"Hey, so, Mard?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"What was that thing you did earlier? When you were fighting Siegrain?"

"I believe that was my Etherius Form. Consider it similar to…your amplification magics. It offers a boost to my physical abilities."

"I gathered," I said, deadpan. "I meant how'd you do it?"

"I'm not sure, and quite honestly I don't care so long as I can use it again."

I nodded. "Alright, moving on, what say you we take a look at these books, now that we've made some distance from the feds?"

"Agreed," Mard Geer reached into my backpack and pulled out one of them. "Kyoka…strange, the name sounds familiar."

"You remember him?"

"Her," he corrected. "And…I must admit that I've remembered quite a bit over the past months during your imprisonment."

"Really? Like what?"

"Like, about what my mandate was," he hinted.

"You mean how you want to die?"

"Yes that; I've recalled another word, Zeref, the same person who created these Books. I've been thinking…perhaps my mandate isn't to die, but instead it is to kill this Zeref."

I sweat dropped. "You say it so nonchalantly…" I muttered. "Alright, but why would Zeref create you demons just to kill him?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted as he opened the book, beginning to read. "Hm…interesting…"

"What does it say?"

He popped the book closed. "It's all gibberish to me," he stated as I flopped to the ground.

"Talk about a huge disappointment," I commented as I snatched it form him. "Maybe it's like a grimoire and…I can't read it either…" I said as I began filtering through the book, finding nothing that I recognized.

"It doesn't matter what it says," Mard concluded. "Zeref most likely wrote it in his own dialect, so no one could steal its secrets."

"Oh yeah? Then how to we resurrect them?"

"As I said, we'd need a large magic supply."

"Alright, where is a place that's magically charged?"

We both stopped in our tracks and thought about the question. "Ditto."

"Agreed," Mard said as we both sighed.

"You know…a few thousand isn't seeming like all that much right now…" I muttered, turning to Mard to see his reaction.

"Seriously?"

I looked at him, deadpan. "…No, it was a joke," I stated. "Let's go to the next town and see if they've got a map of Fiore somewhere, deal?"

Mard Geer nodded and we began to make our way there, stopping to rest along the way. I sat down as began shooting down branches so I could quickly light a fire for us as it was getting cold because of winter. "I'm going to scout about a mile ahead to make sure there won't be anyone watching," Mard said as I nodded, such an act having become routine since I'd escaped from prison. I even made magic alarms that Mard could set up despite him not having any innate magic power.

A few minutes after Mard left, something went off in my backpack; a sound that had come to be familiar. I reached inside and pulled out my notebook, which Siegrain had been using to contact me. I scowled as his image appeared as a tiny hologram on the page. "What do you want?" I questioned. "We're not doing anything."

"Really? Then why do I feel your magic in a different location this time?" he questioned back.

"It's this new invention called travelling," I stated. "We're heading into a town to research, that's all."

"I highly doubt that," Siegrain claimed as he put his hand to his chin. "You'd better watch him more closely."

"I don't recall ever asking you for-"

"You haven't asked for anything, and that's what worries me. Normally when this sort of thing happens, your type is usually the first to blackmail my type. And you're not."

"Have you ever considered that I might just not be interested in anything you can give me?"

"What about the whereabouts of Jellal?"

My lip twitched. "…I'd rather find him myself," I stated stubbornly. "It wouldn't feel right to just be given the kill."

"Perhaps killing him will be harder than you think."

"I guess we'll see…is that all you wanted? Because that's all the info I'm going to give you."

"…For now, yes."

I popped the book closed, stuffing it back in my backpack. "Pft, idiotic politics; think they can just take control of my life…" I muttered as I rubbed my hands together, holding them up to the fire I made. A few minutes later, Mard returned. "Anything?"

"Trees, leaves on the ground, a bit of frost."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not a thing," he stated as he sat down against one of the aforementioned trees. "Anything here?"

"I wrote a new entry in my journal," I lied. "Not that you'd care."

"What you say about me to your family is of no concern to me. I only care about bringing back my brethren."

"As per usual for Mr. Stoic Demon over here," I stated.

"Whatever you say."

The next day, we made it to the town around sunset, so about five in the evening. We managed to track down a map of Fiore in some washed up book store, looking for any points of interest in a room we got for the night.

"I've got nothing."

"Maybe a wizard guild would be willing to help for the right price," Mard suggested.

"Us and what money?" I wondered, debunking that idea, looking over the map one last time. "I've heard about some weird magic spikes at Crocus around the Grand Magic Games, but that's only around…the time of the games…so…"

"And it's mostly caused by the number of wizards there, not the inherent magic of the city," Mard added, debunking another idea. We both sighed as I tossed the book to him, across the room. "Tell you what, I'll keep looking. You get some rest."

I nodded, yawning at the mention of sleep. "Might as well since you don't need shut-eye," I stated as I flopped onto one of the beds. "Goodnight. See ya tomorrow."

"Yes, goodbye."

The night was rough for me, in fact it wasn't even completed when I woke up. I burst awake, feeling something wrong happening. I looked outside out window, not seeing anything within the city itself.

I opened said window and hopped out, instantly feeling the cold against my skin. As I landed, a shiver went up my spine. "Ohhoho, that's brisk!" I whined to myself as I slipped my hood over my head. I looked around toward the outskirts, seeing a small blue light emanating from one of the tree clearings.

As I approached, I noticed that it wasn't one distinct glow, but rather four, all occurring independently of each other. In the clearing, there was one figure and one figure only.

Part of me regrets having approached, and part of me regrets not having just gone along with what happened. Instead I chose to fight against it.

"Mard?" I questioned.

"Go back to sleep, Brother," he said immediately.

"What are you doing out here?" I questioned., examining the glows, seeing that they were coming from magic circles, with the Books of Zeref in the center of each. "Are you…" I quietly lit up my magic, ready to blow away the magic circles, but before I could, Mard whirled around and sent a solid mass of a vine and whip me back, making me crash into a tree.

"Yes, I am. I've waited long enough for you and I refuse to wait any longer, Brother. This town is perfect, with dormant magic seeping from its people left and right. All it needs it one little push to begin, and then I will be reunited with my brethren."

I lit up my magic yet again. "Yeah, and who's going to give that push?"

Mard cracked a sick grin. "You are, of course, whether you want to or not!"

I smirked. "You don't honestly think you can beat me, do you, Mard? Your curses don't have an effect on me and my magic was made specifically to kill your kind. Please, just stop this stupid plan and we can keep looking for another way."

"There is no other way!" he yelled. "Do you recall when we tried to read the Books?"

"Key word being 'tried', remember? We couldn't-"

"I lied! I could read every word and it said that this was the only way!"

I frowned. "You lied? I thought family didn't lie to each other?"

"And? You've been keeping your fair share of secrets, haven't you? With you little meetings with that Magic Lapdog with the blue hair!"

"I did that to save lives," I retorted. "What you're doing I murder; it's this kind of act that I can't stand."

"Tch, you Devil Slayers…always having your idiotic sense of nobility…" he put poison into his words.

"Oh? Remember something else from your past? Another secret?" I accused. "Mard, stop this now, and we can just keep going, like we always have. Stand down."

"I refuse to stand idly by and let my true brothers be confined to pages in a book," Mard stood firm, raising his hands and, with them, his vines. "I'll do what has to be done; I don't care who you are."

"I'm starting to wonder if you ever cared about me," I retorted. "Did you ever consider me family as I did you, even as my true family was taken from me? No, I can't believe that; even if you are an Etherius, you have good in you; you came back for me when-"

"I only came back because I knew that I needed you."

"You're wrong! You could've tricked any other wizard, but you chose me!" I claimed.

"You know nothing!" Mard yelled. "Now if you plan on standing in my way any longer, I'll be sure to visit your family and I'll let them join you in hell!"

I dashed forward, now furious. "You bastard!" I yelled, blasting him away with my magic, backing through a tree. "Thunder Devil's Flash!"

I shot the attack toward my brother, who rolled out of the way and held out his hand. "You aren't the only one to shoot blasts! Deep Brier!" a small sphere of pink energy erupted into Mard's palm, which then shot toward me, the curse itself not harming me, but the fact that it was so much energy compacted into such a tiny space forced me backwards, far away from the magic circles. Not only that, but when I stopped, it exploded, creating a crater around me.

"Mard…" I warned.

"I won't let you hurt them," he vowed.

"I don't even want to hurt you!" I snapped. "Stop this madness!"

"You have no idea the pain I've endured, knowing my brethren are right next to me and not being able to interact with them, instead being paraded around by an outsider!" he yelled back, a massive rose enveloping him, soon blooming, revealing Mard Geer in that other form, his Etherius Form.

I lit up my magic, but before I could even react, he dashed behind me and knocked me back toward the magic circles, then, ironically, flying circles around me in the sky.

"It must pain you as well. You thought we were family; you thought you could trust me, and in return I offered my trust, and you even betrayed that!" he yelled as he dove and knocked me away again, resorting to sheer force to win the fight rather than his curses, knowing they were useless against me.

"Damn it! Snap out of it! This isn't you!"

"But it is! I'm a demon! I was created to cause untold destruction and chaos!" he exclaimed, knocking me back again. As I stood, he remained stationary in the air.

"Damn it, no choice then…" I muttered, beginning to charge up my magic power and extending my hands, crossed over each other, to the side, bring them around so each carved into the air one half of a magic circle which erupted into a massive one before shrinking to become unnoticeable, being replaced with a condensed sphere of light containing nigh all of my magic energy. Mard simply watched. "The ultimate Devil Slayer Spell, capable of sealing away any demon for eternity!" I yelled, having major difficulty controlling my magic, my arms shaking from the force of it. "Memento Vivere…" I struggled out.

Then the most disturbing thing happened; Mard Geer smiled at that fact.

Just then, my magic exploded out of my control, going every which way. "Yes! Victory is mine!" Mard Geer yelled.

"What?" I could only wonder for a split second before an immense pain surged through my body as my magic was drained. I was standing on top of the central magic circle, the one designed to absorb the magic energy of the entire town, needing only a kickstart, which I unwillingly provided.

The pain lasted several minutes, and all I could think about was the fact that I'd failed; not just for myself or the town which would appear abandoned in twenty minutes, but I failed Mard Geer. He needed just an ounce of humanity instilled in him to steer him on the right path and I was unwilling to provide it, using him as a cipher to travel and search everywhere for the man who murdered my brother.

I'm not sure when it happened, but the pain stopped, and I fell to my knees, panting. I heard bones crack, as if waking up and stretching in the morning.

"Where the hell am I?" I heard a new voice.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters," Mard Geer said proudly. "Welcome back to this world. You are all Etherius, demons created from the Books of Zeref, and I am your eldest brother," he stated to all of them.

"And…" a demon with a deep voice pointed to me. "Who's that?"

"He's…" Mard Geer frowned, his eyes lowering in anger. "an annoyance; I say we should be rid of him."

One of the Etherius cracked his knuckles as I struggled to stand. "Good, this forest will do nicely, I've been itching to start a little blaze with my Bomb Curse."

"And I'd be happy to blow him off the face of the planet with my tempests," another claimed, both sporting twisted grins at the thought of destroying me.

"Strange," the only female said. "My curse doesn't seem to affect him."

"That's because he's…a Devil Slayer Wizard."

Almost immediately, they turned on me, more so than before. Without even being able to fight back, I was brutalized through the forest, for seeming hours until eventually I was all but dead; several broken ribs, a broken arm, sprained ankles; and those were the wounds that could heal.

They were about to finish me off, but Mard held up his hand. "Wait…let him die slowly," he said, to which they agreed, walking away, wanting me to die painfully for simply being a Devil Slayer. Mard stayed behind through, and knelled down next to me. "It didn't have to turn out like this."

I spat my blood onto his face. "Murderer…" I choked out before Mard Geer punched me.

"You would do the same thing for family," he stated harshly before he stood. "I'm off to pay your family a little visit. Where were they again? Ah, yes…Rosemary Village."

"B-bastard…"

Mard Geer looked down onto me, no longer with malice, not visible malice anyway, but rather pity. "…you know…for what's it's worth, you were the first human in a millennia to make me feel…happiness…joy even. For that, I thank you, but I no longer have any use for you. Goodbye forever, Inigo Asher."

Those were the last words I heard before passing out from the blood loss.

Author's Note:

So, I apologize for not having a little message at the end of the last one, but now, uh...yeah...I'm not really sure what to say other than did anyone see this coming? I mean, I probably would have but that's just because I know how I would write it, but...yeah, let me know.

Speaking of letting me know, how about you leave a favorite to show me you liked it or even better a review to help me improve, give compliments, criticism, or anything in-between. Whatever floats your boat!

Until next time, where things in the past will come to a head, bye-bye!