. There were hundreds of them, and he could tell there was a Time Mage sleeping in every last one of them – Zephyrians, Caelumis, Aquans and Terrans. They were all asleep there.
”So this is where you put them all after the war, you phony goddess?” Nox growled. He let out few cuss words at the sight and then looked around. He had to concentrate on his mission instead of letting himself destroy the place.
He found what he was looking for from the middle of the dome – there was four capsules in total. One for each Seer from the four cities. There was one for him, one for Aqua, Terra and lastly, Serena. The capsule meant for Nox was empty – just like Terra's and Aqua's capsules were as well – because he had never been brought to this room. When Kaos began to talk about 'purging his mind', he had decided to escape from his prison known as the Tower of Time in Caelum. With the help from the Goddess of Memories he had found his way back to the timeline just in time to stop Regina from submitting to phony goddess' demands.
Nox looked at the capsule where Serena was resting. His heart stung with pain as he saw the blood stains on her beautiful face, and the worn down clothes that she had worn at the time of the civil war. Even now bloody tears fell down on her cheeks as she tried to stop herself from Seeing everything. Nox could only imagine how much pain it gave to her.
”Serena, I'm here, I'll help you out”, Nox told her.
Serena immediately reacted to it – she raised her hand on the surface of the capsule's glass. Nox put his hand on against the glass.
”I don't want to See anymore, Nox...” Serena's voice sounded desperate.
Nox looked around in the room and noticed a operating panel nearby. He went over and looked at it. There was a lot of different buttons on it and little screens that had every capsules heart rate lines on them. Nox didn't care about them at that very moment. Right now he just wanted to free Serena, who was obviously ready to give in and stop fighting against the visions she was Seeing constantly. Nox couldn't allow that to happen. Serena was a strong, determined woman. Seeing her getting weak was something that he didn't want to see.
”There”, he mumbled as he found the button he had been looking for. He pushed it.
Nox heard a loud hissing sound from behind him and turned to look. The glass cover of Serena's capsule had risen to the air, giving the woman the freedom she deserved. She took a step out of the podium she had been standing on and collapsed on the floor right after. Nox ran to her side as the capsule closed again. He pulled Serena into his arms and held her close.
”My beloved”, he whispered as he kissed her forehead.
”I've missed you so much, Nox”, she whispered. ”I'm sorry I betrayed you like that, I shouldn't have listened to Kaos' lies about you...”
”Serena, I don't hate you for it”, Nox told her. ”Don't feel any regrets. I'm here by your side now, and I won't leave you again.”
”And the next time I meet Kaos, I will use my magic on her for betraying our society”, Serena said angrily.
”Then we shall go together, my beloved.”
”Let's do it right away. They're going to need our help in the battle against the goddess”, Serena said. ”But first...” she added and proceeded to kiss him even though she knew it wasn’t the right time.
"Alright, my beloved, let's go", Nox said before the kiss got too heated. In a normal setting he would go all the way with this woman whom he loved dearly but they were at the enemy's headquarters. "We have a job to do."
Serena smiled as he helped her up from the floor. "Yes, completing the prophecy comes first", she agreed as they headed out.