FAST VERSION
Rated T for, mainly, torture and angst. If you want to skip the torture part, I'll be indicating which chapters you shouldn't read in the A/N. No uuhhh, extreme kissing, kissing+, kissing with benefits and probably little swearing. (I have them swear in different terms like dragon, tail, lizard, flap, etc.)
No major character death and there WILL BE A HAPPY ENDING. I had to save Zeref... (T^T) I wrote this to fix Fairy Tail's dragon-awful ending which I am, in the spirit of Erika-tama from Durarara, considering a poorly written fic, this version the real story.
LONG VERSION
Hey all! This first chapter is the prelude and, of course, short, I know. However! I have already posted the first proper chapter, so enjoy!
This is actually only the third fic I've ever published – I've written plenty of one-shots without endings and one ~300 page long Durarara fic (WIP), but haven't posted most of them. I've already written to an ending—several endings, actually, which gives me the ability to satisfactorily end it in a few places if need be on my side—for this fic, but I'm not posting it all at once, rather chapter by chapter, because it's nice to have something to look forward to every two weeks. (Both for me to read comments (presumptuous of me to think I'll have comments) and such and for you, my reader, who can look forward to the next installment (again, presumptuous on my part; I don't know if you'll like it that much). I am planning on updating at least once every two weeks, but that is subject to change. If you have any ideas for something I could add, tell me. (Things like, You should add more of the time Aki used every magic at Fairy Tail or Give Jellal and Erza a five page date where they do kiss, or something.) I don't guarantee I'll take the request, but I will consider it.
Additionally, expounding the rating a bit more, there are a lot of mental problems, like trauma, self-hatred, night terrors, etc. I have to note that I have never studied psychology. My depictions of mental illness could be wildly wrong, possibly triggering, and I don't want anyone to take it as fact or be offended – I especially would hate it if it actually did trigger someone. I'm writing fanfiction – doing this for fun – so I haven't forced myself to research anything. Especially the night-terrors, I just don't know much about it. That said, I have tried to be as accurate as I can, and I'll try to stick some basic trigger warnings at the top of chapters that have them super blatantly. I have some experience (~don't ask~ ~(￣▽￣)~) with some mental health things—honestly, doesn't everyone?— but that means nothing to knowing exactly how these very serious mental illnesses work, especially since there are innumerable ways to experience the same condition. If you want to learn about them, you're in the wrong place. I certainly encourage you to research them yourself, though, as they are very important to your physical, and, well, mental health.
I love writing self- cough, I mean, OC insert fics, the OC based quite often off what my reactions would be to events, though not perfectly; they seem to grow into their own being somewhere along the story. I would guess because they go through things I haven't been through, so then I have to adjust accordingly, messing the perfect representation bit all up. For instance, I was never cursed to be immortal and kill everything I care about. A bit… character changing, no?
I want to say beforehand that I have trouble depicting romance as well as I'd like. There will not be any, uhm, you know… bed stuff… (◎﹏◎) There will be a bit of kissing, just like, a smooch. *looking at you, scene that broke every Jerza shipper's heart (More like glaring with the eyes of Natsu when future rogue killed Lucy)* Honestly, romance will probably be pretty thin on the grounds. I'm more interested in familial ties and bonds of friendship.
Things like getting over trauma and/or the past are pretty constant themes. Forgiving yourself, moving forward, empathy, etc. Realizing that everyone has a human side and that you aren't at fault for things you can't control, only for things you choose to do. Learning that, while you should always repent having done them, you can be forgiven and move on from doing something bad, so long as you really mean it – though that doesn't mean that nobody is or isn't ever/never wrong possibly never or always, mind, I'm not revealing the secrets of life and love here, just trying to give an overview shorter than the chapter… and failing…
For tags, this is going to be a long fic, so some of them are extremely important later on, but maybe not super mentioned at first. I tried to not include anything past the first ending, but you've been warned.
Housekeeping all done? Laundry washed? Trash taken out? Bed made? Right! Let's get started!
{-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-}
A girl dressed in black and white skipped through the forest, accompanied by an air of age antithetical to her childish appearance. She was smiling, idyllically, and so, so feignedly.
When she entered a cave hidden by vines, she oo'd and aa'd, passing glowing crystals and sparkling pools of water, surveying it all with as much interest as one might afford a blade of grass in a field.
She emerged into a clearing of tousled ground, tree roots leaping in and out of it to trip any visitors. She traipsed over it easily, approaching a large grave opposite the cave's entrance.
"Hey, Mei," she greeted, reaching the gravestone and patting one of pillars. "Been a while, hasn't it? I brought a gift, or something. I don't know."
She produced a small rock from her fluttering dress, holding it out in her hand: Flawless in its inky void, any convexities or indents that might have marred the surface were hidden, knowable only by touch. Cut into, it revealed crystalline flames which licked at her fingers, sparkling in the light. When it tilted, the tiny gems, those tongues of flame released by human hand, seemed to leap from the little rock, reaching towards the sky, reaching, reaching, reaching…
She sat down on the second ledge, setting the geode beside her, and chuckled, rubbing the back of her head and looking to her right. "I don't even know if you're here right now, but, you know, even if you can't respond, I can still monologue, can't I?" She paused, looking down, blowing a bit of hair from her face. "What are we even doing?"
"We came here," she began again, leaning back and propping herself on her elbows, "because there aren't any people. Red Lizard was eradicated, and they were the only ones to settle here – in the last few hundred years, at least. I'd ask you, but" —she laughed awkwardly— "that's kind of the point, isn't it?"
A minute, then, "Why did you have to leave us, Mei?" she demanded, suddenly furious and accusatory, her normally umbral eyes burning scarlet. "When you left us, too! Zeref-nii- Zeref-nii, he- he just, disappeared! Poof! Gone! Didn't even bother to tell me he wasn't coming back when he wandered off! He certainly didn't tell me where he went, and because of you," she hissed the word with such venom that the rock of the grave would surely dissolve, "I couldn't find out anything without searching for him. Part of it was that I didn't search for him," she admitted grudgingly. "But I was so — I was justifiably frustrated! And bitter! — that he would just leave me, just like that, again… And it's not like I hadn't just lost you, too! We should have been together, but you separated us before dying!"
She glowered at the spot beside her, arms tightly folded. "I waited seven years – seven whole years – for him to come back. And you know why? Because I didn't have anything else – unlike him," she spat the word. "He knew, the whole time, that I was in Alvarez, waiting for him, 'cause I had no other option!
"And when he finally came back, he showed up with a kid! A kid!" she repeated furiously, jolting upright to better express her indignation. "He gave literally no explanation until I asked him, and barely anything then. Just, 'hey, brought home a kid with crazy powers!' No acknowledgement that he had done anything or that anything had even happened or- or anything!
"But," she added, her scowl morphing to a malicious grin, "I know who that kid is – who it belongs to. I don't know some things, and it makes no sense, for sure-" She abruptly chuckled amiably, looking exasperated in that friendly way, but just as quickly she was incensed again. "-but I know who it belongs to – without a doubt. As soon as it becomes too late for Zeref-nii to fix it for the 'wittle guy,'" she sneered, face filled with contempt and disgust, "I'll tell him. He likes the kid; I know it'll hurt him. And it will hurt you, too!"
She looked happy now, earnestly eager as though she were showing a piece of art to be put on the fridge. "It will hurt you both so dragon-tail much, you'll wish you'd lived!" She giggled, continuing blithely, "So, I told him – told him that that pain is coming, that it's his punishment for ditching.
"I was a great solo ruler, Mei," she added, nodding sagely. "Invel cried every time I showed up for a meeting – no, really! Ha! He was so used to Zeref-nii that when I didn't vanish in the first month, he bloody near fainted. I think he actually got headaches from it! 'Course, he would never stop with his work… even to play with me!" She turned away sulkily, pouting.
"Of course," she sighed reasonably, arms falling back to her side, "he is a loyal pawn to me and Zeref-nii; his refusal to stop working is a good thing. Zeref-nii recruited him. I… I've only recruited a couple… just Irene and Brandish… I guess Wall, too… But I only care about Irene and Brandish – as strong pawns!" she blurted, panic – an emotion much more at home on her face than her perfect smiles – making itself known. She continued hurriedly, "Well, I like Invel, too, and- and, you know what I mean!"
She paused for a second, then grouched, arms crossing again, "I might as well be a mom to Larcade, though. Zeref-nii is irresponsible with the kid – what am I supposed to do? He doesn't even try! I know he can't get close, but can't he at least manage to talk to the brat? I can. I don't know why…" She trailed off, her already vague eyes glazing over.
After a minute, she shook herself, saying gruffly, "But it's responsible that Zeref-nii doesn't so much as talk to- talk, to…" She stopped again, rubbing aggressively at her ear.
"Of course," she resumed a minute later, pleasant as ever, "so long as Zeref-nii is happy, I'm fine. It doesn't matter if he left for seven years – he's back now. And he certainly doesn't need any more pain.
"And, the kid he brought back, you know, I really care-" She cut off, and, despite remaining wide open, her eyes seemed to shut off, turning almost marble-like.
A few minutes later, she twitched. "What was I talking about…?" she wondered, getting up. "Oh," she added cheerily, turning back toward the grave and waving, "I can't wait to kill you properly, Mavis. You and Zeref-nii both!"
And she spun back around, skipping back the way she'd come, humming merrily to herself, ignoring the confusion that pulled on her, long used to it, by now.
The blurry back of the girl was swallowed by the shadows of the cave passageway, watched by another girl, one with long blonde hair and usually happy eyes, though right now they were watering, tears tracing down usually rosy cheeks. This girl was shaking, hands held to her mouth in horror as she hunched forward. "I d-didn't mean to! I p-promise! I'm so sorry… I didn't know that he- that he'd leave because of me…"
Tears dripped down her nose, landing on the second highest ledge, distorting the sight of the letters engraved there:
Here lies Mavis Vermillion
Founder and First Master of Fairy Tail, the Fairy Tactician.
"Comrade isn't simply a word. Comrades are about heart, the unconditional trust in your partners. You are never alone… Come, let us take a stroll to the song of the Fairies."
Something flickered in the sunlight beside the inscription, and, glancing at it, she found the rock.
The small, inobtrusive, priceless rock, a gift delivered despite all the blocks and pain it must have caused the giver, for whom love was a sword in the heart, kindness a twisting blade in the mind. How much effort had it taken to do something so simple? What tricks on herself had she done to get around the curse? How much mental agony had it caused her? And she couldn't even see her…
Mavis's face contorted, and she snatched the gift from where it lay, clutching it desperately to her chest as she sobbed.
"I'm so sorry, Aki-nee!"
{-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-}
Oh, hey, it sure has been a long time, huh? Just kidding. There is no important information about the fic in this note, just my inane ramblings, so if you want to skip it, don't worry and do it.
For those who stay, was Mavis on point? Yes, I did decide that Aki would be like a big sister to Mavis. My reasoning is just that, like, Zeref and her are supposed to get together, and she was frozen at a young age, too, so it seemed reasonable that Aki could be a big sis figure to her. Also, Aki is going to be the little sister type for most other characters, so…. I wanted to give her more depth than just. Lisanna. (Not that I have anything against Lisanna. Just, not many angles to her character.) I almost decided to have Lisanna still dead—i.e. she did not come back from Edolas/never actually survived. Still might, to be honest. I could, because she's just such a minor, insignificant, flat character. (No really, I don't have anything against her. This looks incriminating. H'oh boy. I don't! Really! ヾ(≧へ≦)〃)
Question
Who is your favorite vindicated villain? (Jellal, Zeref, Ultear, Laxus, Juvia, Gajeel, Lyon, Meledy, Minerva, Panther Lily, Hot Eye, Flare, Ultear, etc.)