Because last time was just a whole wall of A/N, all I'll say is thank you for sticking through it all.
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Aki and Zeref had been meandering, not so much exploring the island as staving off Aki's boredom – though she would say otherwise. She had gone off somewhere alone, but, the instant Zeref had noticed people, she had appeared at his side with an odd, additional thrum of magic – something he would think about later.
They had come in part to visit Mavis's grave, though only Aki held any interest in doing so, and still only secondarily. Primarily, they had come to this island for its remoteness – its isolation. There were no people here, no villagers or citizens that might spark a massacre. The only settlement there had been a guild – a guild which had been burnt down at the hands of a rival guild decades ago. No, it was a remote, secluded spot where the only victims would be flora and fauna…
And now, there were people.
Fate just hated them, didn't it?
Well, that was a stupid question: Yes.
"People…?" Zeref murmured, keeping a tight hold on Aki, who was riding piggy-back. "This is such a remote island; there shouldn't be anyone here."
"Let's go say hi!" Aki chirped excitedly.
Zeref really didn't like the idea, but Aki had, somehow, already wriggled free from his grip, and was prancing into the clearing where the ridiculously muscley man and the woman stood. He stared after her – he certainly wasn't going to get any closer.
Maybe it would all be fine. Maybe Aki wouldn't get emotional enough to trigger a response. Maybe she would be able to control herself…
He sighed resignedly, settling behind a bush to keep watch.
"Who's the kid?" the lady was saying, looking expectantly at her partner.
"Dunno," he muttered, then yawped as she hit him over the head with a fluffy tipped fan.
"Can't you do anything?!" she griped, scowling.
"Why are you guys here?" Aki asked innocently, tilting her head as the man rubbed at his own.
"That's what we should be asking you!" he retorted, only to be hit by the fan again.
"She's just a little kid!" she scolded, shaking her fan at him. "You're so muscly she must be scared, you freaky giant!" She hit him once more with her fan for good measure, then turned around and crouched, smiling at Aki. "What's your name, honey?"
Aki merely giggled.
"I'm Evergreen," Evergreen tried, putting a hand to her chest. "This is Elfman," she added, waving towards him. "This island belongs to Fairy Tail. How did you get here?"
"Teleported," Aki replied promptly, rocking forward and back on the balls of her feet.
"Teleported?" Evergreen repeated skeptically.
"Mhm!" Aki beamed. "By the way, did you say Fairy Tail owns this island?"
Evergreen and Elfman exchanged looks. "So, who brought you here?" she asked, turning back to Aki.
"I did."
"Ah-hah… And, how old are you?"
"Four hundred and six, give or take a year or two."
They blinked, then burst out laughing, the man even falling over.
Aki scowled at them. "If it's because of how I look," she snapped, folding her arms across her tiny chest with a humph, "immortality doesn't discriminate between ages."
This only made the two laugh harder, and Aki's frown twitched upwards despite herself. That was all the warning they got before she howled, clutching at her head as a black smog expanded around her, a swirling hemisphere of miasmic death.
"RUN!" Zeref bellowed, darting forward – but too late.
The wave of death magic released, gushing in all directions. The two unfortunate mages started running, but Zeref knew there was no chance now. All the two had left to do in this world was a couple more steps and a few moments of fear; then, he and Aki would have another two deaths on their bloodstained hands.
He reflected that, relatively, it wasn't even a drop in the bucket.
"GET DOWN!"
Zeref stumbled, watching in deafening shock as someone knocked the two mages forward into the ground. The wave swept over them, and, miraculously, unbelievably, it passed over the three human lives. He barely noticed this, though, as he registered that mop of scruffy pink hair…
"Natsu?"
Natsu looked up, and Zeref's stomach dropped at the fury written all over his face. "Who are you guys?!" he demanded.
"Natsu-nii-chan…?" Aki breathed, hands falling from her head. Glancing at her, Zeref doubted that she had heard a word their brother had said. That said, he wasn't fairing all that much better, his vision blurred by tears tracing canals down his porcelain white cheeks.
"Natsu?" called another voice, and a flying blue cat floated down into the clearing. "Weren't we heading for the top?"
"I don't really get it," Natsu growled, "but I smelled somethin' really fishy. Who're you jerks?"
Aki winced, shrinking in on herself. She hadn't been able to see Natsu off with Igneel, hadn't been the one to erase his memories, hadn't seen him since he had been a preserved body, and the harshness of his words ate at her, however much she knew it was natural.
"I said-" Natsu roared, and Aki looked up just in time to see a fist flying towards her face. "-who the Edolas are you jerks!?"
The force of his punch sent her flying backwards into a tree. She slid limply down the trunk, slumping forward onto her hands and knees.
Before their brother could say anything else, Their minds cleared slightly, an unlikely lighthouse shining through the fog. She and Zeref's existences merged into one, sharing thoughts, feelings, senses…
The tree against which she had landed wilted, crumbling into a cloud of dust as They watched Their brother. She got up, joining Themself, who had flipped back up easily, landing lightly on his feet.
"The trees," the woman was whispering, bewildered.
"They're dying…" the man finished.
They barely heard this.
His punch was so weak… How is he supposed to kill Me?
"Natsu," They said despairingly.
Much too weak to kill Me…
"I don't know either of you!"
Of course not. I erased your memories of Me.
I erased your memories so you could kill Me.
"State your names!"
But you can't kill Me as you are now, Natsu…
"They-they're crying," said a woman's voice.
Not yet, no.
No.
No, I must live still. When will it end?
"…take creepy to a whole new level."
They screamed, head cleaving itself in half as the curse ate at Their minds. A cloying fog of death burst from Them, tearing in all directions with a bloody vengeance. A hungry beast, it licked at the heels of the fleeing mages and Their brother, devouring every life in its path as it clawed forward, desperate to kill, to destroy, to force despair on its Host.
The pain relented – infinitesimally, but it was enough, and They teleported away on instinct.
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They popped into existence in a secluded depression on the island, stumbling sideways and falling over. They weren't to have respite, however, as Theirself tore apart, a sledgehammer breaking them apart.
Two agonizing minutes later found two broken mages lying on the ground, faces pressed into the dirt, breathing ragged from exhaustion.
It had been a long time since they had created such massive waves of death, and decades since they had been one entity.
It had been an eternity since they had seen Natsu.
Natsu…
"How long?" Aki pleaded, voice breaking, not knowing of what or whom she was beseeching. "When will Natsu-nii–" Her breath hitched, and she gritted her teeth, tears muddying the ground beneath her.
"We're going to continue being rejected by the world…" Zeref breathed, an ancient's agony carved across his perpetually young face.
But he rolled over, grunting as his tired mind protested the movement, determinedly crawling to where Aki lay. There, with an audible grunt of relief, he collapsed next to her.
No sooner had he joined her than she let out a choked sob, "I can't even m-move, Zeref-nii. I can't move now, I couldn't run then, and I couldn't see or hear or anything!" She finished at a scratchy shout, frustration crawling through her voice, eating her alive. Nothing within her was spared, all that remained a hardened, dead heart, the strangled beginnings of a child's excitement, long since rotted from centuries of moribund existence.
Zeref knew what she was referencing, knew the myriad of torments that surged through them both, devouring truth and love, sparing them only each other – though it had done its best to deny them even that – and he reached over, wincing at the effort. As he rolled her to face him, she whimpered, her eyes reflecting nothing but the hollowness of helpless despair – a pain exacerbated by the momentary comfort of affected gaiety.
"You know that wasn't because of you, Aki-chan," he murmured, hugging her to himself – taking his own comfort by her presence.
The two cursed siblings lived through each other, after all, every pain shared between them, any joy that sparked within their foggy minds derived from the other. Both knew the other as well as themselves – as Themself – an intimacy impossible but for their shared torment.
For, the entity 'They' was a single life, born from the melting of themselves into a single, lesser existence. When they were separate, they composed a shattered whole, neither having enough on their own to reach that lofty status. Better with each other — better without each other — together but apart, separate yet the same, they existed as a contrived, insubstantial balance, a tight rope made of a single string spanning a bottomless chasm — a chasm they had spent more time in than out.
Aki responded to his embrace desperately, wailing and clutching at his robes with a grip far too feeble even for her childish appearance. Too weak to curl into him, she buried her face in his sash, and each wished that, somehow, okay-ness would finally take notice of them…
It didn't.
But that wasn't anything new.
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A half day later, they lay in the same spot, staring up at the stars and recomposed – well, as 'composed' as they ever were.
"So," Zeref started, a hint of teasing in his voice, "when did you place a monitor on my heart rate?"
Aki flushed. "…need to get better at controlling my emotions…" she mumbled, not seeming to notice her own words.
"I'd prefer it, really, if you didn't," he said, smiling slightly.
Aki twitched. "Was I-?" When Zeref nodded, she gave a hollow chuckle, looking back up at the sky.
"So," he prompted, "the monitor?"
"Well," she tried evasively, "it was before we came to this island…" She swore as Zeref raised his eyebrows at her. Then, on sudden inspiration, she started, "It's a two-way link, actually. It-"
"Yes, I know," he interrupted. "I already figured out the charm. It's interesting, but simple. It alerts the other by way of a skipped heartbeat to one's own heart race increasing. It links the locations together, creating a pathway that doesn't even need teleportation to traverse.
"You made your heartbeat alert much stronger than mine, so as not to arouse suspicion. I'm guessing you used the Lori-Loxley effect for that. Then you adjusted the trans-planar reaction so that it could be sent through the fastest possible route, and-"
Aki let him ramble, losing focus on the meaning of his words, instead looking around in an attempt to divert herself, muttering unconsciously all the while. "…rocky space, hidden from all angles by mini-cliffs. Except for the sky, duh… nothing live, though why note that… been overgrown with vines and tough flower-buddies… But then we came… Zeref-nii had to ask… weren't caught off-
"DRAGON!" she burst out. "… why can't I-" She shook her head vigorously.
"Not be caught off guard with what, Aki-chan?" Zeref asked softly, apparently having deduced what she would have said.
"What? I- I don't know what you're talking about," Aki lied unconvincingly. "… why can't I stop thinking-" She shook her head again, more violently, but Zeref took hold of her face, forcing it to look directly into his own. Her eyes focused for a second before darting away, mouth moving, words hovering between quiet and incomprehensible. "… think aloud it's-"
"Aki!" he interjected, and his penetrating, sharp voice dragged Aki's eyes to his now red ones. "What's wrong?" When she didn't respond, he continued, "When you get like this, it's because something is up – not for no reason." His eyes narrowed. "I ask again, what is wrong?"
Aki jerked her head out of his grip, retorting heatedly, "It doesn't matter! It's fine! If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have reacted! I just need to not think about-"
"It's about me, isn't it?"
Aki faltered, then swore. "… can't even put on a façade…"
"Aki-chan… just tell me already. Please…"
The last word seemed to do it, and she looked away, anger leaving her to fend alone. "There's no need…"
"Aki-chan."
"It would be better left alone," she managed.
"Please."
She glanced up at him, mouth forming silent words. After a minute, she began to mumble again. "… don't … him know-"
"Aki!" he barked, and she burst.
"Yeah, yeah, it's you, okay, it's you! You're right, it's you! When we separated in Chivary and met back up in Kittschel! But then I walk into Kittschel and all I see are corpses! I followed your magic and found you ripping out your hair, screaming – the death magic wasn't just exploding from you, either, you know, it was more like a flapping ocean! And when I tried to talk to you, you lashed out at me, screaming like usual! I had to knock you out again! And then- then I noticed a tattered bandage on your arm. I ripped it off and- and- I hid it from you, ok?!"
Her hands curled into tight fists, her eyes screwing shut to discourage the tears already glistening there. "I bet the townspeople found you asleep and brought you back to the village to try and help!" Throwing her arms up in ridiculing celebration, she forced a mirthless laugh. "Cue the ride to dragon-flapping madness!"
Her voice cracked, and she took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing, "So then you woke up and then- then would come killing and pain and hate and guilt and grief and- and-"
Her words caught in her throat, and she sniffled, rubbing fiercely at her eyes. "You woke up shrieking, but I figured you thought it was a dream. So I just left it that way. There was no need for you to know about it. I thought it would be better, I thought it would be- it would-" Her brows furrowed in confusion, the tail end of thought chasing itself in her head. "Be worse- better- it's not- it matter- no, it was- it- I don't even know anymore!" she exploded, frustrated. "But it would hurt you to know! You don't need any more pain!"
She finished, panting hard and quivering. After a moment, she started to mumble again. "… Why?! Why does the world reject us?! It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not-!"
"Aki-ki."
The special name he rarely ever used anymore gave her pause, and she pulled back enough to see his face. He was smiling sadly as he reached a hand to her face, flicking away a tear. "I already knew about that." Her eyes widened. "I did think it was a dream at first, but I realized it wasn't because I sent a Machot to check on the town. I'm sorry."
She stared up at him. "What are you talking about?" she eventually mewled.
"I didn't realize that you were trying to keep it quiet. I thought you were trying not to talk about it because it upset you, so I never said anything." He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "I made you bear that on your own, and you didn't even have a real reason to."
"Idiot!" she shouted, punching a fist against his chest. Tears filled her eyes again as she glared at him. "That's not fair, Zeref-nii! I chose to keep the secret, it didn't have anything to do with-"
"No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "Mom and Dad left me in charge of you. You may take some responsibility, but most of it lies with me."
"That's not fair!" she howled bitterly, crouching forward into his chest, fists balling around his robes. "That's not fair! I don't want you to be sad, Zeref-nii! I don't-"
Zeref wrapped his arms around her, propping her head on his arm and in the crook of his neck.
"It's my fault, if you're upset! It's my fault! It's-!"
"It's not," he soothed, stroking her hair, eyes closed. "It's only you that makes me happy at all. Even in all this torment, you still smile and laugh; it almost gives me life, through you. A bit of joy in our cursed existence. I get to have one thing that doesn't die around me."
Aki shook her head vigorously, sobbing harder than ever. "You don't die when I'm around either! You're the only thing that makes me happy, too! So we're even! I couldn't bear it if you weren't here! I don't want- I don't- I don't know what to say! I just- don't be sad! Please! Please, don't be sad! I can't bear it!"
Zeref let her ramble, rubbing her back and making soft, comforting noises each time she started again.
For an hour he comforted her, lulling her to sleep as she resolved into whimpers.
"Don't be sad…" Her hands had long un-balled, long having given in to her eldest brother's reassuring presence and warmth. "Don't be sad … Zeref-onii… I love you… I don't want…"
"I know," he murmured, eyes closed, "I love you too, Aki-ki."
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So, what do you think? This is the first chapter I wrote after coming out of writer's hibernation (it had been a long, long time). I'm aware it's not the greatest and is hardly as connected to the rest of the story as I'd like, but I rewrote it and decided it was good enough.
It might seem incongruous with the next chapters, but it gives some exposition to how I am incorporating Aki with Zeref's character. Because I like Zeref as is, I wanted to keep it as similar as possible to how it is in canon. Curious if I'm sidetracking you from the question of relevance? Well, the answer, the most influential reason, was that *Drum roll* I couldn't fit it anywhere else in the True Tale series! And I likey it.
Aaaaaanyways, I totally saved it, 'cause I accidentally– on purpose, I mean, totally, on purpose… Uh, what was I saying? Oh, right, it was saved by the fact that the prelude took place on Tenrou, and the prelude takes place on, you guessed it, Tenrou. Cheap, maybe, but it was that or putting it somewhere even more unconnected, so. Oh, and it was also before the events of the next chapters, so yaaaaay, coincidenceeee.
(Wait, I was supposed to be saying I did that on purpose- I mean, Edo it, I'm writing this down- tails- wait, really, it was-)
Oh! That reminds me of the swearing system. I thought this up at random – the only way I think anything, honestly – and just flapping ran with it. I have a whole notepad denoting the level of rudeness for each one, and what part of speech it can be, and phrases. Honestly, it might have gotten a little out of hand.
Previous Question (I)
Who is your favorite vindicated villain? (Jellal, Zeref, Ultear, Laxus, Juvia, Gajeel, Lyon, Meledy, Minerva, Panther Lily, Hot Eye, Flare, etc.)
My Answer: Zeref. He's so sweet and has such a tragic backstory, I can't help but love him. He's also not at fault whatsoever (I will fight you on this,) so it gives him points over, say, Ultear in my book.
My second favorite would have to be Jellal. (I will fight you on him being wholly innocent, too.) He… well, I'm predictable, what can I say. I love him for the same reason I love Zeref. ˋ( ° ▽、° )
Most of my favorite characters across all fandoms are just ugh you need a hug come 'ere you baby oh my gorshhhhhh you did nothing wrongggg.
If I had to choose one outside of that cliché, I'd choose… Gajeel, because I ship him so hard with Levy and because he has some of the best character development throughout the entire show. Maybe Laxus? I mean, who doesn't like Laxus? He's just so…. *MM* "YES TAILING COOL BOSS WHO NOW HAS A SWEET SIDE. ER. MI. GERSHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH.
So, translating that garble, my emotional favorite (outside of my trope) is probably Laxus. My intellectual, thought fueled favorite is Gajeel… wait, no, he has a sweet side too, and oh no I don't knowwwww. Aaaahahhhhhhhhhhh I love him tooooo AHSOFSPFBWEIFNLSKJDVN SJBFGSKJE
New Question (II)
What are your ships in Fairy Tail? What are your OTP[s]?