Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Pairing(s): Natsu Dragneal x Zeref, mentions of Jellal x Erza

WARNINGS: violence, alternative history, shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read


The Will to Live

By V. Shalyr


10. Confrontation

It was strange, Zeref thought, both how much and how little the world seemed to have changed. When he'd sealed himself away on that island, he'd thought only about seeing Natsu again. It hadn't occurred to him to think about how they were going to live or even what the world was going to be like.

"Worried?"

"Maybe a little," Zeref admitted, leaning back into his partner's embrace and thinking about another time on another ship not totally unlike this one. "I used to think you'd decide on a territory and we'd live somewhere in the wilderness. I suppose that's not really plausible anymore."

He felt Natsu shrug before replying, "I think it's too early to start deciding what's plausible and what isn't."

"Hmmm, I suppose that's true." Zeref closed his eyes. "You can sleep if you're tired. I don't mind. You don't have to keep me company."

"Nah, I'm too high on adrenaline to sleep. Anyway, I told the others I'd keep watch."

A pensive silence settled between them, and then Zeref asked, "Do you know how long it's been since you and the others made the jump?"

"About three years. Although I only just started to remember what happened back then. Hell, I thought I was human until a few weeks ago."

"And you joined a wizard guild?"

"Yeah, same one that was looking after you as it turns out. Crazy coincidence, huh? It's pretty much expected these days, joining a guild—if you want to make a living as a wizard."

Natsu went on to tell his partner about some of his adventures as a guild wizard, and Zeref listened quietly, piecing together an image from these accounts of what the dragon's life had been like in the last three years. All in all, it sounded like Natsu had had fun, and Zeref was glad for that, although he wasn't sure yet how he felt about guilds. Did he even want to "make a living as a wizard" as Natsu put it? Zeref had never seriously contemplated the possibility of doing something else, but then he'd never had the option before. Now that he did have a choice—might actually be able to participate in society—he wasn't actually sure that he wanted magic to be his profession—not because he no longer cared for it, because he did, but because he didn't want to encourage people's interest in him as a wizard. This was a strange and slightly unsettling realization, however, so he put it away for thinking about later.

.

"Guild Master Makarov says that most of the members of Fairy Tail are now barricaded in their guild hall," Eiji reported, eyes closed. "The other citizens of Magnolia City are trying to break in. It looks like all of them have been affected. The wizards are trying to avoid injuring them, but the attackers have a serious advantage in sheer numbers."

"Right," Jellal murmured, checking Fairy Tail off the list of guilds he'd put together with Erza's help. "What about Blue Pegasus?"

"Let me see." Eiji's brow furrowed, and then he said, "I can't seem to reach any of them. There's a lot of interference. It's possible that their Archive Magic specialist was one of those affected, and he's blocking me."

"I see." Jellal made a note and shook his head. "Looks like more than half of these guilds have fallen prey to whatever magic caught the people in the Council building. The rest are having trouble with regular citizens, large numbers of whom have also been affected. How did the White Key move so fast? If it is a potion like you said, it couldn't have been easy to make all these people drink it."

"Perhaps it has something to do with what Zeref said he sensed," Erza said, inclining her head towards the two wizards by the ship's prow.

They were on their way now to examine one of those disturbances.

Jellal looked at the two wizards as well. He hadn't yet been brought up to speed on the details, but he could guess at some of them just by looking at the two.

"It's obvious they didn't just meet yesterday," he said cautiously.

"No," Erza agreed. "According to Natsu, they actually met several hundred years ago."

On Erza's other side, Clarice rolled over in her bedroll and opened her eyes. She'd been trying but failing to sleep, and there didn't seem to be any reason to keep at it.

"I can believe that," she said. "It explains a few things, although it does make me wonder... I had no idea that my ancestor knew Zeref. Edrik was very well respected, you know. My family's turned out a lot of Rune Knight members since his day, but Edrik's still the most famous."

Not taking his eyes from the dark-haired wizard, Jellal said, "I suppose that just goes to show how little we really know. Do you think he'd be willing to answer some questions?"

"Depends on the questions," Erza replied. "I get the feeling that he's happy that we've been leaving him alone."

At the disappointment that flashed across her partner's face, she added. "I'm sure he'll get over it. I suggest you reserve your questions for when the kingdom isn't going crazy."

"Half of Lamia Scale is fighting the other half, or something like that," Eiji said, cutting into the conversation. "None of them have the time to tell me exactly who is fighting who though."

Jellal noted this down and sighed. Erza was right. Business first. Curiosity later.

The Sparrow arrived in the skies above the source of the nearest disturbance just as dawn began to break. Almost all of the ship's passengers had, one by one, dozed off, leaving only Zeref settled against his partner by the prow. Despite being on watch, Natsu had fallen asleep sitting against the ship's railing. Zeref could have woken him but didn't. The dragon wizard and his friends had had a very eventful twenty-four hours. Zeref could keep watch on his behalf.

Throughout the night, the commotion upon the ground had gradually died down. Either people were growing tired or most of the remaining pockets of resistance had fallen. Zeref hoped that it was the former—people needed to rest, after all, ensorcelled or not—but it was most likely a combination of the two.

As the Sparrow began to descend in a slow, circling glide, Zeref peered through the bars of the railing at what lay below. It looked as though they were headed for the surface of a wide, slow-moving river. The first rays of the rising sun had just begun to color its surface, but something seemed... off about the reflection. It seemed almost too bright. Too sharp.

Zeref wondered if sleeping for a couple centuries had somehow messed with his senses. But the closer they got to the water, the more certain he became that something was, indeed, wrong.

"Natsu," he said quietly, sitting up in the other wizard's arms and leaning closer to the railing for a better look. "Natsu, I think there's something wrong with this river."

Natsu grumbled something incoherent, and Zeref shook the arm loosely draped around his middle.

"Natsu."

"I'm awake," his partner said with a yawn. "What's wrong?"

Zeref pointed.

Natsu glanced down at the river and frowned. "Is this the place?"

"It appears so."

Slowly, the ship touched down upon the river, settling into the water with the softest of splashes and sending ripples out across its unusually brilliant surface.

"It reeks," Natsu said flatly, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "You don't even want to know what it smells like, aside from magic that is. Really strong magic."

"I think," Zeref said slowly, "that I already do."

.

The wizards gathered along the side of the ship, which now floated close to the southern bank of the vast river. They'd dropped the anchor and wondered why a ship with so many other magical properties still had a traditional metal anchor to keep it from being carried away on the current.

"I'm guessing we shouldn't replenish our water supply here," Gray said, squinting at the glimmering river. "Is it just me, or does this water look really strange?"

"It's not just you," Lucy said, lifting a hand to shade her eyes. "I don't think light usually looks like that when it reflects on water. It's way too bright."

"It's not just bright," Natsu said. "It smells like blood."

A shudder ran through the other wizards.

"Blood?" Lucy repeated. "Are you sure? But it's not—I mean, it's not red or anything."

"I know blood when I smell it, and there's definitely blood in this water. Lots of it."

Clarice spoke up, her face drained of color, "There was blood in the potion we found in their Sage Town outpost. The research department thought that it was how they were recruiting and manipulating people."

Eiji frowned uneasily. "But surely a person would have died several times over before you got enough blood to make an entire river smell of it."

"What else did the research department say?" Jellal asked. "They're reports are usually pretty detailed. Did they have any idea how the potion was supposed to work?"

"Well," Eiji said slowly, "if I remember correctly, they thought it was possible that people who drank the potion would start... thinking like the wizard who brewed it."

Half a second passed while this information sank in, and then everyone looked at Jellal, their thoughts honing back in on the documents he'd shared with them the night before. In turn, Jellal looked at Zeref.

"I guess now we know why they didn't need you anymore."

"The White Key couldn't have possibly turned all the water in the kingdom into this stuff, could they?" Lucy asked, horrified.

Gray grimaced. "Why not? They've had all night. Even if they haven't managed to hit every source of fresh water around, they've made a great start."

It was clever too. Everyone had to drink something at some point. A human could only live for so long without water.

Well, almost everyone. Zeref could manage fine without water, although being desperately thirsty would be... uncomfortable. Kind of like starving.

"No wonder the whole kingdom's lost its mind," Natsu muttered. "This is bad, isn't it?"

"Bad," Erza said as though she were trying the word out. "Yes, I think it's safe to say that this is bad."

And it was about to get just a little bit worse.

"Duck!" Natsu said suddenly, grabbing Zeref and pulling him down with him.

At the same moment, something small whizzed through the air where his partner had been standing. The tiny missile struck the deck and stuck there. They didn't waste time staring at the wooden dart. Natsu straightened and sent a blast of fire towards the shore. The responding shouts of anger and pain were accompanied by a volley of darts, which Gray intercepted with a wall of ice.

"Go!" Erza shouted, dodging a stray dart and racing over to put her hand on the sparrow figurehead. "Up, up!"

The ship lurched skyward at once, lifting out of the water and rising almost straight up towards the clouds. Its passengers grabbed at the rails to avoid being thrown off their feet. Another burst of frustrated shouts dwindled away below them.

Erza didn't slow the ship down again until they had broken through the clouds, and as she did so, a cool voice echoed through their minds.

"Councilman Jellal Fernandez," the voice said. "You are the only member of the Magic Council who has not joined my side. We understand that you are one of the most promising wizards of this current generation. In consideration of this, we would like to make you an offer."

Jellal glanced at his companions then took a deep breath and replied, speaking aloud even though he knew he didn't have to for the owner of the telepathic voice to hear him. "If your offer has anything to do with joining forces with you, then I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down."

There was a pause, then the voice—now distinctly cold—said, "I see. In that case, prepare yourself. I had hoped to convert everyone in Fiore and avoid any unnecessary deaths. However, if you and your companions insist on opposing us, you'll leave us no choice."

It was an incredibly corny thing to say, but Jellal said it anyway. "You won't get away with this. Dierce, isn't it? You know, people don't like being coerced. There's a reason the Council backed Edrik Ghalice's decisions three hundred years ago."

Rather than growing angry, Dierce laughed. "In a generation or two, no one will know any differently. We have control over every major body of water in this kingdom. You are vastly outnumbered. It's only a matter of time. Even if you were to kill me now, my ideals will live on. And, of course, I'm not working alone. This kingdom is long overdue for a change, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. So tell me, what do you think you're going to do?"

A grim scowl hardened the blue-haired wizard's face. Unfortunately, Dierce had a valid point. Before he could decide how to retort, Zeref spoke, surprising all of them.

"We're going to stop you," he said, perfectly calm and collected. "The world you describe would be a dreadful place to live."

The dark-haired wizard began writing in the air while he spoke.

Dierce sneered. "You're free to try. You modern-day wizards can't even hold a candle to the wizards we used to have in this kingdom. All you people know how to do is blast away at things and waste energy. It'll take more than that to change what has happened."

The "modern-day wizards" on the Sparrow frowned at this insult, but didn't interrupt.

The tone of Zeref's voice didn't change at all when he replied, "I suppose it's fortunate that they found me then, isn't it?"

Dierce seemed taken aback by this. There was a long silence before he asked, "Who am I speaking to?"

"No one important," Zeref said.

He finished what he was writing and looked over at Eiji. The telepath moved around so he could read the note, which asked if he was able to shield them. Eiji thought for a moment then nodded and closed his eyes so he could focus.

Dierce began to speak again, but only managed to get out one syllable before he was cut off abruptly. Sweat broke out across Eiji's forehead.

"I can prevent anyone from scrying or otherwise seeking us out with telepathic magic for awhile," the telepath said, "but I'm not sure how long I can keep it up."

"That's all right," Zeref told him. "I'm sure he'll figure out who I am soon enough, especially if he remembers my magical signature. Still, I'd like to delay that for as long as possible."

"So then, what's the plan?" Natsu asked. It was obvious that his partner had one. "Are we going after Dierce?"

Zeref shook his head, hesitated, glanced around at the gathered wizards—all watching him expectantly—and cleared his throat. "How far are we from Eden Lake?"


TBC...


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