DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS GO TO HIRO MASHIMA. Please do not use any of my original characters without my consent. Thank you.
A/N: Hello, and welcome to The Fire Within! This story has been undergoing some intense renovation, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.
I kindly ask you to send in feedback for the rewritten version, or if you haven't read it before then just leave anything you'd like. Fair criticism is openly welcome in this story, and hopefully I will be able to improve after reading your thoughts on it.
Warnings
*There is no severe swearing in this story.
*There is no severe romance in this story (holy shounen).
*Pairings have been changed, but will not be revealed.
*This is my continuation of the canon after the Grimoire Heart Arc, and is in no way involved with the canon storyline thereafter.
*Prologue is short.
The Fire Within
Prologue
Have you ever thought—even just for a moment—that there might be another world out there? Perhaps, a world filled with… magic?
Where magic is traded like a commodity on a daily basis, and is used in the lives of the world's people?
Indeed, there is such a world; it is a peaceful world, and a wonderful place to live. Every day is like an adventure with discoveries to be made, and it is filled with endless possibilities. There are mild struggles from time-to-time, but they are nothing so terrible that they cannot be mended with a few simple words.
However, it was not always so.
Long ago, there was strife, horror, and despair. The world—Earthland—was dark, and the people were seemingly dead to the world. A great evil rose from the depths of the people's hearts, casting them further and further into the darkness they already possessed.
His name was Zeref—a human mage who had mastered all forces of dark magic. From the ground he rose thousands of demons, single-handedly plunging the world into chaos.
Legions of soldiers, mages, and different races challenged Zeref, hoping to restore the world to its former state. The Fiorian king led the four main forces into battle, hopeful that they would be capable of defeating the great evil.
Despite all of their effort, they faced a crushing defeat.
In a desperate last attempt, a mighty templar—with the aid of a fellow mage—released all of his magical power to cast one final spell, and sealed away the great evil. However, his partner had been lost in the process and many other soldiers had fallen as a price.
For a time, Earthland was peaceful and prospered once again. The land slowly began to recover from the pain that had been inflicted upon it, and many new towns were built—Hargeon, Oak Town, and Magnolia are three of these settlements.
But over time, the humans lost gratitude for all that the olden warriors had done for them, and eventually the great battle became a part of lost history—a Great Blank. The humans became consumed by greed, seeking power and wealth, hurting others if it was necessary.
Sensing the darkness in their hearts, Zeref was released from his seal, called forth by the dark magic he possessed that hungered for the impure hearts of the humans. He roamed the land in a slumbering state, still fully aware of his past actions, yet bearing no ill will in his cleansed heart.
Many seek to acquire Zeref's power, yet Zeref himself did not wish to cause any more conflict or strife. The black mage wished for nothing more than a peaceful era, and for people to continue living happily as they did.
Unable to control the black magic he wielded, Zeref attempted to isolate himself from all civilization by seeking refuge on Tenrou Island.
However, he was found by that which he wanted to avoid—a mage who sought the Magic of One. Zeref knew that such a thing could not be allowed to exist in this world, and so, out of concern for the rest of the human populace, caused the mage and his allies to vanish from the earth.
Zeref did not attempt to explain his reasons for doing this, for he knew that he was the source of all hate and bitterness in the world.
His resolve was to make the humans focus all their hate unto him, so when he was killed the endless cycle of hate would end at last.
He would atone for his sins with his own death.
But there was a flaw to his plan—something he had considered for years; What if the hero of his plot did not possess enough power to end his life? How long could he run away from the world before he would be able to?
When Zeref met the hero at long last, he was shown that his worries had proven to be true; the boy was unable to cause even a scratch upon his cheek.
He was not ready to kill him.
And so, Zeref was forced to continue to wander the earth, waiting for the day his life would end. To this very day, he waits, hoping that death will come to him soon.
"You're not ready yet, Natsu…" Zeref leaned against the trunk of a bristly old oak and looked up at the cloudy sky he knew all too well. "I had hoped you would be capable of erasing my existence, but it seems you haven't acquired it yet…."
He ran his fingers through the shriveled blades of dry grass at his side—lifeless and unpleasant to the touch. "Natsu, the day you are able to defeat me… It will be the day you find the Fire Within."