Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail
It was at Levy's own house that August came up with his suggestion for her. "It…perhaps it is not ideal, but I could attempt to train you in some form." They had been reading through books for hours that day, reaching no actual conclusion. In fact, they had already been at her house for days, after Levy got inside using the spare key she kept hidden outside the room.
The suggestion likely came as a result of the failure from their research. Levy had tons of rare books and journals about all sorts of things. Some spoke about history, others about various branches of elemental magic, some even about entire government systems and their political parties that formed and fell throughout history. Anything from fiction to nonfiction filled her room, and while the library wouldn't allow her to get more as Zeref, it was a big collection to look through.
She had tried starting with some of the journals, thinking the more personalized accounts would be more descriptive. However, the obscure magic discussed was usually not nearly as complex as the enchantment she needed to learn. Even when she tried to take a break from that and look into the curse, most curses she saw research on were fairly harmless compared to Zeref's. They talked about curses that switched bodies for a set amount of time, changed the gender of the target, or even as minor as just changing hair color until the spell wore off. Still, in each case there was a mention of a duration of time until the curse lost its power and vanished. On the only one she found that supposedly lasted indefinitely, it required a permanent branding on the targeted wizard's skin, with the branding in the shape of the circle that activated the original curse. Considering she was in Zeref's body, and that she had seen it quite fully when in Edolas and staring at that lacrima, she knew there was no such mark.
August said nothing about her research on the curse, but he had intervened after days of frustration and little luck on researching the enchantment. "Or we could try our luck with Irene…"
"And risk resuming the war?" August didn't seem to mind either way, so it really was her decision. Sighing, Levy flopped down on her back.
"No…" She shook her head, tired of all of this. "Fine. What do you know about enchantments?" So, that was how the research veered far away from looking at books to a discussion-based project.
"They focus heavily on magic circles, needing rune work and proper placement of each element to—"
"I know that much." Levy glanced away, resting her chin on her palm. "Maybe we're looking about this the wrong way. I mean…in theory, as Zeref, I should have his magic, right?" August nodded, making her frown. "Then I just need a way to access that magic while in Edolas. Zeref seemed to do so to contact you…" She trailed off, her eyes widening. "How did we not see it before? We just need lacrimas…enough of them to store the energy we need to cast the spell there!"
"Simple…but it has potential." August nodded, rising to his feet. "I can go into town to purchase them. Considering your current appearance, it would not be good for you to take that role." She nodded in agreement, smiling widely at him. "Though…when we arrive, it would likely be best for me to—"
"I'm doing it." August didn't respond, frowning at her. "Even if I'm doing it as myself and not Zeref…he left that circle behind for me. He wanted me to do this…because out of all the wizards in Edolas, there's no way he expected any of the others to figure out what that meant."
"As you wish. Though…the energy required may be more than you might think. I will try to plan accordingly, but it will still exhaust you to perform this spell."
"Whatever it takes." She met his gaze, walking forward and squeezing his arm. "I told you that before, right? I'm bringing Zeref back…for both of us." Like usual, August didn't say much when his connection fo Zeref was mentioned. While on the rare occasion, he would speak of his troubles, she had found that it was far more common for August to just ignore them.
"While we are here…I will switch you and the other Zeref once more, then. Otherwise, you will be placing yourself into the same state his majesty is in currently."
She nodded, looking away. That was probably the only issue with this. She understood that technically, Edo-Zeref had been dead anyway. Still, he was a person, and this felt little different than killing him. "Yeah. We'll need to stop by Edo-Natsu's house then…so he can say goodbye too."
"We can confirm the details another time." August seemed to be ready to rush out the door. Really, it was the only sign of how eager he was to be done with this. Smiling faintly, Levy watched him open the door, nodding towards her as he left. "I will return soon, Levy. Please, take care…" He paused again, frowning. "I…I think I may miss working with you. It was oddly pleasing to work by your side."
"And you as well." He left with that, leaving her alone. She remained on the floor, uncertain of what to even do with her time. Levy had learned fairly early on how difficult it was to even leave her own house in comfort. She'd remained locked inside this room for so long that she felt like she was going out of her mind. Sure, Levy had gotten obsessed with reading before, but she'd always taken a break to go outside and stretch her legs. Even if it wasn't taking a job or anything, it was still a moment away with the light outside. The clutter of her books could sometimes make her room feel small and make her personally feel claustrophobic, despite not usually being afraid of confinement. Yet, the piles were beginning to look more and more like a prison each day, and the words blurred before her eyes the more research she did.
Sighing, she rolled over, frowning as she considered the curse instead. Why hadn't it acted up for her yet? She valued life, that much she was certain of. Everything said it should have been exploding a lot for her, yet it didn't. To test it, she even held out her hand with a frown. Could she use Zeref's magic? Focusing on the energy inside of her, she tried calling on anything. In her palm, she felt an odd tingle begin to grow. Above her skin, she saw a tiny magic circle form, black with far different intent than any magic she normally used contained. While small, she could see the dark shadows that formed above her hand as a result, weak yet very deadly. She was almost certain that this was his death magic. Her heart beat stuttered for a moment, and she gasped, scooting away from it as a sudden reaction. The magic was lost, and it faded immediately, yet it had shown her something. Zeref had complete control over death magic. Yet, he didn't seem like he had control when she watched him use it before.
Frowning at her arms, she leaned back again, lost in thought. If she had that magic, what else could it be? Zeref had a curse, but it didn't feel like he had a curse. Mavis called it the Curse of Contradictions, so maybe it had to do with that? Yet, Zeref showed discomfort in Edolas with the curse. It wasn't going to be that simple. Getting up, Levy walked over to one of her bookshelves, searching for the right journal. Something about this was nagging at the back of her mind, reminding her of something she had read a long time ago. It wasn't even one of the journals about curses, but a study done by an individual that hadn't been able to get an official publication due to the ethical debate of how his study had been performed.
Pulling it down, she leaned back in her bed and began to immerse herself in the details of the study. Essentially, it had been performed by a wizard trying to study the extent of the abilities of subconscious magic. Rumors had spread that wizards could accomplish impossible tasks if they simply used their magic while being unaware of what they had done. So, much like in psychological variations of medical tests, he had set up a test in which he separated two groups. One group had been filled with young prodigies, all having studied and practiced magic for their entire lives. The second had received no training whatsoever. However, those running the test had told them that they had sensed powerful layers of enchantments around each and every individual in the second group, enchantments that would give them virtually unheard of strength, speed, and agility in battle. Next, both groups were placed into an arena, and this was where the ethical debate came in. Rather than test their strength against some form of magical monster known to be dangerous, the scientist had wanted more comparable results. He had pitted both groups against each other in a massive battle.
While Levy had never quite had the stomach to read the details of the magic and spells used, the conclusion had been rather surprising. Supposedly, the second group had subconsciously recreated the enchantments they had been told they all had. As a result, they were the victors in the study, though the results had been buried by the magical community for the dark methods used to obtain them. The only reason Levy had managed to get a copy was because of her good standing with the magic council and her work with them. She had confiscated the journal from some dark wizards a few months back, and her superiors had offered to let her keep it as a reward for her hard work.
Setting the book down, Levy glanced at her hand again. Zeref consciously had death magic, along with the ability to create life. Yet, he also had his curse, the same curse Mavis ended up receiving. Yet, hadn't Mavis said she never noticed the curse until after Zeref told her she had it? It was a weak argument, but Levy couldn't deny the possibility. Was the curse nothing more than a creation of Zeref's subconscious mind? If so, why this curse? What made him want something so dark in the first place? She really couldn't say. Even if she could, did she want to tell him about it? It might just make things worse. Levy knew she would be horrified to learn that she had been intentionally doing terrible things she thought she had not been able to control before.
Even August said there was little information on this curse, though. No books spoke of its existence, though there were a few fiction novels that elaborated on magic and gave the name to Ankhseram's Curse. The characters within only were portrayed as teaching a lesson to readers though, trying to educate children on the reason why things must die. As a result of the dark theme targeting such a young age group, the books had never been very popular, but still existed anyway. That was likely where Mavis had learned about the curse in the first place, and probably Zeref as well.
Still, the god himself had more history than just a few children's books. Ankhseram had a role in many mythologies, taking on different names depending on the nation and culture. Each role varied as well, sometimes making Ankhseram a merciful god and others claiming he was vicious and bloodthirsty. Overall, the common theme labeled him as the god of life and death, though nothing really spoke of the actual existence of the god. Nothing ever had evidence of the existence of gods, though, so Levy couldn't quite say that was unusual.
Levy had still been lost in thought when August returned, with Edo-Zeref and the lacrimas in his grip. "I apologize for the wait. Are you prepared for this?" Levy glanced at the journal again, frowning for a moment. She couldn't prove a thing, and without proof, she doubted Zeref would believe her theory. Still, she could keep it to herself for now. One day, she'd make him believe…or at least try to do so.
Moving closer to August, she looked up and met his gaze. "I think so…and I think I might finally be on to something." He raised his eyebrows, while Levy shook her head. "He wouldn't believe the theory at all…but I think I know the source of his curse now."
"You've been studying a curse?" Edo-Zeref spoke, reminding Levy that she wasn't researching alone with August anymore. "That has to be difficult to understand. I hear they are so complicated because they force the target to activate their magic against their will. Is that true? Or do they just act like a cruel form of a practical joke?"
"Both, depending on the curse." August spoke, frowning at Levy. "Though…how did you discover this? From what you'd been saying thus far, there was nothing in your collection about Ankhseram's Curse, let alone its origins."
Shaking her head, Levy smiled sadly. "Because…I was looking in the wrong spot. It isn't a curse at all, if my theory is correct." August frowned at her, while Levy rose to her feet. "But, that really isn't important right now. Like I said, other than the fact that the curse never activated for me, I don't really have evidence to support my idea."
"It never activated for me either…" Edo-Zeref looked at her, as if hoping to help in some form.
Shaking her head, Levy focused on August instead. "Let's just get him back first, okay? I'll worry about his curse later." And she'd worry about how he'd react after that. Really, she wasn't certain if it was better to let him live with it or not. Maybe she could try it out with Mavis first…but even that would be painful to force anyone to endure. As August switched Levy back into her own body, she still couldn't help but ponder the idea. Her brief moment living as Zeref had given her far more insight into why he was the person he had become than she ever thought it would. He really was so alone, but Levy was going to change that somehow. She was going to apologize, and make sure he realized he had at least one friend to rely on. Then, if he got too afraid to keep her by his side when they returned…she'd help him through the suffering she'd undoubtedly cause by revealing the truth of the fact that four hundred years ago, Zeref had cursed himself when he brought his brother back to life.
So...I know a lot of you were requesting to see a bit more about Edo-Zeref's side of the body-swap, but trying to write from his POV to present it just...didn't work out right. Basically, in my mind, he hid away in the library and studied magic anyway, so he wasn't noticed much by Fairy Tail, even if he didn't act like Levy at all. Plus, he had Lucy helping to keep him hidden...which again, just didn't quite come out right when trying to make it an actual chapter. I think part of me was just too eager to get to this arc to really put in a chapter focusing on that detail, since his experience wasn't really important to the overall plot of this story. This chapter however...we get to see the first hints of a theory on Zeref's curse. What do you guys think? I hope you still enjoyed, despite the lack of Edo-Zeref in the details here. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!