Yo~ It's me again, with a new chapter, yay~ (Sorry for being too late, I've been busy with studies and exams and all of that stuff. ;-; I know it's not an excuse to slack off but… ;-;)
As you all know, this story was supposed to be a one shot, but you guys seemed to enjoy it and asked for more, and I'm really thankful! I hope this chapter will be up to your expectations.
Here's Natsu's fight against Ankhseram (female Ankhseram to be precise, since I made a poll and most of you guys wanted a Goddess), but just saying, the chapter will not focus on their fight at all actually, but mostly on revelations (according to my theory) and it'll be mostly a battle of minds, just wanted to inform you so that you don't get your hopes too high. ^^' Enjoy!
Also, I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, except my (kind of?) OC.
Zeref sighed as he closed the book in his hands, it was the fifth one he has read today. It has been two weeks since Natsu went back to Fiore, so he decided to start researching Gods on his own, but it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. "Gods feared that something stronger than them would be created so they forbade Living Magic, huh? That makes sense, but how's that supposed to help?" He put it on the table next to him before a faint smile drew on his lips. "Well, that means Natsu might stand a chance at least." Before he could collect the books to take them back to the Palace's Library, a voice behind him made him jump off his chair.
"I 'might' stand a chance? Ya bet!" He turned around to see his younger brother standing in his bedroom's balcony, a grin on his face, like it was completely normal. "Yo, Zeref!"
"Where… Where the Hell did you come from?" He asked, pointing at the demon.
"The sky?" Natsu said, tilting his head and walking towards his sibling as his Etherious wings disappeared.
"You could've just… Walked through the front gate and then looked for my room, you know… Don't scare me like that again!" Zeref scolded, crossing his arms and earning a chuckle from the Fairy Tail member.
"Ohh, Big Brother's angry! Are you gonna punish me now or something?" The Etherious threw his arm around the Mage's shoulder. "I just wanted to see you. How have you been? How's your curse?"
"Fine, my state has been quite stable lately, I guess..." The older Dragneel answered, feeling slightly happy that his brother was worried about him. "So, have you learnt anything useful?"
"Yup! I learned that if someone kills a God, whether using God Slaying Magic or other means, like my Curses, they'd replace them and bear their duties, I still have no idea how to reach one, but at least we don't have to worry about drowning the world in chaos by leaving the cycle of Life and Death without a protector, right?"
"Well, that confirms the information I found. If they thought of the possibility that something or someone could kill them, they'd come up with a system to keep the world stable if one of them were to die."
"And it means there is a way to reach them. I just need to find it!" The Demon held his brother's hands firmly. "Just endure this curse a little bit more, you'll be free soon, I promise!"
The Black Wizard nodded. "Alright, I trust you."
"Okay, now show me the way to your library so that I can— Huh?" He stopped talking, noticing that the man was glowing. "Zeref, you're shining."
"You are, too." The mage pointed out, his eyes wide.
And in the blink of an eye, they found themselves in a completely different dimension.
"WHAT THE HELL?" Natsu looked around, they were surrounded by endless darkness, if not for the countless tiny light orbs that were floating around illuminating the place. He recognized them instantly: Souls, just like the ones he saw in Tartaros' Cube after defeating Franmalth.
"It seems we were teleported, but by who?" The Black Wizard wondered before looking towards his sibling. "You seem pretty calm, you'd normally start screaming and telling whoever brought us here to show themselves."
"It's just that… I've got a strong feeling of déjà vu." Natsu answered, trying to recall a foggy memory. "I'm pretty sure I've seen this, but I can't remember when…"
"It's because you've been here before." A voice behind them spoke. "This is the realm of the dead."
They turned around to see a woman walking in their direction and her confusing aura caught Natsu's attention right away. She was fully glowing light blue, like the souls, yet was surrounded by black miasma that resembled Zeref's magic. Her presence held a mix of life and death.
He focused more on her appearance as she got closer. She had straight, black hair that reached her waist, and was wearing a long, high-neck, beaded white dress along with wide separate sleeves. The collar and cuffs were violet, just like the gemstone Natsu couldn't identify that she had on her forehead. He then looked into her eyes and confusion hit him again. They were beautiful, even stunning, of bluish grey, a color that seemed to him lively, yet were blank, void, with no sign of emotion, as if she were dead.
She was a walking contradiction.
"You two have been angering me lately, so I decided to summon you here." She stated, with a soft voice yet an intimidating tone, as she stood few meters away from them. "Give up on your wicked thoughts, and I will let you leave."
The siblings stepped back and took their fighting positions, ready to defend themselves if she were to attack. They glanced quickly at each other, and that's all it took for them to communicate through their brotherly instincts. They agreed on one thing. The person in front of them was definitely not a human.
"Give up on what exactly?" Natsu questioned.
"On going against your fate, that is." She said, earning a suspicious glare from the demon.
"That thing doesn't seem to be human, her presence is not of one. Besides, that dark matter…" Zeref thought, looking closely at the substance surrounding her. "Could it be that she's cursed? No, no way, as far as I know, it only works on humans... But if she's not a normal mortal being, then…"
And without thinking twice, he launched a Death Orb towards her, but instead of dodging, she simply received it, and it didn't affect her at all, but instead, the magic mixed with her own miasma. "Then it's confirmed. She possesses Ankhseram's Black Magic." He took a deep breath to stop himself from panicking.
"Using the powers I gave you against me? How ungrateful of you. That's futile, though." She commented with a slight mocking smile.
"… Huh?" The brothers blinked, not processing what they've just heard.
"Oh, it seems I have forgotten to introduce myself." She spoke, taking few steps towards them. "I am Ankhseram, the Deity of Life and Death."
Natsu gasped and froze for a moment, before pulling himself together as the Divine being got closer to Zeref who could not help but tremble in fear, which quite amused her.
"What is it? Are you scared? You were too determined to break free, and you even started to look for ways to defeat me, so what happened?" A smirk drew on her lips, and a shiver coursed down his body as she put her hand on his cheek. "Has meeting the Goddess that has been tormenting you for four centuries made you realize how weak and powerless you are?"
"Hands off!" The demon, now in his Etherious form, shoved his brother off her and jumped back, wrapping his arms and wings around him in a protective stance. "Stay away from him!"
"Is that so?" Ankhseram frowned. Was he giving her an order? "You know, I don't need to be in the same dimension as him, let alone touch him, to do this."
Before he could respond, Natsu heard small pants and unfolded his wings as the man in his arms fell on his knees, holding his head between his hands. "Zeref? What's wrong? Is something hurting you?" He asked with concern, then looked at the Goddess demanding an explanation as he got no response from him.
"I'm torturing him psychologically. His thoughts are a contradictory mess." She said calmly. "Although, I could give him physical pain as well, but that should be enough for now."
"Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?" Natsu asked, holding his sibling firmly.
"Give up on your rebellion against me, or else..." She ordered, glancing at Zeref who started to calm down as she stopped, or rather paused, her 'torture session'. "Your beloved big brother will suffer more than he already has in the past four hundred years."
"YOU—"
"Don't you dare insult a God." She threatened, glaring at him. "A lowly human—No, demon like you should know his limits."
The Black Wizard stood up with his brother's help, and protested with hesitation, unable to look her in the eye. "What… What have I done to deserve this?"
"You were a threat to the stability of life and death, I had to stop you." She answered, angering Natsu even more. "Yet that didn't stop you from performing the forbidden."
"Nonsense! If you wanted to punish him you wouldn't have involved all of humanity into this!" The Demon shouted, despite his brother's attempts to hold him back. "This curse hasn't only affected him, but has changed history, how is that supposed to keep the world stable, Goddess of Life and Death?!"
Ankhseram narrowed her eyes at the statement. "This filthy demon…" As she muttered under her breath, Zeref collapsed on the ground shrieking in pain, black matter forming around him. Natsu's worried expression satisfied her.
"I've warned you. Continue struggling, and he'll bear the consequences." She repeated coldly, causing the Etherious to launch a Curse attack that she blocked by summoning a dozen of souls which got burnt as a result.
Natsu clenched his teeth. He didn't know some Gods could sink lower than demons. Not only was she using a member of his family to lure him, but she made a shield out of people?
"You shouldn't have done that. When someone's soul gets destroyed in this form, they vanish from the afterlife, well, existence in general." The Goddess stated. "What if your parents were one of them? You'd never be able to meet them when you die…"
"Our… Parents?" Zeref managed to let out as his magic faded. "N-No…"
"That'd be one more reason to destroy you!" Natsu replied, wrapping his arms around the cursed man in an attempt to calm him down, even a little. "You curse the living and use the dead to protect yourself? What kind of Goddess are you?"
"What are you trying to achieve, demon?"
"Making you stop this meaningless act and show your true colors. You obviously don't care about mankind or the world's balance." He answered, and widened in surprise as the supposedly calm Deity started laughing, almost hysterically.
"If that's what you want, then fine, I'll admit it. Not that you'd be able to do anything with this information, anyway." She spoke between chuckles. "Demon, that 'theory' of yours was correct. I'm an 'evil' God like you said. I've been manipulating your brother to destroy humanity. So, what are you going to do about it?"
Even though his eyes reflected disgust, the Etherious was satisfied, knowing that the sins the Black Wizard has committed were planned by her, which confirmed that he was pure at heart. His sibling, however, did not take it that well. The idea of being used as her pawn made his state even worse.
"Manipulating me…?" He repeated, his voice shaking. "Why? If you wanted to get rid of humans you could've just killed them, so, why?" He didn't even bother asking about her reasons for seeking the destruction of the human race, he figured the hatred he has felt towards it at some points in his life was probably triggered by her own feelings.
"It's not that simple. You see, if I did it directly, the other Gods would have turned against me, so I decided to create someone different, a prodigy that would have the intelligence and stubbornness to go against the Divine teachings, this way, I would use him while making everybody else —humans and Gods— think of it as his punishment. Clever, isn't it? " The Goddess explained, walking around them in circles. "Your family members' death, your attempts to resurrect your brother, as well as everything you've done after I cursed you… All of that was planned before your birth,"
"Everything I've done?" He asked. "Even learning Living Magic?"
"Yes. I thought making you create demons would drown the world in chaos."
"And funding Arvalez Empire?"
"I planned it for the same reason."
"… Loving Mavis?"
"Of course, I made you love her and cursed her to make you think her immortality would prevent you from killing her, then I took her away from you." She said, a vile smirk on her lips. "Finding hope after centuries then losing it right away would only deepen one's despair. You started to value life again at that time, so I drove you into the darkness."
"Then… Then what about bringing Natsu back…?"
"I manipulated you to do that as well. I figured he wouldn't be able to kill you, yet I made him your last hope. That was another way to make you fall into even deeper darkness…" She replied, glancing at the Etherious, who seemed unusually calm and didn't even look back at her, but instead was physically comforting his sibling. "Him going against me, however, was beyond my expectations."
"In other words… Nothing I've ever done… Was of my own will…" He concluded with a desperate tone that amused her even more.
"Correct. You've been my puppet since the very beginning, that's your fate, so just accept it, and obey all of my commands." She ordered.
"No… I… I don't want to be used by you anymore!" He screamed, looking up at her reluctantly, making her panic, not out of fear, but out of shock.
After all that he has been through, something was off about his reaction.
"You'd better follow all of my orders, if you don't want me to torment you even more, that is." She warned in an attempt to change his mind. "You don't have a choice."
"Yes he does, it's his own damn life!" Natsu protested, helping Zeref get off the ground. "And there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Oh? Then how about this?"
Nothing happened.
Ankhseram widened. "Impossible… My…" She thought, panicking even more. "My powers… Aren't working on him… How?"
The Black Wizard blinked in confusion, and looked towards the smirking demon, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.
"Your Contradictory Curse affects emotions in the first place, right? Well guess what? That won't work anymore! ~" He said, content of his success. "I got him stuck between good and evil, in a state where he doesn't value life but doesn't despise it either, meaning he can control his powers without feeling like killing people off. Looks like my new curse is stronger than yours! ~"
"No way…" The Goddess backed away, as she felt her precious 'pawn' being stolen from her.
"You can temper with people's feelings? Since when?" Zeref asked, testing his magic out.
"I've been working on this curse since we last met, and now it's complete!" Natsu grinned with pride.
"In only two weeks?!"
"Not quite. Remember that spell you used in Cube to stop time? I read in some ancient magic books that when it's used, whatever happens is unseen to Gods, except the Deity of Time or something like that. So I learned it in order to keep my work a secret from her." He explained, then stared at the Goddess. "I also created a curse that prevents one's soul to be reaped by anyone —even you— and placed it on my friends, so don't try to put their lives on the line in order to stop me, that'd be futile."
The Mage noticed the Divine being slightly shaking and the frustration on her face as his younger sibling walked towards her, and finally understood the reason why Living Magic was forbidden. Demons could exceed Gods, and the fact that his usually idiotic relative thought one step ahead filled him with pride.
"Woah, is the almighty Ankhseram scared of a lowly demon?" Natsu teased. "You know, the information I gave Zeref about dead Gods being replaced wasn't the only thing I learned. I've read about you a lot in secret. You're considered one of the strongest Gods because you can kill anyone without a single move, and know how to control humans' feelings, but because I'm a demon, and because I created a barrier to protect myself from your magic, you can't kill me. You also can't curse me, and you're out of people to use as hostages. All of your strengths have become weaknesses! ~ What are you going to do now? ~"
"Silence!" The enraged Goddess shouted, attacking him with her Black Magic, but he remained unscathed.
"Told you, it's useless… Are you going mad because you're powerless against me?" He mocked, getting closer to her as a yellowish black flame formed around his whole body. "Oh, and one more thing, I once absorbed the flames of a God Slayer, during the unlimited time I had for the past two weeks, I managed to combine them with my curses. Since you're almost defenseless right now, the powers of a demon and magic that slays Gods would kill you easily, right?"
Ankhseram shielded herself with souls again, only for him to break through, scattering them around him. "Let's keep humans away from this, shall we, Goddess?"
Since she could still use her magic for defense, it took him quite some time and effort to defeat her despite being the most powerful Etherious. Zeref observed the whole fight from a distance, not feeling the slightest worry, until the Deity's death marked its end.
"At last, I don't feel her magic inside me anymore, this feels quite… Unnatural." He spoke, walking in his younger sibling's direction and noticing a bigger soul surrounded by that same miasma next to him. "Is that her core? Are her powers stored there?"
"Yeah, I just have to touch it to—"
"No, you shouldn't." Zeref interrupted him, tapping him on the shoulder. "I'll do it instead, I'll become the new God of Life and Death."
"I can't let you do that!" The pinket yelled.
"We both know I'm more responsible than you are. Besides, I may have been controlled by her but I've still committed a lot of crimes, I'll atone for my sins by looking after humanity—"
"But then…" Natsu looked down. "But then you won't be able to experience living like a normal human again…"
"It's fine." He replied, walking towards the Divine soul and reaching for it. "You have people you need to live for, don't you? So let me do it."
"But I… W-Wait!" He was about to protest but it was too late, the Mage has already acquired the Deity's powers. His reflexes weren't that good after all. "Jeez!"
"It's better this way." Zeref smiled, stroking his brother's hair. "It's not like I'm going to die, I'll summon you here whenever you want to see me, okay?"
"That's not the problem… I just wanted you to live normally…"
"It's alright, it'd be more than enough for me to see you happy with those you hold dear. Speaking of which, since I'm the God of life now, I'll make sure to bless you and Lucy with lots of cute babies." He teased and smirked as the demon's cheeks turned pink. "Aw, are you blushing? Listen, I'll send you back now, and I want you to confess to her soon, okay?"
"Shut up!" Natsu screamed, playfully punching him.
"Now now, that's not how you should worship Gods."
The Etherious raised an eyebrow. "Worship? Not even in your dreams!"
"Come on, I'm just teasing you." Zeref pulled the Fairy Tail member into a hug. "Thank you for everything, Natsu."
"It's nothing, really. Just make sure you bring me here sometimes, don't forget about me!" Natsu replied as he hugged his brother back.
"Alright, it's a promise."
Few seconds after hearing those words, the demon found himself in Earthland again. "Idiot…" He mumbled, wiping a tear that fell on his cheek.
Hope you enjoyed it~ And lemme see your impressions in the reviews. :D
