Zeref meets the Trix

"Okay, pretending to be enslaved by the Trix, is not what I wanted to do this evening." Was the first words spoken by Stella of the Winx. She was stretching her arms from pretending to be a stiff slave all day.

"Sorry about that, but if it is any consolation, you all were wonderful actresses." Zeref told them as if it was supposed to help them. With that he motioned for them to sit down while he went into the kitchen to fix some tea while continuing to speak. "I will fix some tea. I imagine that you must be thirsty after the long ride here."

"By the way, where is Acnologia at," Tecna wondered out loud. Then, as if on cue, the dragon came in through the back door. "Never mind." It was at this point that Zeref came back in with tea for the girls and what looked like glasses containing whisky for him and Acnologia.

"So, mind telling us why and how you were able to fake that little massacre for the Trix." Bloom asked who had just woken up from a long nap. "Thank you by the way for not actually letting that attack hit me, but I do owe you for knocking me out." She then snatched a tea cup from off the table Zeref had set the tea cups on.

"Well I was going to wait until I could accurately cast my time freezing magic. That is until you mentioned that this planet was under your jurisdiction, and that you were our ruler. I got carried away after that." Zeref said with a smile standard for a Dragneel.

"Yeah well, and speaking as a princess of my own kingdom, people don't usually attack their rulers unless it is part of a rebellion." Layla said who was really hoping that they could trust them. "Why did you attack us after that again?"

"I thought I already told you back at your school that I only allow myself to be ruled by someone who is able to defend their subjects." Zeref simply said. "If you couldn't do that, then I don't care about who you are or where you are from you do not deserve your throne." Zeref then pointed to bloom. "You however can defend them from miner threats. So I will say no more to you on the subject."

"Well me and Layla also are princesses and you haven't scolded us. Why," was Stella's thought.

"Because you are not claiming to be my princess." Zeref said as if he already predicted that is what they would ask. "You are not my concern, and even if you were, you are almost as strong as Bloom. So you would not have to worry that much if I ever decide to start a rebellion." Zeref said again taking a sip of his beverage.

Bloom was confused by this and asked, "why would any of us have to worry about you starting a rebellion? You just flattened us in a battle that you weren't even trying on."

"Because I can still kill you all with a wave of my magic. So you only had to worry about it for a moment before you died." Zeref said as if it were a joke or something.

"You will have to excuse him, he doesn't know how to hold his...beverage." Acnologia said in a teasing manner. They were interrupted the door opened revealing a guy with pink hair enter. He wore a black, open vest with one long sleeve on his left arm. His right arm was sleeveless with a red tattoo on his shoulder. He wore white, knee length pants and black, open toed sandals. He looked tired.

"Hello Natsu, you look tired," Zeref openly noted. "How was your day?"

"Sickening, Lucy made me ride on the train." Natsu said in a sickly manner. He then realized they had company, and he perked right up. He noticed their weird looking clothes, all in bright colors. "Sorry, I didn't notice we had company." He turned to them before he spoke with a toothy grin. "My name is Natsu Dragneel and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, I am Bloom, this is Flora, Stella, Musa, Tecna, and Layla. We are happy to meet you as well." Bloom replied back with her own smile.

"Dragneel, are you two related by any chance?" Tecna asked in her own curious way.

"Indeed, we are brothers in fact," Zeref answered for them. "However there is still business to discuss." Turning to Natsu he said, "would you mind going on to bed?" With a nod from Natsu Zeref waited until his brother left before he spoke again. "You asked if I could tell you why and how we staged the massacre."

"Yeah, why did you two betray the Trix? I thought it would be bad business to betray those who employ you." Musa said, knowing a little about business.

"Usually it is bad to betray who employs you, however, considering the Trix are evil, I do not think our reputation will suffer." Zeref simply stated with his usual tone. "We try to do good work, however what I told you at our first encounter is true. Me and Acnologia have never been out on a date. I saw an opportunity, and took advantage of it. Any other questions?"

They all thought for a moment before Flora asked what she was thinking. "Why out of all us did you choose me as a 'slave' instead of someone else?"

"Two things. One: I saw how, out of everyone else out of your group, you were the only one with the instinct to come to a battle already transformed. This may have been do to you sensing the aura of death around me. Considering you have the only magic present consisting of a living element," Zeref partially explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Flora asked in a worried tone.

Acnologia was the one to answer the question now. "Think about it. You are literally the only one here who uses plants. You know, living things. The rest of you use music, fire, sun, water based stuff, and technology. Plants are living, life and death do not mix. For further proof let me ask you if you usually go out to a battle transformed."

"Now that you mention it, this is the first time any of us went into a battle transformed before we knew what to expect." Tecna was the one to surmise.

"So you are saying that the reason you chose me is because I am like your opposite," Flora said.

"Partially the reason, yes," Zeref confirmed.

Acnologia went and put his arm around Zeref's shoulder to tease. "Go on, tell them the other reason. Go on, I can't wait to see their faces."

"I was about to," Zeref said a little annoyed before turning to the girls. "The other reason was because I thought you were beautiful when I first saw you in your fairy form." He tried not to blush a little at his statement.

Musa was a little aggravated at that. "You say that after she watched her boyfriend get killed by beheading. Trick or not, that is not really right or normal."

"Well I never really said anything about me being right or normal, now did I," Zeref said.

"He did realize that she had a boyfriend, but he realized it after he saw where she was staring when you girls looked my way." Acnologia explained to them trying to calm Musa down from her aggravated state.

"You do realize that this doesn't mean you are forgiven for what you put us through, right," Tecna stated.

"Yes I do realize that. I never actually asked for your forgiveness though. I did a job, did it well, and if I wanted to I would, but I don't want to. So I will not apologize for following a plan. You can deal with it or you not, choice is yours." Acnologia told them, hoping they would accept the reality.

They didn't, and now Layla was also furious. "How can you say that? You made it seem like their boyfriend's died." Acnologia just shrugged. "You are a heartless monster aren't you?" He just shrugged again.

"Let's all get back on topic, shall we." Bloom stated so that a fight wouldn't break out.

"Agreed," Zeref stated. "Now I would like to ask if you wouldn't mind pretending to be slaves a little longer. This way me and Acnologia can get paid, and the next time you see your boyfriends, they will be well rested." He was getting a little bit of a scowl from Stella, who he thought had been abnormally quiet. "Is there something on your mind Stella?"

She hesitated for a minute before answering him. "I don't mind pretending to be slaves to the witches. I do, however, want to know why Flora went up to you and messaged you if she wasn't under your control."

"Yeah, that was strange. She just went up and started to message you," Musa agreed "I thought you said we weren't slaves and just pretending, but that explanation you gave the Trix was to perfect."

"Would you like to explain that one Flora, or should I?" With a nod of approval Zeref began to explain. "You see I could tell that the Trix were beginning to get curious as to how the Slavery worked, but also wanting a slave for other things as well. I contacted Flora telepathically and told her to start messaging my shoulders so that I could play with the Trix a little. She agreed to do so even though I could tell she thought of it as a mean game."

"That was a great idea, but I have another question." Stella said. "Where are you taking Darcy on your date? Also, why Darcy? You could choose any of the Trix, so why her?"

"Well, to be honest, I didn't like Stormy's attitude, and as soon as I saw Icy, I thought she would be perfect for Acnologia. It was simply luck of the draw." Zeref told them honestly enough, hoping the conversation would end there.

Sadly it didn't as Stella noticed that he left out an important detail. "You never told us where you are taking her on your date."

"If you must know, I am taking her to an island that was once thought to be cursed. My brother broke that curse and the island has since turned a bright tropical island. With the permission of the island chief, I have turned the island into it's former dark looking form again. We will be having a casual dinner on a mountain that was once a ritual to bring back a demon that I had once made." When Zeref was done explaining the date to them he left to go take the empty tray to the kitchen.

Stella and the Winx were shocked, but Stella found the words when he came back in the room. "You are taking a girl to a haunted island for a first date. Well it is Darcy so I don't think it is a bad idea. Well what are you going to wear."

"I was planning on wearing black pants with black boots. Also a black and gold long waistcoat with a white scarf over that. Does that sound acceptable to you?" Zeref asked with a self satisfied look on his face.

"No it is not," Stella exclaimed. The voice she is using made you think she was possessed by a demon, it sounded as though she was a mother protecting her yound. The look on Zeref's face was a look of both confusion and worry. "As the princess of Solaria, and resident fashion expert, I cannot allow you to wear something as hideous as that sounding outfit sounds without first seeing it. Go get it and let me see you wearing it, now."

Zeref had a look of 'are you serious' on his face when Bloom spoke. "I would do what she says, unless you don't wish to sleep tonight." With that he reluctantly did what he was told.

Acnologia was laughing when Stella turned toward him and spoke with the same voice she used on Zeref. "What are you just sitting there for? Go get your outfit for you date as well." With that menacing tone, he also got up to go get his attire for the date.

When Zeref came back down he had on his exactly described attire on. Stella was a little shocked to see how well it worked for him. "Well it does have appeal for you. Probably because you are immortal, and can pull off the look. How old is this thing?"

"My style is as old as I am. So about four hundred years is a good estimate." Zeref reluctantly told her the last part.

"It does work for you, but the fact you are going out on a date with such an old thing is unacceptable." After another moment of thinking, Acnologia came down in a suit and tie. It was solid black with a dark blue vest and a white shirt. It resembled him in his dragon form actually, as Stella noticed. "I assume because of the outfit that you will be taking Icy to a formal dinner." Acnologia just nodded a 'yes'. "Good then if you just wash and tame that wild main you call hair, and put it in a ponytail. Then you will be good to go." She then turned back to Zeref. "You on the other hand, we will need to fix that style you have and integrate it in with a more modern look. Tomorrow, if we go into town when more people are around, I will be able to design something a bit better than what you have now."