AN: Hello! This is my first fanfiction and I'm rather excited for this! It's is a little confusing at first, so I'm going to explain a few things beforehand. Each chapter is divided into three sections: Hope, Despair, and Memoirs. Hope and Despair is the main story, set by two different points of view. Memoirs is a series of segments that provide some depth into the events that happened before the events of the story, in other words, how the world got destroyed. And just so you know, the identity of the speakers in Hope is kept a mystery on purpose. Despair's speakers are pretty obvious and if you don't know, it would be revealed next chapter anyways.

Hope: x798 ?

Even now I can hear them. The voices of those I have sinned against as well as those who are damned by my hand. Seven years couldn't have done this under normal circumstances. It was my own fault, or rather, my own existence, that caused this catastrophe. But could I have done to help the situation? Nothing truly alive exists now. The second apocalypse that shouldn't have happened came to be and the one and only black mage stood in front of me.

He spoke to me. I wanted to blame him, ridicule him, and maybe even murder him, but I can't. Not only am I too weak for task like that, not that like to admit it, but he is currently my only hope. It's strange, really, because I don't even hate him. In fact, you could even say I love him. Completely illogical and twisted indeed, I don't think I can even understand myself either. I reach out for his hand.

His hand is surprisingly gentle. You wouldn't even suspect that he was the one who nearly exterminated humanity 400 years ago. He whispers to my ear even though there is no one to hear. It is almost as if what he tells me is a secret to the gods themselves. What is it that he told me? I... can't really say. All I know is that I have never...happier than… moment…. The thing is...wait...no...I...

Hmm…? Oh, hey. You awake now? I guess that is expected for you to be so tired. For being in that state for so long, I can't blame anyone but myself. Hey, do you remember me? Do you have amnesia? Hmm…that's a shame. There is too much to explain right now and we are running out of time. Follow me; I'll try to explain as much as I can.

Can you speak? No? Or is because I can't hear you? You'll have to speak up a bit more, okay? Huh? Oh, that is right. That is the mark of the independent guild, Crime Sorcerie. I am not a member but a good friend of mine is a member of that group. That person is actually you, which is why that mark is also on your body. Do you know what a guild is? It is where people unite as a group to do tasks for a reward, although it is much more than that depending how you look at it. I could tell you right now, but I think that it'll be better if you see it yourself. Maybe you'll remember me that way.

I hope you aren't too uncomfortable with our surroundings, but this is what it looks like in most parts of the world anyways, so you'll have no choice but to get used with it. I'm sorry. What's that? Black mage? How much do you know? Who…. Never mind, it is more important that you'll get your memories back. There is no hope left in this world, so we'll we're going somewhere else for the time being.

Oh yeah, I should tell you my name first. My name is...

Despair: x798 Outskirts of Magnolia

A young man stands at the former flourishing plains of his beloved town. Worn and tired, his right hand presses against his forehead and pushes back the sweat towards his hairline. Nearby his current position are the remnants of his house, blackened and incinerated. Just now, he was trying to communicate with a survivor that is residing some place far away via mini communication lacrima. Somehow, the device was destroyed on the other side, so there is no way to contact them again. The man felt another wave of despair. For all this time, he managed to finally track one person to listen to him by pressing buttons on this "fancy piece of technology". He is far from an expert at this stuff, but after its mass production, he is quite aware the majority of the people living in Fiore have this and understanding its functions is like an unspoken requirement for young people. He won't need it now though. The last shred magic from the lacrima has already been spent.

The man is not quite sure what to do. Unlike some people he knew, he doesn't know how to calculate the direction the ethernano feedback waves were once coming from. It is not like it has an odor in this form anyways. He goes back to his remaining food supply located on the backside of the ruins.

The man reminisces of the past, where both chaos and order existed. The year, X777, he realized, was a more significant importance than he thought before for it expands further than the edges of the universe. Through days and nights, the truth of what happened 400 years ago seemed to get further and further away. He reaches for it until his arms were strained and broken. Once he did, he remembered that he had already destroyed it himself

He looks into the laying beast. Here lies the corpse of the former Dragon King. Unfortunately, the man was unable to kill him himself, despite the promise he made a long time ago. The pitiful state was a result of this currently broken reality. After what he did, God couldn't let him live any longer. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is in fact, the truth. He supposes that even the mighty Acnologia couldn't survive that incident. It is not like he had any say in the matter or would've fared any better. He supposes that the dragon's luck had already eroded away with time along with the human generations. It not like he didn't deserve it, but it is also true that his death led to more consequences than benefits.

Another person approaches. Dressed in black, he stumbles a bit on his way to the other. His black hair is matted hair is in worse shape than ever and dark shadows are resting on the underside of his vision. The black mage can feel his deprived throat and the depravity coming up into his mind, but even now, he felt the nerve to even try to stop it. He rests right next to the other, who also happens to be his brother. His body was cold right next to the other's shoulder, which was both comforting and unsettling for the two. At least they know that someone is there. The young boy and the ancient darkness stood in place right next to each other.

How they wished for this world to come to be! The once brash young man asked Death the reason they live now. The survivors will die. The dead will fade away. The failures enveloped the world until there is nothing but a void and two choices. One is to stay. Another is to go. After the fourteen days of solitude and unfulfilled promises, the answer was obvious.

An encroaching crack in space is spreading into the nearby forest. Seeing these has become quite common nowadays, but their presence is nearly impossible to adapt to. Stretching from Mt. Hakobe to the town of Clover, this crack is the largest the two men have seen so far. Although these cracks do not do anything directly towards humans, they are the most obvious proof that reality is breaking. There were incidents where people have fallen in comas after the Apocalypse happened even though they were nowhere near the incident. They are not going to come back. Within the young man, who is practically Entropy itself, there is a strange sense of nervousness lingering in his heart, even though he'll certainly die if he stays. The other, Death, has lost any reason to even care anymore for he has already lost everything centuries ago.

The inside of the crack is something that is rather difficult to describe because it's different for every person. Some say that there is a mystical land with a strong ethernano concentration along with lively, animated creatures running across the forest. Others say that there is a city full of wondrous machines beyond the imagination of our kind. For the two men, there is nothing. It was not a dark void concealing the other side, but a blank slate waiting for change. Some have already crossed it and there is no guarantee for their safety, but what else can they do? There are not enough resources or the two to use an alternative method anyways. While holding hands, the white light envelops them as they run towards the new world. They will soon realize that there was nothing truly waiting for them at all except the same boundless despair.

Memoirs

Natsu...it was never your fault. Or at least, that is what I want to say. In reality, everything that led up to that point was caused by every single person that was involved in one way or another. I remember wishing for the end of humanity, so expected to feel some sort of joy from that, but I don't feel anything, not even sadness or guilt.

Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever having a true motive as to why I wanted that in the first place. Yes, I was inflicted by the Curse of Contradiction, but is that really an excuse? After all, my thoughts are my own at the end. What does it mean to genuinely hate life? Is it even possible to force yourself to even do that? Even if there are evil humans out there, there are still good people I wish to help, like...

I can imagine you face now. Angry, sad, happy; I remember them all. The fact you look so alive at that moment made me feel a tinge of jealousy. I want to be like you, surrounded with friends and family. People who love me and I love in return...they aren't allowed to be alive. I don't want to hate you, but I do. That's why I wanted you to be destroyed. I want to throw away the reason why I ended up with this fate- this life.

But there is always that part of me that nags me- the one that refuses to kill you. That person, your real brother, unconditionally loves you. He knows that your death won't solve anything, just like any other death. Or at least, that is what I believe in. I prefer to believe in something than know something nowadays. At least I can experience a little uncertainty for once. I feel more human when I do.

I must finish up this entry now. The preparations are almost complete and my presence is needed. I wait for the day you read these memoirs.

-Zeref Dragneel