Chapter 5: The Making of Zeref's kingdom: Part 1
Most spend their life in fright. Always wondering when and what was going to happen next.
Such a life has been forced upon them through the constant battles and scaring that had come about from centuries of hatred and misunderstanding between different creatures.
'What does it take to stop the death and destruction?' Zeref wondered.
When he was just a simple mortal, he only wanted his family back. Yet, the effort he placed into raising them from the dead was greatly misunderstood by the universe and as always , a balance had to be created.
Those that wanted what they couldn't have, theirs was a very unforgiving punishment.
Are you a mage? Did you venture into a depth too far away from reason? Did you aspire to have what you shouldn't? Then perhaps, you should look no further because what you have found, is yours and yours alone to bare.
"You have been cursed."
Zeref remembered the voice that spoke those words to him, he held that moment a tad too close to his heart. He heard the warnings, but he could not stop, not when he was so close to bringing his family back.
The contradiction that flows out of misplaced desires was real. Cursed and consumed by darkness, Zeref now wandered the world with a singular reason and aim.
The sound of glass shattering brough Zeref out of his musings as he looked up a flight of stairs to see the look of surprise on the face of a servant girl.
Yes, Zeref had a mission here and before the servant girl could mutter a word, he would appear right in front of her.
"Do you want to live?" He questioned as darkness swirled around his visage. The servant girl could do nothing but tremble as Zeref's dark magic threatened to destroy everything around them. She fell to her knees as tears spilled free from her eyes. Tears escaped her eyes but she did not beg, she continued to focus her gaze through the tears and kept her eyes locked on Zeref.
"If you wish it be, then this can all just be a dream. All I ask in return …" Zeref paused as he looked at the ceiling, motioning for the servant to follow his gaze. He regarded the occupants in the upper floor of the castle.
"They value you so much because you regard them with so much confidence on events that are yet to happen." He continued, "Perhaps you knew of this moment, and you have already heard what I have to say, or perhaps, you've felt it".
"Soothsayer, I know what awaits me in this cursed existence that I have been sentenced to. It's nothing but pain and torment, I don't need further clarification on future events but I believe that you would make a fine addition to the army I am creating.".
The pressure was lifted as the words left Zeref's mouth and the servant girl found the fright lessening, she continued to cry but her breathing was easier now.
"I am creating a new world, and I want your king, his many subjects and his people to be a part of this new world. If you cannot convince them, then I hope that I was at least able to convince you." Zeref turned around and began descending the flight of stairs.
This was a royal house and he had walked right in with a very complex sleeping spell. The guards were down, the entire castle was sleeping off a very potent does of Zeref's incantation but she remained awake. She was a servant rumored to possess the magic of Precognition.
No formal training or explicit knowledge of magic, just a servant being used by her King to further his influence and reach. And yet, she was able to fight his sleeping spell, she had not passed out from the sight of his dark magic, she desperately clawed and fought to her ensure her survival even in the face of superior magic. Truly, she had superseded every expectation he had of her.
"Now what will you do?" Zeref wondered as he made his way out of the castle. He knew a little of the royal lifestyle to understand that servants hardly ever gained their freedom. No matter how impactful their contributions would seem, they were still talked down on and mistreated.
They simply were people that had little to zero human value placed upon them but in Zeref's new world, your magical power determined how you were addressed. Now the question was simple, become a king, or continue existing as a slave.
Whatever her answer was, the Castle had a nasty surprise coming its way.
Naruto shivered; he was freezing. A second later a damp sponge would be dragged across his skin in an attempt to clean his body. He was in a tub, half his body submerged in the water while Irene's enchanted servant ran a sponge across his pale skin.
Naruto imagined a better world where he would be in said tub with Hinata but he couldn't quite complain. Irene's servant while not being human, was quite loyal and caring.
She continued to scrub Naruto's body and when she was done, she motioned to help Naruto get out of the tub. Her touch was cold to Naruto's skin, almost like a corpse. Naruto understood too well, there was no source of warmth in her body, no organs, she was simply a being conjured into existence by Irene, the only difference between her and Irene's other conjured creatures was the presence of a personality.
Naruto watched as Irene's servant picked up a pair of scissors and motioned for him for take a sit in front of the mirror. He got on the sit and looked at his reflection. His eyes glowing blue, his hair unkept and growing out of bounds, truly he didn't look his best. From the reflection, he could see Irene's servant hold a cloth up before wrapping it around him, leaving only his head and neck exposed; it would seem that Irene left a directive for his hair to be trimmed.
Today was a special day, he was being summoned by Lord Spriggan, a man he knew nothing about, except the fact that the man was able to penetrate his mental walls and hold a conversation with him. He was in debt to this man because without the order from Zeref, Irene would have never bothered with him.
So perhaps it was right that he was properly dressed for the occasion.
As strands of his hair would fall, Naruto would take a trip down memory lane to his past life. As he stared in the mirror, the thoughts of Jiraiya purchasing him a new track suit and him winning Tsunade's supposedly cursed necklace flashed in his mind. Truly, that seemed just like yesterday, except in this new world, it felt like a life and a world ago.
Tears streamed down Naruto's eyes as he thought about his previous life.
"All you do is cry" He heard Irene's voice.
Naruto sighed, before wiping the tears away. The servant cutting Naruto's hair scurried out of the room leaving just Naruto and Irene behind.
"I know you haven't had much to do in a while, but crying all the time is not going to magically change things" Irene said. She now stood behind Naruto. She looked down at his hair in his sitting position, his hair was shorter now, she looked at his reflection in the mirror.
"I understand that solitude that you feel, Naruto." She paused, "That's why I have helped you thus far, you remind me of what I once was but today you have to put those feelings aside".
Naruto shrugged. Irene was right.
'I am alive after all; I should act like it a little' Naruto thought to himself before picking up a white slip of bandages that he planned on wrapping around his right arm but before he could begin, Irene placed a hand on his shoulder, motioning for him to pass the bandage to her.
She moved forward and sat on the dressing table, blocking Naruto from seeing his reflection in the mirror.
Naruto held his arm up for Irene to bandage and for the first time since months of living with Naruto, she noticed how extremely pale his right arm looked. It was unlike the rest of his skin. Regardless, she had no questions to ask, or pestering words. She simply began wrapping the bandage fabric around Naruto's arm.
She found Naruto strange, at least strange for a human.
He was primarily weak, but the weakness that surrounded him far outclassed the strength of most humans. He was frail, like someone who couldn't over exert himself and for some reason, he never ate in her presence. She would later come to notice that he didn't seem to require it, just like how he didn't seem to require her constant healing any longer.
Was his body getting stronger?
No, it wasn't. Reflections don't lie, or do they?
Regardless...
Irene got up; she had succeeded in the bandaging. Now what was next?
She moved towards the door and glanced back at Naruto. She had a question, more like a dependency.
"Naruto." She called out.
"What would you do if you found out that I was a …. "She stopped and proceeded to continue with her steps. Talking about her sadistic tendencies were truly irrelevant. Even if her guard was down around Naruto, it didn't mean she cared about his opinion of her.
With a flap of her wings, she could change the weather, with a breath she could destroy cities and with a thought, she could cover the skies in meteors. This was the power she was cursed with and the reality that she forced to wake up to everyday.
Someone who cried about the outcome of their lives with every single opportunity they got didn't deserve to hold a judgement over her. But is that true? Would he?
She walked out of the room but the question remained on her mind...
'What if you knew everything about me? "She placed a hand on her stomach.
There was a lot going on inside her, so much suppression and deviation of her powers and amongst it, Naruto had gifted her with a new magic container, for someone that had so much power already, a new container made things different and placed her on an even higher scaling than ever.
But it came with its problems. There was a feeling of warmth inside her now.
And it didn't only come from the fetus growing inside her.
She walked off.
Naruto saw things differently.
In his new found existence and state of being, he had noticed a few character flaws that seemed to define and mold his actions and intentions. Even with his clear distinction between the good and bad, Naruto had found that even when Sasuke's intentions had been bad and his actions had warranted him being considered a criminal, he had refused to place any judgement on his friend.
Instead, he whole heartedly longed and fought to have him back in the village, by his side, once again, to be his best friend. Truly it went beyond any promises. It was simply the value and the weight of the pedestal he placed Sasuke on.
It forced him to shy away from any flaws Sasuke had and any evil he had done. All would simply be forgotten after he beat some sense into him. And now, Naruto had a similar take on Irene's character. Only difference being that there was no reason to battle with her, after all, she was already here by his side.
He saw Irene as a being that had lost something precious, he also questioned her strange presence. Like the sadistic tint to her aura, the grim and nonchalance that she placed above most things. Every time she went on diplomatic missions in Zeref's sake, she always came back a tad different.
She displayed quite the empathy this time around though.
Regardless of whatever her behavioral patterns were, deep down Naruto couldn't care less. He could not bring himself to place even an ounce of judgement on her character.
Irene was special to him, her experiences coupled with the look of loneliness that reflected in her eyes made her a wonder to him. He wondered how? How did she become what she was?
He had resided in Irene's residence for quite a while now. Zeref had offered him his own living arrangements but he turned it down laying down a point of how he felt indebted to Irene even more so than he was to the Lord Spriggan. It was a statement that brought about amused giggles and full-blown laughter's from those in Zeref's immediate quarters.
Truly, the Lord Spriggan was surrounded by a lot of yes-men's that were too busy trying to suck up to him to notice just how powerfully frightening of a being he was and how wisely he picked his moves.
Zeref had cornered people from other guilds, villages and gatherings and forced to become citizens of the great nation he was building. He bribed their leaders into submission sometimes, other times he bullied their guilds and took over with force.
But ultimately, what had kept the nation together was the story that Lord Spriggan sold them.
"Evil, death and war were coming to the land in form of demonic creatures. The most evil and sadistic wizard the world had ever seen had lost his mind and unleashed demon after demon.
Lord Spriggan had assured them that those creatures were heading their way and in order to avert defeat, he needed to gather as much guilds, villages, nations and people together to build a great nation that would stand strong together and withstand the pressure of the demonic entities coming their way.
'Context.' Naruto thought.
One's true motives were always in the context of their actions. Zeref acted out of boredom and ultimately his motives from a villainy perspective made It feel as if the man was playing a sick joke on the world. Naruto pondered, in another world he would be angry, ultimately pissed and looking for any avenue to butt heads with the man and destroy him. But in this new place he had landed, and with the beings he allied with; he couldn't help but wonder what the outcome of Zeref's game would be.
He felt that everything and anything couldn't always be looked at in black and white. This time defeating the bad guys, bringing his own form of peace and being the ultimate hero wasn't all that mattered. There was a simpler question that came about instead.
"Is it really a valid plan?"
Ultimately, no matter how diabolic Zeref's plan was, it was a way to build a nation. It felt a tad similar to Pein's plan, which had its own profound level of mischief but ultimately, was a plan to unite nations in peace.
"How weird" He sighed.
Naruto never really considered himself as one deeply entranced and delighted by these details, but it would seem that power indeed changes one.
'It is time to depart' The voice of Irene's servant rang out prompting Naruto to nod his head in agreement. He got up to his feet and began walking towards the door. Irene lived in a castle, an empty castle and spent most of her time sitting on the throne and staring into space.
Naruto was quick to realize that immortal beings acted differently. In terms of nourishment, they were unbothered. And when it came to plans, they relished in the details. He sighed, perhaps he was becoming quite clever and even more observant, a true sage.
"Hinata, what would you think of me right now?" He pondered. Now he walked a different path, not one carved by acts of heroism, but one that was deeply drenched in a neutral glamour. To put it simply, if Zeref was to go on a murderous spree, Naruto wasn't sure if he'd be interested in stopping him.
Hopefully, he wouldn't have to weigh the lives of the people against the outcome of Zeref's madness. He wasn't the Kings biggest fan, but he knew that everyone had their origin story. Their ambitions, aim, and purpose began somewhere and all it took was a story, a tale, and suddenly, a picture can be really painted of who that person is, why he acts that way and what really his end game was.
Naruto opened the door to his room and began walking down a flight of spiraling stairs.
With each step he took he felt Irene's presence grow stronger. Yes, she was on her throne, meditating.
As Naruto got to the bottom of the staircase, he would open a door that leads to Irene's throne room. As he walked into the room, he could feel her power radiating. She was shrouded by a dark red aura, a glowing mass of energy which encased her body. Thick and vibrant.
Naruto looked at the walls, noticing a construct of ruins. It explained why he couldn't feel all that much power while up in his room. Irene had placed ruins to ensure the power she was releasing would not escape her throne room. Perhaps this was all set up by Zeref before handing her a castle of her own.
Naruto took a step forward; the air was dense. The power and presence exuding from Irene was heavy, heavier than he had ever felt it, but he knew this was not Irene's full power. No doubt, she existed on a plane of her own, she had the sort of power that men couldn't envision and with the addition of seal he placed on her, her magic containers would act as if they were bottomless, storing and holding an even greater mass of power that should otherwise be impossible for her.
It explained why her power felt a lot denser than when they had encountered the Dragon King, but still Naruto knew she was holding back.
He smiled; it was of no consequence. He continued to walk forward, towards to large doors of Irene's castle and when he reached, the door would slide open allowing him to proceed.
The King awaited him and although Naruto felt a little reluctant to fight another man's war, he understood that there had to be a peculiar reason for Zeref to specifically require his involvement. He wanted to see the end results of Zeref's Nation building strategy, but to take part in it seemed to be a totally different thing.
As Naruto walked, he understood the heart of the people that surrounded him. Skepticism was the most prevailing emotion in the hearts of the people of Alvarez Empire. They doubted Zeref's warning, they wanted to leave. Ultimately, the people felt they were gathered in one place against their will to be ruled by a tyrant.
Understandable.
"But Zeref plans to change your minds", Naruto whispered as he walked through the city, any onlooking observer would soon lose sight of him as he stealthily entered an alleyway and before long, he would come across a familiar face draped in a flowing black and white robe.
"Lord Spriggan", Naruto greeted, taking a little bow as he got closer to the King.
Zeref smiled as he looked at regarded Naruto.
"I'm glad you have come, Naruto. I have a task for you, and it's not one that you may like". Zeref spoke as he looked into Naruto's glowing eyes.
This would be a test of Naruto's strength.
END ,
Another chapter here, the first part of the "The Making of Zeref's kingdom". These chapters will focus on the details that gave rise to Alvarez Empire's love of the Spriggan.
Hope you enjoyed it. Peace.