Hello all, here is the next chapter to The Game of Life, sorry for the delay, was figuring out how to fill the plot holes in this story. Anyways, this chapter was actually written based on my displeasure of the original chapter. In all honestly I felt that the romance (if you could call it that) between Mavis and Zeref was rushed and just looked bad over all. If it was developed a bit more I probably could have liked the pairing that it was trying to establish (I think...) but right now I just dislike the over all development.
Anyways don't want to go into a rant, this story will have some characters from Touhou and maybe Kantai Collection (I've been getting into it recently) though these characters will only be side characters and will not play major roles so you will only see them on the sidelines; unless you guys want to see more of these characters I might make a poll to see who you guys want to play more of a major role. Anyways enjoy!
It has been about ten years since Mavis agreed to play Natsu's game of conquest and a lot has happened, nothing related to the game however much to Natsu's displeasure. In the recent years the Fairy Tail Guild has grown significantly with their reputation increasing. Everything was going well, over time Mavis had managed to earn the name Fairy Tactician for her brilliant leadership on the battlefield; and much to everyone's excitement Yury had announced that he and his wife Rita were going to have a child. However her encounter with Zeref again has caused everything to go downhill. What did it mean to cherish life? Mavis no longer knew, her curse, her fears, the warning Zeref gave her, they were slowly becoming reality; the people around her, she could see it, they were all dying. Mavis isolated herself from civilization, living in the woods away from any living thing.
Natsu sighed hiding his presence, he was leaning against a tree not far from where Mavis sat; he was wondering why Mavis had not responded to any of the calls to start their game, he glared forward at the man walking towards him,
"You broke her Zeref" he said,
"Is that how you greet me now?" the dark mage asked coming into view, his face was stoic as usual, though when he looked at Natsu a small smile formed on his lips,
"Wasn't really a greeting, more like a statement" Natsu replied, his glare still ever present, "what did you do to her" Zeref didn't paused,
"I showed her the value of life" was his response; Natsu let out a heavy sigh rubbing his temples, that explained a lot. He knew the moment he met her that she possessed the same curse as Zeref, but chose not to say anything, learning the true meaning behind the curse would no doubt rip her reality apart, and he was right,
"So what exactly are you trying to pull" he asked his brother,
"Nothing that would concern you Natsu"
"I disagree" Zeref got a good look at Natsu, and for the first time since he resurrected him he saw determination in his eyes,
"What is she to you?" he asked Natsu who could only smirk in response,
"She is my possession, or will be my possession" Zeref didn't know how to respond, Natsu continued, "She and I are playing a game, a game of conquest you see; and I won't be able to play this game if she were to die" Zeref shook his head,
"When will you stop it with these useless games and finally fulfill your purpose" Natsu rolled his eyes,
"My purpose? The only purpose I have is something I reject"
"It is not something you can merely reject Natsu" Zeref exclaimed, "you must be the one to kill me, end my existence"
"I won't kill you Zeref, at least not yet" eyes narrowed Zeref grabbed Natsu by the collar,
"Why? Why won't you do it?" Natsu slapped his brother's hand away,
"Because it won't be fun" Zeref stepped away astounded, Natsu continued, "what fun will I have if the source of the worlds entertainment were to die right now? Besides your plan to destroy humanity is truly fascinating, I can't wait to see where you go from there" Zeref gritted his teeth with a mixture of anger and frustration,
"Don't you understand! That is precisely why you must kill me; to stop me from killing any more people" Natsu's grin disappeared and was replaced with a frown,
"And there you go again, why don't you learn to control that curse of yours and stop your wining"
"This curse is not something that should be controlled!" Natsu sighed,
"There is no point in trying to argue then" he then proceeded to look sternly at Zeref, "I'm going to warn you once and only once; stay away from Mavis" Zeref stared back not at all intimidated,
"And what? You will kill me?" he responded, Natsu chuckled shaking his head,
"Of course not" Natsu's eyes turned sadistic as he stepped closer to Zeref, "There are fates far worse than death after all" Zeref narrowed his eyes turning away knowing full well that Natsu could back up his threat; "ba bye!" Natsu called out in a sing song voice to Zeref's disappearing body. Natsu glanced back at Mavis' sitting form, he smirked, a plan forming; it was only a matter of time before she would become his. He pushed himself off the tree and made his way towards Mavis,
"So this is where you've been" he voiced his presence, Mavis looked up, her eyes were completely blank, "You haven't been answering my calls, I was beginning to feel ignored" Mavis didn't say anything but looked blankly at Natsu before looking back down at the ground. Natsu raised a brow folding his arms, before he heard a growl come from the girl,
"Ah! You must be hungry"
"I haven't eaten in over a year" she muttered, Natsu sighed shaking his head with bemused disapproval,
"That isn't good, you must take care of your body even if you are an immortal" he said, Mavis didn't say anything but she suddenly felt herself get lifted off the ground,
"Wh-what are you doing!" she cried out, Natsu flung her over his shoulder and began walking off,
"To go get something to eat, it is lunch you know, and I know this really good food stall"
"I can't! If I'm anywhere near civilization, people-" she was cut off,
"Yeah, yeah, people will die, Ankherseram's Curse, I know, you're acting just like Zeref and I don't like that" Mavis stopped flailing and looked to Natsu,
"You know Zeref?"
"my big bro, don't we look alike?" though she couldn't see it, Natsu flashed her a toothy grin,
"no, no you don't actually" was her response,
"oh? I've been told we could pass of as twins; but then again asking the blind guy back at home probably wasn't the best idea" Mavis let out a soft giggle,
"there you go, you laughed. Now isn't that better than being gloomy all the time" Mavis remained quite but her eyes looked to the back of Natsu's head,
"you say you two are brothers, but you are a demon and he is...human?" honestly Mavis didn't know what Zeref was anymore, in fact she didn't even know what she was anymore, could she call herself a human? Or was she a monster,
"when I was a child I died due to an illness" he started explaining, "my brother desperate to bring me back to life committed a taboo"
"taboo?" she asked,
"he cheated death, and in doing so cursed himself" Natsu chuckled to himself, "wanting to rid himself of this curse, he altered my existence and had given me the purpose to kill him; to do this he needed to create something that far exceeded any living being, he had to turn me into a demon"
"do you want to kill your brother?" she asked, this caused Natsu to burst out laughing,
"I don't, but all for the wrong reasons" Mavis decided not to pry into the subject, she did however have a good idea on his reason, just basing it on the type of character he was. There was a sudden aroma in the air, it smelled like eels? Natsu placed Mavis onto the ground; the girl looked to the source of the smell, there was a small food stall in the middle of the forest, Mavis' stomach growled once more,
"come on, let's get you fed" Natsu said, Mavis looked warily to him,
"why are you helping me?" she asked, Natsu grinned,
"From the kindness of my heart" Mavis' eyes narrowed at his answer, she highly doubted that. She looked away, but despite his reason, she still appreciated the gesture. She followed him closely towards the stall,
"Master!" a female voice called from the cart,
"Good to see you Mystia, I'll have two orders of grilled lampreys" Natsu responded,
"Coming right up!" the voice sounded, Mavis sat down next to Natsu and got a look at the girl behind the counter, she had a slim petite build and had pink hair that went to her shoulders, the most notable feature though were the pair of bird like wings that sprouted from her back,
"I'd like to introduce you to Mystia Lorelei, she is a night sparrow demon" the girl turned to Mavis and gave her a bright smile,
"It is nice to meet you" she said, Mavis gave her a short bow,
"Likewise; my name is Mavis Vermillion" she responded,
"What would you like to eat?" the night sparrow asked, Mavis was startled and did not know how to answer, she quickly looked to Natsu,
"I'll have what he's having" she answered, Mystia nodded turning around and getting back to her cooking. Mavis' appetite only grew as the smell of food intensified, the night sparrow turned around and placed two plates in front of them,
"Enjoy!" she chirped with a smile. Natsu without hesitation started digging into his food,
"Mystia's food is still the best around" he praised, the girl blushed with embarrassment,
"No, no, I still have much to learn"
"Ah, no need to be modest, it's the truth!" as the two spoke, Mavis stared at the food in front of her carefully, she felt her stomach growl once more before she caved and picked up a stick of grilled lamprey and bit into it;
"It's delicious" she whispered,
"Ms Vermillion, are you Master's friend?" Mystia asked, Natsu however was the one to answer,
"Indeed she is, the last time we met was a couple years back; so you could say this is a celebration for our reunion" Mystia clasped her hands,
"Wow! I'm honored that you would celebrate such an occasion here" Natsu laughed,
"Like I said, Mystia's food is the best" Mavis glanced between the two,
"Master?" she repeated to Natsu,
"Oh that's right I never told you did I" he responded, "I created a guild; it is called Tartaros, a guild of demons" Mavis' eyes widened,
"Demon's? Don't tell me you created a dark guild!" she cried out, Natsu raised a brow,
"Dark Guild? What's that?"
"A Dark Guild, is a guild that is not officially recognized by the magic council, they are treated as criminal organizations" Natsu shrugged, while Mystia gasped out,
"That doesn't sound good" she said turning to Natsu, "Master have you consulted the magic council about our guild?" Natsu waved her off,
"Of course not" he let out a chuckle, "do you really think the council would approve of us demons having a guild?"
"I suppose not" Mystia replied but she was obviously still a little worried,
"Don't worry Mystia, I will make sure the council won't bother us" Natsu reassured,
"If it's the Master then it is reassuring" she replied. During the two demon's exchanging words, Mavis sat in silence letting out a sad smile, she felt bad for them, she knew Natsu was right about the council, they would no doubt reject the existence of a guild of demons; and it warmed her heart knowing that they would stay together to fight against the odds. Mavis' eyes widened, she felt a sudden pulse stir within her,
"No..." she whispered, she knew what was about to come, Natsu's gaze turned to the girl, "run!" Mavis cried out as she stood up in panic. Mystia was a little surprised as she took a step towards Mavis,
"What's the matter Ms Vermillion?" she asked concerned, Mavis backed away, fear overtaking her features, she continued to back away but tripped as a rippled of black energy pulsated from Mavis. Seconds passed and Mavis opened her eyes, tears already seeping out of eyes; but much to her surprise both Natsu and Mystia were completely unharmed, granted all the trees around them had withered away and Mystia's food cart had decayed but the two were fine,
"H-how?" Mavis asked,
"I nullified it" Natsu responded, "I have a curse of my own, the curse of absolute destruction"
"That still doesn't explain how you stopped my curse" Mavis whispered,
"I would think that it explains it rather well" was his smug response, "let me put it this way, I have the ability to destroy anything and everything" Mavis sat completely stunned. Natsu stood up from his seat and approached the girl,
"Tell me; if I told you that I could teach you to control that power what would you do?"
"What do you mean?" Mavis whispered, Natsu knelt down,
"I can teach you to control that curse, don't let it become a weakness, let it become your strength" Mavis sat letting his words sink in, to be able to control this curse, to be able to walk amongst her friends once more, she would do anything to achieve that. She looked up into Natsu's eyes,
"Yes" she cried out, tears streaming down, "please... I don't want to kill anymore" Natsu smiled at her response,
"Good, that's what I like to hear" he turned to Mystia, "are you alright?" Mystia raised both her hands, shaking her head,
"I'm alright, but what about Ms Vermillion" Natsu turned to Mavis' crying form,
"She'll be alright, however I do want you to do me a favor" Mysstia nodded, "I want you to return back to the guild and send both Mard Geer and Wendy to find me at the usual place" Mystia nodded before turning and flying off. Natsu watched the Night Sparrow disappear into the distance before turning his attention back to Mavis,
"Come now, no more crying" he said, Mavis wiped her tears away and stood up,
"I-I just didn't think that there was a way to control it" she whispered, her mood brightening a little bit,
"To put it simply, to control the curse it to be able to once again control your body, in both spirit and mind" Natsu started explaining,
"What do you mean?" she asked,
"The curse has made its own entity inside your body, it wants to fight for control, it is your job to fight back and take control of it" Mavis looked at her hands in fear unsure as to what to do,
"Sounds easy enough right?" Natsu encouraged, but that didn't encourage Mavis one bit, in fact it made her start to doubt if this training would even work, "anyways" Natsu smirked causing Mavis to worry, "I think this will be a good opportunity to start our game"
"Game?" she asked,
"That's right" he pointed to her "you will be the first target, will you be able to maintain your humanity? Or will you fall and turn to becoming a demon?" Mavis' eyes widened, of course, how could she forget, she was still playing Natsu's sick game,
"This was all part of your plan isn't it" she stated, Natsu shrugged,
"Who knows, but you had better prepare yourself Mavis, for the game has now begun" Mavis glared at him clenching her fists, "anyways, follow me, it's time to begin your training"
"But I thought..." Natsu raised a brow,
"What? I told you I would help you control that curse, I intend to do so, while at the same time we play our game, sounds exciting doesn't it" he didn't wait for Mavis to respond as he started to make his way north towards the mountains. Mavis paused, weighing her options before taking a deep breath and followed him closely.
