Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail
Warning: This story will contain spoilers for the Alvarez Empire arc. It will also contain death, as it is a story that focuses on Zeref.
Mildian Magic Academy, a legendary school designed for brilliant minds stood proudly in an isolated area of Fiore. The walls were pristine, made of white stone that guarded the halls within. A grand entrance was fashioned of the same material, arching over the path to the front doors. Trees lined the path to the wooden entrance to the school, as if inviting anyone inside. However, any student attending knew that these open, inviting doors were not the entrance.
This castle-like fortress existed to educate wizards during a time of war. As such, it was designed for misdirection and defense just as much as any military fortress would be. Traps had been placed on the front doors, created with magic to defend against anyone who attempted to enter. As Zeref Dragneel, a young boy of age seventeen, moved to enter the halls, he wandered off of the path quite early on. Passing beneath the swaying branches of trees, he inhaled the fresh summer air sharply with a small smile on his face. Today was the day he was finally going to take the time to research if further, the day he would finalize his spell. The R-System may have failed in the past, but now, he had something new up his sleeves.
This project had to be kept hidden, he had learned. Right now, he just had to get through one more school day before returning to his work. Nodding to acknowledge a fellow student, Zeref found himself rounding the outside corner of the school, passing by a well built to supply students with water. There, another small group gathered, waiting for a friend to finish getting a drink before moving along. This place was where everyone went to study magic, and Zeref was lucky enough to have been allowed to study here. No where else would he have found the texts necessary to perfect his theoretical new branch of magic—living magic.
Yes, his instructors said it was wrong. It went against the natural order of the world, and the gods would be angered. However, Zeref had never once seen proof that these gods existed. There were no signs of heavenly intervention, no massive catastrophes or miracles that lead him to believe in their existence. As such, it was only logical to assume that such deities were false.
With his books in one arm, Zeref pressed his palm against the stone wall on the right side of the building. A slight breeze made his white robes billow slightly, and with the motion, his black sash seemed to become skewed. A circle appeared beneath his palm, bright yellow in color and glowing as it activated. In a few moments, the light expanded, creating lines in a square outline on the wall, establishing the outline of the true entrance to the school. Walking inside, Zeref readjusted his sash and continued on into the grand halls.
The well-lit interior was far more populated in terms of students. Most of the students were Zeref's age. Such had been the case even when he was a child, but that was the nature of such things when a school takes in an orphan to raise. It was an unusual case, all things considered. His family had been murdered in a massive dragon attack during the war. Finding their dead bodies was an image that haunted Zeref's every nightmare, but he never allowed it to bring him distress. After all, he had confidence in his abilities. They would come back, no matter how hard he had to work for his goal.
Seeing a mere child as the survivor of a dragon attack of that scale, wizards everywhere brought him away from his hometown. They tested him, asking him to perform various tasks and attempt to do unusual things with magic. As a child, his parents had often praised him for small feats with his power. He never realized how rare his gift was until others found him. See, it had started by asking him to meditate while attached to numerous wires designed to sense the ethernano within his small form. He looked almost like a terminal patient with so many machines attached to him, but he did as asked. After all, the quicker he finished this, the sooner he could return and finalize the preservation spell he had begun to place on the body of his dead brother. He had been interrupted by the dragon slayers coming to fend off the last of the beasts attacking his home, but that did not mean he planned on leaving his brother in that destroyed town.
Whatever readings they received had been alarming, or at least, he thought so based on their reactions. Now, he understood why. His body's capacity for storing and processing ethernano was almost ten times greater than that of even a dragon slayer. It made him naturally skilled at almost any branch of magic he chose to study, and as a child, it gave him mild control over multiple branches. He supposed that was why they had brought in Mildian Magic Academy in the first place. When he was asked to display his magic to them, he had asked them in what form. At their confused glances, Zeref showed them a few different things, varying from producing a small flame in his palm to altering his hair color briefly with transformation magic. Granted, he had little talent in transformations, but hair color was a simple matter to alter.
With a prodigy as the sole survivor of a dragon attack, everyone insisted on having him trained to be their greatest weapon in the war. As such, he was at the most prestigious academy for wizards, where almost everyone who graduated these days went on to become soldiers. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, but he had learned to accept that path. So long as he could bring Natsu back, it would be worth it. After all, they had allowed him to locate what remained of his belongings at his destroyed home before coming here. It had been just enough time to find his brother's body, and relocate him safely to a new home.
Living on campus made Zeref the unusual student. Most lived with their families, or at least what remained of them. These days, it was hard to find anyone that hadn't lost someone they loved. In that aspect, Zeref hoped his magic would alleviate the pain of the war. He would bring back everyone's lost family, starting with his own. No more worrying over death, not when magic could overcome it all. Magic was an amazing thing that could accomplish anything, that was what he had been told by his parents before they died. That was why he had thrown himself into learning it, wanting to use magic to make them happy. Later, he decided that he would use it to see Natsu's smile once more.
Growing up, he did learn more details and limitations of magic. Everything required some form of energy, and magic was no different. This was why his first theory on resurrection was so impossible. He had not taken that into consideration, and he had developed a spell possible in theory only. Living magic, however, had refined that process immensely by drawing upon the ethernano that existed naturally in the environment, along with what had built up in the body of a wizard. It was unlike any other type of magic in that regard, and he knew the principles would live on to inspire so many more spells that were currently impossible with their normal methods of use.
Taking a seat in class, Zeref smiled and watched as others gathered within. His classmate, Morow, took the seat next to him and gave him a slight smile. "Hey, did you finish today's assignment? Who thought we would have had to identify so many different binding runes for one chapter?" Their current class was meant to focus on magic circles and how they applied to objects in the real world. Currently, they were discussing how to imbue an object with magical properties using such circles. Runic writing was required to tie into the components of the spell and of the actual object being connected. Overall, the process was actually more complex than most people realized, however it became quite useful for arming non-wizards in the war against dragons.
Nodding, Zeref smiled at his companion. Morow was well-liked all around, an outspoken guy who could get away with almost anything. Oddly enough, he spent most of his time trying to befriend the far more reclusive prodigy of the school, the orphaned boy who mastered basic elemental magic by the time he reached age twelve. "Of course. If you look at the runes themselves, you'll find plenty of similarities based on the properties they are meant to match. For example, when binding to wood, you'll notice most of the runes are almost circular in design."
Opening his own book, Morow scanned for examples of such runes. "Damn, it looks like your'e right. Well, I guess I've gotta study a bit more if I want to catch up to you, don't I?" He gave out a slight laugh, shaking his head.
"It isn't about the amount of time you invest. If you utilize your time more wisely, it becomes far easier to understand the material." That made Morow roll his eyes at Zeref, who found himself focusing on the conversation rather than the students now filling the desks in the room.
"Whatever. I still feel like none of us are a match for you. You've been at this school for what, eleven years now?" Nodding, Zeref smiled at the way Morow seemed to run a hand through his dark green hair, shaking his head at the boy. "Either way, how's that side-project of yours been going?" With his eyes widening, Zeref shot his gaze towards the front of the room. The teacher, Ms. Jadling, still seemed focused on grading papers in front of her, however. "Don't worry, I know who isn't supposed to hear about it."
Morow chuckled lightly, while Zeref leaned back in his seat with a small smile. Speaking quietly, he decided it wouldn't hurt if his only friend knew more about it. After all, Morow was the only student here that even knew he had a secret project. "It'll be finished today. If you'd like…I suppose you could come and watch. It will be the first time this magic has ever been performed, an entirely new form of my own creation."
"Sounds awesome! With power like yours, I think we'll win this war before the next generation is even born." That comment made Zeref's smile twitch slightly, faltering as the deathly pale skin of his mother's face flashed in his mind. It had been pale enough already, and the ash from the flames burning his home seemed to stand out against her cheek as it landed—
Shaking his head, Zeref broke off his thoughts and noticed the way Morow's grin seemed strained as well from his own comment. He utilized humor to try and hide his past, but Zeref knew what had happened to his family. Unlike Zeref, it had not been a massive attack that destroyed his entire home town. No, it had been a situation where his elder siblings, Morow's sister and brother, had gone off to play just outside of town. They never returned, and when someone went to look for them, all that was found were a few scattered limbs left behind from the beast that had eaten them alive.
Neither of them were smiling after a few more moments of silence. Speaking helped distract both of them, hiding away the memories. Maybe that was why Morow was so social, and why Zeref was often viewed as a brooding child. "Wars don't ever really end, do they? The next generation will still feel the effects…if we win, none of them will get to see how powerful the dragons really were. If we lose…they likely won't survive to be adults anymore."
Most people wouldn't speak of dark topics like death. They were afraid, as if the mention of mortality would bring about such an event. "Likely. Heck, it's not as if dragons will be extinct if we win. Who knows? Maybe tragic plagues will spread across the land after our victory, killing us for thinking we could overwhelm such powerful beasts." There was sarcasm in his tone, trying to force a joke into his comment somewhere. However, between the two of them, both were familiar with death personally. It was not a joking matter, even if they accepted it as reality.
"Regardless, if my project succeeds…we won't have to worry about that, will we?" There was a slight smirk on Zeref's face, watching as Morow grinned in response.
"And that's why you're my best friend and not any of these freaks. Did you see Flora's project earlier this year? Seriously, who thinks a spell that changes the color of their clothes will really help us at all during a war?" That had been her first attempt at designing a new spell, one that was shallow in appearance. Apparently, the girl still hoped to live a normal life after graduating. She was far too sheltered from the war, used to the school defending her from dragon attacks.
Smiling, Zeref leaned back in his seat and focused on the front of the room. The students were all gathered now, talking amongst themselves as they waited for class to begin. "A person who is not familiar with the affects of death. Soon…that will be the entire world, I think. What will it be like? A world where death is not feared…a world where magic is known as the power that can accomplish anything."
"Paradise." Morow's smile matched his own, focusing on the front of the room. "Your genius invention will bring it into existence. Whether it helps us win or lose the war…our lives will become greater than we ever imagined, because no one will have to die. We…we could become immortal, living even longer than the dragons and seeing endless years into the future with our own eyes!" His eager voice was quiet, aware that he could be overheard now.
Picturing it so easily, Zeref nodded in agreement. "Yes…perhaps that is the case. I do hope you join me, then…in taking the first steps into ensuring this paradise becomes our new reality." With that, class was started as the teacher rose and hushed everyone within. Zeref found he could not focus on the lecture, as his mind was too preoccupied with imaging what the future might hold, with his new field of magic. After all, Morow's points truly were valid. What mortal being didn't have some part of them that desired to live forever?
I was trying to work on one of my other stories...when I got the idea for this one instead. Well, I figured I might as well post it anyway and see what happens. While I don't have an ending planned out for this, it could go one of two directions. Either this will tie into canon and be my own telling of Zeref's backstory...or it will become an altered past, establishing an AU later on. Either way, I hope you enjoy, as I am still working out the details myself! Reviews will help me decide which path to take, and if I should even focus on continuing on with this story or not!