Disclaimer: All rights of Fairy tail go to Hiro Mashima!

To all you readers who are bearing with me, thanks for waiting! I was a little distressed, because the ideas in my head arealmost exploding. So the base is set, let the party begin!

The river flows across the landscape at a steady pace. Its course has changed a couple of times over the years, but its goals stays the same. It provides enough water for the southern forest to grow. The sunlight provides life to the forest. Birds are chirping, squirrels are hiding and bees gather honey from the flowers. It was a quiet and peaceful place for travellers who went to the city. Situated almost 10 km from the castle up in the North, it is a place to escape the worries of daily life. People come here to rest. To feel connected to nature. But everything seemed dull to the indifferent man walking through the forest. He was paying no attention whatsoever to the animals nor the fauna surrounding him. His black robe waved in the wind as he walked on towards the biggest tree of the forest. It stands in the centre of the forest, near the river. It was an ancient tree and he believed it to be a sequoia. It was the only thing in this world that has seen so much. Not enough to match his memory, but it has seen more than other living beings. The leaves rustled in the breeze. Beautiful pink flowers graced the field around the tree. These flowers attratced butterflies who rested on the tree's trunk. The man sighed, not even noticing the beauty of the place. He looked around, deciding on what he had to do, like he did so many times before. Conjuring a strategy to avoid disaster. He had to be carefull or these past hundred of years will have been for nothing. A strategy was forming in his head, trying to see the different outcomes with the pawns he had. After some time, the sun only enlightened a small red glow of sunset. Evening was covering the land and a figure appeared from the trees. It was one of his pawns, Jellal, and it didn't look like it went well. When Jellal reached the man, he put his hand over his heart and bowed.

"Your majesty."
"Jellal."

The man didn't see any mage next to him, which meant the first step of his plan already failed. Like he predicted. When pawns don't do their job, a plan B has to be ready. So this time, plan B meant to approach the situation from a different angle. The girl will want to learn more about her magic, like Layla was eager to learn more about it. He already made up his plan, but he wanted to hear Jellal's excuse. A powerful mage with heavenly body magic who failed to bring him a celestial mage. A celestial mage who didn't even know the full length of her magic.

"Your majesty, the mission failed. Juvia brought me to the celestial mage but she was already with Natsu, the fire dragon slayer. And as you know, he isn't too fond of me."
"You weren't able to get past him?"
"… Titania was also there, your majesty. I didn't want to make a fuss…"

The small hope building in the man's chest ebbed away. It was Titania who stopped Jellal. Natsu wasn't ready yet… A small trace of fear tried to make itself known. What if it wouldn't work? He ignored it. He couldn't give up now. He couldn't wait another hundred years. He looked at Jellal and anger tried to surface. But to his disgust, the man in front of him was still a useful pawn. Jellal has a special kind of magic, very powerful and connected to the celestial kind. That's why he couldn't destroy him. Jellal possessed certain skills and contacts he could use in his advantage. Jellal waited, saying nothing when the emperor made up his mind.

"Up until a week ago, I thought my last chance died along with Layla. She was one of the few powerful celestial mages left. But then her daughter appeared. A celestial mage nonetheless… she gifted me another chance of salvation. Up until an hour ago, I had no idea on how to introduce her to Natsu. But you tell me they already met. Funny how things work out. Well, let's continue then. You will teach her to become as strong as her mother. going to try something else. Give her this."

The emperor took an old book from under his clothes and gave it to Jellal. He took the item from him and looked at it. It was a book covered in brown leather, tied by a brown leather string with a symbol for the sun attached to it.

"This is from her mother; it has her handwriting and tips on how to improve her magic. Give it to her, but go unnoticed. When she sees it, she'll know what it is. Then you'll talk to her when she's alone. Lure her in with the thought that you heard about her mother. Layla Heartfilia, the great celestial mage who fought in the war. Say you gave her this after you found it in the empire's library."
"Alright, I'll report to your majesty as soon as possible."
"Great. Now leave. Fast."

Jellal knew what that meant. He didn't hesitate one bit and started running towards the forest, searching for a way out. The conversation about Natsu had made Zeref nostalgic. Happiness overwhelmed him as he thought about the salvation in the future. The fate set in motion by this daughter of Layla... and the thought of reuniting with Natsu at his full potential soon... He only had to wait a bit longer. Jellal would do his job right this time and he could focus on Natsu. The celestial mage could be self-taught when she received Layla's diary. Everything would turn out right… Soon... Jellal ran fast. He knew there wasn't much time left and disappeared to lower ground behind a rock formation. Not a second too soon, everything went quiet as a gulf of black smoke passed by. He made it. He waited another ten minutes in shock, hoping the majesty's tantrum would end with one wave. Zeref looked around. Every leave and flower petal robbed of its life. They fell down and covered the ground. Together with every skunk, squirrel and bird found in a radius of 1 km around the emperor. A veil of silence and dead covered the once vivid southern forest. Not even ants survived. After another look at the dead forest around him, Zeref didn't care. He saw so much death in his life that this was nothing. He had felt every single heartbeat and life force before it died by his magic. Felt the second of fear in every being before the instant death. Three travellers were on their way to his kingdom. At the wrong place in the wrong time, now never reaching their destination. He knew it was better not to care. Caring only made things worse, so he started walking back to the castle. As an emperor, your presence was crucial to get the amount of army and freedom to do the hell you wanted in this country. Starting a war was only part of the job. He stopped and looked at the sky, thinking of Natsu. Nostalgia hit him again.

"Soon, we'll reunite once again… I found you. The only thing left to do is release you when you're not strong enough. It's a different time Natsu, a different empire than ours, but it will be the same graveyard as it was that day. They'll all pay for what they did to you. I'll make this war worthwhile, revenge will be our victory. I should warn you not to get attached, but you have to make your own mistakes. I've seen it all before… The first casualty of war… is innocence. I'm sorry Natsu, but people aren't rain, or snow, or autumn leaves… they do not look pretty when they fall down."

His aura materialised again in black smoke surrounding him. He pushed away his thoughts before losing control again. He had to keep cool. If he couldn't control himself, how would he be able to control the fate set out for this world? His plans were more important than nostalgia. The future of humankind was in his hands… and he would crush it without a second thought. He would crush it soon, like others crushed his life so many years ago. Everyone forgot the tragedy and the pain with passing decades, but he didn't. People were less worth than pigs and he would make them pay. Everything felt clear to him as he imagined how everything would end in time. It was his fault. His fault it happened that day. It was his fault that his life fell apart. So he would never lose control again, he couldn't afford it. Fate was set in motion and he had to play the cards given. The aura disappeared as his eyes turned red, full of hate and determination. It was time. Finally.

Title: Halsey - Control (Male version, Nightcore)

I have a list of all the songs on YouTube (to give you the right versions which helped me write this chapter). It can help you too with your stories ;) The list is at this link: watch?v=D7jVqok1bqw&list=PL6ak0PnPyrOrPcY3Hne4R-jb2rxk8_mnZ or type "Fanfiction remember to forget" in YouTube :p

Thank you for reading!