Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail or Inside Out
Warning: May contain spoilers for the Alvarez Empire Arc of Fairy Tail.
First, there was nothing but darkness illuminating the thoughts of the person soon to be known as Zeref Dragneel. A baby, just born in the real world, was being cradled in the arms of his mother. At the same time as his birth, within his mind, others came to life. The baby began crying, when in the confines of his mind, a short, blue male came to life. With dark hair hanging over his head and a forlorn look on his face, he began pressing the only button available to him. Incessant crying was the result, making more wails echo around them. This was Sadness, and for a few moments, he had total control of Zeref. A single memory formed from his actions, a blue orb trailing down the side of the room he stood in and replaying Zeref's first moments within its lit surface.
Then, the baby began to laugh. By Sadness' side, another emotion had been born. With a bright smile on his face and hair styled just like Sadness', Joy pressed his own hand to the console. "Wow…this place is amazing!" Joy grinned over at Sadness, who sighed and pressed the button once more, letting a blue glow settle over the console. This was the start of their rivalry, of a strange sort. "Um…you really shouldn't…just let me…" Nudging him aside, Joy fought to take over the mood once more.
As more emotions came into play, more issues arose. Growing up, Joy insisted that Zeref had to be happy at all times. "I mean, it makes Mom and Dad so happy to see us smile. So, why not?" Joy's logic had been hard to refute at the time. Even Anger had shrugged, letting it slide and leaning back with a newspaper.
While their first day wasn't all that interesting, Joy did have to admit that they were still pretty young when things started to turn around. He had finally shoved Sadness aside for once, managing to grab the console and control Zeref for a bit. The young boy was running around outside, laughing in the sunlit sky. Watching over him from the house were his parents, always concerned and hovering. "Well, it looks like even Mom and Dad can't trust us these days. Maybe I should go over and—" Anger had approached, reaching towards the console before Joy shook his head.
"No…he's just worried. I mean, it can't just be from some trust issue." Joy argued.
Joining them, Sadness arrived from the corner of the room he had been staying in. The emotion had been reading the manuals, just as Joy insisted he do, but it seemed like Sadness had become bored. "No…I think Mom and Dad just don't care to work hard and keep our house clean anymore. Isn't it sad that they won't do that for us?"
Frowning, Joy grabbed the council and began pressing another few buttons. While their control was still limited, they had gotten an expansion a little while back when Anger joined them in Zeref's mind. "Well…let's just figure it out for ourselves. I mean, there has to be a book somewhere about parents and how they act, right?"
"A book? You are seriously expecting us…to rely on a freaking book?" Anger glared at Joy, placing his hands on his hips.
Frowning, Sadness shrugged. "Actually…it isn't that terrible of an idea. Books really do teach us a lot…like those Manuals Joy said all emotions had to read. They were quite educational."
Growling under his breath, Anger let his hands clench into fists as he backed off. "Fine! Don't listen to me. Like always, Joy gets to have his way, and none of us get a say in what's right for Zeref."
Grinning, Joy clapped his hands together and walked over to the wall. There, a selection of various lightbulbs existed, each a different idea to present to Zeref. Grabbing one, Joy placed it into the console and watched the monitor, waiting to see just what their boy would do.
Blinking, Zeref stopped running for a moment. He turned towards his parents with a grin, rushing towards them. "Hey, can we go to the library? I wanna read a new book!" Mom rubbed his hair gently, smiling and nodding. By her side, their father glanced towards Mom with a nod.
"Sounds like you've found a new interest. I don't remember you asking to read much before?" Dad's question hung in the air, leaving Anger rolling his eyes at Joy. He unfolded a paper, leaning back in his seat.
"Good luck dealing with them. I'm not helping at all, not when you two vetoed my idea."
"You didn't have an idea…" Sadness glanced at Anger, breaking off at the glare Anger gave him instead.
Turning back towards the monitor, Joy began spinning a dial on the console with a smile. "Well…it sounds kind of fun. I mean, I can learn something new, right? Learning is always fun…it tells us more about the world we live in." With that, Zeref smiled up at his father.
Smirking at Anger, Joy crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, what do you think of that? Looks like I can handle this plan just fine."
With that, they were off to the library. There, Joy was still the one in charge, however, it was also where a new emotion was born. Just at the doors, someone rushed to the console and grasped it tightly, shaking her head at the others. "Hold it! You aren't seriously considering going in there? Other kids are watching, we'd be outcasts forever!" This was Disgust, a girl with long green hair and dressed in a rather fashionable matching green dress.
"Thank you! Finally, someone agrees with me for once." Anger crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Joy. Biting his lip, Joy slowly shoved Disgust aside with a shake of his head.
"No…Zeref needs this. We need to understand why Mom and Dad are acting like this…always watching us and hovering all the time." With that, Joy pushed a lever, making Zeref walk forward and into the library. By Joy's side, Disgust groaned and dragged her hand across her face, scowling and letting out a rather odd grunt.
Patting Disgust's back, Sadness sighed and focused on the monitor. "Sorry, but you'll get used to it. We're all unnecessary parts of Zeref's mind…at least, that's what Joy keeps saying. So, we don't really get to do much around here…in fact, I almost think I should just lie down…and wallow in the feeling of nothingness that surrounds us."
With that, Sadness collapsed on the ground, lying down with a sigh and abandoning the others. Leaning back, Disgust grimaced at the sight and carefully stepped around Sadness to join Anger. Meanwhile, on the monitor, Zeref was having luck in finding the books he wanted. Gathering a ton around him, the boy began to read. Pressing her hand to the console, Joy made the boy smile as the memory was finalized. However, this memory caught all of their attention.
Lifting his head from the ground, Sadness frowned at the odd glow coming from the memory. It was yellow, like usual, but it seemed brighter and more intense than usual. "Whoa…look at that! I made Zeref really happy this time, are you guys seeing this?" Joy seemed overexcited about his accomplishment, but Sadness only frowned and shook his head.
"No…I don't think he looks any happier…if anything, he looks rather depressed to me." His hand brushed against the console as Zeref read a confusing passage from some psychological text. Zeref scowled, biting his lip as he reread the page again. As the memory continued rolling into the room, Zeref began to cry slightly and turn to his parents for help in understanding what it was he was trying to read.
Swatting his hand away, Joy scowled and shoved Sadness aside. He rolled over onto his back, not making the effort to stand and make Joy's job easier. As the memory went to join the others, an odd hatch seemed to open on the pathway, letting the orb drop and follow a pathway into the ground. The light seemed to illuminate the area under their feet, traveling until it seemed to lock into a central location. A stream of golden light seemed to illuminate the floor, traveling outside of headquarters.
Joy, Anger, and Disgust all rushed to see just what was happening. Outside, an island was forming. It was large and circular, floating just above the memory dump and attacked to a cord that connected it with headquarters. A pedestal seemed to hold a book on top, and as it lit up brightly while Zeref read, lights flashed around it brilliantly. "An island…oh my gosh, this is so exciting! What do you think it means?"
Sighing, Sadness closed his eyes. "It's an island of personality. I read about it in the manuals." Turning toward him, Disgust placed a hand on her hip.
"Oh yeah? Well, if you're so smart, then what is it supposed to do?"
"It helps make Zeref who he is. Each core memory forms a new island…and it looks like this one created Education Island. Seems like Zeref is a bookworm after all…" Sighing, Sadness sat up and pressed a hand to his head. "Looks like we'll never be popular after all…we're going to spend all of our time doing nothing but reading…and reading…and reading…"
Patting his back, Joy smiled and shook his head. "Not at all! Zeref is going to love this, I'm sure of it. I mean, look at how happy he is now!" Pointing at the monitor, Sadness nodded slowly at the sight of the young boy reading. Sitting in the library pouring over books, it soon became a favorite pastime of his. Sadness couldn't deny that fact, even if Disgust hated her inability to make Zeref more socially acceptable.
I might actually just leave this one as a one-shot, though I could be convinced to try and do more with this. It was among my failed ideas to actually make a story out of, but I kind of like having a story about Zeref that isn't entirely depressing. Originally, I thought I'd visit other moments in Zeref's life, through the mindset of his emotions, but I kinda got stuck after this point. If you want to see more, I will have a poll on my profile for a while to figure out which of my stories readers want to read more. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!