Helllooooooo
Scar here! Chapter two is out! I was actually using this as a sort of test to see the best timing for posting, but there are too many variables. (^_^') So, oh well. Guess not.
What I wouldn't give to see the statistics of the entire site, I mean, there's so many variables that one would need a massive sample pool, so there is no chance I can, with my few fics, determine it. But I'm just too curious aaaAAAAA-
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"A Fairy Tail mage."
"That… doesn't explain anything," Zeref pointed out, a little meekly.
"Well, honestly, it's a really, really long story," Mizune chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "And we don't have time for it."
"What are you talking about?" Zeref pressed, wincing as a mist of black particles emerged and subsequently dissipated.
Mizune sighed; his curious side was going to waste time. "We really don't have time. A lot is about to happen, and you need to get away from the island before it does." She paused, seeing a red flare glowing in the sky. "We're running out of time," she muttered, not looking at him. "This will have to wait until we're on the ship. I hope you don't get seasick like-" She bit her tongue to stop herself in time. Mentioning Natsu was definitely a bad idea.
"I- how are you going to get us to a ship?" he questioned anxiously, but he shook his head before she could answer. "I can't. Even if you won't die, the people on the ship-"
"There aren't any people on the ship," she assured him earnestly. "It's manned by no one, and probably can't go anywhere. We just need to get away before anyone finds us."
He paused, and one could almost hear the battle raging in his tired mind. Eventually, he gave a tiny jerk of a nod.
He yelped as she stood and started towards him, cowering against the tree stump. "Don't-!"
"It's okay," she soothed, slowing down. "I'm not going to die, it's okay. I'm only going to touch you for a second, and then let go." He cringed as she squatted in front of him and held out a hand. "Please, Zeref, let me help you."
He shook his head frantically. "I don't- you won't- I don't want to kill anymore, please-"
"I am not going to die," she stated firmly. "I am not going to die."
He was silent, gaze flicking between her face and hand, before, hesitantly, twitchily, he reached out. His hand flinched as it reached hers, before, sucking in a breath as if in an effort to restrain his destructive magic, he took it.
And, even as she twisted to teleport, Mizune felt why.
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
They reappeared on a crude raft of sorts, but Mizune didn't stay long or attempt to find her bearings. Using a blast of Air Dragon Slayer Magic, she sent herself flying away from Zeref, who shouted. She barely managed to make a board of ice for her to float on before the pain, writhing in her chest, forced her into a state of numbness. It was a hook that had been set into her heart, trying its best to rip out, not the heart, but the heat it gave.
She barely heard Zeref, presumably, as he continued shouting. After a minute of hacking, she forced herself to roll onto her back, still taking great rasps of air.
"'m f-fine," she tried to holler back. "Jus'… dealing… not good… taking… s'much…"
"You are a fool!" he returned, rather frantically, rather reproachfully.
"I liv'd… didn' I?" she chortled victoriously, sticking two fingers in the air.
He sounded dumbfounded, as well as disapproving. "Why would you risk your life like that?! What if you'd died?!"
She shook her head. "I knew I wouldn'." Sensing his scowl, she added, "Zer, I'm not giving you a say in the matter, so calm down."
He gaped at her. "Z-Zer?" he finally squeaked. Ejaculating, he continued with increasing incredulity, "Knew you wouldn't- I don't- it's my matter! What if I'd killed you?!"
He blinked as she pushed herself up, revealing a sly smirk. "You can't kill me," she said confidently. "I'll fight Ankhseram myself before letting you feel any worse."
He could only gawk.
"By the way," she added casually, ignoring him, "are you able to propel that boat yourself? I'm not planning on dying, but that doesn't mean I can be reckless. It would be best if I took a break from tangoing with your curse."
"You're insane," he said flatly, sitting back and crossing his legs.
She snorted. "Too bad for you."
He scowled.
"So, do you have any way to propel that boat?"
After another minute of reprimanding grimaces, he nodded grudgingly.
"Wonderful. 'cause I don't."
He nearly fell over.
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
"Haaah," she breathed out a long sigh of relief. It had been a few hours, and, finally, the weight in her chest seemed to have lifted entirely. "Dragons, it really is something."
"… it finally wore off?"
She blinked, lifting her head—she was flat on her stomach, face pressed to the makeshift ice-boat—to see Zeref watching anxiously. She hitched on a supportive grin. "Yep. 's all good."
His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
"By the way," she continued, and he immediately tensed as though she were going to attempt to repeat the feat, "do you have any questions I can answer?"
He blinked. "I… where are you going? Do you have some kind of plan?"
"I have a vague plan," she hummed, pushing herself to a sitting position. "I've got a lot of things to work out… oh." She slapped a hand to her face, turning slightly away. "How do I tell them I'm alright and Grimoire and- and I- and-" She grumbled in articulately, pulling her hand down over her face. "I wanted to save the Archive for- and-"
"I can…" Zeref didn't meet her eyes as she turned to look at him, instead watching the water intently, "… send a message via magic…"
"I knew a thaumaturgical genius would be able to do stuff," she cheered, startling him—again— "but I never gave any thought to what!" She paused, catching his taken aback expression. "Well, you are smart, aren't you?"
"Yes," he unintentionally bristled. Realizing what he'd said, he shrunk slightly, staring ashamedly at the water again.
"Sorry."
He twitched, looking up, bewildered. "Why?"
"Well, you seemed a little upset."
He shook his head, and his eyes seemed to dull, as lifeless as the world around him had been for so long. "I don't have the right to be upset."
"Okay, now you're an idiot."
He looked up at her, unable to help his scowl of annoyance. He was many things, but dumb wasn't one of them.
She had a hand on her hip, pointing at him accusingly. "I don't know your story, but I don't-"
"You know about me," he interrupted, "from stories. You think they're false? They're not."
She merely sighed. "I'm not claiming that bad things haven't happened. I'm saying I, at least, forgive you."
Forgive you.
He froze. Even his hair seemed to fall still in the wind.
Forgive you.
What?
"I don't know if you'll ever forgive yourself," she said, and there was a sadness he couldn't understand in her voice, "or if the rest of the world will, or anyone else will, but I do." Zeref remained stalk still, not noticing the fish floating, dead, to the surface, drifting past his raft. "I know the fear you feel about it. And the guilt."
What in the world was he supposed to say to something so ludicrous? So insane and unrealistic and fanciful and so, so damn hopeful. Finally, he settled on the only thing he could think of to ask: "… who are you?"
"Hm?"
"How do you know about me at all? Most people think I'm a myth."
"Mn."
"Why would you forgive all I've done when you don't even know me?"
"Because…"
It was like he could hear her smile, could feel it on him like he could feel the hostile glares most people directed his way. "Because I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, if I didn't," she finally said.
He shook his head, lowering it and pulling his knees up. "I don't understand."
She didn't speak, but he certainly wasn't going to initiate further interaction.
How did I end up here?
|^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^|
Several hours later, Mizune, using a sort of spyglass ability, announced, "Land!"
"Wha- What?!"
She looked around; it seemed Zeref, though still propelling both their 'vessels,' had been drifting off. Now, he looked panicked, backing hurriedly away from her despite the distance. "D-don't come-"
"I'm not," she interrupted firmly.
He relaxed slightly. At least, he stopped scooching closer to the comedic act of falling off his own raft by accident.
"You- you're-"
"Mizumi," she provided patiently, guessing he wouldn't have remembered after all that had followed her brief introduction.
"M-Mizumi…" he muttered distractedly, bringing a shaky hand to his face. "R-Right…"
"Erm, Zeref?"
His head snapped up. "What?"
"You… aren't making the boats move anymore."
He blinked, glancing between her and the raft several times. "O-oh, right," he muttered, holding his hands out again.
Once more, the water began to churn under his pressure, his magic forcing it to push us forward.
"I had an idea of where to head first," she began slowly, casually, and very carefully.
He didn't speak, his mouth slightly open as he stared at the water.
She gave up, looking back towards the mainland; he wasn't going to hear a word she said.
Guess I'll have to wait to send them a message. They must be worried; especially Nacchan…
She shook herself, ridding herself of the silly thought.
Nacchan knows I'm capable, he wouldn't doubt me…
She shifted, resting her head on her knees.
But that doesn't mean he wouldn't worry… Maybe he wouldn't worry. Or do I want him to, to know he cares?
She slapped her hands to her cheeks, ruffling her hair.
I already know he cares! What is this, some kind of test?!
Maximum relief from hair ruffling having been reached, she couldn't help throwing her arms up as she exploded, "ArrgggrrRAAAAUGGHH!"
There was a mewl from behind her, and, taking a deep breath to calm herself, she looked around.
Her heart fractured.
Zeref was cowering, his eyes glazed over, balancing on the very far edge of the little raft. He looked terrified, radiating anxiety, quivering visibly even from where she sat.
"…don't…" he was barely breathing, "…near… please…"
Mizune had no idea what to do. In an instant, she had handed herself over to instincts. "I wonder what types of rock generally comprise the crust in Botvia," she began calmly, ever so slowly turning her head away from him. "It is on the other side of the fault line, so it should be different from Abery. I heard that~"
She continued rambling, not looking back, hoping against hope that he would come back to himself before they hit the beach.
He did not.
Their rafts, connected by a pole of ice, washed onto the sand, jerking irregularly, and he immediately yelped.
She spun around only in time to see him vanish.
Swearing, she activated a long kept magic, Archive, that she had copied from first Hibiki of Blue Pegasus, then Brain of Oración Seis. Having copied from two, she could use it twice as many times—six, to be precise—but she didn't think about any of that. She only cared about finding Zeref.
The screen flickered into view, a map of the land almost instantly coming up, responding to her desperate magic. She hurriedly typed—
Zeref-Find-Track-Trap?-Mark-Stop?
A beep, and a dot appeared on the screen. He hadn't teleported far and he wasn't moving, remaining in one place. Glancing at the message that had popped up—
Movement un-prohibitable; distractions available; action unnecessary.
—she typed a new message—
Image-View-Secret
The image dissolved to a scene of massive natural carnage: there were small woodland creatures, a single dear, and so much foliage, all grey and crumbling for yards around. In the center sat Zeref, who seemed to be in great pain, twisting on the forest floor.
Audio?
A message appeared—
Unavailable.
She tch'ed.
After a minute, Zeref froze, weirdly contorted, then dropped like a doll to the forest floor.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Zeref…"
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I'll see you the day after tomorrow (unless I forget oops)!
{Your Names In Japanese} for this chapter are~
{Alyssa: アリッサ}
{Riley: ライリー}
{Chloe (pronunciation Cloh-eh): クロオエ}
{Noah: ノア}