Opposites attract, or so they say. Maybe that's what brought their friendship together as children, and it may be just what tears their relationship apart as adults. But when their differences lead one to become evil, can the other do anything to reverse it? Maybe, or maybe not, though they say that love can conquer all. Story starts off in their childhood, about 400 years before the events of Fairy Tail, multiple genres (friendship, romance, suspense, hurt/comfort, adventure and drama), eventual Zervis/Maref, and Fairy Tail members will eventually enter the story! Long, probably crappy summary that is subject to change, but it'll be a good story. My "re-introduction" to FanFiction, hope it does justice!
-.-.-.-.-
Last time…
The three sat down and looked to the sky just in time to see a golden firework explode into the shape of a crown.
"Woah… how pretty." Mavis said, her eyes shining.
She heard Zeref snicker under his breath.
"What?" Mavis asked.
"I just can't believe Missy Prissy Princess finally came out of her tower just to see the fireworks. I thought that this was something only commoners could enjoy."
Mavis stood up abruptly, reeled her leg back and kicked him in the shins.
"Ow!" He cried, gripping his injured leg. "What was that for?"
"You're a jerk! Get out of my garden!" She yelled before taking off.
"What the hell did I do?" Zeref asked, looking to his friend in disbelief.
Logan shrugged. "Perhaps she doesn't like being referred to as a princess."
"But she is!" Zeref yelled in defense.
"Technically, she is not. And I have noticed that she gets a little irritated when you call her princess."
"Come on! Let's follow her!" He said, running off after her without waiting for a response.
"But Zeref!" Logan yelled after him. "I swear if we get caught because of this…" He mumbled under his breath before taking off after him, fireworks still exploding in the distance.
-..-.-
Chapter 7: Scurry and Hide
"Mavis wait!" Zeref shouted, trailing several feet behind the head of her fleeing shadow, which was already almost out of sight.
He did not get a reply.
"Mavis, please!" He shouted louder.
Silence still prevailed, interrupted only by the occasional burst of a firework and the light crunching of the grass under their feet. By now, they were growing dangerously close to the walls of the Vermillion Manor, causing Zeref to grow even more anxious. He knew he couldn't keep shouting after her like this or he'd be dead or jailed by the time the night was over, for sure.
Mavis veered to the left at the last possible second before reaching the wall, and continued along westward that way. Zeref and companion quickly followed suit, Logan lagging several feet behind because he was not used to running long distances in human form. She reached the edge of the backend of the building and hooked a right. Not wanting to lose her, Zeref picked up speed, hooking the right mere seconds after she had. Unfortunately, he was running too fast and skidded on the slippery grass, slipping and tumbling into a crumpled heap. He groaned and watched sadly as Mavis ran further and further away until her figure was completely obscured by the darkness, her blonde hair fading like an extinguished light.
"Holy crap…" Logan panted breathlessly once he'd caught up to the poor boy. "Are you… okay?"
"Yeah." He replied. The lavender haired boy extended his hand to him, which he took gladly, pulling himself to a stand. "This castle is huge."
"I'd hate to… see the… interior." Logan replied, still hopelessly out of breath.
"You should really work on your fitness as a human." Zeref said with a sweatdrop. Unfortunately, their break quickly came to an end. His hair practically stood on end as the shouts of guards rang out in the distance. From the sound of it, the soldiers were coming from the garden area they'd just left.
"And you should work on listening!" Acnologia whispered angrily, panicked by the sounds of the soldiers. "Look what you've done! We've been noticed!"
Rather than figuring out a plan with Acnologia, Zeref took off running in the direction he had just seen Mavis go.
"Oi wait!" Acnologia whispered loudly. "You have no idea where she—oh forget it." Begrudgingly, he charged after him, hoping that they would not be caught.
"Mavis, come on!" Zeref yelled, staring up at what he presumed to be her balcony. It had to be! There was a tad bit of rope hanging from its edge, and there weren't any other balconies suited for standing within a reasonable distance. Armed with these observations, he continued his pleading. "Mavis~! I said I'm so-"
"Zeref!" Acnologia hissed sharply, clamping a hand over his mouth. "We are literally right outside her mansion-castle-house thing and we've already heard guards before. Quiet your ass down before you get us killed!"
The boy looked to the ground sadly.
"Look," he began, placing a hand on his shoulder sympathetically, "We can come back tomorrow night instead. We aren't even sure this is where she went."
"Only one way to find out..." Zeref said, walking toward the wall.
"What do you m- Zeref what are you doing?" The shapeshifter stared on in disbelief as his fake cousin began trying to scale the castle wall.
"Oi! Stop you idiot! Get down from there!" Logan whispered loudly.
But of course, he was ignored. Little by little, Zeref inched his way up the wall. The bricks of the castle were mostly smooth, but he used the few worn, dented bricks as if they were ladder steps, carefully moving from one to the next. It was a very delicate process. He was about halfway there… until he lost his balance. Thinking fast, he managed to grab an indention in one of the bricks, but he could not regain his foothold.
"This idiot…" Acnologia murmured, gazing on in disbelief at the now dangling boy.
"Acnologia! Help!" Zeref cried. He watched as the brick he just stepped off of fell to the ground below. Sure, he wasn't terribly far up, but he would be lucky if he only broke one thing from falling from this height. His fingers and his muscles were beginning to ache, as his body was finally catching up to his actions.
Sighing, Acnologia shapeshifted into a thunderbird and swooped him up by the shirt collar right as he slipped from the wall. He carefully landed back on the ground, fighting the urge to peck Zeref in the eye.
"Oi! I heard something from this direction!" A guard in the distance yelled. The two froze in horror as the sound of heavy footsteps began getting louder and louder and louder.
"Crap! Acnologia!" Zeref whispered loudly.
"Hush!" Acnologia whispered angrily, he stuffing one of his wings into Zeref's mouth, causing the boy to flail his arms in distress. As much as the shape shifter would've loved to laugh, they were in quite the predicament. He couldn't fly away—he'd be spotted and shot down—but he definitely couldn't stay on the ground. And Zeref's magic, although useful for hiding, is most useful in obscured areas in which shadows fall naturally.
"Shit, Zeref." Acnologia whispered, removing his wing from his mouth. "Thanks to you, I'm about to do something stupid." Against his better judgment, he snatched Zeref by his collar and flew onto the balcony before Zeref even had time to recover from the wing incident.
Lying on the floor of the balcony, the two peeked down just in time to spot a swarm of guards running down below them. A hand full of the guards stayed behind the crowd to survey the area. Thinking fast, Zeref pulled them into the shadows.
"Eh?" One guard mumbled, looking up to the balcony where they lay. The air around the two could be cut with a knife, not to mention the fact Zeref's nerves were heating up their hiding spot.
"What's wrong George?" Another guard asked, walking over to him.
"Nothing, I just felt like I saw some movement up there just now." He replied, staring intensely at the balcony, and then to the fallen brick. "It looks like the walls need maintenance." He mumbled.
"It was probably just a bird or lizard." His fellow guard assured him. "We don't have time to waste here analyzing unimportant things like a loose brick." With that, he ran off.
"Yes sir!" The other guard said with a salute. His gaze lingered for one last moment before running off in the same direction.
Much to the two young boys' relief, the other guards who had stayed behind, too, decided to move on. Although they were hidden in the shadows, they were not out of the woods yet. There was still the problem of leaving the castle grounds without being seen.
"What are we gonna do, Acnologia?" Zeref asked in a whisper.
"I'm not sure…" The shapeshifter sighed. Their situation only seemed to be growing worse by the minute. "I know you can move very short distances as a shadow. Do you think you could conceal us as we fly away?"
"I don't know… it takes a lot of my energy just to do what I'm doing now…" Zeref replied sadly. It was times like this where he felt more weak and useless than ever.
"It's okay, don't push yourself." Acnologia assured him.
"What if we hid inside the castle for a little while? Just until things settled down." Zeref suggested.
"Are you insane? That's riskier than us just flying away!" Acnologia scolded.
"You're right." Zeref said with a sigh. "Then flying is our only option, but I doubt a shadow will hold in the air. In ten seconds, I will undo the shadow. Be ready to fly then."
"Got ya." Acnologia said.
Ten… nine… eight… seven… Zeref thought. The timing had to be exact. He had gotten them into this mess, so he had to get them out. Three… two… one…
"Now!" He whispered loudly while undoing his magic simultaneously. As soon as the shadows were dispelled, however, both of them froze in terror as they heard the rush of the balcony door opening. Before they could even react, a small, soft hand was over both of their mouths, yanking them into the room behind them.
As the windows to the balcony slammed behind them, time seemed to be moving in slow motion. It was dark in the room, but Zeref could make out the outline of a child-sized bed with lots of pillows and a comfortable looking bed spread, a fluffy rug in the center of the room, a large dresser, a circular mirror, and a few dolls in the corner of the room—not to mention everything was either pink or white. The girlie-ness made him want to throw up.
Wait. Girlie-ness? He was in a girl's room?!
As the two fumbled onto the floor, he realized exactly who had pulled him in.
"Mavis?!" He whispered loudly, turning to face the blonde.
She rolled her eyes. "'Tis I."
"But-" He began.
"Shhh. Get under the bed." She whispered before he had the chance to ask any questions.
Zeref and Acnologia nodded and quickly scurried under the bed. The bed squeaked lightly as the young girl crawled under the covers just above them. Mere moments later, Mavis's bedroom door swung open, allowing light from the hall into the dark room.
Thinking fast, he pulled Logan into the shadows. At this point, Zeref's heart had relocated from his chest and into his ears. He begged his heart to quiet down, as the mystery person who opened the maiden's door was certainly able to hear its pounding. This thought only sped up his heart even more. They would most definitely be discovered, arrested and hung. His uncle would visit the gallows and laugh boisterously, drink in hand. His aunt would be disappointed, but likely relieved she did not have to deal with him any longer.
What a shitty life he lived, thrown away for a cheap thrill.
-.-.-.-
Happy summer everyone! I took way too long with this chapter. I blame myself. I promise you, at no point over the years did I forget either of these stories. I just went through an extreme writer's block, coupled with dealing with school at the time. I hope you don't hate me too much, and I know I probably lost some readers. Thanks to everyone who stuck by me, despite my lack of presence. As punishment for not being here, I literally have not read or watched Fairy Tail for over two years. As proof, the last chapter I read was like 397. Something like that. Oops. For all I know, they're all dead in the manga, and who knows what's going on in the filler arc (that's probably long completed). Please don't spoil it for me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I promise, so long as I get 5 reviews, I will post another chapter in a week to two weeks max. If I don't post anything, please stop reading because I suck. :/
Happy: Aye sir! Af1-chan was really sad and feels very sorry for not updating. She apologizes so much!
Also guys, a while back I made an Instagram: x. leanimegoddess .x No spaces. The right account currently has a picture of Gajeel cosplaying as his soulmate. Follow me, as once I get back into the groove, I will be posting all kinds of things, including shorts, amvs and story progress, on there!
One last thing, after a certain point I stopped reading reviews for a little bit because I was sick with guilt. But one that I noticed commented about Fairy Tail Zero. First off, I am in love with it (although I only read 3 chapters due to my self-imposed ban). But, don't compare this to Fairy Tail Zero too much because I began this story long, long before Fairy Tail Zero had started out of curiosity about the mysterious Mavis and Zeref. I won't go too much further into that, but you can pm me with questions. I am so glad Mashima has finally provided us with an answer to where in the hell Mavis came from! :D
With that being said, that's all! Thanks for reading my rant! See you soon.
~af1chan