Alright, for now I'm back on track! Things will probably slow down once I get a job, but I should be able to post two chapters a week.

And to the guest who got it right...go you!

Chapter Fifty Three - Christmas Miracles, Part Two

It was hot.

Too hot.

Well…not that hot, actually.

Especially considering that I remembered how hot it was last time. It was definitely better now.

Still.

Tenroujima was way too fucking hot.

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice questioned from next to me.

Corvus grew out of my shadow and stood beside me.

A circle of fire exploded next to him, and Phoenix appeared out of it.

"I didn't know you could do that," I said.

"I didn't either," he said. "It's another bonus I got when I finished the contract with Lucy."

"That's nice," I said, a bit absently.

"Elle," Corvus said. "Seriously. What are you doing?"

"Christmas Miracles," I continued absently, walking into the forest.

"Elle…" Phoenix said.

"It'll be fine," I said. "Go back to Lucy." I gave them soft smiles. "Celebrate Christmas with your friends in the human realms."

The two exchanged a look.

"I know that Loke is spending the holidays at the guild with Lucy," I commented.

"That damn lion better get away from my princess!" Corvus snarled, disappearing.

"Corvus!" Phoenix shot me one more look, like he knew what I was planning, and I shrugged. He sighed and vanished into a ball of fire.

And then I was practically alone on an island in the sea.

Practically.

"Elle?" a soft voice asked. A small girl floated down from a tree. "What are you doing here?"

I smiled at her. "Hey, Mavis."

"Hello!" the cheerful girl said happily. "What brings you to the island?"

"A Christmas Miracle," I said.

She gasped. "It's Christmas? Already?"

I nodded.

Mavis's face was distraught, and she looked back and forth over the ocean and back towards the center of Tenrou.

"You ought to go to the guild, and celebrate with everyone else!" I said. "I know it's been awhile since you've been to the guild, and we've got some new members."

She brightened and nodded, though she gave a longing look towards the center of the island. "What about you?"

"You go ahead, I'll be there in a bit," I said.

She nodded happily and flew off towards the tree in the center, and (darting through the trees and shadows,) I secretly chased after her.

There was a moment when she stopped flying, and I peeked out behind a tree to survey the scene.

"Mavis…I can tell you're there," a soft spoken voice said.

"Zeref…I'm going to go spend the evening with my guild. It's Christmas Eve. But I'll be back tomorrow morning, to celebrate with you!"

"Christmas…I haven't celebrated Christmas in nearly four hundred years…"

Zeref smiled softly at Mavis. "Have a fun evening, Mavis."

"Merry Christmas, Zeref," she said sadly, before buzzing away.

I came out from behind the tree. "Hey Zeref!" I chirped.

He straightened. "Elle?"

I smiled at him. "Hey, Merry Christmas!"

He smiled softly, eyes tearing up.

I sighed.

"It's good to see you," he said. "You've grown…"

"Yes, Zeref, that tends to happen over time," I teased, before plopping down on the ground a few feet away from him.

"Tell me something…" I said. "Your curse doesn't work if you're unconscious, right?"

He nodded. "Generally, it does not, though if magic was cast at me it would have a bad reaction."

I nodded, before continuing. "And if…you got a chance to join Fairy Tail…where would you like your guild mark? And in what color?"

"I don't know," he mused. "I suppose I would do whatever Natsu would get. Why?"

With that answer, I whipped out a coconut and threw it at his head. It met with a solid 'thunk' and Zeref toppled over, unconscious.

After waiting a few seconds to see if he'd stir, I walked over to him and moved up his right sleeve, requipping out Fairy Tail's stamp.

Pressing it down against the top of his right arm, it worked its magic and I pulled it off.

Instead of the red I was going for, it was black…even though I set it perfectly.

Maybe it has something to do with his magic…

I shook off my thoughts and requipped out the giant lacrima I had previously put Ame in. Picking up Zeref's body, I put it in the lacrima and quickly sealed it up.

I checked one more time to make sure it was perfect, and picked it up, before vanishing.

Tenrou Island was devoid of human life once more.

I left Zeref's body at Mavis's grave.

Then, in circles moving outwards, I left monitoring cards. I didn't want to move the lacrima to the basement of the guild until I knew for sure that no death energy would escape from the lacrima.

I backed away from the crystal and sent a blast of lightning at the lacrima.

A wave of death energy surrounded Zeref, but it stayed contained.

"Wake up, Zeref!" I shouted.

"What the hell is going on?" a voice demanded. It was the most anger I'd seen from him in this life.

I whirled around, and Zeref stood beside me.

"Simple," I said. "This is the closest I could come to breaking your curse. With your body in the lacrima, your spirit can spend time with us. You're a member of Fairy Tail, now, and we take care of our family."

He gasped. "What?"

I pointed at the place the mark was. "Sorry about the color, by the way. Natsu has his in red, but yours ended up as black. Probably something to do with your magic."

He stayed frozen.

"You'll also be able to see Mavis!" I piped in.

His head snapped up, and he seemed to come back to reality. "Really?"

I nodded. "Let's go!"

After giving directions, I teleported to the guild hall and waited outside. A few moments later, Zeref appeared, and began to walk towards the guild with me.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

He didn't really give a response. Looking over, I could see he was crying again.

I grabbed his hand, which (oddly enough) I could still manage to feel, and dragged him to the door. He held back, trying to hide from view.

I don't blame him for being nervous.

"Everyone, I have an announcement!" I shouted.

"Ellie-nee! You're back!"

I smiled and held up a hand (to stop me from getting tackled). "Guys, we have a new member!"

"Is that why you stole our stamp?" Makarov grumbled.

I paused. "Maybe."

There was some snickering.

Mavis, who was flying near the top of the tree (our own angel, huh?) floated down eagerly. "Well, introduce them, Elle! I want to meet our new member!"

"Yeah!" several voices shouted.

"What?" Layla asked confused.

"Mavis said that she wants to meet our new member!" Lucy explained cheerfully.

Both Layla and Jude nodded, and it seemed that they both accepted a magical flying ghost/founder of the guild with no issues.

"May I present to you all…Zeref!"

I dragged him inside.

There was silence, except for Mavis, who seemed in shock and was staring straight at Zeref, who was meeting her gaze.

"Like…the Black Wizard?" Gray growled.

"Nope. He is the Black Wizard," I said.

And then I remembered.

"Shit."

"YOU MADE DELIORA!" Gray roared, running for Zeref.

That was right; when we all sat in a circle discussing things about Zeref, Gray wasn't there.

Before Gray could make it halfway across the room, though, he was punched in the face.

By Lucy.

"Ah, woman, what the hell?" Gray yelled from the floor. All of us seemed frozen.

"If Ellie-nee says that Zeref is okay, then he is! She wouldn't hurt us! And she would never bring in someone who could hurt Fairy Tail!"

"Lucy…" Jude said weakly. "Please don't punch your guildmates."

Layla seemed to be trying not to laugh.

"Thank you, Miss…" Zeref started.

"Heartfilia," Lucy answered, smiling and curtsying to him. "Lucy Heartfilia."

He blinked. "Descendent of Anna?"

"Um…"

"Yes," Layla answered. "She was my ancestor."

"Are you, perhaps, a Celestial Wizard?" Zeref asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Yep!"

Zeref smiled. "It is good to know that one of the five is still active."

"All of them will be," I told him. With the Celestial Spirits giving me books for the Agurias and the Royal Family, all of the Stellar bloodlines would be practicing their specialized magic.

He shook his head. "I understand that that may be one of your goals, but their magic was passed down. Even if you revive the others, it still won't be exactly the same. Family secrets will remain lost…"

"Who cares?" Gray yelled, standing up. "You created Deliora! And Deliora killed my mother!"

Zeref's face grew somber. "I'm truly sorry about that. Alas, while many call Deliora a demon from the Books of Zeref, it isn't exactly true."

"I don't care-" Gray started, but a blast of electricity knocked him over.

"Sit down, shut up, and listen," Laxus boomed, glaring at Gray.

"Gray," Ur said in a soft voice. "We should always hear all sides of the story."

Gray paused and Silver put a hand on his shoulder and sat him down. "Sit, Gray."

"Thank you," I muttered quietly to Laxus.

"No problem," he muttered back.

"What the hell do you mean?" Gray said, slightly less angry. "When you said it wasn't a demon from the Books of Zeref. You created that monster, didn't you?"

Before Zeref could start, I clapped my hands. "Alright everybody, sit down. It's time for a history lesson!"

There was some grumbling, but no one outrightly complained, and when the rest of the guild sat and quieted down, Zeref began his story.

"I was considered a magical prodigy, as a child. Because of that, I gained entry into Mildian Magic Academy at the age of six."

"Six?" Makarov gasped.

"What's Mildian Academy?" Cana asked.

"It's a legend," Gildarts commented. "Supposedly one of the best places in the world to learn magic."

"Unfortunately, four hundred years ago, everyone died in a mysterious accident," Ur picked up.

"If it was still around today, I would have enrolled Lucy a few years ago," Layla said softly. "We have some stories from ancestors who attended, and it truly seemed like a magnificent school."

Zeref nodded. "It was. I would go there during the daytime, and this is where things started – one day, while I was at school, a dragon attacked my house. Both of my parents perished immediately, and nothing was left of them. My younger brother, who was four at the time, died as well, but I was able to preserve his body."

"I spent the next few years trying to find ways to bring him back to life."

Many gasped. But most of the kids knew this already, so they stayed quiet.

Gray seemed conflicted, looking back and forth between Zeref and the rest of his Ice Family.

"I spent nearly a decade trying to find a cure - a way to bring him back. Something to change it. I even looked into time travel…but in the end, most ideas were scrapped. One, the R System, would probably have succeeded, but it required the sacrifice of many, and so that was put aside as well. And then…I was cursed."

He took a deep breath. "The school expelled me for going against Ankhseram's laws; and he himself cursed me. When I went to the school the following day to protest my expulsion, my curse activated."

He seemed to go silent here, and I picked up for him. "Zeref carries something called the Curse of Contradiction – the more he cares about people and humanity, the more dangerous he is to the people around him, releasing death energy, and such. When he doesn't care, however, he causes no automatic harm."

"Does that mean you don't care right now?" Makarov asked.

I, once again, answered. "No. He's not here right now. This is his astral projection form. His death energy won't harm anyone here."

"You seem pretty real to me," Layla commented.

"You can see him?" I asked.

She nodded.

Probably because he's so powerful, I mused.

"If it hurts others when you care for them…" Ultear said softly. "What happened at the school?"

Zeref let out another sigh. "No one survived. Everyone in the whole town died."

Layla gasped. "So the mysterious accident..."

Zeref bowed his head. "Yes."

He took a moment to recollect himself, before continuing. "I continued to see if I could bring back my brother, but I had another goal – make something that could kill me. All of my Etherious – all of the demons – were merely prototypes for my brother. I wanted to make sure I could do it properly before I attempted anything. I also attempted to make an extremely powerful being – one that would be strong enough to end me."

He looked up. "Deliora was discarded. Not only would it be unable to end my life, but there would also be no controlling it. I ended the process of creating it as quickly as I began. I know that another one of my demons – my true Etherious – decided to make him a reality, but they also sealed him up when I asked them too, so I'm a bit unsure as to how he became a problem…"

"I'm assuming they let it loose," I said. "It was rampaging through Seven for about half a year. They probably released it there so it couldn't be tracked back to them."

He paused, before nodding. "I see. Where is it now?"

"A few of us took care of it," I said.

He was shocked. "You destroyed him?"

"Yep," I answered. "But we also had Devil Slayer Magic on our side."

He seemed to relax. "Ah, I understand."

"Who was it?" Gray hissed. "Who made Deliora? I'll kill them!"

I sighed, before turning to look at Zeref.

"A woman named Kyoka," Zeref answered. "She is also a demon of mine, and I will see about visiting them to make them keep things under control."

I snorted. "Yeah, like anyone can keep Kyoka and Jackal under control."

Zeref grimaced. "Yes, there is a chance they are a lost cause. It's been years since I've spoken with them."

"Kyoka…" Gray hissed.

Lucy punched him again. "Stop being an idiot, you're what, eight? You can't take her on yet. Train for awhile. Maybe then, you'll be able to take down a demon."

"I took down Deliora!" Gray said angrily.

"With help," Zeref added in, and everyone looked back to him. "Deliora wasn't a real demon, and for the record, neither are any of the other ones. 'Demon' is the closest word to what they are, but that is why I termed them as 'Etherious'. They aren't demons. And Deliora is on a much lower level than the rest."

"It's technically true," Silver said quietly. "The demon that trained me wasn't from the Books of Zeref. He was an actual demon, and on a whole different level from Keyes and the rest of them." He looked at his son. "Kyoka is going to be a lot harder to take down than you think. The only reason Deliora caused so much damage was because of his size. The rest of them are going to be a lot harder to take down. Kyoka, especially, because she can enhance an enemy's pain. She's much stronger than Deliora. She was made by the real thing, after all."

Zeref looked away in shame, and Ur hit Silver for being insensitive.

I sighed.

"Zeref..." Makarov said quietly, walking forward. "This guild is known for second chances. You've been scorned by history, but you won't be scorned by us. Welcome to Fairy Tail."

Zeref's eyes filled with tears. "I...thank you...so..."

Mavis flew towards him, and for the first time in who knows how long, Zeref Dragneel, the Black Wizard, got a hug.

"Are you going to cry?" Laxus asked from beside me.

"I'm just...really emotional, okay?" I hissed. "I'm just glad that this time around...I was able to help them. No one should be alone."

Laxus gave me a sad smile. "You're not alone, anymore, Elle. Didn't we already have this conversation?"

I smiled back. "Side by side."

He nodded, and gave me a hug. "You were amazing, today, Elle. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," I whispered in his ears.

"Zeref?" came a soft voice.

I left Laxus's embrace and turned to Gray, who was standing next to Zeref, and seemed to have trouble with what he was about to say. Finally, he took a deep breath, and opened his mouth. "I'm sorry about your brother."

Zeref gave him a sad smile, and ruffled his hair, which had Gray swatting at his hands. "Thank you. Though I've long since moved on. It was over four hundred years ago, after all..." His eyes seemed distant before he returned to reality, and he looked at Gray. "You remind me of him."

"Did I look like him?" Gray asked.

Zeref laughed. "No, he looked nothing like you, or me for that matter. But he was always very hot headed, even at a young age..."

Gray flushed. "I'm not usually hot headed..."

"He's generally right," Silver said. "He's only usually only hot headed when it comes to fighting Lyon."

There was laughs around the guild, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

If Gray had lost both Silver and Ur to Deliora, I had no doubt that this would have gone much differently.

Makarov used his Titan magic to become Santa Claus, handing out presents, and once again, a warm, fuzzy feeling filled my chest as I looked around the room happily.

Thank you for this second chance...no. For a chance.

So, um...I got a really mean guest review, saying, and I quote: "What a bunch of bullshit. Go kill yourself for writing this garbage." So some reassurance would be nice...

I'll probably delete it soon so it doesn't upset me every time I scroll through my reviews.

Sometimes that helps me write, so I'll do that if I'm stuck or unmotivated. And if I see the review again I'll just go back into a depression. So... Yeah. If you really want to leave a mean review and keep it in this story, don't be a coward and use the guest review. Cause I'll just delete it. Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.