Now, not so far away, hidden on the top of a hill just outside of Fairyville, a figure stood so very still. For while the fairies loved Christmas a lot, this figure on the hill certainly did not. Christmas had taken something precious from this boy. So, he'd take it right back, even if it meant he destroyed. His name was quite known, it made people frown and groan. His name brought both disgust and horror, it made people flinch. For all these people called him the Zrinch.
That was not his real name, but he went with it. His real name was Zeref, however nobody knew that anymore.
Zeref sighed, finally getting back from Fairyville. He had been very much opposed to going into town, but it wasn't like he had a choice. He had to get the supplies necessary to last him for a while. Zeref didn't like to visit the village. Not unless he had to. "Mavis, I'm home." Zeref said quietly, gently closing his front door behind him.
He lived in a cave of sorts, he supposed, but he'd added a door to keep out the cold. Mavis came bounding up to him, wagging her tail, green eyes overjoyed to see him. Zeref patted her on the head before storing all his food away in a small chest.
When he was done with that Zeref went to his desk and sat down. "I saw him today." He told Mavis. "I suppose he hasn't changed much… he didn't recognize me, but that's to be expected. It's hard to think that it's already been a year…" Zeref clenched his fists and glared at a singular dent in the wood of his desk.
Zeref had left his family one year ago, after his mother's death, simply unable to believe that such a thing could happen. At that time of year too. Christmas was supposed to be happy, but when Zeref thought about it, all he could feel was disgust.
Zeref sighed and opened one of his drawers where a pile of notebooks lay, perfectly stacked on top of each other. Grabbing the top and opening it, Zeref flipped to a blank page and stared at it blankly for a long while, unable to come up with any devious schemes. Most of his plans were never carried out, but Zeref very much enjoyed conspiring methods to make others miserable. It was a sick hobby, but Zeref wasn't about to deny himself pleasure.
"Why can't I think of anything. Normally, I'd have at least 10 ideas running through my head right now. Why can't I outline any of them?" Mavis didn't answer, curled up beside him, and closed her eyes. Zeref sometimes forgot that Mavis was only a dog and couldn't answer his questions. She was the only living thing he talked to, so he supposed it was only natural for him to ask a few questions once in a while.
So Zeref eventually ignored the notebook and all hopes of coming up with a plan and simply stared at the wall in front of him. Zeref didn't really have anything interesting going on in his life, he never really did. So, That was why Zeref never really left his cave. Nothing interesting ever happened.
Zeref wondered sometimes why he did this to himself. He could very easily go home. At this time of year, it was likely his family was to be even more accepting than they usually were. But, Zeref didn't want to go home. Despite having nothing to do, despite living his days in solitude, despite the fact that his best friend was a small yellow dog, Zeref was relatively happy. He was satisfied with the life he lived as some sort of hermit. Zeref had never been good with people, no one had ever shied from telling him what they thought. He found that most of the things people thought about him were not good things. He honestly didn't know why people disliked him. He knew he was socially awkward, but that couldn't be it, could it?
Contrary to what Zeref knew his family thought, Zeref had not left because he was heartbroken over his mother's death. He was heartbroken, and he despised Christmas because it signified life the week she died. But her death wasn't why he had left.
He'd left because he couldn't stand acting like everything was okay when it wasn't. He knew his family had moved on, like everything was alright when she was gone. That was what they always did. And Zeref grew tired of having to pretend he was okay with everything, of pretending he was happy. That was why. He didn't plan on returning to that life, and if he did ever speak to his family again then the conversation would probably not end well. Knowing his father, Igneel would give him an entire lecture on the irresponsibility of leaving in a time of crisis.
Zeref didn't agree. Or perhaps it was better to say that he just didn't care. Zeref had honestly never liked his father. He'd always get blamed for almost everything when his father was around, even things that weren't his fault. It had been very obvious to Zeref that Natsu was his father's favorite son.
In the end his only regret had been leaving Natsu to deal with the loss of his mother alone. But really, Zeref had felt he didn't have much of a choice. He'd had to leave, as soon as it happened. If he'd stayed, he would've stayed forever and Zeref had always known that a life in Fairyville would never make him happy.
Now, sitting alone in this cave didn't make him happy either, but at least here he could do what he pleased without his father breathing down the back of his neck.
Christmas had taken his mother, but it had also been the push he needed to leave. Zeref wasn't sure if he should be mad or not… he just wasn't sure. But what he was sure of was that deep, in the darkest depths of his mind a scheme was finally formulating. The idea made Zeref clutch his pen even harder. It was the most devious scheme he had ever come up with. "But how do I do it, Mavis?" he wondered, tapping his chin. The idea was original, probably never thought of. It was a horrendous, evil idea, and Zeref loved it. "I think I know what to do now, Mavis."
His canine friend perked up her greens eyes laced with concern. She might not have been a human, but she had been with Zeref long enough to know that she should be weary of the tone he was taking. "I should steal Christmas. It's perfect. I might not hate Christmas itself, though that has a lot to do with it. What I do hate most in the world are those Fairy-folk. They took my happiness, I believe it's time I returned the favor. Besides, it's a perfectly logical plan. If Santa can give the whole world presents in one night, then I should certainly be able to steal all the decorations and presents from one tiny village. You believe in me, right?"
Zeref turned to Mavis, his eyes questioning. Mavis gave one bark and nuzzled his hand to gain his affections. Zeref complied and sighed, "What am I saying, of course you believe in me. I feed you every day after all, what's there not to believe in, huh?" Zeref chuckled. "I suppose I can't count on you to talk me out of it, you are only a dog. Now then, the only problem is in the plan itself. Santa Claus is a magical being. It would be false to say that he can deliver presents without magic… and there's also the problem of what would happen if I was miraculously caught." Zeref was silent for several moments. "Perhaps I could dress as Santa Claus… if someone saw me taking a present, then perhaps they would only think that I was putting one down… yes, that could work. Now, how do I carry all the packages… if I'm posing as Santa the logical conclusion would be a sleigh, and you know, Mavis, Sleighs need reindeer."
Mavis didn't respond to him, of course she didn't. "But where do I get a reindeer? It would be rather troublesome to get a real one. But how do I get a fake? There isn't an animal in sight… that… could." Zeref's eyes landed on the dog cuddled up in his arms. "… Maybe you could…" Mavis barked at him and Zeref sighed, "You're right it would be completely illogical for you to be able to pull the sleigh. You're only a dog, you couldn't pull that. Plus, you're lazy." Zeref grumbled. "So, I suppose that means I will have to find a better solution." Zeref had come to a real roadblock in his plan, but no matter. He would find a way around it.
"What do you think, Mavis, should we sleep on it." Mavis stared at him blankly. "… You're right, you always are." Zeref patted her on the head before leaving the "office".
The next morning Zeref started getting to work on his plans, taking out the notebook, and preparing for the biggest scheme of his life. This time, he planned to execute this scheme, the only problem was though, that he only had 4 days left until Christmas. So, he had to work fast.
Thankfully he was a hermit, that lived in a cave, with nothing better to do. So, basically, he could spend this entire half week planning to steal Christmas. It was so diabolical, so devious, and the best part is that it would teach those fairies a lesson or two about what it meant when you ignored him.
That seemed like a childish reason, even to Zeref, but it was never the less, true. They'd made him feel like nothing, like he wasn't good enough, even if it hadn't been their intention it had still happened, and that made Zeref angry. Another perk about being a hermit. He had a lot of time to sit and think about how unhappy he was. It had honestly never even occurred to him to talk to the fairies about how they made him feel. Well, it had never occurred to him before, but as he was jotting down ways of where to find a big animal to pull his sleigh, it occurred to him now.
"You know, Mavis, perhaps I should simply… talk to them before trying to steal Christmas?" Zeref waited for her response only to realize, once again, that he was only talking to a dog incapable of intelligent conversation. Regardless, she yawned, and he took it as an answer. "You know, I think that you are positively right. That would be rather tiring, wouldn't it? Besides, I'm the Zrinch! I make schemes and I execute my plans, and I make others feel as miserable as me!"
He sounded crazy, even to himself. But the only problem with that was that he didn't care.
After a while Zeref groaned and banged his head on the table, "Mathematically, it's impossible for me to steal Christmas in a single night." He stated glumly after several calculations. "After all, there are over 600 houses in Fairyville… I'd start at midnight, to make sure most of the fairies are in bed. And everyone will be waking up early to open Christmas presents. If I assume that the earliest will be 6:00 that only gives us 6 hours to steal Christmas. That means that each house would have to be completely looted in about 5 minutes!" It wasn't humanly possible! Zeref threw his pencil on the desk and stood up. Mavis jumped at his outburst, seemed to glare at him, and then promptly pranced away. "Ah, don't walk away!" Zeref shouted and then growled, running his fingers through his hair. "I feed you!" he added angrily, pointing at her. Mavis ignored him and disappeared around the corner. Zeref scowled and looked back at his notebook. "I suppose, that the more accurate depiction would be that it isn't humanly possible to do it by yourself. But who on Earth would be willing to help me? Mavis could pull the bags to the slay, I could find a reindeer… somehow. Is that enough? If there's three people helping, then I'd have just a little over twelve minutes to loot the houses…" then he remembered something important. The "people" weren't really people at all, they were animals. Zeref sighed and said, "I've been in this cave for far too long."
A/N Here's the second chapter... I really have no idea what to do next. Other than what is written I don't really have any ideas for this story. So, if any of you have an idea of what to do next PLEASE tell me. I'd be more than happy to listen to your suggestions. I'm really having problems with this story and I think it might be because I feel limited to follow the Grinch's story line. So, if you have any ideas again, I would be happy if you would tell me. Thanks for reading reviews/favorites/follows are appreciated.
