Captive

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

Summary: Zeref, completely overcome with despair, does the only thing he can. Trigger Warning: Suicide/Character Deaths

Captive (Rated M)

Mavis groaned, her senses gradually coming back one by one. Her brain seemed to pound relentlessly against her skull, preventing her from opening her eyes for very long; whenever she tried, she immediately shut them. It was as if her eyes had dilated completely.

Swallowing, she noted that her throat was dry—chapped, even—from lack of sufficient fluids, with her breathing somewhat shallow and strained. Inhaling deeply, she tugged at the cold, metal shackles around her wrists that held her from the ceiling. They were still as unyielding as they had been three days ago.

Three days. She'd been here—trapped with a madman—for three whole days.

Raising her head ever so slightly, she tried once more to open her eyes. The room—designed to strip a person of all magic and curses—looked as it had the day she'd been strung up like a slab of meat. It was a small room that looked like something of a bunker. There was a small bed off to the side of the room with a door that led to a tiny bathroom.

There were no windows, so she wasn't aware of what time it actually was. She only knew it had been three days because he had told her so.

Mavis jolted when the door to the room suddenly opened, revealing the man who'd made her his captive. Mavis attempted a glare, but her face was so numb, her body so weak, that an expression of any kind hardly came across her face.

"Good afternoon, Mavis," said Zeref calmly, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He approached the blonde and stroked her cheek. "I've missed you."

If she'd had enough saliva in her mouth, Mavis would have spit on him. But even if she did, she wouldn't have had the energy to do so.

"You know, it's not very nice to be rude to your host," Zeref said coldly, squeezing the blonde's face roughly as he yanked her forward. "I said…good afternoon, Mavis."

"Good…afternoon," she replied huskily. It was better to respond and appease him before he did something the blonde would really regret.

"Much better," stated Zeref, a smile appearing on his face. But then a sad look came into his eyes. "I love you."

"I…despise…you," Mavis ground out with as much malice as she could muster. "Let me go…please."

"I can't do that. You know that," Zeref said hurriedly. "You have to stay here. You're mine. No one else can have you."

Zeref pushed Mavis up against the wall and began stroking the blonde's cheek again. "I love you," he repeated. "Say it."

"No."

"I said say it."

"…no." She would do anything to appease him…except that.

"I said say it!" Zeref snapped, slapping Mavis across the face. However, he immediately began stroking her face again. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. See what you made me do? I'm sorry."

Mavis jerked when Zeref kissed the mark that was already beginning to bruise on her face. When Zeref pulled away, he smiled again. "I love you. Shall we have dinner?"

Zeref didn't wait for a response. Instead he just wandered over to a cabinet on the far side of the room and opened it. Reaching inside, he grabbed a jar of some sort, twisted the lid off, and grabbed a fork.

Walking back over to the blonde, Zeref poked at something in the jar with the fork and lifted the item to Mavis's face. "Peaches. They're my favorite. Eat it," he demanded softly.

Believing that Zeref would stab her with the fork if she refused, she reluctantly opened her mouth. As soon as she did so, the sickly sweet fruit was shoved into her mouth, the juices already turning her stomach. She had to force herself to swallow it. And although she hated the taste, it seemed to revive her somewhat.

Zeref smiled again. "Good. Another."

Repeating the process until the jar was empty, Zeref set the jar and fork down and approached Mavis, this time coming a bit closer. "I love the taste of peaches. You always smell like them," he said, inhaling the blonde's scent. "It's another reason why I love you so much. But I wonder…"

Mavis braced himself.

"Do you taste like them, too?" he asked, his face hovering in front of the blonde's. Yanking Mavis's head toward his, he licked the blonde's lips, forcing his tongue past them and into her mouth.

The sudden kiss shocked Mavis so much that she didn't know how to respond. But even when her senses came back to her, she reluctantly let Zeref have his way. Things might get worse if she didn't comply. And she was too weak to fight back.

Gradually, Zeref pulled away, still smiling. "You do taste like them," he sighed.

Mavis wanted to throw up, but all she could do was cry. The tears already began forming in her eyes, and when one escaped, Zeref came back to her.

He rubbed the tear away with his thumb. "It's okay," he said as soothingly as he could. "I love you. That's all that matters."

Wrapping his arms around the blonde, Zeref attempted a hug, but even he knew he was failing at that—and miserably. "I have to go now, Mavis. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

And with that, Zeref left.

The sobs finally wracked Mavis's body, but it wasn't like anyone would be able to hear her. She'd found that out on day one. The room was underneath Tenrou Island's tree…and it was soundproof.

Two days.

It had been two days since Zeref had last come to see her. And she'd known as soon as Zeref walked through the door that things would end badly. He looked angry…distraught…and frantic.

But Mavis didn't care. She was too weak, too lethargic. It took everything she had just to stay conscious.

When Zeref finally came up to her, however, he stared at hiherm coldly. "You smell," he spat.

Mavis barely knew what happened next. One moment she was hanging from the ceiling by her arms, and the next she'd been stripped naked. But there was another difference; her arms were free. But she didn't have the strength to move them.

"Let's clean you up," said Zeref in a soft voice as he carried the limp blonde into the bathroom. Placing Mavis in the empty tub, Zeref soon discarded his clothes and stepped into the tub as well, and began filling it with water.

"No," the blonde whispered tiredly as Zeref began washing her.

"I need to make you—us—clean. We need to be clean."

As Zeref continued to ramble, Mavis tried to put the pieces together. What was she missing?

"All done," blurted Zeref, drawing the blonde from her thoughts.

Hearing the water begin running down the drain, Mavis felt herself being lifted again, her feverish flesh scalding Zeref's cold form. When they reentered the main room, the blonde fully expected to be chained up again. But she'd been placed on the bed instead.

With the pillow neatly tucked under her head, Zeref began stroking her hair. "I have bad news…very bad news."

A choked sob escaped Zeref. Mavis had never seen him like this before.

"Natsu's gone. He's gone. He left me. So much blood…everywhere!" he cried.

Natsu…was gone? Did that mean he was dead?

"I'm all alone now," said Zeref as he laughed hollowly. "No. Not alone. You're with me. Always with me."

Mavis watched as Zeref got up and started pacing, growing more and more hysterical by the minute.

"I can't do this. I can't do this. Gone. Everything's gone," Zeref ranted as he yanked on his hair.

And suddenly…he just stopped. Turning his head, his cold eyes bore holes into Mavis's. He approached the bed and kneeled next to it. "I know what to do now. And we'll be together forever, Mavis."

The blonde's eyes widened in fear when he laughed again, but he soon grew serious.

"Let's die together," stated Zeref as he ran his fingers through Mavis's hair. He leaned down and kissed the blonde on the lips, not even noticing as Mavis tried to pull away. "I'll be right back."

Mavis tried to clench the blankets beneath her in her hands as soon as Zeref left. She tried to pull herself upright on the bed in order to attempt making an escape, but she was just too weak. The blonde collapsed on the bed, her heart pounding two times too fast.

And then Zeref returned, a small knife in his hand, and the happiest expression Mavis had ever seen on his face. Fear consumed the blonde as Zeref made his way to the bed.

"This will be really quick. We'll just fade away…together. Doesn't that sound pleasant?" stated Zeref.

"Please…don't do this," Mavis begged. But maybe…if she did what she adamantly refused to do, Zeref would reconsider. "I-I…love you."

Zeref paused, staring at her as if it were the first time he'd ever seen her. "What?"

"I love you…Zeref," repeated the blonde. Please work, she thought.

Zeref smiled sweetly at her. He knelt next to Mavis on the bed again and took her hand in his. "I love you, too, Mavis. That's why I have to do this."

The blonde gave a silent scream as Zeref dug the tip of the knife on the underside of her wrist and dragged it down her arm, blood immediately dispersing from it.

Feeling Zeref climb onto the bed and lay behind her, she didn't realize Zeref had slit his own wrist until his arm wrapped around her waist. Mavis could feel Zeref's blood flowing down her skin and soaking into the blankets beneath them.

"No," the blonde gasped, feeling her vision dim as her heart gradually began to slow.

"I…love you…Mavis," Zeref whispered.

Those were the final words the both of them would ever hear.

End