The Prince of Alvarez

"They say small differences can have major effects on history. So what does that say about major differences?"

Zeref had started to believe that happiness was something he would never again feel. That he would spend the rest of eternity in a state of perpetual misery, until either Ankhseram grew bored, or the last light in the cosmos flickered out. But now, as he pressed his lips against those of Mavis Vermillion, he was willing to hope that he could finally be happy.

When he opened his eyes, though, he fully expected Mavis to disappear. But no, there she was, smiling up at him. For a while, the two just stared at each other, savoring the moment, until finally, Mavis spoke up.

"So…," she said slowly, "What do we do now?" She cried as Zeref suddenly swooped her up into his arms.

"We go West," Zeref said, "To where I'm building my empire. And together, the two of us will rule."

"It's a bit of a step up from leading a guild to leading a country," Mavis said with a smile, looking up at him.

"Not as much as you may think," Zeref said, "I think the basic principle may be the same." Mavis' smile just broadened, as she reached up to touch his face.

"I think we can make this work," she just said gently.

"Yes…," Zeref said slowly, blinking away a few tears, "I think we can…"

(|)

For Zeref, it had been an exciting few months, in which his and Mavis' nation had gone from a kingdom, into an empire. With Mavis' brilliant strategic and tactical mind, it was only a matter of time before all the various other states and guilds had been subdued, and the Magic Council of the continent was left with little choice but to yield their will. The empire the two now ruled was called "Alvarez", derived from the ancient language on this continent that roughly meant "Fairy Army" (needless to say the name was Mavis' idea).

Zeref was glad to see that most of the other kingdoms had yielded without too much of a fight, generally with the promise that so long as they acknowledge Alvarez as their overlord, they'd be allowed to mostly run their own internal affairs. But that wasn't the primary reason Zeref was happy; the real reason was because he had been able to do all of this with Mavis, rather than alone. Even the two of them were still otherwise unaffected by their respective curses, the same couldn't be said fro their people, and so they were left to approach their Empire as if this was a massive game. It was deeply frustrating to have to see human lives this way, but the alternative wasn't much better; but they made it work, even if it was rather difficult.

Zeref was currently looking over a map of the continent, having long since changed out of the ancient outfit he was used to, and now wearing a simple white dress shirt under a black vest, with black pants. He also had a couple rings on his finger, one with the symbol of Alvarez in green, and the other with the symbol of Mavis' old guild in red, showing the two things in the world most important to him. Speaking of which, he glanced up as the door opened, and one of those important things sauntered.

"Mavis?" he asked. The young woman had changed her outfit as well, wearing a flowing green dress with short sleeves, though she was still wearing no shoes (according to Mavis, she wouldn't be herself with no shoes).

"Zeref," Mavis said with a mischievous smile.

"What is it?" Zeref asked, setting his quill down as his wife approached, and sat on his desk, "Is something the matter?"

"No, not necessarily," Mavis said, her smile widening, "But there is something 'up'." Zeref cocked his head, confused, which Mavis took some satisfaction in.

"I was thinking," she then said, "This is an empire now, right?"

"Well, yes," Zeref answered, sitting back, "Why?"

"Well," Mavis said, stressing the word slightly, "An empire needs a royal family, right?"

"I suppose,, but I'm not sure…" Zeref stopped as he suddenly closed his mouth. Mavis' smile turned slightly less mischievous, and a bit warmer.

"Mavis… are you…"

"I'm pregnant," Mavis finally said, as she leaned forward, touching her stomach. It took a full three minutes (Zeref somehow knew that) for the Emperor to realize what he had just been told. He was going to be a father?

His hands slowly reached up to cup Mavis' face, as he brought his hand up to her face, as she took his had in her own. No words were spoken between them, as they pressed their foreheads together.

"I love you," Zeref finally said, "I love you so much."

"I love you more," Mavis answered.

(|)

"July 7, 777," Zeref said slowly.

"Pardon?" Mavis asked, as she looked up from the book she was reading. The two spouses were lounging in one of the various suites in their palace, with Mavis lying on a love seat while Zeref sat on a chair by the window.

"This is the week that date will come," Zeref said slowly, as he looked longingly out the window, tapping a finger on the armrest.

"What's so special…," Mavis started to ask, but then she stopped herself. She then remembered something Zeref told her decades ago, about a certain date. A date that was far more than just "important" to her husband.

"That's the date isn't it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, rising to her feet. Zeref just nodded for a time, as he rose to his feet, and walked to his window.

"400 years ago this week, I sent my brother, and four other children, through the Eclipse Gate," he explained, "In a couple of days, the gate on this side of time will open, and they will arrive in this strange world… alone." Mavis was silent for a time, as she stared at Zeref, and sighed slightly.

"Go find him." Zeref blinked in surprise, as he looked at his wife. Was she telling him to leave Alvarez?

"He's your younger brother," Mavis continued, "As far as I'm concerned, you have an obligation to find him then."

"I can't just…"

"I can manage affairs of state while you're gone," Mavis interrupted, "I'd say 'what's the worst that can happen', but I can assure nothing will happen while you're gone." She then came up and leaned on Zeref.

"Besides, I'll admit that while I always wished for a little sister," she said, "but having a little brother would be pretty nice too." Zeref chuckled briefly at the idea that Mavis was now Natsu's sister-in-law, before he took a breath.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Zeref said, looking to his wife.

"Take all the the time you need," Mavis answered, "This is something that demands all your attention." Zeref's smile just widened, as he considered just how fortunate he was to have Mavis in his life.

He quickly made the necessary arrangements, and was now on a ship making its way East to Ishgar. He looked back at the port city he had departed, where he had left this wife. But Zeref tried not to think about that.

"I'm coming Natsu," Zeref said, as he let himself smile, as he looked onto the horizon, to where his brother was waiting for him.

/|\

Vistarion was one of the largest cities on Alakitasia, if not all of Earthland, with a population that numbered in the millions, larger than some small countries. It was generally well kept, under the dutiful watch of the Imperial bureaucracy, as well as the direct supervision of the Emperor and Empress. However, that didn't mean there was no crime. Case and point…

"Someone help!"

"Stop those men!"

As one might expect, the three men on magical motorcycles didn't listen to them, as they started to speed down the streets. Under one of their arms was a small animal that looked like a cross between a cat and a squirrel, which they had stolen from a little girl, who as the owner of the animal.

"Give me back my Mimi!" said little girl said, as she tried to run after the thugs, obviously with very little success, considering that they were on magic-cycles.

"This thing'll fetch a pretty penny in the market!" One of the other guys said, as he looked at the struggling animal.

"We should charge extra for the trouble we went through to get it," another said. Several people tried to intercept them, including some guards, but none of them were equipped to handle thugs like these. Fortunately, they weren't the only ones who watched over the people of Alvarez…

"When we get to the docks, we need to…". The thug couldn't finish, as his magic-cycle crashed into something, and he was sent careening away. The animal was sent tumbling away, only for a figure to jump up, and snatch it out of the air, holding it protectively.

"Damn," the figure said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I may feel that in the morning." It was a muscular young man with spiky pink hair, wearing a long black vest with white pants and black sandals. He had a distinctive, scale-like scarf, and on his shoulder was the symbol of the Alvarez Empire in red. His name was Natsu Dragneel, and he was the Prince of Alvarez.

"It's the Prince!" one person said, as several went to their knees in deference to the Emperor's younger brother. The other thugs came to a screeching halt, as they noticed just who had stopped their heist.

"What the hell's the prince doing out here?" one of them asked, utterly baffled by what he was seeing.

"Care to tell me what the hell you guys are doing?" Natsu asked.

"Uh…"

"You know my brother works real hard to keep things in this city running," Natsu interrupted, folding his arms, "And I don't like seeing punks like you making his job more difficult."

"Let's get out of here!" one of the men said, "No one said anything about taking on the Prince!" With that, they all bolted away on their magic cycles. Natsu just rolled his eyes at that; he hated it when they ran like that.

"Let's go Happy!" he called. There was then a blue flash that came down from above, and snatched Natsu up. The flash was quickly revealed to be a blue cat of all things.

"Geez, they were complete whimps," Happy said, as he flew his partner towards the thugs.

"No surprise there," Natsu agreed, as he looked down at the rapidly getting bigger criminals.

"How is that cat keeping up with us?" one of them asked.

"Don't wonder and just ride!" his friend answered. Turned out that wouldn't help, as Happy easily overtook them, allowing Natsu to drop down. All it took was a single large blow, and he brought them all down with no trouble, and the next thing people knew, all the criminals were down and out. The people were surprised, but soon started cheering for their prince.

"Long live Prince Natsu!"

"Long live Alvarez!"

"Gods, that was easy," Natsu said, as he rolled his shoulder, "What does a guy have to do have a challenge here?"

"They don't even put up a fight," Happy said, as he poked one of the guys with a stick.

"Thank you, Prince Natsu," the little girl said, smiling up at him as she came back up to him, as Mimi mewed in equal gratitude. Natsu just beamed in response as he gave a thumbs up. However, he couldn't savor the moment beyond that…

"There he is!" He glanced over to see a battalion of Alvarez Imperial guards hurrying his way.

"Ah crap!" Natsu said, "Let's go Happy!"

"Aye sir!" Happy said, as the two began running.

"Don't worry, they'll never be able to catch…" This time it was Natsu who was suddenly silenced as he crashed into something.

"Ow…," Natsu grumbled as he rubbed his aching nose, "What the hell?"

"Uh… Natsu," Happy said nervously, as he started shaking slightly. Natsu was initially confused, until he followed Happy's gaze, and was greeted by an image of beauty, but to Natsu, it was one of horror. It was a tall young woman, about his age, with long scarlet hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. She was wearing a steel breastplate, with the Alvarez sigil on it, along with steel gauntlets and boots.

"Natsu," Erza said icily, folding her arms, as Natsu started shaking and sweating even more than Happy, "Care to explain to me why you're here and not back at the palace?"

"I wasn't gone long!" Natsu answered, holding up his hands. Erza Belserion was the daughter of Irene Belserion, the High Enchantress of the Empire. She was a Major in the Alvarez army, and quite a skilled wizard in her own right. She was also one of Natsu's oldest and closest friends, but when she was mad, that really didn't mean much.

"How many times does that make it now that you've snuck out of the palace without permission, and without telling anyone?" Erza asked, folding her arms.

"Uh…"

"Actually, let me rephrase the question," Erza said, narrowing her eyes, as she unfolded her arms, and cracked her knuckles, "How many times do I have to hammer this lesson into you?" Natsu just whimpered slightly, as he braced himself for a thorough beating from Erza…

"Excuse me, Miss." Erza paused as the same little girl who owned Mimi approached her.

"Prince Natsu helped me and Mimi," she said, holding up the little animal, which mewed again, "Please don't be too mean to him." Erza was silent as she looked at the girl, before sighing, and looking back at Natsu.

"I suppose there's no harm in doing good," she said, which Natsu and Happy both sighed in relief at, "But…"

"Uh oh," Happy muttered.

"You still need to be disciplined," Erza said, as she grabbed Natsu's collar, and started dragging him back, "I will let Her Majesty decide your fate." Now had she said "His Majesty" instead, Natsu wouldn't have been too worried; Zeref was fairly soft on his little brother, and understood Natsu's reasons. However, Erza said "Her" not "His"…

(|)

One of Zeref's least favorite things about being an Emperor, was all the messages he had to shift through. Now, Zeref knew about delegation, and practiced it when he could, but delegation deflected responsibility, and Zeref knew he couldn't call himself a ruler if he didn't assume such a role.

"You look like you could use a break." Zeref glanced up as his wife stepped into his office. She was wearing a simple pink dress with her hair tied up and back, and (of course) no shoes.

"How true," he answered as Mavis sat on the desk beside him.

"You should know I caught Natsu sneaking out again," Mavis said, as she checked her nails briefly, "Or more accurately Erza did."

"Did she now?" Zeref asked with a slight chuckle, "Well try not to be so hard on him, after all he means well."

"I know," Mavis said with a slight shrug, "But I feel he needed something like this, and what kind of big sister would I be if I didn't discipline him when he deserved it? He'll be fine come dinner." Zeref just chuckled slightly. Ever since he brought Natsu back with him to Alvarez, Mavis had declared herself Natsu's big sister, a title she took very seriously, much to Natsu's irritation, and Zeref's amusement.

"Well, at any rate, I suppose he could use…," Zeref trailed off, as he looked closer at the next note, and his eyes widened, " It can't be." Mavis cocked her head, as she leaned forward.

"What is it?" she asked, as she snatched the paper from his hands. She quickly scanned the form, before her own eyes widened.

"Is this authentic?" She asked steadily. Zeref didn't answer as he leaned into his hand, clenching teeth.

"If this is true…," he said slowly.

"This changes everything," Mavis said, as she held up the letter, and activated a light amount of fire magic, incinerating it, "We should keep this to ourselves."

"I need to speak with Natsu," Zeref hissed, as he rose to his feet.

(|)

"OW!"

"Hold still." Natsu winced, and did as told, but not for long.

"OW!" he cried, to which he was answered with a slight scoff.

"Are all Dragon Slayers such sissies?" his would-be-caretaker quipped jokingly, to which Natsu just grunted slightly. He was back in his own room, recovering from the rather thorough chastisement Erza had put him through. Frankly, he wasn't particularly fond of his this room, because of how big it was, with its king sized bed; there was even a large, luxury bath in one corner. Sitting beside him was young woman with shoulder length blonde hair, with a small side ponytail tied with a pink ribbon, and pretty brown eyes. She was wearing a pink top with a brown skirt, and on her hand was the Alvarez sigil in pink.

"I hate licking my wounds like this," Natsu groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, to which Lucy giggled softly. Lucy Heartfilia was the daughter of Jude Heartfilia, the Empire's Minister of Finance, and another one of Natsu's oldest friends. Happy was sitting on the table next to them, chomping on one of his fish.

"You know, I really don't know that much about this kind of stuff," Lucy said, as she put away the bandages she was using, "You sure you don't want someone else doing it?"

"No way, I'd probably get Erza again." It was true, Erza styled herself a healer as well as a warrior, among a lot of other things. Needless to say she… wasn't; unfortunately, the only people in the Empire who weren't afraid of her (her mother, the Emperor, the Empress, and a few others) didn't have the heart to tell her so.

"Alright," Lucy said with another giggle, as she rose to her feet, "Point taken." Natsu sighed as she at back on his sofa, staring at the ceiling.

"It's so boring here," Natsu said, "At least out there I can do things."

"Better," Lucy said with a slight smirk. That was when there was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked, as he rose to his feet, as the door opened, and a servant entered.

"Prince Natsu, Lady Lucy," the servant said, bowing slightly.

"What's up?"

"Your Highness, His Majesty has requested your presence in his office." Natsu and Lucy exchanged looks at that. It wasn't entirely surprising that Zeref was asking for him, but they couldn't imagine what it could be about.

"Maybe he wants to chastise you himself?" Lucy suggested.

"Nah," Natsu said, waving his hand, "He like sit when I do this kind of stuff?"

"He really doesn't," Happy said, as he floated over, and sat on Lucy's shoulder.

"Hope to see ya soon!" Natsu said, waving to Lucy. The blonde just waved in response as the prince left the room.

"You looove him," Happy trilled. Lucy just rolled her eyes, as she moved to leave as well.

Note: As the title implies, this is going to be an extensive AU, with a lot of major differences from canon, some of which I think are already pretty apparent. I had originally tried drafting one massive prologue chapter for a start, but I noticed it was getting in the way of telling the actual story, so I'm going to be doing something a little different, which will be become apparent next chapter. Don't worry, the how and what of this story will be revealed in short order. I'm also going to take this as an opportunity to note that there will be a number of OCs in this, the vast majority of them will be villains; this is mostly by necessity, since by circumstance, a number of characters who would be villains in canon, won't be in this setting.

The note about the origin of "Alvarez" is based on research I did about the name's etymology; it's derived from the name "Alvaro", which (from my reading) can possibly be traced to Old Norse for "alf" which means "elf" and "arr" which means army. There's probably a lot more to it than that, but I think it works in the context of the story.

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