Back with the continuation
"speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
"What was that!?" Gildarts asked while looking around.
"It came from the direction of the guild…" Cana turned to Fairy Tail's direction. The guild was in sight.
"There's a tremendous magic power coming from your guild." Gildarts said as he had a bad feeling rising in his heart
"it's the emperor" August voice out as he holds the twins in an embrace as they cried to him "he has acquired his heart"
"Zeref!?" Gildarts said before he heard a shout from behind
"hey!"
"Laxus! Everyone!" Cana hollered as she was glad to see them.
"you guys, ok?" Bickslow asked while watching August's movement for if the old man decided to create a sneak attack upon them
"we're ok" Gildarts said as he glance at Rose and Mary "thanks to those two"
"Wait, if you're all here…" Cana glanced behind everyone. "Does that mean…?"
"We cleaned everything up!" Bickslow gave a thumbs up. "Every remaining Alvarez troop is down for the count!"
"Which means that the Black Wizard is the only one left." Freed stared at the Fairy Tail guild. "I find it rather annoying that we're being banned from finishing things off."
"No kidding…" Elfman sighed.
"Natsu's probably fighting Zeref in there…" Lisanna stared at the guild from afar. She could sense it. "We might just get in the way…"
"all we can do is trust him in ending all of this" Laxus said as everyone looks towards the guild and sends their strength to the Salamander in hopes of him defeating the black wizard
Fairy Tail
END fell to his knees as blood poured out of his wounds
"huff huff huff, god damnit…." END said with a smirk as his armor cracks and shatters into pieces "and here I thought you're the peaceful one in the family"
END looks at Zeref, the White Wizard as the man stood in his all god like figure
"how about surrendering now, END? Even for you defeating me is nearly impossible" Zeref told his little brother
"I don't think so, big brother.." END replied as he stands back up and ignites his fist in flames "the word surrender isn't written in my book, remember?"
"correct"Zeref replied as he lifts his right hand up and an orb of light appeared
"let's end this now" END said as Zeref smirks to him "very well"
Both then dashed towards each other and pulled each other's right hand back
"Enryuo no Hokken!"
Natsu swings his right hand forward as so did Zeref
BOOM!
A collision of power rages through the guild as it caused a huge dust explosion to cloud the field
One moment later, as the dust settled, blacken blood drips onto the wooden floor of the guild
"That's the Fairy Heart's power." Zeref said with a smile as his hand pierced through END's abdomen with the Etherious' blood dripping down the ground "It's an infinite power. We can say it's the 'magic' that overcomes all magic."
Zeref withdrew his hand and END started to collapse.
"I hope to meet you in heaven…" Zeref started to walk towards his destination: the front doors of Fairy Tail. Once he passed through those doors, everything he worked for would finally come to fruition.
"Goodbye, Natsu."
Zeref reaches his hands forward as the doors to Fairy Tail glowed before flashing
"This world has my gratitude…" Zeref was going to take his first steps into his new world, and the last ones of this one.
"where do you think you're going?" a voice spoke as Zeref stopped and turns around and sees Erza standing behind him
"Erza Scarlet, I presume?" Zeref said as he turns around to look at her
"Master told all of us in the guild, that we have to swear an oath" Erza told Zeref as she holds her right arm up and flames appeared
"That if for someone were to ever pass through that door, that someone have to vow that he/she would return."
The flames disappeared as a scarlet crimson dragon heard appeared on Erza's right forearm
"that is Fairy Tail's vow, our vow to live to see tomorrow."
"are you saying that you're going to stop me? You really think you can defeat me when my little brother could not?" Zeref said with a smirk
"I never said anything of me fighting alone" Erza said with a smirk as Zeref's eyes widen when END stood back up
"you really are crazy, aren't you?"END said as his armor shatter into pieces and the black markings on his face slowly disappears
"what?! How!?" Zeref exclaimed "if an Etherious gain a critical damage, the book should've started disappearing! You didn't!?"
"yeah, had to take a risk" Natsu said with a grin as he wipes off some of the blood on his face "but it sure save me"
"you gave her your book!? She shouldn't have survived the fusion!" Zeref exclaimed
"what can I say? She and I match made in heaven" Natsu said as he cracked his knuckles before punching the ground as he pulls out Gaia no Ken
"and now, we're going to end this…..for good" Natsu and Erza then dashed towards Zeref as they send their kicks at the man
"guh, no matter! I have Fairy Heart! Both of you cannot defeat me!" Zeref said as he blocked their attack and blasted them away
"SO WHAT!?" Natsu shouted at him as he skidded on the ground a bit before dashing towards Zeref again while readying Gaia no Ken to his side
"I'll just punch you till my fist bleeds!" Natsu punched Zeref on the face before swinging his sword at Zeref who blocked it
"we can defeat you!" Erza said as she wields Enryuo no Kiba in her hands
She swings the sword at Zeref as the attack connected and one of his wings was cut off
"guh?!" Zeref grunted before he shot a direct magic blast at Natsu as Gaia no Ken got blown off of his hands
Natsu clenched his fists and ignited them in flames
"together!" Natsu shouted as he sends a right hook then a left hook then continuing it with a right hook that sends Zeref skidding back
""his flames are hurting me!?"" Zeref looks in shock as his lips bleed from the attack
Erza catches Gaia no Ken as the sword turned into a single blade
She dashed towards Zeref as she sends furies of slashes at the wizard
"How long do you intend to stand in my way!?" Zeref asked as he defended against the slashes before blowing Erza away with a magic blast
Erza went flying back but Natsu catches her before they both ran towards Zeref
"UNTIL THE DAY THAT EVERYONE CAN LAUGH TOGETHER COMES!" Natsu and Erza screamed at him
"THEN I'LL MAKE SURE THAT DAY NEVER COMES!" Zeref swung his hand up, slicing violently across Natsu's chest, causing the Salamander to let out a cry of pain.
"WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT DAY IS TOMORROW!" They both shouted at Zeref as flames envelop the entire area
"flames!?" Zeref exclaimed as Enryuo no Yoroi and Reiter no Yoroi appeared in the flames
"Let's go!" Natsu shouted as Reiter no Yoroi equipped onto him while Enryuo no Yoroi equips upon Erza
"It won't work! It's all useless!" Zeref exclaimed while swiping his hand forward, sending multiple beams of black magic towards the two, but to his surprise the flames burned away his attack
"what!?" Zeref looks at the flames as they rage like hell
Natsu and Erza dashed towards Zeref as they send flaming fists at Zeref as the impact got the man to skid back from the flaming attack
"Your struggles are useless! All I have to do is pass through those doors, and everything is over! I will save mankind!" Zeref declared as he sends a beam of darkness that grazed Natsu
"Natsu!" Erza called out to him
"don't worry about me!" Natsu shouted as he summons his halberd and dashed towards Zeref
He swings his halberd as he sends fury of slashes at Zeref who parried them off with Erza joining in
"You're not trying to save humanity! You're only thinking of yourself! What you're doing is denying the world! Your ambitions are no better than Acnologia's! This world isn't perfect, this world is on the brink of danger…people suffer every day. This world isn't perfect, BUT!" The flames around Natsu's body intensified as they empowered the both of them
"Being able to make it to tomorrow with those you care about is what makes life worth living! The world is too big to be changed so drastically, but it's the small changes that matter!"
"You could never understand my suffering!" Zeref pointed his hand forward as he fired a beam that got deflected by Natsu but got him to be pushed back.
"You speak without knowing the suffering of the one's refused by this world that you fight for so valiantly. Some people don't have the privilege to make it to tomorrow, while I've been cursed to see every frightening tomorrow that disaster has wrought for the past 400 years! I've seen everything that's happened, and I can stop it all when I step through those gates! I won't make any mistakes, I will stop Acnologia from destroying humanity, I WILL SAVE MANKIND! If this world of mistakes has to be destroyed in order for peace to bloom, then so be it!" Zeref shouted before his attack was burned away by Natsu
"That's where you're wrong!" Natsu shouted at him
"This world is not a mistake! Because this is the world…" Erza said as Natsu's and her memories of being with Fairy Tail, their family and friends flashed in their minds.
"THIS IS THE WORLD WHERE WE BELONG!" Natsu shouted as his thought to be lost Fairy Tail mark re appeared on his shoulder and began to shine brightly.
the flames around Natsu and Erza began burning even hotter as they turn crimson and scarlet
the temperature in the guild skyrocketed as a roar was heard out from the flames
outside
"Hoh…" Gildarts grinned at the fire emanating from the guild. "Well, you don't see that every day, now do you?"
"Is that Natsu!?" Lisanna's eyes went wide.
"Who else could it be?" Laxus said with a slight grin. "That hotheaded idiot doesn't know when to give up."
At the guild
"This power is…" Zeref stared as the flames slowly began to die down. "You didn't…"
Mavis slowly regained consciousness. Her vision was blurry, but she could see and feel Natsu's form. "It's hot…"
"I made a promise." Natsu's voice came from within the flames as they slowly die out and revealed a dragon like claw
"I promised that we would make it through this war together."
Next a crimson dragon wing appeared as the wing spread out in the flames
"I already told you before, didn't I?" an eye opened and revealed a crimson slit reptilian eye "That I would burn fate. That I would fight for tomorrow. If you're the one who's going to stand between us and a brighter tomorrow, then I'LL BURN YOU TO ASH, BROTHER!"
Natsu and Erza appeared in the flames as Natsu's right side was Dragonized and Erza stood beside him as his queen
"this is the power, of the Fire Dragon King!"
Natsu then disappeared as he appeared behind Zeref who turned around only to get a burning punch to the face by his little brother
"Guh?!" Zeref grunted as he got skid back a bit from the punch
"You can hit me as hard as you want, as many times as you want, but it won't work. Fairy Heart's power is infinite. Eternal. No matter what you do, I will always come back." Zeref told him while smirking
"Then the solution is simple…" Natsu clenched his dragonized hand into a fist. "I'll burn it until there's nothing left."
"Your flame will not burn forever…" Zeref's white aura flared around him.
"It'll burn for as long as I need it to!" Natsu exclaimed as the flames around him grew even stronger.
"BURN IT ALLL!" Natsu shouted as his flames rage around and a flaming dragon appeared behind him
Zeref brought an arm forward as a beam of darkness fired towards Natsu but the flames burned away the attack, "What?!" Zeref exclaimed in shock
"Enryuo no Gekitetsu!" Natsu swung his fist forward violently, releasing a gigantic funnel of vibrant Crimson flames that not only consumed Zeref, but shot past the White Wizard while destroying the wall of the guild, shooting off into the town for more collateral damage.
"How many times until you understand!?" Zeref's body was broken apart by the intense flames.
Zeref then swiped his hand forward, numerous beams of darkness bombarding Natsu with no end in sight. Each beam caused the guild some destruction in its wake.
"GAAAAH!" Natsu had to cover up, yelping in pain as the beams collided against his body.
"Haaaa!" Erza came dashing in as she slashed Enryuo no Kiba at Zeref as the blade gave the wizard a nasty cut on his forearm
She then followed it up with Gaia no Ken as the blade gives Zeref a cut on his cheeks
"GUH! You cannot stop me! I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!" Zeref shouted as he blasted Erza away with a magic blast
Natsu took his dragonized hand, clenched it into a fist, and jumped forward, slamming it against Zeref's cheek. "I WILL STOP YOU!"
"Agh!" Zeref grunted in pain before regaining his bearings, allowing darkness to coat his hand before swinging it forward in retaliation, landing against Natsu's face.
As Natsu recoiled, Zeref landed another blow before following up with a strong kick to Natsu's chest to knock him away. "You can't beat me!"
"Oof!" Tumbling, the dragon slayer rolled along the ground before halting himself in a crouched position.
Heavy, weighted breaths escaped him as he stared at Zeref before charging at him once more
"Natsu!"
"Natsu-san!"
"Natsu!"
"Natsu-san!"
"Natsu!"
As Natsu charged towards Zeref, he heard the many voices of his friends and families
"Go! Dad!"
"Win!"
Rose's and Mary's voices were heard as Natsu clenched his dragon claw into a fist and ignites it in flames
"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Zeref shouted as his right fist was encased in black flames
Erza looks at the battle as she took a deep breath before looking at her husband
"GO! NATSU!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Natsu and Zeref dashed towards each other as both had their final attack readied
With every ounce of power he could muster, Natsu swing his blazing fist forward.
"Enryuo no Hokken!"
"Ankoku Bakuenjin!"
The two then swung their fists forward, causing a powerful shockwave that nearly destroyed the building on the spot. "WITH THIS, THIS WILL BE THE ENNNNND!"
"DISAPPPEAR!" Natsu screamed. "ZEREEEEEEEEEEF!"
"NATSUUUUUUUUU!" The two brothers shouted at the top of their lungs, the final clash between fire and darkness. The battle for the fate of the world's next tomorrow entered its climactic stage.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Natsu snarled while continuing to push with all his might.
"So hot…" Zeref gasped.
""I'm getting burned!? Even my magic!? Time itself is being burned!?""
Zeref looks at the flames as they were burning everything away
""These flames!? Are they Natsu's flames…!? Are they the guild's flames?!""
Even Zeref could not comprehend the power before him. The power of this raging dragon who burned so strongly, that his very essence fueled his soul. This power…was pushing him back. He was losing ground.
"Wh-What…!? NO…!"
"THE FUTURE BELONGS TO US!" Natsu shouted out as everyone heard his voice
These were the flames that would burn time, eternity, and fate. With his blazing soul, he took one final step forward to overpower Zeref with his unrelenting inferno.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Zeref shouted in pain as his form was burned away by Natsu's flames.
"Haaa….haaaaa….haaaaaa…." Natsu had ragged breathing as he nearly fell to the ground if it weren't for Erza who catches him
"…I can't…move my body…" It was odd.
""Foiled at the very, huh?""
"This is the first time this has happened to me. I can't believe…" He trailed off, the 'white' aura from his body fading away, reverting him back to normal.
Fairy Heart was eternal, as was his body…and yet, here he was, lying on the ground defeated.
"No, there's no way I'll actually die. I'll just end up healing it all away, as usual."
Natsu turned over his shoulder to Mavis, who just barely managed to stand up.
"…I guess we can leave the rest to you, right, First?" Natsu asked the woman
"Yes." Mavis responded weakly.
With that affirmation, Natsu and Erza started to exit the guild.
"I'm….I'm just tired. I want to see Rose and Mary and the others. Later, Big Bro…" Natsu bid his brother farewell as he left Mavis and Zeref alone in the guild.
The Black Wizard stared up at Mavis, unsure of what to even say now. It was just the two of them, the original, and their fate.
After a climactic battle within the walls of Fairy Tail, Natsu emerged victorious over Zeref.
It was no easy task as the Salamander basically lost his right arm in the process.
Now it was just Mavis and Zeref. The two who started all of this…and now, they'd be the two that ended it.
"My body…I can't move a muscle. Did I…lose?" Zeref asked Mavis.
"Natsu is really something…" There was pride in his voice. To think his younger brother would finally defeat him.
"But he's also foolish. I will be reincarnated as I have many times over. Even these wounds…give me a few minutes, and they'll all be healed."
"Zeref…" Mavis mumbled while standing over the fallen Black Wizard. "You've made my friends suffer. You've hurt them. I can't forgive that. As First master of Fairy Tail, as someone who has believed in the bonds of family thicker than blood, I want nothing more than to erase you from this world."
"Death by your hand doesn't sound all that bad." Zeref admitted. "But I…"
Mavis then moved to sit on top of Zeref, straddling his waist to look down on him. The action surprised him. "No. Just rest." She demanded.
"If…you really can…" Zeref told her
"If only, back then…if I only I had believed you more." Mavis said.
"…What…what do you mean by that?" Zeref asked her with confusion
"You loved me." Mavis continued, placing a hand on her chest. "As proof of it, and because of the curse of contradiction, my life was stolen away from me. But despite the fact you're under the same curse as me, I wasn't able to steal away your life."
"…." Oh. So that's what she meant. Zeref was beginning to see where Mavis was going with this.
"Some part of me must not have believed you. I didn't have enough strength to love…" The First master of Fairy Tail sighed.
"There's no need to worry about all that now." Zeref told her. "I've never been loved by anyone. I realized that your emotions towards me were not love, they were just passion."
"NO! NOT PASSION! CONTRADICITON!" Mavis corrected.
"Because I met you, I learned how to use magic. Because I met you, I saved Magnolia. Because you were there, Fairy Tail was founded. You were everything I looked up to, and yet…you brought death and imprisoned my life. You hurt my friends and tried to use me to destroy Fairy Tail. I hate you so much, and yet I love you too." Mavis exclaimed at him
"I am the only one that can empathize with your loneliness. The only one that can understand it. My thoughts are in dissonance. I cannot calculate what I ought to do. If I loved you, I'd be able to kill you. If I truly thought of you as dead, from the depths of my heart, I'd be able to kill you. That was…my plan…and yet…"
He listened to all her words. They struck a chord in his heart somewhere. "Mavis…"
"BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!" The woman shouted from the bottom of her heart, tears streaming down her face. "I WANT US TO STAY TOGETHER FOREVER!"
Her words made him smile. A genuine smile that hadn't been seen in so very long. "The dearer you hold a person's life, the more you steal it away from them. The curse of contradiction. So that's what it was. The answer was to be loved."
"WAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Mavis screamed and wailed. Her heart was tearing apart.
"Thank you Mavis, I'm sorry." The elder Dragneel said.
Mavis then began to bash on his chest with her petite fists. The impacts may not have been much, but each one contained her rage, her sorrow, and her love. "YOU CAN'T DIE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH! YOU DESTROYED MY GUILD! YOU HURT MY FRIENDS! YOU KILLED MAKAROV!" Her fists moved faster and faster as she continued to scream at him. "DIE! DIE! DIE! I DON'T LOVE YOU IN THE LEAST! JUST DIE ALREADY! DON'T EVER SHOW YOUR FACE TO ME AGAIN!" Her voice got lower and weaker as she started to lean closer and closer to him. "I don't love you! I don't love you! You're an enemy of my guild! You're an enemy of the world! So please…die…"
"Don't die…"
The woman rested her head against Zeref's chest for a moment. Then, she connected their lips, pulling back after a second. "…I'm so very happy…" Zeref said, his voice cracking as tears began to run down his cheeks.
"Because of you, I'll finally be able to get some sleep." A pillar of light rose from up from around the two of them. "I wish…we could have talked more. I wish I could have made things right with Natsu."
Mavis interlocked her fingers with Zeref's own. "Take me with you, Zeref."
"No…you must, life on…" Zeref objected to this, only because he wanted to live. She deserved to.
"Do you really believe that? From the bottom of your heart?" Mavis questioned.
"Yes." Zeref nodded. But despite his objection, she wouldn't let go. "Crap…looks like the curse is taking you, too…" As he said this, the two of them started to fade away…
"Let's go together, Zeref."
"Mavis. It's so warm…"
"Of course, silly. We're inside Fairy Tail, after all."
"I see. So this is what it means to die. A power that even an immortal cannot best. Love. The unifying magic…"
And at long last, Zeref Dragneel, Emperor Spriggan…was finally down. He could rest in the afterlife after 400 long years. With that, the battle against the Alvarez Empire finally came to its conclusion…
August looks to the sky as he sees the golden light taking away his parents
A tear drips down to the ground as the old man was happy for his parents
"goodbye…mother….father" he muttered out with a small smile
Everyone looks upon the golden light before hearing some grunting
"is the battle finally over?" an old weak voice spoke as it gains the tears of Fairy Tail
"I had the weirdest dream" it was Makarov and he was alive
"Gramps…!" Laxus cried out in tears
"I saw a barefooted girl and a boy in all black, walking together in a field of flowers"
That's a wrap!
Bye bye