Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail or Artemis Fowl

Whatever it was Artemis Fowl was doing, Zeref was not given the ability to observe. Artemis had left the lacrima resting inside of the branches of a tree, on the outskirts of Magnolia. Likely, the boy was intelligent enough to hope to delay Zeref with some distance. However, Zeref also couldn't help but wonder what he had in mind. What protection could a forest offer from his curse? Clearly, Tenrou Island had revealed that such natural places had no defense against death magic. Still, Artemis seemed intent and focused, making Zeref wonder what he had missed.

As promised, Zeref's wait was short-lived. Artemis returned, with Butler following at a distance. The bodyguard seemed to be growing more wary of his charge every moment, an interesting sight to see. Seeing darkness inside of a loved one often put fear into the hearts of those that cared for him. This bodyguard was loyal, but that fear still forced him to keep his distance. "I am ready. Have you prepared a few of your generals to battle with you?"

By his side, Zeref had August, Jade, and Invel just beyond the boy's view. With the three of them, he was more than capable of stopping anything Fairy Tail had to offer. Granted, Jade was a weaker Etherious, not even matching the strength of Tartaros, but the other two had surpassed all expectations. August just might even be more powerful than himself, an impressive feat considering Zeref could kill anyone in an instant if he so chose.

Looking back towards the lacrima, Zeref nodded with a smile. "We're coming, Mavis. I look forward to seeing you again." Aware of his history with the girl, the others remained silent. In fact, they had been silent this entire time, following his orders. He'd rather not irritate the boy by revealing he was attacking with someone he knew. However, the more emotional Artemis was, the less likely the boy was to make some sort of plan to interfere. Thus far, Zeref found him to be surprisingly loyal. He spurned his own father, suggested methods of attack, and he was now bringing him directly to the place his prize resided inside of. However, considering how Artemis had oddly been the more moral of his two captors, Zeref could not imagine him truly desiring to be like this. He was not acting like himself, and it made Zeref wary of the boy. The more Zeref tested him, the more it seemed like he was truly determined to reject the world by his side, though. Either way, Zeref would not risk failing at this point in his plans. If it took an emotional shock to stop the young genius from acting, he would provide him with one.

The way the boy reacted to tragedies was alarming as well. The boy had just learned of his own mother's death, yet he had seemed hardly bothered by the knowledge. Now, he was marching towards a massive betrayal of those he had been working with, and he still wore the same neutral expression on his face. His eyes were as unreadable as ever, leaving Zeref intrigued as to how this boy had learned to mask his strategies so well. Part of Zeref briefly wondered if he was an even better tactician than Mavis, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Their schemes were too unlike each other to truly compare. Mavis was skilled in manipulating people and growing their emotions, gearing her plans towards battle and war. Artemis was skilled in plotting plans devoid of all emotion, geared towards theft and deception. Both were experts in their own fields, but they differed too greatly for Zeref to truly compare the two in terms of skill.

Artemis grabbed the lacrima swiftly, beginning to move away from the forest with an odd silence. While Zeref had known the boy to often enjoy silence when lost in thought, this appeared to be different. His jaw was set, and he looked oddly pale. Before, Zeref had written off the paleness as fear, but now, he could see small hints of sweat on his skin. He had done something that involved a lot of effort in this forest, and it had clearly taken its toll on the boy. Perhaps the forest had not been necessary for protection, but for keeping his actions hidden. Keeping that in mind, Zeref made a note to be prepared for anything from this particular Fowl.

Magnolia came back into view, with his companions remaining oddly silent. "If you are attempting to plot a method to stop me, I suggest not doing it where I can observe you." Zeref saw Artemis frown towards him, shaking his head.

"I've told you before, I wish to stand by your side when your spell is complete." He paused for a moment, looking upward again. "Eclipse, wasn't it? An interesting spell…all I wish for is to remember this future when everything we know is erased from history. Then again, perhaps it won't be. Based on Lucy's own stories about the device…it makes me inclined to believe that there are infinite parallel timelines, all with infinite possibilities for their futures. Traveling through time does not alter the current future, it only blocks off the original path that brought you there by taking you to an alternate version. After all, she witnessed people come back from a time when this world had been destroyed by dragons…when clearly, such beings have ceased to exist."

"I've since altered the design…but yes. I am rather impressed you've determined so much about my plans, Artemis Fowl. Just what good would memories serve you, however?"

"Should you fail and we arrive to a similar future…I intend on stopping you with the knowledge of what happened before." All things considered, Zeref supposed he did not mind such an occurrence. With how long his life had been, he had already forgotten numerous details about his past. Likely, he would continue to forget more, possibly even the ones from this current timeline after he traveled into the past. Having someone around to stop him from creating a never-ending cycle of time travel could be useful.

Nodding, Zeref leaned back, coming to another realization. Artemis was a very patient child. In a young boy, it was a rare quality to find. His plans involved waiting for years for any form of success. After all, with the design he had set for Neo Eclipse, it would attempt to take both of them back to Zeref's childhood, when he was only five and his family was still alive. For Artemis, it would take him as far back as the moment he was born. He would relive his entire life, all for the purpose of attempting to stop Zeref. Few would be willing to wait so long, and Zeref found it mildly alarming. Patience was a quality that often lead to success. Zeref's own impatience with his black magic spells was part of what lead to the curse, after all. If he had perfected them and offered a trade-off for the life returned, he would never have gained the curse for disrupting the balance between life and death. However, he had been too eager to see his brother again.

Artemis seemed to stop abruptly in the streets, pausing for a moment. Glancing towards him, Zeref narrowed his eyes. He just might teleport himself and his guards there now, if Artemis was backing out. However, Artemis took a deep breath, rubbing his forehead for a moment. Then, he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze focused on something by his feet that was outside of Zeref's view. Shaking his head, Artemis hardened his gaze and began moving forward again after the brief pause. "My apologies, Zeref. I am not feeling the greatest at the moment. It will pass soon enough, I believe."

Without proof of it being anything else, Zeref simply frowned. Somehow, it didn't feel right that the boy was suddenly feeling ill. Then again, it wasn't as if he had any other reason to stop. With the threats Zeref had given him and the opportunity to have his mother back, Artemis would not back out of this unless he were insane, or perhaps completely emotionless. However, the attempt at keeping his bodyguard away proved otherwise on his emotions already. So, Zeref had to settle with the restless feeling that something was off about his partner, unable to place exactly what it was that was unsettling him so much.

"Hey look! It's Artemis." A female shout came from behind them, and with it, Artemis stiffened completely. His blue eyes seemed to lock on some distant point ahead of him, standing in the streets and just waiting for them to come. Butler remained a distance away, but the bodyguard seemed to tense at the shout as well.

Turning his view to the approaching wizards, Zeref smiled faintly in recognition. Natsu and Lucy were both among them, likely with their team returning to the guild. "I thought I smelled ya nearby. You heading back to the guild hall for once? Mavis has been getting eager to run her plan by you." Natsu grinned at him, standing just next to Artemis' side.

The young genius still seemed frozen, not responding. He had his eyes closed, as if focused on something intently. "Artemis?" The black haired guy spoke, stepping closer with a frown. "You alright, man? I don't think I've seen you look this spaced out since you first started…" He trailed off, realizing Artemis was not replying.

"Do you think he made Evergreen mad? I mean, he looks a lot like one of her statues right now." A flying blue cat made the suggestion, glancing around at the rest of their group.

In the arms of a blue haired girl, a white cat spoke in response. "Nonsense. If he were affected by her magic, he would be made of stone. Clearly, he is still flesh…he just appears to be immobilized by something."

Zeref noticed a slight twitch of one of Artemis' fingers, and with it, his expression seemed to tighten in an odd way. His brow furrowed tighter, wrinkles forming near his eyes as he forced them to close even tighter than before. His mouth turned into a grimace, but he still seemed to be struggling to stand his ground. "Do…do you think Zeref finally came for it? I mean…it's not like any of us know entirely what Zeref is capable of."

Lucy spoke first, before the scarlet haired wizard frowned in response. "Unlikely. This does not appear to be caused by magic…perhaps his bodyguard would know what ails him." With that, the group turned towards Butler, who had not moved from his spot standing away from them.

Since they had been speaking from behind Artemis, they had failed to notice the lacrima quite yet. However, now, the girl with blue hair seemed to approach with a frown, moving to grab Artemis' arm. "While you do that, I'm going to see if I can heal—" She broke off, blinking in surprise towards Zeref. Her eyes widened, and the black wizard smiled towards her.

"I assure you, he is not ill, nor is he under any form of spell. Whatever is occurring with Artemis is of his own doing." Zeref watched as the girl took a slight step back at that, putting a bit more distance between them.

Realizing Artemis was not helping, and that he was about to lose the element of surprise, Zeref drew on his magic. Focusing his energy towards the lacrima, he began to strengthen the connection between the two devices. Utilizing the energy within, he created a teleportation spell using the link already established. In seconds, Zeref and his companions appeared before the Fairy Tail wizards, making them all freeze and stare at him with wide eyes. "Hello again, Fairy Tail wizards. I take it you've been expecting me?" Zeref tilted his head slightly, smiling darkly at their stricken expressions.

"It really is him…Zeref did something to Artemis…" Lucy had a hand lifted, nearly touching her mouth in shock. By her side, Natsu glared harshly at him, flames dancing in his fists as he looked ready to charge forward and attack.

"Looks like we get the honor of stopping him." Gray smirked at that, tossing his shirt aside and standing ready to fight.

Glancing towards him, Natsu slowly began to grin as well. "Sounds about right. Want some back-up with that plan?"

"If we face him together, there's no way he can stop all of us. We outnumber him and his group, and we should be able to—"

"I can't stop it." Artemis finally breathed out some comment, his eyes flashing open. "Now I understand…" He trailed off, touching his head slightly. "Perhaps this was a mistake." The boy had made a mistake in his plans. Zeref frowned, turning towards him. However, as he did so, he felt an oddly familiar magical aura around him. He knew this magic, the feel of it. The chills it sent through his body, despite knowing he was immortal, were irrefutable. However, before he could shout a warning to his generals and tell them to run, Artemis lost control.

Zeref found himself standing inside of a familiar black haze of magic. It exploded from Artemis, expanding in seconds to encase the entire segment of the street where they stood. Jade attempted to guard herself, hardening her skin, but that was no protection against this form of magic. "L-lord…Zeref…help…" She managed to breath out a few last words, before collapsing entirely. Just before she inhaled her last breath, an odd clarity returned to her eyes. "Domovoi…sorry." Her hand stretched out towards the bodyguard, before growing limp on the ground as the magic stole away the last of her energy.

His guards had similar reactions, collapsing quickly as the magic penetrated through their defenses placed by Irene. "I…never found…the answer…" August collapsed with those last words, his gaze locked on Zeref with tears in his eyes. His most loyal general reached towards him, as if wishing to be embraced, before his arms fell back to his sides and he died. A bit taken back by the gesture, Zeref turned to see if anyone was surviving in this haze. It grew colder, almost unbearably cold, as Invel's own magic tried to protect him from the spell. However, unlike August and Jade, he collapsed without a word, dying silently in the dark spell.

The Fairy Tail wizards did not fare any better. "Charle…" The blue cat seemed to be collapsing near the other one, his paw reaching out and touching hers. Wendy was on the ground just behind the cat, already too far gone.

Charle was growing limp as the blue cat's eyes welled with tears. "I'm sorry…Happy…for not…" She was unable to even finish her last words before the magic stole away the last of her energy. Happy managed just a few moments longer, shouting her name into the endless haze until he could speak no more.

Natsu attempted to burn away the magic, but it only managed to delay the effects. Nearby, Lucy seemed to be sitting inside of a massive clock, but that clock soon vanished. "Even I cannot survive this death magic. I'm sorry I could not protect you…" With that, the clock vanished in a poof of smoke and left Lucy on the ground.

"Natsu…I'm scared…" She grew weak fairly quickly, not even attempting to get up. Kneeling down by her side, Natsu reached out and pulled her head to his chest, stroking her hair as his flames died out, consumed by Artemis' death magic.

"I'm right here, Luce. I'll protect you to the very end." The celestial wizard managed a weak smile, burying her head into the corner of his scarf, where it rested on his shoulder. Before long, her body was limp, and Natsu's soon followed after, the two of them collapsed in an odd embrace.

Erza was trying to resist and fight back, her sword drawn and ready to fight. She had managed to even requip a few blades and launch them towards Artemis and Zeref, but she had been too weak to perfect her aim. Most missed by a long shot, though one seemed to hit Artemis' shoulder. The young genius gasped in pain, touching the sword in his shoulder with a grimace. Wordlessly, Zeref moved and pulled it free, making him gasp in pain and fall to his knees. Soon, the wound vanished with the blade removed, healed as if nothing had happened.

With her final attack stealing the last of her energy, Erza's kneeling position gave away and she fell onto her side in the street. Ice seemed to be forming around the final wizard standing, but it faded away just moments after Erza collapsed, his own body giving out. "Everyone…we've failed…I'm sorry…" He closed his eyes with those last words, unmoving on the ground.

Shaking his head, Artemis clutched his hair tightly. "No…I was not supposed to…I did not focus on their lives at all. The plan…they were meant to stay away for the plan…" He seemed to be muttering to himself, much like Zeref had done to try and reason out his own losses of control.

Somewhere in the haze, Artemis' only friend began to deteriorate as well, falling dead in the streets with the Fairy Tail wizards. Artemis had never even learned the man's name, if Zeref were to believe the customs of that family. "It matters little if you focus on them or not. The fact that you wished for them to stay away only proves that you valued their lives. Did you not understand what taking on this curse would mean, Artemis Fowl?"

The young genius took a deep breath, holding his arms tightly around his body. "The more one loves life, the more one is forced to take it away. I knew that…and I had practiced controlling my thoughts, avoiding valuing lives for the past moth. I knew it was a possibility that it would come to this…so I separated myself from them. They all became little more than pieces in my plan, pieces meant to play their role and nothing more."

"Then I suppose their role was to die." Zeref spoke bluntly, glancing towards Artemis who stared at him with wide eyes. "Plans are meant to be elastic, capable of change. Adjust your plans accordingly…for they will not be coming back." The magic made him feel a bit light-headed himself, but Zeref found it did not harm him. He wondered why the immortality of the curse would sometimes protect people from this spell, and why other times it would not. Regardless, he supposed he would not be investigating that answer any time soon.

Glancing at the collapsed bodies in the storm, Artemis slowly began to nod. Zeref gave one last glance towards Natsu, before oddly finding his gaze drawn towards August. What question had the man been trying to answer? He had never spoken to Zeref of it, leaving it a mystery. However, kneeling by his side, Zeref smiled faintly. "I am sorry it came to this, August. For what it is worth, I will make an effort to learn of your question…and to seek its answer on your behalf."

It was the least he could do for the child he had raised to be a soldier. Once his plans were complete, he'd be free to study as much as he desired once more, this time with his family alive to support him. The thought made him feel oddly pleasant, and eager for this war to be done with. The magic around them was slowly calming, and Artemis seemed to be reigning the power in. He was doing even better than Zeref had done when he gained the curse, controlling it for far longer than he had witnessed in any newly cursed wizards. "You are correct. Mourning them will only make this worse." Artemis rose to his feet, turning around to face the path he had once been taking. "It is time for me to begin playing a more active role in my plans. Fairy Tail will fall…and it will be by my hand, one way or another." Artemis gave one last glance towards the fallen bodyguard, hardening his gaze. "I am sorry, old friend. We do not have time for a proper burial…nor do I have the time to attempt to bring you back. Rest well…I promise to end this nightmare soon."

Please don't hate me! If you read onward, this story does get brighter soon. Please review and tell me what you think!