A/N: That actually didn't take as long as I though it would...your reviews were all very inspiring! To Gravity-Chan, Guest, 6885, and Kiwi soul, thanks so much for reviewing! To everyone who favorited and followed, thank you as well! All of you rock and I hope you enjoy part 4!
Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Fairy Tail. This is written purely for entertainment.
Lay Down Your Head, Child
Part 4: Secret
He's suspected for a while now. Perhaps even from the beginning, when he'd first seen those blank, inhuman eyes.
"I cannot love," she had said.
In the end, this wise woman is only confirming it, giving truth to his suspicions. He nods and smiles at the right place and time; recoils in revulsion when he sees she expects him too. Behind his façade, his mind is whirling, and he feels numb. All this time. All this time Eva had hidden the truth. He'd suspected, yes, thought of it, entertained the idea, but never once had he truly believed it and that itself is grating.
When he leaves the room, he signals his assassins to end the old woman without a hint of remorse. When the muffled sound of her dead body hitting the floors meets his ears, he even allows for a small smirk of satisfaction to grace his features.
The woman had known the truth, and for that she deserved nothing less than death.
He goes back to the lonely mansion he calls home, and seeks Eva out. He wonders if this new information will change his view of her, whether he will see past the illusion she has clouded his vision with, if he will be able to read the truth on her face.
Reus finds Eva in the empty ballroom (he hasn't thrown a single party since they were wedded), spinning and twirling in a dance he can't even fathom to recognize. Zeref sits on the floor a few paces away, banging on drums in an intricate pattern, every once in a while reaching out to ring a little bell. The boy is smiling, eyes bright as he watches his mother dance around the room.
Reus clears his throat.
Eva whirls to a stop, not a trace of surprise on her face. She looks up at him, only a little curious as Reus gazes down at her from the doorway. This is the first time he's ever interrupted one of Zeref's lessons.
She doesn't look any different. Her hair is still starlight, wavy and waist-length down her back. Her eyes are still the same—cold, impervious, uncaring. She still looks like the woman he'd married, who had borne his child. Still Eva.
In his heart, Reus had always known she was a monster. He had always seen it, even if it had never been confirmed before now.
Eva reads the truth on his face, sees the shadows in his eyes. "Zeref," she says, voice soft. "We will have to cut our lesson short. Put away the drums and find the nurse; perhaps she has some use for you."
Zeref's disappointment is a quick flash across his face as his searching gaze wanders from his mother to his father and back again. He gives a slow nod, picks himself off the floor and scurries toward the doors. "Yes mother," he says dutifully.
Reus watches Zeref leave with hooded eyes, the boy shivering slightly from his hard gaze. When he darts past Reus towards the doors, Reus's eyes follow his every move.
Just before he leaves, Zeref turns back to them, and gives a small bow. It's hurried and off-balanced, just a bit too high for his and Eva's social standing. Reus's lip curls.
Zeref pops back up, a small smile lighting up his face. "Thank you for the lesson, Mother," he says. Then, almost shyly, he adds, "I hope you had a nice journey, Father. It's…it's nice to see you!" The small boy gives Eva one last awkward smile, then turns and slips out of the room, the doors shutting with a loud bang behind him.
Eva watches him go with a faint air of fondness that fades the second the door closes behind her son. Her eyes turn back to Reus, and she waits, patiently, for him to speak.
"You aren't human," he accuses.
Eva doesn't even bat an eyelash at this declaration. "Finally figured it out, have you?"
His hand curls into a fist. "What are you?" he spits out viciously.
Eva smiles. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"Tell me!" Reus demands. "I order you to—"
"Oh, not this again," Eva snarls. "How many times must I repeat myself? You. Do. Not. Own me."
Reus jerks back. "You are my wife," he says, grasping for leverage. "You are supposed to do as I say and—"
"I never bothered to listen to the rules and I'm not planning on starting now," Eva says. "And besides, as you said, I am not human. Why should I abide by your laws?"
"I'll kill the boy," Reus says in a fit of desperation.
Eva's eyes narrow. "Foolish," she says coldly. "For then you would be without an heir. Don't think simply killing him will get you out of giving me my empire."
The silence stretches between them, broken only by Reus's harsh breaths.
"You meant what you said then, didn't you," he whispers finally. "When you said you couldn't love."
Eva finally looks just a bit confused at the abrupt change in subject, but it quickly turns to a thoughtful look. She turns her head toward the huge windows and stares out at the distant mountains, afternoon sun gleaming across the glass.
"I am not so sure now," she admits in a murmur he's almost certain he isn't meant to hear. "Perhaps I can love after all."
"What do you mean?" he asks.
Eva starts. She stares at him, dark eyes wide.
Reus meets her gaze evenly.
Eva licks her lips. It's a nervous gesture, something she does when she wants to say something but isn't sure how to say it. She meets his gaze again.
It happens so suddenly he almost misses it. A flash of realization, and then her mask crashes down again, smoothing out her features and returning her eyes to their normal apathetic state. Maybe he imagined it…
"Isn't it obvious?" Eva says. "Any wife would fall in love with her husband if given enough time." She smiles again, but this one is almost—dare he say it—warm, bordering on kind.
Her words are carelessly said, but the weight they unknowingly carry is enormous. Eva loves…him?
Eva loves?
He isn't sure what he's supposed to do or say, and so he does the next best thing: put it aside for later and change the subject.
"And the boy?" he asks.
"Of your kind," Eva soothes, knowing instinctively he's talking about Zeref. "The differences between my kind and yours are more…spiritual, than physical."
"And what," Reus asks, exasperated, "is that supposed to mean?"
A flash of irritation crosses her face. "It means," Eva says, her words all but dripping in sarcasm, "that Zeref is human. Completely human, only with more magic than most could even dream of."
This is interesting. Reus thinks of his small, scrawny, shy son and tries to picture the boy with all the power in the world at his pale fingertips. He cannot.
"Unlimited power?" he asks, and remembers too late to hide his intentions.
Eva sees through it anyway. "Not unlimited," Eva admits. "Simply…extensive. Too much for a child to control. I'm not sure he will ever learn how, without years of training."
The conversation dies again, and Reus suddenly realizes that this the longest talk he's ever had with Eva.
Perhaps it is time to discuss that pervious matter, he thinks.
"So," he says again with a flirtatious smile, "You, Eva, have finally fallen in love with me?"
Eva glowers at him, a dark look entering her unwavering gaze. "I was certain we had finished with that," she responds coldly. "I have already admitted to it; there is no need to continue bringing it up."
Reus ignores her. He's giddy with complacency, buzzing on the rush of things going right for once. "I've tamed the greatest beast of all!" he crows. "Eva, the heartless! Eva, the conqueror! Eva, the empress! I've captured even her heart!" he laughs. "I truly hold the world in my hands!"
"Of course you do," Eva purrs, and in a single second all of Reus's arrogance drains away. There's something in the way she says those words, something dark and deadly, and all the love the world can't save him from it.
"Of course you do," Eva repeats, and the words are said relevantly. "Of course you do! Reus van Jakenheim, ruler of the world!" She grins widely, her eyes colder than ice and emptier than any abyss. "The man who married a monster!"
He lurches away from her, almost tripping over his feet when she advances towards him. "You…you said you loved me! You wouldn't hurt your b-beloved, would y-you?" He tries for a smile but it's flimsy and weak, fading even as Eva kneels by his side, every move she makes as dangerous as a cobra about to strike.
"I said perhaps," Eva corrects. "And the fact I love doesn't change my nature. You mustn't forget that, Reus," she pats his cheek, "Or the monster might just decide you are more than trouble than you are worth."
"My fortune—" Reus gasps.
"Means nothing." Eva cuts down every argument with cold precision. "All the power in the world couldn't save you from me," she adds, and then she strikes the final blow. "And what is love next to power?"
He flinches. "Nothing," he whispers.
"Nothing," Eva agrees. "My greatest fear is death. My greatest desire; power. Next to that…" She stands. "My love for you means absolutely nothing at all."
Reus closes his eyes against the harsh, blinding truth. How could he have deluded himself into believing he had the power for all these years, when the result was always the same? Every time he tried to control her, every time he tried to make her blindly follow him, Eva would always win.
He hears her quiet footsteps echo softly in the empty ballroom, and the hinges of the great door creak as Eva slips away. But she has never been one to leave without a final jab.
"Sweet dreams, darling."
The door slides shut with a creaky moan, and Reus finally opens his eyes.
"Damn you," he whispers to the empty air. "Damn your secrets. Damn your power."
The afternoon sun has touched the horizon, and the room is array of colors, lit by the brilliant sunset. Reus's hands curl into fists. Blood beads on his palms where his nails break the skin.
He thinks of Zeref, quiet and calm, so easily manipulated by Eva. Think of the boy's awkward bow, of his shy and awkward smile, of the joy and love he holds for his dear mother.
"Damn your son," Reus tells the sky, but there is no answer and the only witness to his hate is an empty room and the dying sunset, staining the blue sky with deep oranges and rosy pinks, before finally painting the sky with a red the color of blood.
Reus closes his eyes, and schemes.
A/N: Part five is when everything starts falling apart. There's also a rather interesting twist, if you haven't caught it yet. Otherwise...muwahahaha...wait and see...
Current thoughts? Opinions? Ways I can improve? Has the object of your hatred changed direction? What do you think Reus is planning?
Yay for a bunch of random questions...Please review!
Also, for the first time: a preview!
Part 5: Love
...And that's it. :)