The Curse of Memory
Prologue
400 years ago (roughly)
For anyone else this day would be unmemorable but for two brothers it would forever be in their memory.
Today in a dark lab sat a teen writing in a book. The aura around him was ominous and the ethernano in the air was corrupt. The reason why, his scripture was of dark origin, one that could contaminate even the purest of souls. But such magic was necessary for what he was trying to accomplish.
The revival of his brother.
When Zeref had first begun his quest of revival he was cursed by the God of Life and Death, Ankhseram, due to messing with the natural balance. For the want of bring back a life of one that he loves he would forever take the lives of those he cared for. At the time it seemed such a small price for what he wanted but as time went by and the Curse of Contradiction took more lives the Black Mage began to desire his own demise. So, he created the Etherious to kill him, sadly none of his demons were strong enough to kill him and had an affinity for hatred of humans. Which only worsened his already bad reputation. Then a grand idea came to him.
If nothing Zeref created would be powerful enough then he would take something he hadn't and make it stronger. And that lead to the idea of bringing his brother back as his ultimate demon, one strong enough to finally remove this stain from history.
Now the mage was writing the final pages of the book that would be key in his plans. Zeref stopped to take a break, looking up to look at a large egg, inside the crystal structure was a pink haired boy seemingly asleep. His body was in perfect shape, Zeref had been sure to preserve the body perfectly after healing it. The image in front of him was enough for him to continue his work, and as he was finishing the last characters, he hesitated for just a moment. Just long enough for him to question, Is this really for the best? But the thoughts were quickly pushed from his head and he finished scripting the last of the book. The mage rested the quill on the wooden table with a heavy heart before he hastily closed the cover.
The instant he did so the boy's eyes shot open and the shell of the egg cracked then shattered, followed by projectiles and fluids being launched across the room. The child stood there for a second before he collapsed, yet before he could reach the ground the teen had caught him in his arms. Gently cradling him in his arms Zeref whispered," Welcome back, Natsu."
When Natsu next awoke he was snuggled into a sleeping teenager's arms, inside a laboratory. The walls were dark, there were no windows, papers were littering the floors and tables, vials of liquids (some glowing others not), the only real source of light cam from the stairs. He quickly detangled himself from the teen and sprinted towards the door. One way or another he found himself outside.
Natsu was in the woods with the sun shining bright, the wind danced gently in the air, and the animals of the surrounding area had begun to crowd the boy. While for anyone else this many seem peaceful but for the newly revived boy it was all too much. The sun burned his eye since there were no clouds, the wind was too strong against his skin, and the animals had a hostile appearance. The world was spinning or maybe it was just him but the next thing he knew he was on the ground sobbing and choking on air.
The last thing he remembers is fire, so much fire. Enough so that the sky was painted red. The feeling of the heat and the boiling of his flesh, the smell of his and others flesh burning would never leave his nose. The screams of people as they burned to death would forever haunt him. But in his very last moments he had talked to his brother. Zeref was holding him, crying, telling him the everything was going to be ok. Then Natsu with the last strength he could muster, albeit weakly, saying that it was going to be ok, that even though he didn't want to die he was glad that his brother was safe when the dragons attacked, and most importantly that he loved him. After the closing of his eyes all he saw was black, an eternal nothing, a silence so deafening he thought he lost his mind.
What happened to me?
Where is my brother?
Why am I alive?
Why?
Why?
Why?
In midst of his panic attack Natsu had not noticed a dark figure drifting towards the boy until he had wrapped his arms around him protectively.
"Shhh Natsu, its ok. You're ok. They can't harm you anymore. Your big brother will protect you."
Natsu looked up at the person holding him, he had the same dark hair, a black toga with a white wrap around it, and the round pendant that had their picture in it. It was the same pendant their mother wore before that day. And his smile was still the same, soft and caring, although it does seem to be quite sad.
"Zeref-nii?"
The dark-haired boy nodded and the pink haired boy latched onto his chest and began to cry louder.
Zeref picked up his brother an brought him back to his laboratory. When Natsu had calmed down Zeref released him and sat him on the table next to the book. Now that his breathing was normal the boy looked the teen in the eye and collected himself for what was going to happen next.
"Why did you bring me back Zeref?"
The mage was taken back for a second before mockingly asking, "Why? Well can't a brother revive his younger sibling from the dead simply because he missed him?"
Natsu simply shot him a look of 'be serious with me'.
Zeref's mood turned solemn as he sighed and admitted the plan, "Natsu I need you to listen for this is important.", he nodded and his brother continued, "Good. Now I really did start on my quest to revive you, but some things happened and well I ended up cursed by a god. The more I care for life the more I take. So, I created demons to hopefully end my eternal life, unfortunately none were strong enough to do so. And then I came back to the idea of bringing you back to life, but this time as an etherious so that you would have enough power to end me. You are now the ultimate demon Etherious Natsu Dragneel, or for short E.N.D, with the power of curses and magic combined you are the strongest being in existence. Or you will be. But before I continue, I need to now will you help me?"
To say Natsu was shocked would be an understatement. Obviously, he didn't want to kill his brother, he loved him, but what choice did he have. It was his fault that all this happened, that meant it was his responsibility to fix it. The least Natsu could do was abide by his brother's wishes. He nodded in response.
"Thank you Natsu. Now since you aren't strong enough as you are currently, I will send you to be taught the strongest magic, dragon-slaying magic. My friend Igneel so kindly offered to teach you in exchange for our participation in his plan. But he will explain that to you, for now let us speak of your demonic side now. All of my demons have and instinct to find and kill me, for now you won't since you are newly awakened, but the stronger you get the stronger the urge will. This will be our last day before the final battle so I must let you know that I love you Natsu."
Zeref now had tears rolling down his face, as did Natsu but much heavier, they hugged each other tightly for a long time both not willing to let go.
5 years later
Natsu stood at the edge of a cliff thinking of that day over half a decade ago. True to his word Natsu never saw his brother again. Now Igneel was going to preform Dragon Soul on him so he could regain his energy while the rest of the slayers were sent to the future. The plan was to send then to an ethernano rich environment so the dragons could regain their strength in order to defeat the Apocalypse Dragon Acnologia. Natsu wouldn't go since Zeref would be helping with the portal and the demonic tendencies would take over. It was then decided that Natsu would stay and live through the time until he was needed.
The mighty Fire-Dragon King stood proudly before him chest puffed out, shoulders back, trying to make himself seem even bigger than he already was. He's a freaking dragon he doesn't need to look any bigger! Sighing Natsu crouched down then bowed his head, a goodbye in dragon customs.
"Stop that brat, this is not goodbye, this is until we meet again."
The boy sighed again before standing up and grumbled, "Yeah whatever ya overgrown lizard."
The dragon laughed loudly, "I will miss you, but it is now time to begin." He then stretched his wings their full extent, still trying to make himself look bigger, and began channeling his magic. Natsu sweat dropped at his antics but quickly began to channel his magic also. The red beast then bellowed, "Dragon Soul!"
Igneel started to glow and then his body broke off into chunks of golden light before floating down to the boy and fading into him. Slowly but surely the dragon disappeared without a trace, leaving just the child.
Natsu suddenly felt something warm on his face, he brought a hand to his check and felt something wet. When he brought it down Natsu saw it was water? He was crying! That bastard had made him cry, Damn, I haven't cried since the day I was revived.
"Until we meet again.", and with that Natsu walked away from the edge, towards the forest where his next adventure would begin.
Hi this is the author! This is my first fanfiction, please review so I know what I can improve upon. Also, I won't be able to update regularly but I will let you know if I decide to abandon the story. Sorry the first few chapters won't be long but eventually they will get longer. Hope you enjoy, the next chapter will be called During Those 400 Years.