Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

With the guild masters gone, things seemed to calm down slightly in Vistarion. However, there was still work to begin doing. Before he left, he'd need to ensure that things were at least mostly caught up from his work. He hadn't spent all of his time over the last few weeks catching up just so he'd fall behind again and have to waste more time on the work he consistently neglected. He'd been just finishing up on the last bit of legislation when August walked into the room.

"Father…I would recommend resting before jumping in to this job of yours with the others." August moved to stand by his side, while Zeref rested in his office. Nab, Loke, and Natsu were somewhere in Vistarion as well, and Levy was studying with Invel to make up for 'lost time' according to him. Zeref was rather irritated with the winter general's insistence on educating her so swiftly, but he could hardly stop that process when Levy wasn't complaining about it. "You've just created another demon, and rushing in like this is only going to exhaust you further."

Leaning back in his chair, Zeref closed his eyes. "I have other things to work through first, August. I'm…I'm so close. My past, my parents…I know why the attack happened. All that remains is to fulfill my promise to Igneel."

"I suspect he did not intend that promise to be completed after his death."

No, Igneel definitely did not. "He also did not expect that dragon to still be alive in that egg." The way he spoke before the enchantment was cast…Zeref was certain of that much. "Someone needs to hatch it. Perhaps it can survive like that…but it does not deserve such an existence."

"It would still be alone, either way." August seemed to sigh, sitting on the other side of the desk in the room. "All of that race is gone from this world, Zeref. Would you suggest keeping it as a pet of sorts? A companion? Even then…where in this world would a dragon not be feared? They are a mighty race of beings, and with their absence from the world, that power would intimidate those that do not understand how peaceful they can be."

They were all valid concerns, but it did not mean that dragon had no right to at least attempt to live. "Alone or not, it will still exist. Is that not how I've survived for so long?" August did not answer, gazing at the desk in front of him. "I'm learning to change…to see the potential for friendships and the like. Yet…I cannot say if I will pursue them or not. I am content with what little I have here, and anything more is not necessary."

"Things will likely be rather hectic, given the likelihood of seeing more visitors in Vistarion." Zeref nodded, while August smiled. "And you will be dealing with more Fairy Tail members specifically, as I'm certain that Levy would wish for her friends to be welcome here for the duration of her stay." That was also quite true. "It will be good for you, I think. Being around people, around a crowd, rather than just a small group, will help you see what you've been avoiding for so long. From what I witnessed, Fairy Tail can be rather difficult to manage, but they mean well and value each other in a way you are starting to better understand."

From that little fight he'd seen when contacting Natsu before, Zeref knew that was true. "Whatever comes…I'll learn to deal with it." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm tired of running away from this…from life. It has taken me a long time to finally embrace his advice all those years ago…to let the past be the past, and focus on who I am now and where I want to go."

"A wise piece of advice indeed." August frowned, turning towards him. "Who gave such a suggestion to you? It is odd; I do not recall making such a comment before, and few realize what it is that bothers you so greatly."

"Igneel." Zeref stared at the ceiling above him, smiling faintly. "I wonder if Natsu even realizes…that we both have a connection to him. Natsu is his son…and I…I am simply a friend."

"Or perhaps you are family to him, just as Fairy Tail is family to Levy and Natsu." That seemed rather accurate, more accurate than his own assessment. Zeref had not been able to hate Igneel, no matter how much he tried. It hadn't been confirmed that Igneel attacked Mildia…but his words almost said as much to make Zeref think he'd been involved. Yet, there was no sorrow in the knowledge. Igneel had lost something important to him, his own family. Mildia, or whoever had been responsible, deserved some form of punishment in return. "And where is it you wish to go?"

"To a future where I feel as if I am with my own family again." Natsu was acting more friendly towards him, after all. Everything around him seemed to be making that future more possible every day.

Nodding, August smiled and rose to his feet. "Then I suppose you've made an excellent decision regarding the terms of your treaty. Natsu is still alive and as for Levy…she may be hesitant on the matter, but she continues to care for you more the more time you spend with her. It would not surprise me if she comes to agree to their more absurd request on her own, if given time." Zeref's heart stuttered at that, making him swallow and look away. He was too attached already, but there was no backing down now. Her reactions to his own depressive moods seemed to confirm that she was willing to deal with his issues, too. Maybe there was a chance for more of a future with her than he'd been letting himself hope for. "And I will be here, as always."

"And Natsu…when Levy visits Fairy Tail, I'll be able to see him as well." Zeref smiled to himself at the thought. Before, he would have thought it strange, to simply want to speak with Natsu as opposed to pushing him to be stronger. However, death was no longer his goal. "Soon, there'll be Igneel as well again. I don't quite know what to say to him…after all this time. Yet…he'll still be around again, to speak with when I feel conflicted again."

There was a knock at the door, making Zeref glance up. August smiled, moving to answer for him. "I am happy for you. It seems as if you're finally seeing a future worth living for, and that is all I've ever wanted for you." Zeref smiled at August, watching the door open. Levy stood on the other side, smiling and walking in. Staring at her, he realized that August was right. He finally had found a future worth living for, and he wasn't going to give it up anytime soon.

While working with August, it didn't take long for Zeref to finalize the details of the plan. He had the coordinates he needed, and as a last resort, he had the extra information Jellal had given him about how to activate the R-System. All that was left was to actually go and finish the task. "Wait a second. You did all the work without us!" Natsu was already complaining when Zeref came to gather them all together. Nab and Loke were with him, in the training grounds in Vistarion. It seemed like Loke and Natsu had been sparring when he entered, though the battle had been on pause before he truly came closer.

"Yes?"

"That's not how working on a team works." Natsu glared at him, shaking his head.

"I don't think…Zeref really does jobs in the first place, Natsu." Nab glanced at him, while Zeref frowned.

Turning towards August, he wondered if maybe his son could explain what was wrong. "Did…was there something wrong with establishing a plan?"

Yet, it wasn't August who answered. The elderly man actually looked just as confused as him. "Not really. It's just that Natsu is used to his own team, which usually only manages to succeed out of luck and skill in a fight. He likes to be involved, but I've never really seen him working through a more complex puzzle like this one," Levy explained.

Levy smiled at Natsu, who pouted and glared at her. "Hey! I'd work on one like this if I had to. Actually, Lucy was usually good with puzzles when we needed someone to work on them." He seemed to frown, before shaking his head. "But that's not the point! This job is to bring back Igneel. Of course I'm supposed to be involved! He's my dad, after all."

"And you are upset that Zeref came up with a method of bringing him back?" Loke frowned, glancing at Levy. "I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing the issue."

"Because I was supposed to help, damn it!"

"And what do you know of resurrection spells and black magic?" Zeref watched as Natsu buried his face into his scarf, looking away. "If I expected you to have expertise in the subject, I would have consulted with you. However, as it stands, I am the only one among us with an experience in magic like this. Not even Levy has researched such topics, and she's likely obtained the most broadened view of magic out of all of you."

"I could have learned…"

"And that would have wasted even more time." Zeref sighed, glancing towards Levy. "Given the circumstances, it seemed as if completing this in a timely manner would be preferred. After all, either we bring Igneel back to hatch the egg, or we simply leave it until more looters arrive to try and sell it away. Which is your preference?"

Glancing towards Levy, Natsu sighed and nodded. "Fine. But we're not taking any train to get there, got it?"

"Given its location, that won't be an issue." August spoke, glancing towards Zeref. "Would you prefer the airship, or a boat?"

"Wait, what?" Natsu glanced at them, while Zeref smiled faintly.

"It is located in the middle of the ocean between this continent and Ishgar. Passage by train would indeed be rather pointless." Zeref glanced towards August, moving quickly. "As Natsu has requested to avoid trains, the airship would be more efficient. Otherwise, we'd need passage to the nearest port town, which would likely entail a train."

"That's not any better! I take it back, I don't—"

"Calm down, Natsu." Loke patted his back, laughing at the dragon slayer's reaction. "It's for Igneel, right?"

Nodding, Natsu scowled but moved forward. "Right. To bring Igneel back, I'll push through it."

Glancing at him, Zeref frowned. Then, he remembered the detail he had forgotten. "Ah, motion sickness. I had almost forgotten about that weakness of dragon slayers."

"Um…but he'll be okay, right?" Nab glanced at them, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's taken jobs before that had him travel on boats and trains…"

"And he'll keep doing so." Levy nodded, moving with them. "For now, it's the only way we've got to get to this place."

"And then August is supposed to…do something?" Loke frowned, rather confused given Zeref's vague explanation when he had first entered. All he had said was that they would be leaving to resurrect Igneel, and that August would be able to help them retrieve everything necessary to do so.

Moving to leave with August, Zeref nodded. "Natsu may actually be familiar with what we see. We are restoring Jellal's finalized version of the R-System."

"Wait, that tower he built back when he was crazy?" Natsu frowned, glancing at him. "I thought the energy inside kinda made it explode."

"That much magic energy would be unstable if not utilized quickly." August glanced towards Zeref, who nodded as they approached the airship. "We, however, will be utilizing it, so the danger should be minimal."

"And what about the curse?" Loke glanced at Zeref, folding his arms over his chest. "Don't get me wrong, I understand why you want to do this. But it seems to me like you've just gotten rid of this curse you and Mavis had, and I don't think you're all that eager to get it back."

"I won't be cursed from doing this." Zeref smiled to himself, glancing at Levy. "That…was a flaw in perception, during my earlier attempts at such things."

"That doesn't make sense…" Nab glanced around, frowning. "Or maybe I'm just not understanding it all that well…"

"No, you're right." Loke stood by his side, shaking his head. "That makes no sense at all, but I don't think we're going to get a better answer."

"And you two…are accepting the abandoning of the job you were given?"

Zeref glanced towards Nab and Loke, who seemed to share a look at first. "I…I really only took this job…to spend more time with Loke. I mean, not that I don't want to complete it…but, I figured I'd fail anyway." He smiled sheepishly, while Loke wrapped an arm around Nab's shoulders, seeming to startle the man.

"And I'm not all that fond of selling living creatures like that to anyone. Nisa didn't strike me as the kind of person to be morally inclined to leave that egg be, and I'd much rather see that dragon have a chance to live."

"Then it sounds like we're all in agreement." Levy smiled at them, boarding the airship behind Zeref. "You know, I still feel like we're just going to be tagging along for the ride with all of this." She glanced at Zeref once she was closer, biting her lip. "As you said before, I've only barely begun to touch on learning more about magic and how each circle actually builds and classifies each spell. With something like this, are we really not going to get in your way?"

Smiling, Zeref shook his head. "Perhaps I could accomplish this alone…but I'm finding lately that I'd prefer not to." August took the controls in the front of the ship, starting the power to begin taking off to the skies. Sitting next to Levy, with Natsu, Loke, and Nab across from them, Zeref took her hand. "They may be unusual…but I am starting to see why you enjoy working in a guild. It keeps you busy…and there are others there who just may understand more about you than you think."

Squeezing his hand, Levy smiled. "Then let's do something like this again sometime. Though, maybe with a team we actually planned to form from the start."

"Hey! Do you have a problem working with me?" Natsu seemed to overhear her comment, reminding Zeref of just how sharp a dragon slayer's senses were.

"Not at all, if you actually do your work. Lucy tells me all the time about how she has to do everything, while you just destroy things on your jobs together."

"But how else am I supposed to stop the bad guys?"

"With more self-control?" Loke gave the suggestion, raising his eyebrows at Natsu.

"By being uninteresting and ignored?" Nab added in his own opinion, making Zeref glance at him in surprise. "That…that usually works for me, anyway."

"You're not that boring, Nab." Loke smirked at him, before Zeref could comment. Was this another member with a trait of his own? His self-hatred was not quite as strong as Zeref's, but that view of himself was similar enough. "After all, take a look at what you started. Do you really think any of us would have gone on a job together if you hadn't forced those three to work together in Edolas?" He pointed towards Levy, Zeref and Natsu. "And then with us, maybe that was more August's doing, but yet again, would he have been around to point that out to my oblivious self if you, yet again, hadn't sent them away to another world?"

"Well…that was an accident…and I didn't mean to—"

"But you did it, and it sure as hell wasn't boring." Loke smiled at him, shaking his head. "Sorry, but that strategy falls apart if you can't meet even the first requirement after all."

"Maybe you're right." Nab smiled at him, and Loke nodded, seeming to be satisfied.

Thinking about Loke's words, however, Zeref realized something else. Holding Levy's hand, he glanced towards Nab and offered the rather quiet man a small smile. "Thank you, by the way." He frowned at Zeref, looking lost. "Perhaps you did accomplish your initial goal in that spell after all…despite it being a rather odd way of doing so. If it wasn't for you…I suspect I would have completed my efforts in the war."

"And…you're thanking me for stopping you?"

Nodding, Zeref felt his smile fade ever so slightly. "Yes, I am. I find myself rather glad…that I was stopped and put on this path instead. Given how difficult it can be to change my mind once I've set myself upon a particular path…you haven't the faintest idea of what you managed to push into motion." Glancing towards Loke, Zeref smiled. "Simply put…your companion is correct. Anyone who can gain access to the small tether connecting this world to Edolas and utilize that to establish a functioning portal between the two is not boring."

There was silence after that, which Natsu ended up interrupting. "And…you chose to describe it in the most boring way possible why? I couldn't understand half of what you just said!"

"I thought I put it in simpler terms." Zeref frowned, glancing at them. "Would stating that he managed to connect to the time rift and expand upon the connection formed—"

"Not helping." Loke interrupted, frowning. "What is a time rift anyway?"

Glancing at them, Zeref chuckled and looked away. "Nothing important, I suppose. Simply…something that exists, because of something I've done." Yet, despite its power to assist in time manipulation spells, none seemed even aware of its existence. Perhaps that was for the best, to avoid further complications. Much like his other discoveries and creations, it was a secret best left alone. Even if it connected their world to another, it wasn't harmful unless utilized in a spell. Simply keeping it hidden was enough of a defense for the world, even if it shifted and shared the magic between both of them.

I will admit, it is going to feel like we're leading into the end of the story for the next few chapters. This was originally my final arc, so there are some elements that likely remain to give it that sort of feeling as you read through. More accurately, I think we're about 3/4 of the way through this story, though, maybe slightly less than that based on my draft. This story definitely became much longer than I expected, but I have really enjoyed exploring a few unusual things with the plot here, and I hope you've enjoyed as well. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!