The Yook of Zeref: Big Dango Breakup

Chapter One: Split

Tomoya Okasaki. In the main universe, you were in love with and married Nagisa. But before arriving back there, after the nightmarish ending for you, and going to the world of Ushio's dreams with all the orbs of light, you had to pass through several other worlds.

One in which you were in love with student council president, Tomoyo, whose dream was to save the cherry trees her brother had seen value in.

In another Kyou was in love with you, and you fell hard for her as well, but were dating her sister Ryou who also liked you.

"Dango," is something Nagisa loves. Big Happy Family...you, Nagisa, Kyou, Ryou, Kotomi, Tomoyo, and Sinohara comprised this, but also Nagisa's parents, your daughter Ushio, Fuko, the girl who despite being an adult will always look like a high school freshman, Fuko's sister and her husband, the girl from the second library at your high school whose brother was a leader of a gang, Sinohara's little sister, and even Misae, and her cat. All of ya'll can be said to one big happy family.

Well guess what? I, Lord Zeref, wish to break apart this big happy family. I shall leave Nagisa and Ushio behind in your world. Ryou and Fuko's sister and husband shall go to the universe of Death Notes. Sinohara and his little sister are being sent to Jagdash with the girl from the second library.

Tomoyo I will trap in a prison in the universe I'm sending the rest of you lot too. She will suffer greatly, and only you will be able to save her.

Everyone else will be in the kingdom of Fiore. I will not tell you anything about this land, you'll have to figure it out on your own.

And before you ask what my goal is, I shall tell you: I simply wish to break you apart from Nagisa, and to see your entire big happy family crumble. Despite my value of life, I am poisonous to it. I actually was responsible for Nagisa and Ushio dying in the first world. And I'm proud of that, haha!

Oh yeah, Fuko herself. Leaving her with Ushio wouldn't be wise, but keeping her with you lot wouldn't be either. So Fuko is going to...a world where they have creatures known as Pokemon. Only telling you this because you would be foolish to search for her in Fiore. And so, with that information given, I allow you to arise.

Tomoya awoke from a nighmare and found himself on a cobbled street. His head felt like it had cracked open.

And then someone slammed into him. He looked down to see Nagisa there. "Nagisa," he said, shaking his head. "I just had this odd dream..."

"So I really do look like Nagisa?"

"Um, yes? Why wouldn't you?'

Then he saw the girl he loved transform into Kotomi.

"I must still be dreaming," he said. "I'll lie down."

"No, we're in a street," Kotomi said. "And you're awake. I can pinch you to prove it, but that wouldn't be very nice."

"If this is real, how did you look like Nagisa?" Tomoya asked, scratching his temple.

"Well, I woke up in a library here, and a book fell open before me. It spoke about transformation magic. I read it in fifteen minutes, and then practiced the spell, and then went around to see if I looked like Nagisa. But I found myself in this strange place. Then I ran into you."

"This doesn't look familiar at all," Tomoya agreed. "But wait a minute, what do you mean 'transformation magic'? That sounds like something Yukine would read."

"I don't know, it seems like this world is full of magic rather than science," Kotomi said. "I'm not sure how to explain my means for arriving at that conclusion, but that's what I make of all this."

"Magic rather than science? Have you been reading novels lately, by any chance?"

"Well there was this great book called Whispers in the Dark, about a girl who finds an underground lair full of gnomes and has to fight a bad man. But it's a great story, you know?"

Tomoya was only half-listening. Instead he was gazing about at the surroundings. Why did this place look sort of old-fashioned in how the roads were formed and people dressed?

"Excuse me, you two, but you look a little lost," said a short, bald-headed man.

"We might be," Tomoya said. "I don't recognize this street."

"Well, to where are you headed?"

"I doubt that where we'd like to go is near here by any means," Tomoya said.

"Well surely you could use a bite to eat? I own a restaurant just over on the next street. I can whip the pair of you up something."

"Thanks," Tomoya said. "But I'm not sure if I have any money."

"I have some!" Kotomi said brightly. She pulled out some jewel coins and laid them in Tomoya's hands.

"Kotomi, where did you get these?" Tomoya asked, afraid she might've resorted to thievery.

"I played the violin for some people, and they liked the sound of it so much that they gave me that," she replied.

"But Kotomi..." The last time she played the violin, it was horrific to people's ears. Surely she hadn't mastered it in such a short time?

"Oh, I think I forgot to mention. After reading up on transformation magic, I found a book on being able to play musical instruments instantly. So while looking like Nagisa I played that violin and it was as professional as Stradivarius I think."

"You've learned enhanced skill magic?" the old man asked, impressed."You remind me a bit of a fellow named Rufus from the Sabertooth Guild, at least in your abilities."

"I once saw a Japanese dub of an American cartoon with a naked mole rat named Rufus," Tomoya said. "Do pink naked mole rats practice magic here?"

"I dunno what you mean by pink naked mole rats," said the old man. "But your friend really does seem to ohave a knack for quick spell learning. Well, here we are."

He pointed out a restaurant, and they all went inside.

A girl with light brown hair and wearing glasses as well as an orange dress with white apron greeted them. "Welcome, I am Evergreen, your waitress," she said. She led Tomoya and Kotomi to a table.

Another guy wearing a mask so you couldn't see his hair and face was wiping a table. He also wore the orange suit, though not a dress of course. Tomoya figured it was the style of the restaurant.

Then he noticed in a far corner at a lone table, where a man with long green hair was chatting up with her, Tomoyo.

"One second," Tomoya said as he set the menu Evergreen had handed him down and waltzed toward the table. "Tomoyo, is that you?" he asked the girl when he arrived.

"Tomoyo?" she asked, sweetly. "No, my name is Kotori."

"What? You look so much like one of my friends. Is this transformation magic again?"

"No," said the green-haired man. "Kotori is not under any spell to mask her appearance. I'm more versed in script magic but I can tell when people are wearing a disguise."

"Ah," Tomoya said. "My friend and I are just learning about magic, sorry."

"I'm kind of a novice myself," Kotomi said. "Well for the last month I've felt lost. I remember being with a bunch of friends not long ago, and them all being taken from me somehow."

"i know the feeling," said the green-haired man. "Evergreen, Bickslow and I all used to be part of a very close guild. We still have each other but the guild has broken up. It gets sad when I start to think about it."

"I had eight friends. Exactly eight," Kotori said. "I can't recall their names on faces at the moment, but I know there were eight of them. That number sticks with me no matter what happens."

"Sounds like you had a sort of big dango family of your own," Tomoya said.

"Big dango family?"

"It's just something my wife likes," Tomoya said, shrugging. He pictured her as a waitress as she was before she got pregnant. So lovely she was and still is.

"You're married? To that blue-haired lass you entered with?" asked the green-haired man.

"Er, no, not to Kotomi," Tomoya said, gazing in her direction. "We actually got a little lost ourselves. My wife is somewhere else."

"Her name is Kotomi?" Kotori asked, wide eyed. "Please, you must introduce me to her! Our names are so similar?"

"Maybe the same muse smiled down on both your parents and hers when naming you, and that's how they arrived at names only one letter off," Tomoya said. "I have another friend like that with a similar name to mine."

But Kotori had gone into a state of spaceless staring for a moment.

"What is it?" Tomoya asked, giving her a slight shoulder nudge.

"Muse," Kotori said. "You said Muse."

"Yeah, I did. Is something wrong?"

Kotori shakes her a head. "For a second there, I thought I saw all their faces, smiling at me. I don't know why, but that word brings them to mind."

"Who's them? Your friends?"

"Yes."

Tomoya scratched the back of his head. "Maybe meeting Kotomi will cheer you up?"

"It might, sure, let's do it."

Kotori stood up but she stumbled. Tomoya helped her to her feet, but once more she fell.

"She was cursed I think," Freed said. "We may have to both hold her up to get her to your table."

"Cursed? You've got to be kidding me," Tomoya said.

The green-haired man steadied Kotori, and he and Tomoya started leading her toward the place where Kotomi sat.

"Curses are similar to magic but not similar at the same time," the green-haired man said. "I think the main demons who caused them are gone, but there might be a couple of demons not from the books of Zeref still at bay. And one of them inflicted a curse on Kotori that makes it impossible for her to walk on her own."

"What kind of curse?"

"One that puts part of my leg bone in a shadowy world outside my body," Kotori said. "At least that's how the demon described it. He said his name was Bask and that he came from the new Books of Zerek or whatever his name is."

"Zeref," the green-haired man said. He and Tomoya helped Kotori lower herself into the seat next to Kotomi. "It is super troubling to think that he made new books. It I were still in my guild..."

"There's no point in reminescing on old times, Freed," Evergreen said, coming over. "Fairy Tail is never getting back together."

"You and I both know that, but it was still the best part of our life, being in that guild."

"It was," Evergreen said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Such a great guild. And I miss Laxus."

"Don't we all," said the masked man, coming over. "However, Laxus said he's coming back. In just a few days."

"It will be wonderful to see him again," said the green-haired man.

"Will probably bring you as much joy as seeing the members of Muse will for me," Kotori said. Then she shook her head. "Why did I say 'members'?"

"Is it possible Muse was a guild?" Freed asked. "A small guild but even so."

"Maybe? I don't recall," said Kotori. "We were friends, I know. I remember one bright, smiling face sort of. I think she had orange hair. I wish I could think of her name."

"Maybe an eggwich will make you think of it," Evergreen said.

"Doesn't sound like something I'd eat, sorry," Kotori said. "Er, no offense. If she were here I wouldn't care really. I think she liked rice?"

"If you want rice, I can fetch that too," said Evergreen. "I was actually joking about the Eggwich."

"I'll take rice also," Kotomi said.

"It's funny," Kotori said. "We're almost twins in names. But didn't Tomoya here tell me that I resemble one of your other friends too, in appearnce?"

"Only slightly," Tomoya said. He told Evergreen he just wanted a cinnamon bun if they had that, and she swept off to discuss the orders with the chef. "She has long grey hair like you but the pair of you look different elsewise. I just woke up a little while ago with the feeling that something awful had happened to her, so when I saw you my mind probably played tricks on me. Just want to know that she's all right, you know?"

"I see," Kotori said. As Evergreen brought them drinks, her face brightened a little. "I used to wait tables, I think. Maybe my friends were all waitresses in the same restaurant? Or something? It felt like we did more than that though."

"What kind of magic do you use?" Kotomi asked.

"Way to change the subject," Tomoya said.

"I can't help it. I'm super curious about this world. I think it's different from where we come from. Can't explain how I know this."

"Where do you guys come from?" Freed asked. "Edolas?"

"What is Edolas?" Tomoya asked.

"It's a place with people like the ones here but different. they have no magic anymore but used to. The Thunder Legion hasn't seen it for ourselves, but we know of it from what our guildmates told us."

"I don't think we're from Edolas," Tomoya said. "Not to my knowledge, anyway, have never heard it called by that."

"Is there another universe with no magic then?"

Tomoya shrugged. "Kotomi knows more about that stuff than I do."

"I think there might be multiple universes, and this is a new one for us," Kotomi said.

"Yes but bumpickle," said the snarling voice of a man who had just entered the restaurant. Two men with what looked like bazookas followed him in and stood beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

"Is that the girl? You said her hair was light brown. Why is it grey now?"

"Zoiduss wanted her to appear as that other grey-haired chick but we forgot to put on the face-paint before letting her go."

One bazooka-holding man aimed his bazooka at the table where Tomoya and company sat. The other fired a green ball at Freed, and another volley at Bickslow.

"Now neither of you can use your powers," he sneered. "And these two don't have powers yet."

At that moment Kotomi transformed into Nagisa. The bearded man guffawed. "So she has transformation magic, big whoop."

Kotomi then pulled Kotori under the table. Tomoya stood up and punched the bearded man in the jaw.

"Sorry boy," he said, "but I have teeth of steel."

And he tossed tomoya onto a table and then raised a bronze key. "I call upon the noncelestial being Sarah and her thirteen sisters."

"Fourteen spirits with one key?" Freed asked, astonished, as a bunch of blond girls appeared sitting on Tomoya, only one with mousy brown hai

"They're real unlike the card magic of your former guildmate, who works for us now," the bearded man said, laughing. "Cana the sharpshooter, we call her."

"Cana can't work for you! You're lying."

But then a woman entered. She wore a green tank top but had on the same dark pants as the men, except a smaller size. She also wore an eye patch.

"Card magic, Kotori!" she shouted.

Then a white light shot out from under the table where Kotomi and Kotori were hiding, and Cana displayed her card, showing Kotori. She grinned. "Got what we came here for, boss."

"Cana, you're with Fairy Tail!" Freed exclaimed. "Stop this!"

"What's Fairy Tail?" Cana asked, confused. "I have always been a member of Twilight Ogre, ever since before I became a wizard. But then my guild was destroyed, and needing work I joined Rider's Meowfiss."

"Cana, don't tell them our guild name!" the bearded man said, putting his hand over her mouth. Then he shrugged. "Whatever. We got what we came here for."

He snapped his fingers and they all marched out. Only once the men had passed over the threshold did the fourteen girls rubbing their butts all over Tomoya's body hop to their feet and follow after.

The mousy-brown haired one was the last to leave. She winked at Tomoya before going, then gave him a look of pity. She then opened her mouth as if to say something, but one of the blondes reappeared, grabbed her hand, and took off with her.

Evergreen reentered carrying a platter of food. She looked around the restaurant and whistled. "What happened here?"

Then she noticed Bickslow and Freed restrained, set the platter ona table, and began ripping at the gunk holding them back.

Kotomi had shed her Nagisa appearance and approached Tomoya, still sprawled on the table.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Your friend, I think they took her."

"What do you mean, Kotomi? I wish I could have saved Kotori too, but we're not exactly friends yet."

"Um, Tomoya, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not Kotomi."

"What? Of course you are," he said, sitting up.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Kotomi used powerful transformation magic on me, I think. She even summoned a mirror to show me. Made me look like her, and her look like me. Which means...those bad peaople took off with Kotomi."

"Oh come on, Kotomi. That's a bit of a farfetched story, even for you."

"Tomoya, I'm Kotori. Member of the Muse guild or whatever it was. I had an orange-haired friend whose name I cannot remember.

"Kotomi sacrificed herself to keep me free."