"Hey, big brother with black hair, who are you?" The young Noel looked at the black-haired boy below with a bit of curiosity.
Although it was their first meeting, for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity from this black-haired boy, which was why young Noel, who had been sitting in the tree to enjoy the breeze, spoke up to ask.
"....." Noel looked at the familiar face and couldn't help but show a hint of nostalgia.
After a moment of silence, he scratched his cheek and said, "I'm just a traveler passing through here. Hello."
Young Noel leapt down from the tree and stood in front of Noel, blinking his blue eyes and smiling as he said, "A traveler? That must be tough. My name is Noel, and I'm a mage from the mage guild in this city. If you need anything, you can directly ask me."
"That's impressive," Noel couldn't help but smile habitually.
If there had been a third person present, they would have been surprised to see how similar the smiles of the black-haired boy and the golden-haired child were, down to the curve of their lips.
Sitting back against a tree, Noel took in the faint scent of grass unique to the forest, stretched his arms, and let out a pleased sound.
"Hmm... Noel, isn't it okay for you to stay here? Shouldn't you be out on a mission?"
Young Noel sat down at the other end of the tree, and after hearing Noel's words, he paused for a moment, then said, "Me? I just finished a mission with Mira yesterday, so today I thought I'd take it easy... uh, Mira is a very... special girl from our guild."
Seeing the slightly awkward expression on his younger self's face when he mentioned Mira, Noel couldn't help but chuckle, adding with a teasing tone, "Do you like this girl named Mira?"
"Ugh, cough, cough, cough!!!" Upon hearing Noel's words, young Noel choked, coughing intensely before looking at Noel and saying, "Who... who are you, exactly?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'm from the future," Noel replied with a faint smile.
"That joke's not funny, I'm from another world myself..."
Both of them, either intentionally or unintentionally, indirectly revealed the truth.
One could say, it really is no surprise they were the same person.
"Heh, I won't tease you anymore." Noel shook his head and reached out to pat young Noel's head.
Looking at the familiar face with a slightly confused expression, Noel couldn't help but sigh softly.
"Noel..."
"?"
"You need to remember what I'm about to say."
"Mm."
"You are not alone, and you never have been. Your future will not be peaceful; it's destined to be filled with thorns and pain. But... don't forget, you have important companions by your side. The sadness of one person is the sadness of all, and the happiness of one is the happiness of all. In the future, amidst the torrents of fate, you will be able to rely on more than just yourself."
".....Big brother." Young Noel spoke up, "What does that mean?"
"You'll understand in the future. For now, just remember these words." Noel said with a bitter smile.
"Although I don't understand, I will remember." Young Noel nodded.
"Then, goodbye, Noel." Noel waved at young Noel and turned to leave.
"Wait, you haven't told me your name yet!" Young Noel suddenly remembered something and called out toward Noel's retreating figure.
Noel didn't turn around; he simply waved his hand back with force. "I am an intruder who doesn't belong to this era."
..............
After leaving the forest, Noel looked up at the sun, which had already completely set, and scratched his cheek.
"Uh-oh, I got too absorbed in talking to my past self and forgot what Erza said."
Noel let out a bitter laugh and quickly began searching for Natsu and Gray.
(Since it's Natsu and Gray, they must have gone to a place from the past to reminisce, just like me. Thinking about it, it must be that river.)
After confirming his target, Noel ran straight toward the river where Natsu and Gray used to fight when they were younger.
"Noel, you're here too?" Halfway there, Noel ran into Erza, Lucy, and Gray, who was sitting on the ground, covered in injuries.
Noel stared at Gray for a few seconds before turning to Erza. "Looks like you went a bit too hard."
"...Noel, I didn't do it," Erza replied with a face full of black lines.
"Uh, wasn't it you?" Noel asked, looking at Gray. "Then, how did you get those injuries?"
Gray scratched his head nonchalantly and said, "Oh, I was just fighting with Natsu while watching our younger selves fight. But somehow, my younger self actually won. Haha."
At the end, Gray showed a proud expression.
"Anyway, this is not the time for small talk," Erza interrupted Gray.
"We don't have time. We must hurry and find Natsu, or we won't be able to return to our original world!!!"
"What??"
"This book is called The Time of Memories. When you open it, you get sent to the first memory that comes to mind..."
"That time was when Natsu remembered the scar on his neck, right?" Lucy, who was running, thought for a moment and said.
"I'm afraid so, that's why we've been sent into Natsu's memory," Erza, who was leading the way to find Natsu, nodded.
"What does this have to do with not being able to return?" Gray asked.
"Don't you understand, Gray? Normally, this magic would only send the person themselves to this time period, meaning only Natsu. But it seems that anyone who comes into contact with them at that moment will also be affected," Noel said with a serious expression.
"The effect of this book lasts only for six hours. After six hours, the memory time will end automatically, and only Natsu will be sent back to his original time."
"Wait, wait a minute, what will happen to us?" Gray turned pale.
"Probably, we won't be able to return to our original time," Noel sighed.
Soon, they arrived at the riverbank where Gray and Natsu used to fight, and saw Natsu, who was horrified, grabbing young Natsu by the neck, shaking him repeatedly, and slapping young Natsu's face while shouting, "I refuse to accept this! How can you just give up like this? Get up, beat Gray!!"
It seemed that the fact that his younger self lost to Gray was something Natsu just couldn't accept.
"Monster!!" The young Natsu, who had just woken up, looked in terror at the older Natsu and screamed loudly.
"What's with calling yourself a monster?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!! Fire, [Fire Dragon's Claw]!"
The young Natsu, in fear, used Dragon Slayer magic, but... Natsu casually knocked his hand away, and as a result, [Fire Dragon's Claw] directly struck young Natsu's neck, leaving a deep scar.
"Ahhhhh!!!" Young Natsu let out a painful scream.
At that moment, everyone had already arrived in front of Natsu and grabbed him.
A purple light flickered once again, enveloping everyone.
...............
Present day, Fairy Tail Guild.
Wendy handed the scarf in her hands to Natsu. "Natsu, here's your scarf."
"That's something really important, isn't it?" Carla commented from the side.
"Oh, thanks." Natsu accepted the scarf and thanked her.
"So in the end, the scar on Natsu's neck was self-inflicted?"
After hearing about Noel and the others' experience, Mira said, somewhat speechless.
"Seems like it."
"Unbelievable."
"But I'm just glad we were able to return safely."
"Seriously though, why would the guild have such a terrifying book?"
"Speaking of which, what happened to that book afterwards?" Noel asked Erza curiously.
Erza shrugged. "Who knows? It was already gone when we came back."
"What a waste. Even though it's a dangerous book, if used properly, it's actually a good magic that could change the past," Lucy said a bit regretfully.
"There's no need to change the past. It's because of who we were back then that we are who we are now. Every little moment from back then is connected to who we are today," Noel said with a smile.
"That's true," Lucy nodded.
Mira clapped her hands. "Alright everyone, go and tidy up the storage room!"
"Do we still have to?"
"Well, there's really no way out of this one."
As the others laughed and joked around, Noel's lips curled into a gentle smile as he looked out the window at the sky.
(So the person I saw in my dream this morning was actually me... Heh, since the me now remembers those words from back then, then the me from the past must have remembered what I said too.)
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