Mavis appeared in the courtyard, not having the courage to go far. She was just annoyed, and not by any means stupid. Even if she did go far away, where would she go? Soon, there would be nowhere left. She was even starting to wonder if Zeref had a point… but that was ridiculous. She growled under her breath and started walking around the castle's courtyard. Bushes lined the front, each filled with beautiful carnations, and she wondered how such a beautiful place could have such terrible secrets.

Wandering gave her time to reflect and she hoped, to whatever God may be out there, that Zeref didn't decide to kill himself while she was away. She was angry, but not cruel. She could never wish that sort of pain on anyone. Not even him.

Not even someone who murdered others for his own goals. Mavis kept walking the perimeter and from the corner of her eye she saw something, or someone. They were dressed in black, tucked into one of the darker corners of the palace. Mavis frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

This had warning signs written all over it, and Mavis wasn't stupid. She knew that she should probably just leave immediately and go tell Zeref that there were suspicious characters on the premises, so that he could send his guards to check, or even go himself.

But she was still mad, and she didn't really know who they were or if they were bad. However, she did remember Zeref saying something about soldiers from Pargrande. She didn't think they'd be foolish enough to stay by the castle, but apparently, they'd figured that it was so stupid, Zeref wouldn't think of it. Which was actually rather intelligent… maybe.

Then, she had a rather horrible thought. These people were obviously trying to kill Zeref, which meant they were indirectly trying to save humanity.

Mavis frowned to herself, and while mad she was she also knew it would probably be best if she went and told Zeref about all of this right away. But still, somewhere in the back of her mind it told her that she should at least go introduce herself.

Zeref felt the moment she left and sighed. How unbelievably childish, running away from such a conversation. He wasn't finished talking to her either! Zeref growled under his breath and left the room, to follow her. It was rude to walk out in the middle of a conversation and Zeref was determined to tell her so.

And how did he know where she was? Well, he could track her magical signal, but if she teleported too far away, that would be useless, so ingrained in the lacrima was a tracking device. It was also how he'd found her so quickly when the alarm sounded. The teleportation lacrima was meant to give her freedom, or rather, it was designed to make her believe she had freedom, when really he was still in control and in the end that helped both of them. So, Zeref didn't feel as if it was wrong or morally incorrect in any way. As long as it made them both happy.

A little voice in the back of his mind told him that she was only happy because she didn't know any better. If she knew he could track her she'd be furious. And he told that voice to shut up, because ignorance was bliss. And what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. At least, that was how the saying went.

Zeref followed his own crystal which kept getting brighter the closer he got to her and dimmer as he went away. Like a game of hot and cold. Probably a design flaw, he'd have to get that checked out sometime and work on a more practical method of locating her. Which might've been an even bigger pain. Zeref frowned as no matter which hallway he took he only seemed to be getting colder and colder. He couldn't feel her magical energy very well as for some reason she was suppressing it rather well.

Eventually he realized that Mavis must not be in the castle, but might've gone outside. He should've really guessed this outcome sooner as Mavis had always been fond of the outdoors. But because he had spent so much time in the world he didn't really see the beauty in it, only how each living thing was designed to strip the life from another. Which was a rather depressing viewpoint (as he'd been told by countless people) but unfortunately for those people he'd never been too concerned about something like that.

He found her in the courtyard and she was close to one of the darker corners of the castle. Zeref's frown deepened as he drew nearer to observe her.

Creeper

Stalker

Wierdo

Why are you staring at her! If she finds you…

She's going to think you do this often!

For once the voices in his head seemed to agree upon something. Though usually they weren't as prominent as this and kept to the back of his mind. He'd only just recently started experiencing some of their hardcore effects.

She seemed to be listening into a conversation as well. Which wasn't like her, he didn't remember her being sneaky in any form and she certainly wasn't underhanded. That was more of up his alley, which made him concerned. He couldn't imagine Mavis eavesdropping 100 years ago… had he done this to her? Influenced her somehow? Maybe he had taught her some of what he saw the world as.

Which in a way saddened him. Mavis was supposed to be too pure to be corrupted by someone like him. But apparently the world had infected even her. Another reason why it need to end. Another reason to a long list of reasons that he had written down. Lists helped him stay sane, and remember things. Because now-a days he was always forgetting. The date, the time, sometimes he woke up one morning and couldn't remember who he was for a few moments or why it mattered.

Could you really go so long? Could someone live long enough to forget their own name eventually? Zeref didn't know. He had already forgotten his parents names. He'd already forgotten everyone's names. Except for his 12 generals, Mavis, Natsu, and himself. And someday he wondered if he would forget that as well. Maybe he'd forget his generals, as once they died they served no purpose. And maybe he'd even forget his own name, as that didn't serve any purpose either. But he didn't think he could ever forget his brothers name… he hoped that wasn't possible.

He sensed danger around Mavis, and wondered if he should approach her. Something was very wrong, and he was surprised that Mavis herself couldn't detect the evil presence. He frowned and started edging just a little closer. Step by step, inching his way closer.

"Um… excuse me." He heard Mavis speak, to someone, but he didn't know who, and that caused him even further concern. He quickly scrambled behind the corner of the castle as four people emerged from the shadows, though somehow they were still bathed in darkness, even though the sun was shining directly on top of them. In comparison, Mavis was a beam of sunlight.

"Yes?" one asked. He was dark haired and blue-eyed. Zeref couldn't help but be jealous. The man was rather handsome after all. Still, he recognized this person. He was one of the people who nearly killed him. Which meant that the other four were probably his accomplices, meaning that Mavis could be in danger. But no one was attacking yet, so Zeref stayed where he was, waiting, wondering what Mavis was doing. "What do you want? Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same questions." Mavis said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you're the spies Zeref was talking about. From Pargrande, right? I have to say, staying here was incredibly stupid of you."

"Stupid? I wouldn't say incredibly stupid, since no one has found us."

"Yes but anyone walking in this courtyard could've easily spotted you. If you're going to be clever, at least find a proper hiding spot." She said blandly. "What is it you're doing here anyway? Are you here to get revenge on Zeref for what he did to your country, because if that's the case you may as well give up now."

"Our country? Yeah right, we don't care about that!" the woman said and grinned. It was unnatural, almost like his own, which made him shiver. "All we want is revenge against Zeref for what he did to each of us."

Zeref saw Mavis frown at them, "So this isn't some noble act to save the world?" the four glanced at each other and the tall man shook his head, and when he spoke his voice was deep.

"No. I suppose we save the world in the process… but it is not our goal to destroy Alverez's efforts. It is to get revenge against the man who made us so miserable and who ruined our lives." Zeref stared at them for the longest time, but he could not, for the life of him, remember who they were. No matter how deep he searched he could only recall a few names. Natsu, Mavis, August, Igneel… Anna… the rest started to blur together, faces so clear but names were lost on him. He couldn't though, he didn't remember meeting any of them. Perhaps it was his followers who had hurt them. The Tower of Heaven, Deliora, maybe some cult who worshipped him.

Then, the dark-haired man jumped into a sob story. Zeref wrinkled his nose and nearly gagged. It was so stupid. "We were all childhood friends. My name is Blake and these are my best friends. Ethan, Nate and Clarissa. We lived in a lovely little village until one day… a man came, specifically the black wizard Zeref. He brought death with him and killed our village with his death magic. We had been on the very outskirts of the village, playing, when we watched some of the grass in the field start to go black. It was the most terrifying sight in my life. Of course, we knew only one being could bring about so much death so quickly, for our elders had been warning us about him since we were small. So, we ran, there was nothing else we could do. And upon our return everything was gone. Everyone was murdered, dead. We had nothing left. We have been searching for him ever since, waiting to get revenge and now it's finally possible! He's mortal, vulnerable, he can be killed, and we will be the ones to end him!"

Zeref frowned, knowing he had murdered a lot of villages back in the day. He supposed it was possible that these four, as children, had been a part of one. But what infuriated him was their ignorance. How dare they spout nonsense about being able to kill him! As if they could do such things. Mavis expressed this by asking, "What do you mean? Just because Zeref's mortal doesn't mean he'll be easy to defeat. He's still a very powerful wizard who could probably kill you in an instant." She explained.

"That's why we're waiting here for hostages… someone… important to him to pass by." Mavis hmphed and crossed her arms.

"Too bad nothing but his stupid take over the world project is important to him." Blake smirked as he stared at her.

"I'm not so sure about that." Zeref could practically hear the thoughts that ran through Blake's mind.

"Mavis, step away from them." Zeref said, finally relinquishing his hiding position.

"Well, look who it is?" Blake smirked at him. Zeref felt rage start to creep up within him.

"Let her leave now, and I shall allow you to peacefully leave my country." Zeref reasoned only for Nate to scoff,

"What? And die a few days later? I don't think so." He said.

Mavis frowned, and started backing away from the four, like one would back away from a pack of wolves. Blake reached out and snatched her wrist, to which Mavis started fighting furiously. He may have trapped her, but she wasn't going to allow him to keep her for long. Magic flared within her as she started to summon Fairy Law, while she could feel Zeref's death magic start to snake up like a cat on the prowl. Zeref's eyes turned a bloody shade of red and he snarled.

"Ethan…" Blake said warningly, glaring at his subordinate. Ethan was frozen, staring at Zeref, his eyes glittering with unrivaled fear.

"Ugh, you big baby, give me that!" Clarissa shouted, searching frantically through his pockets. Blake only groaned and shook his head. They had been preparing for this very moment for over ten years and Ethan froze up. He should've known a complication like that would happen. "F-found it!" Clarissa stuttered. "Eat dirt black wizard!" she cried triumphantly.

In an instant the entire courtyard felt different. Mavis gasped in pain as it felt like the magic inside her was ripped out of her body. She heard Zeref make a similar noise, and Mavis felt her limbs give out, the only thing preventing her from hitting the ground was Blake's arm. She gasped and groaned, "What is that." Her eyes felt heavier and she struggled to stay awake.

Mavis felt herself released and she fell with a thud. "It's like magic suppressing handcuffs, except in the form of a vacuum and within a certain radius all magic is sucked into this." He held up the device. "And as long as it's operating within this radius no magic can exist."

"But magic is equivalent to a wizard's lifeforce!"

"I know." Blake said. "I'm not stupid. Soon enough, the both of you will die… however." He turned to Zeref. "I'm not a bad person. I'm not like you. I'm not here to murder people. I'm not here for her." Zeref started crawling towards them as quickly as he could.

"So, make it easy on yourself, don't fight, and I won't kill her too." Mavis squeezed her eyes shut, and dug her fingernails into the dirt. He wouldn't do that for her. Nothing was more important to him than his project of perfect worlds.

"Don't you dare kill her." Zeref whispered. He'd lost too much, he couldn't lose her, not her too. "Please not her." Zeref squeezed his eyes shut.

"That important to you, huh? Would it really hurt you so much to see her die?" Blake asked.

"Yes, it would."

"Then perhaps…" Zeref watched as Blake's hand slipped to his belt and Zeref's eyes widened as he saw a holster on the man's hip. He drew a gun from it, and Zeref glared at it. It seemed someone had already stolen his idea.

Blake pointed the gun at Mavis and smirked. "Then in that case, since everyone is shaming the word morals, I can as well. Just this once."

"No, don't!" Zeref cried. Struggling, he stood, glaring at Blake. He panted and Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You think you can defeat me with the condition your in? Don't make me laugh." He chuckled softly.

"I will save her, even if I don't kill you."

"Through what? The power of love?"

Love, a strange thing. If he didn't love her than he wouldn't even dream of saving her, of giving his life for hers. Zeref slowly reached into his pocket fingering the switch that would send an emergency alert to all his generals and lead them right to him. He'd installed it in the same lacrima that led him to Mavis. In fact, he wondered if the device could even be called a lacrima considering how it was chalk-full of technology. Zeref didn't think it would ever be necessary, but he was paranoid, so he installed it just in case. Zeref flipped it and hoped he could stall Blake long enough for his generals to arrive and destroy him and his team. Maybe not long enough to save his life, but hopefully long enough to save Mavis'. He then returned his attention to the gun.

"Don't shoot it. Don't." Zeref said, trying to make his eyes stern, screaming at him with them.

August felt his pocket vibrate as he was looking through ancient texts for the hell of it. He frowned and reached his hand in, grabbing the small device. He remembered now, the emperor had given him this, just in case one of them was ever in trouble. He was paranoid like that. He held the lacrima in front of him and it started following it's glow. The brighter it got, the closer he got, like a game of hot and cold. "His majesty really needs to install a better tracking method." August grumbled.

"And why shouldn't I?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. He held his finger on the trigger, staring at Zeref with cold ice eyes. He didn't even look happy at the revenge he was being granted. Just furious and hateful. He gripped the gun tighter, until his fingers turned ghost pale.

"Because I love her." Zeref whispered, his fingers trembling. He wasn't sure of his own expression, but it probably looked more pitiful than it had in a long time.

Blake shook his head, chuckling humorlessly. "And what about you? Did you ever think that perhaps my family, my friends, my village was important to me? That I loved it? I'll tell the answer, you didn't! You didn't think about how your actions could hurt others, or how the survivors may feel! Your not even thinking about her right now are you? Are you! No, you're probably only thinking about how lonely you'll be after she's gone!"

"I love her…" he whispered again.

"I already know for a fact that's not true, black wizard. You're not capable of loving anybody. And no one is capable of loving you."

"You're wrong!" Zeref shouted, his body starting to tremble. It wasn't fair of him o say such things! What did he know about anything! "It's not true… it's not true."

"It is." Blake said. "It's unfortunate because I can see nothing reflected in your eyes. Not love, nor hate, nor fear. I see nothing. You are empty, broken, always broken, no matter how hard you try to act human you are unable. Because you are a psychopathic maniac with a God complex."

"No! No, no, NO!" he screamed, stumbling as he walked forward. He didn't know what he'd do once he reached Blake, maybe punch him, kick him, something, anything! "That's not true! It isn't!" Zeref tried to feel angry, real angry, but something didn't feel right. Something that made his heart clench.

"You try to act human, you really do try. But you're not human. It's not possible for you to love."

Zeref could love, he was capable, he felt it everyday. Pain and sadness and hope. He felt all of it, but something again was missing. Something that was needed. He didn't know what it was but maybe… maybe it was joy. Something he just couldn't feel no matter what. Love, he was capable of. Joy, he was not."

"He's somewhat right Zeref." Mavis whispered. Again, she was arguing against him… "You've loved for so long, so blindly. That you might've run out. I didn't think it was possible, but I haven't been alive for 400 years, so maybe it is."

"I'm human. My blood flows and my heart beats!"

"Perhaps I shouldn't say your not human." Blake said. "I guess it would be more accurate to say that you've lost your humanity."

"Shut up, just shut up!" Blake shot him then, nowhere lethal but Zeref screamed regardless and watched as blood flowed from the open wound.

"Stay still." Blake said, and Mavis stood and watched, unable to bring herself to move. She was frozen in fear and even gross fascination. He shot Zeref again and this time he let out a strangled cry, unable to scream because the pain took his breath away.

Then, Blake trained the gun back on Mavis. "We'll see just how much your capable of loving I suppose." Zeref, barely standing, tasted blood. His eyes barely had time to widen and Zeref reached a hand towards her.

Everything was surreal and hazy, like a dream. Blood was everywhere, like a horror film. He screamed as Blake pulled the trigger, aiming it straight at Mavis' head.

And from inside the castle, August heard a gunshot.

A/N Don't hate me, I promise I'll have the next chapter soon because this is a massive cliffhanger. Tomorrow or Saturday I'll have it. I already wrote it but their are some minor/major things that I forgot to add. I can't promise you'll like me again next chapter because... well, that's a spoiler. There will be a sequel to this because I'm an idiot for forgetting some very major things (SUCH AS BLAKE AND THEM WERE HIRED!) You'll find out who hired them next time and then the sequel will introduce a new bad guy. I'll have more information for you next time, as I didn't know I needed a sequel until a few minutes ago when I realized I left some major questions unanswered... see you guys hopefully tomorrow. Reviews/follows/favorites are all welcome. Bye... *sigh*