Summary: In which Natsu's curiosity prevails and Zeref gets a little bit of new found joy in recounting his experiences, thanks to a push from two fairies.

Note: a kind of continuation from day 6, it follows those events.

Also the week is over and this is the last chapter. Glad you all enjoyed it. Be sure to check out the dragneelsibsweek blog on tumblr for extra goods and leave your thanks to the lovely mods!

Oh and look forward to Oct. 1st. Cheers.


The guild protested when their fiery troublemaker offered to take the dark mage to his home. It wasn't surprising in the least, what had shocked him was the fact his partners, Lucy and Happy had shushed the protests and reminded them that the fighting was long over. All the Spriggan 12 members had been beaten and were of no menace any longer since their leader had lost all the bloodlust he had traveled to Magnolia with in the fight with Natsu.

"If anyone can control him, it's Natsu," Lucy reasoned but the uncertainty held by the guild members didn't sway and she found herself being bombarded with theories of the worst possible outcome with this plan. She shook her head and looked at Natsu before offering her own option, "We can have them sleep in the guild's basement, Happy and I will stay as well, we're not as hurt as the rest,"

It was plain to see as his Exceed and the celestial mage struggled with the loud crowd gathering around them that they were trying to let the brothers have some alone time.

Erza and Mira were particularly vocal, and would have sprinted onto the girl had they been able to move more quickly but they both still managed to limp to her side to try and dissuade her. It was impossible though as the blonde kept on shaking her head and smiling reassuringly. In the end, Lucy's stubbornness won and the four of them would be allowed to spend the night beneath the guild until they could settle what to do with the immortal mage.

All the while the black wizard didn't speak and kept to his corner. His eyes were closed but to Natsu this merely meant he was hiding. His older brother seemed an uncannily good actor when he needed to be. As a matter of fact, once they had to move, he swiftly got up to his feet and shuffled to the basement as best as he could with all the ropes he had on to tie him up and seal his magic.

"Thanks," Natsu mumbled as he stared at his brother's back.

"No biggie, with all four of us here and his current hopelessness, it will be an uneventful night," she shrugged running a hand through her hair. He frowned counting the people descending into the lower levels of the basement but didn't bother to correct her, they were all too tired. The tap in his shoulder made him raise a brow as he looked at her, she grinned right back at him, "Good luck flame boy,"

The attempt at light humor didn't really help his nerves but he was grateful to her nonetheless especially as she took the furthest corner from them and to lay down on the pillows and blankets the girls had shoved into her hands. Lucy and Happy snuggled together and made it obvious how they would be sleeping and not keeping sentry. They were so exhausted it only took a couple of seconds and Natsu had the time to talk to his brother as he had desired with his plan to take him home.

Natsu and Zeref stepped to the spot adjacent to the snoozing pair to make themselves comfortable. They would probably not be able to wake them up even if they talked normally but for some reason the black mage kept his voice to a whisper.

"She's a persuasive one," he looked at Natsu who had been fidgeting by his side lost in thought. Blinking the dragon slayer nodded fervently relieved that he didn't need to start the conversation himself, "Easy to trust, quick to learn and a very handy ice breaker for our talks it seems,"

"She's amazing besides the fact Happy had her back," he slapped the other's shoulder and stared him down, "So I'd rather not let the time they gave us to ourselves go to waste,"

With the curt nod he received, the fire mage started asking the questions he had spiraling in his mind one by one, "Can we find this Anksheram guy, and persuade him to remove your curses?"

It was Zeref's turn to blink in disbelief as he shook his head, "I know you mean well, but Mavis and I have to face our sinnnGH,"

Rubbing his sore shoulder and gritting his teeth at the sudden pain, his voice rising a little due to his shock as he slipped off to the side "Natsu?"

Crossing his arms and snorting loudly with an angry expression on his face the younger man refused to look at the other, "How stupid, our first only tried to help a friend and I'm sure you too had the best intentions when you brought me back, how is that evil?"

"You're too young to understand, we messed with the laws of magic," Zeref sighed lifting his sore body back up to a sitting position before feeling a hand being shoved onto his head.

Natsu ruffled his hair and grinned at his handiwork, with his dark locks in dishevel, there was a hint of resemblance between them, "Now I kind of see how we could be brothers, but I doubt being a red head would suit you,"
"I'm pretty sure you're no red head, the pinkish tinge in-" Zeref was interrupted as the other grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and cried out, "It ain't pink, it's salmon, "

Pursing his lips in an attempt to stop himself from laughing at his younger's sibling distress he moved his head quickly up and down in concession of the other's argument.

Natsu let him go with a grumble and straightened his scarf whilst his brother trembled beside him with amusement, "Who in their right mind would combine pink with black, if my head was pink I'd never wear black, I don't have shit taste like that popsicle,"

It was the last straw for Zeref who guffawed into his hands and made Natsu flinch away in surprise. Rubbing his teary eyes he managed to relax after a few seconds while the grumbling younger mage stared at the peacefully slumbering fairies in front of them. He sighed as he noted that the celestial mage didn't seem to have difficulty breathing anymore, bless Wendy who had fussed over her even more after the silly blonde pushed the medics onto the more extreme cases. Happy was snuggling to her bosom and his eyes seemed to narrow a bit at the content expression on the Exceeds face. Placing a hand on his chin he grinned as the cat's tail curled around Lucy defensively.

"What's it like, to be immortal?" Natsu asked bluntly leaning back to look at the other.

"Immortality was the fun part," Zeref answered after a few seconds of silence, he didn't seem disturbed by the nature of the question, "I had nobody left to lose any more so to me the infinite time I was given was my only hope rather than another part of the curse, after all I mostly kept to myself, until Mavis,"
At the mention of the first master his expression darkened and Natsu's hand automatically moved to pat his shoulder. Zeref rubbed his eyes insistently and kept the hand to his brow hiding his face from view. Natsu listened attentively and noted the figure settling by his partners, he decided to not mention her for now as she waved at the pair. So that was what Lucy had meant.

"I stopped aging at a good time too, almost at the peak of a human's existence, so the only qualm I had with my predicament was the price to pay," his lips trembled at the memory but he forced himself to think of it as an unfortunate circumstance that couldn't be helped. His magic was sealed but old habits die hard and his mind instinctively squashed any emotions that rose before they could touch his heart.

"Stealing time from others to keep it for ourselves, that's our curse," he chuckled low and menacing while his eyes shifted to look right in front of them. Mavis' expression turned somber but she quickly broke eye contact to give her attention to the other mage.

Natsu slammed his fist onto his open palm and chortled excitedly, "Thanks for teling me that, I guess I'm sure about what to do next," Stretching his hands over up above and placing them behind his head he wriggled to make himself comfortable, "You know this god seems like an asshole to me, Lucy always said the One Magic was love, and that's the source of all magic, I've always imagine the gods would follow its example, so it kinda ticks me off,"
"No matter how much I tried I couldn't beat this god's curse, even Mavis' and her team's brilliance failed," Zeref swallowed in tension and looked just about to lose his calm. Mavis' eyes widened and she gave a soft smile. However, the lump in the father of demon's throat remained and he couldn't think straight, "You can't possibly be thinking of challenging a god,"

Natsu raised his shoulders in a shrug and wondered why this conversation was turning so heated. It wasn't like he would be alone, besides strength came in numbers as well, "I've already challenged Acnologia, and once I'm done with that I'll be free to help you two,"

"That dragon man is completely different, no matter how powerful he is, I can't let you do that you're-" Zeref's hysterics were cut short as the other jumped to his feet. Curving his body to fist pump the air as he raised the hand sign of their guild to the ceiling's basement, the fire dragon king's son shrieked, "JUST TRUST ME ALREADY!"

"Yes," the immediate answer by the touched and gaping black head was met with affirmation. For a moment they froze looking at each other and Natsu felt the need to brush a hand over his sweaty brow. He was at a loss on what to say next, he had so many questions but how could he pry into this man's life after his declaration? His shout, however brought into play more pressing issues.

Natsu immediately regretted the decision in that moment; he shriveled down hearing the rustling of sheets behind him as he spun around and jumped from foot to foot at the sight of the waking duo as if his frantic hand gestures could put them back to sleep. Happy's eyes immediately closed back and a groan escaped him as he hid into a hug. Lucy rubbed her eyes patting the Exceed with a tired expression and sighed, the poor fire mage's predicament bemused her and she muttered something about being unable to sleep too much at a go. Natsu didn't seem to get the hint but is brother understood, he had lived many lifetimes and the worst memories were the nightmares of a war, even if it was just one, the poor girl would be unsettled for many years to come. A pang of guilt coursed through his body watching the worry seeping out of every pore of his brother's being.

"Let's share stories then," the celestial mage shifted into a more comfortable, cross legged position, wrapping her blanket around her to keep warm in the chilly room they were in. She was certainly exhausted but this was about the brothers and they needed to take their situation as their number one priority. Natsu frowned in confusion but the black wizard caught on and took her idea as an opportunity.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he ignored the rising anxiety at the idea of revealing his deepest secrets after so long yet one look at the expectations in his brother's expression as he caught on gave him all the courage he needed, "Well then, if you'd let me, I have a tale of two brothers that might interest you, so I'd get comfortable, it's fairly long story,"
Natsu dropped down his bum and rested on his hands letting his feet extend in front of him. Lucy remained in the corner with a cheeky grin, letting them have as much privacy as possible even when fully awake. Mavis had glided next to Zeref and sat by his side. The black mage couldn't see her but the feeling of having her close by was so strong and worth more than any words to him, her support was ever so welcome as he recounted their 400 yearlong adventures.