Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

Levy did not expect to be woken up the next day, as if she had work to handle within the empire. However, the door did still burst open, making her roll over and frown at the intruder. Her locket tangled with her arm, and she carefully pulled it aside before blinking at the person in her room. "Rather than have you insist that—" Zeref was there, breaking off with his eyes widening. She frowned, before seeing his gaze directed towards her necklace…the exact replica of his own. Quickly, she lifted a hand to cover it, but it was already too late. "Where…where did you get that?"

Meeting his gaze, she slowly shook her head. "I…I can't say." She wanted him to trust her, but she couldn't let him find out about the time travel, not yet. He'd have too many questions, and she wasn't certain she'd be happy to answer them, not if he kept acting so coldly. "I'm sorry. This just isn't working out like I had planned." She sighed, pressing a hand to her head and dropping the necklace.

A shadow fell over her, and she blinked up, seeing Zeref right there, his hand snaking out to grab the locket. Given his closeness, she knew he didn't care for her at all. It sent a stab through her chest, but she ignored it yet again, seeing him inspect the metal. "It…it is exact, an exact copy. To make this, one would have had to offered…an example, to study from, for the jeweler." His brow furrowed, before opening it.

"Don't look at that!" She shouted, slapping his hand away and pulling it back protectively. His eyes widened, his hand frozen in the air as he stared at her reaction. Yet, she'd messed up again. Why was he even here? "It…it's private…"

"There were no photos." Levy didn't respond, staring away from him. "In fact…all I saw was a glimpse of an engraving. Is such a message truly that valuable to you?"

Levy inhaled slowly, closing her eyes. After a moment, she turned towards Zeref. "It…was made for me, but someone I cared for deeply." She had to be honest, to some extent. Closing her eyes again, she stared down at the bed. "Right now…I'm afraid that they might be gone forever, at least…the person I saw them as."

"Has he taken a path you disagree with?" Then, Zeref paused. "Pardon me, I made an assumption based on common cultures…"

"No, it was a he." She sighed, glancing over at him. "And…not exactly. I can understand why he's on the path he is taking, but I just hope I can convince him to see that he doesn't have to go through it alone."

Zeref frowned at her. "I see." He shook his head, frowning and rising to his feet. "For now…I will respect your silence, I suppose. After all…we have an agreement to move towards." What? She frowned, just now noticing the stack of books and old journals in his arms. "You claimed your inability to learn my magic stemmed from inaccessibility to material. So you do not give such an excuse to delay me later on…I've brought my studies here for your use. Now, the only thing that will prevent success will be your own inadequacy in comprehending them."

Zeref never looked down on her. Yet…no, he wasn't doing so now, either. Instead, he seemed to have a glint in his eyes, offering a challenge. This was because of the ward. He wanted to see her capabilities, to test if she understood magic as well as her actions made it appear she did. "Thank you." Still, it was out of character for him in another way. "I'm surprised you trust me enough to leave these with me."

"Oh, I never said anything about that." Zeref smiled, shaking his head. "Once our experiment is done with…I think I will simply have August erase the knowledge from your memories. You can return to your beloved without harm, and I will have my mystery solved…while knowing just how powerful you are, strange wizard." He paused again, tilting his head. "I…I do not believe you ever gave me your name."

For a moment, Levy stared at him. Then, she laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, I'm certain you already know it, your majesty." She was never formal with him, but right now, he was an emperor and she was just a toy for him to play with. She needed to change that, and right now, his entertainment and intrigue with her would be the only thing that kept him approaching. "My name is Levy McGarden…I imagine you have a file on me somewhere, considering what you plan on doing in the future."

"Levy…" He trailed off, his brow furrowing. Then, his eyes widened. "The solid script wizard from Fairy Tail? But…you were among the rune knights…to gain entry to Vistarion, you'd simply have to…" He trailed off, staring over at her.

"Oh, I know. But where's the fun in getting in the easy way?" Levy grinned, watching as Zeref just kept watching her in silence. "So, before I get started with all of this work…am I allowed to leave this room for food or anything? Because being a prisoner inside of a castle sorta leaves me a bit confused on boundaries, you know." She already knew where she was allowed to go before, and her way around. Likely, she had the level of clearance of a servant…which unfortunately kept her from the library, but still let her eat.

"You'll know if you approach a place you are not allowed to enter." Zeref spoke quietly, yet the frown never vanished. "And meals are provided in a hall not far from here." He paused again, silence filling the room. She expected him to leave, or maybe give instructions if he was feeling particularly kind. However…his gaze flickered towards her locket again, his brow furrowing. "I…I know you said you could not say, but…just who was it that made such a locket? I…it shouldn't exist."

Levy's hand lifted to it, and she smiled softly. "I know." She saw his confusion, and Levy shook her head. "And one day, maybe one day, I'll tell you. But not while you're like this."

"Like this?"

"All depressed and insisting that a war is going to solve your problems." Zeref stared at her, and Levy rose to her feet. She needed to take a chance. He wasn't leaving, which meant…he was interested? Curious? Given his lack of care about keeping distant, she was certain it wasn't any sort of friendly feelings yet. But, talking would be a start. "So, you said I could eat, right? Then you might as well join me, if you want to keep talking that is. I'd prefer to do it while I'm staying busy. If I'm going to read through all of that before your war starts, I can't exactly waste time."

"Join you?" Zeref looked completely baffled.

"Yeah…eat with me, you know." He frowned, and she sighed, shaking her head. "Come on, don't you eat with that August guy at least?"

Zeref frowned, shaking his head. "I don't need to eat…"

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to." Levy sighed, shaking her head. At least she'd tried. Confusion was better than nothing, right? Still, it wasn't what she wanted, not after weeks, nearly a month, of thinking he was gone. In a way, it still felt like he was. She began walking off, planning to falsely wander for a bit until getting to the dining room. However, Zeref walked towards her.

"Wait." He paused, glancing towards her. "I…I will not eat, but…I suppose I have nothing better to do than question your motives in coming here. It would be useful knowledge to have, before the war begins."

He was forcing such phrasing. She glanced at him, narrowing her eyes. However, she wasn't going to press that fact, not now. She only nodded, and he began to walk off himself. Following him, Levy walked into the dining hall, with a familiar setting she'd grown used to seeing in the past. However much the atmosphere between herself and Zeref may have changed…this was familiar to her. Zeref sat down, and out of habit, she sat next to him. He seemed mildly surprised at her choice, but made no comment as Levy began gathering her meal quietly. "So…much like your guild master, have you come to plead and negotiate for the end of the war before it even begins?"

Levy wanted to deny it, but it wasn't so different from what she planned to do. Sighing, she glanced over him. "When you put it like that, it sounds like I'm trying to manipulate you or something." Zeref smiled faintly, and she shook her head. "Makarov doesn't even know I'm here, actually. I have a few friends that know, but Makarov isn't one of them."

"Oh? Intending on a rescue if something goes wrong?"

"Not really." Levy shrugged. "I don't think they could get in if they wanted to. Well…actually, I'll change that. They could help me if they wanted to, but I doubt any of them will."

"Just who do you think has the power to infiltrate Vistarion so easily?"

"Theoretically, or in actuality? Because the responses become quite varied, in both situations."

Zeref paused, tilting his head. "I think…I think in this case, I am more interested in your hypothetical imaginations. Based on your methods of getting inside alone, you have an intriguing logic that I just…cannot seem to grasp."

"Yeah, I guess I am sorta weird like that." Levy smiled, touching the locket at her chest. Zeref watched the motion, frowning, but did not comment. "So…hypothetically, the ones that could most easily infiltrate Vistarion are the ones you give the most trust to. At the moment, your generals, if they could be convinced to actually betray you, would be the most likely potential suspects."

Zeref scoffed. "Hardly. I selected them for their strength and their loyalty. They would never betray me."

"Well, let's analyze them individually, then, and see if we agree." Zeref frowned, and Levy smiled. "Not that I really know much about any of them; there's only a handful that I'd say I'm comfortable even trying to analyze like this. But…let's start with…Invel. He's one of the most loyal generals you have, right?"

Zeref nodded. "Second in loyalty only to August, at least in my opinion."

"And how does he make plans, going towards the future?"

"Logically considering what is best for Alvarez. He is ideal in situations where emotional conflicts tend to…sway decisions one way or another."

She nodded. "Exactly. So, what if you give an order, that logically, seems to be for the detriment to Alvarez?" Zeref frowned, studying her. "Or…no, that seems too unbelievable. You're a strategist too, based on all the wards you have in place and the whole mind game you're playing with Makarov right now." He blinked at her, his eyes widening at her way of just disregarding his actions against her guild master. "So…no, let's say he's thought of a strategy that would help your country, before you realized it needed to be done. Do you think he'd hesitate to act, if it was time sensitive? Or would he await your approval, and potentially risk acting when it is too late?"

"I…" Zeref frowned, studying her. "In theory, I can see the logic…yet, that does not sound like a betrayal to me. It was in the best interests of the empire…"

"Okay, fine…Invel is hard to manage, I guess." Levy sighed, shaking her head. "And I won't even attempt August, if I can't manage to come up with a theory behind Invel. So…maybe Dimaria? She's…not the easiest to read, but she has her moments."

"I'd…rather move on, actually." Zeref was frowning. "I trust my generals currently, and I'd rather not…change that opinion, as of right now."

"Oh…sorry." She bit her lip, glancing at her table. "Um…oh, I guess your demons would probably be my next possibility. They were created to act against you, so while you might have wards and you'd stop them fairly quickly…I imagine they could get in."

"True, yet I do not see any Fairy Tail wizard allying with demons readily."

"We've already—" She broke off, biting her tongue. Zeref stared at her, narrowing his eyes, and Levy wondered if she'd spoken too much already by starting to retort.

When the silence continued on, Zeref ran a hand through his hair. "It…is mildly alarming, how much you seem to know." She swallowed, watching him turn towards her. "You…are aware of Natsu then? And…I suspect you did not wish for me to know that you were aware, either."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yes, I know about him." She glanced over at him. "That's why I mentioned him, before, actually. I wasn't certain if I'd get your attention, otherwise, and I wanted to speak with you, as you predicted. Natsu's name was the first that came to mind that might…interest you enough to come."

"Oh, the magic alone was enough for that." Zeref crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know how many wizards have tried to take down the wards around Vistarion? Perhaps not in recent years, no, but in the early days of establishing the nation…not all approved of uniting as one." She stayed silent, and Zeref continued on. "Some even attempted what you managed…taking control away from me. However, their attempts were imprecise and incapable of being much more than a slight annoyance. Yours…it was as if you had studied them before, and knew exactly how to strike. Comprehending wards so fully, and so easily…"

"It is why you want to test me with your notes, isn't it?"

Zeref raised his eyebrows. "Determined that much already?" She nodded. "Well, I suppose you are quite intelligent after all. That is…interesting." Yet, he was frowning, staring at the table lost in thought.

"And now you are thinking about war plans, aren't you?" He blinked, glancing at her. She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Don't worry, alright? I…to be honest, I don't even know if I'd be willing to fight against Alvarez right now." She'd made this place her home, however briefly. Yet, she'd also made Fairy Tail her home too, and look what she'd done to them.

Suddenly, Levy wasn't quite so hungry anymore. The food on her plate looked bland and unappetizing, and all she could see were angry Fairy Tail wizards, fending her off. She could hear Makarov's panicked shout, as he realized what she planned to do and see Fairy Tail turn on itself, uncertain of if she was friend or foe. Even with that inner conflict, so many still came after her. Cana, Macao, Bisca…they'd held back at first, sure, but once they saw how serious she was, that was when the fight changed.

Her hand lifted to her shoulder, rubbing the place that had recently suffered a burn that was now gone, due to time magic. It was quiet in the room. She blinked, looking over and trying to snap out of her daze, realizing that she'd just started to break down, in front of Zeref. In front of a Zeref who did not know her, would not comfort her in any way. That made her chest ache even more, and her eyes burn.

Swiftly, she rose to her feet, taking in a shaky breath. "Excuse me…I…I think I need a moment." She spun around, turning to rush out of the room.

"Levy—"

She didn't hear what he wanted, and she didn't care what it was either. Right now…she was alone. She was even more alone than she'd been when she became empress, more alone than she'd been when she was thrust into Edolas with no warning, side by side with who she thought was her greatest enemy. Right now, she was close to the person she loved the most in the world and yet, she'd still never felt quite so alone.

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