Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail
Levy couldn't keep herself together. Everything felt like it was too much. There were too many things to worry about, too many people that should know her but didn't, and just…too many emotions building up all at once. She wanted to scream, but knew it wouldn't help. Already, she was sobbing like a child, reminded even further of how weak she really was to letting her tears fall. She'd never thought of herself as a sensitive person like this. But then Zeref had to go and die, and now…Levy just sighed, shaking her head. She pulled her knees to her chest, using them to hide her face. No one would bother her, but she was still used to trying to hide away her tears.
That was what made it so much more surprising when the door actually opened. Levy turned, frowning and sniffling as she saw someone enter. Initially, she'd thought maybe Zeref came in. She hadn't exactly answered many questions for him before running out. However, the person walking in was probably the last person Levy wanted to see right now.
Master Makarov frowned, walking towards her slowly. "Levy…so he wasn't lying after all."
"Please, just leave me alone." Seeing him kept the memories at the surface, reminding her of what she'd done. The magic energy she'd stolen lingered in her veins, pulsing as she was reminded of its presence. Fairy Heart wasn't unstable. It was warm, and almost comforting in a way, yet despite it feeling like a hug meant to keep her warm, it now felt tainted, like it should never have been there to begin with.
"What happened? If this is about the guild, I do have reasons, for what I've done."
She shook her head. "Go away." Yet, Makarov only came closer. He touched her arm, and Levy jerked away. "I said to leave!"
"I will not leave, when one of my own is suffering as you are." His gaze met hers steadily, challenging her to fight him again. When she remained silent, he sighed. "Levy, I will always be here for you, no matter what you think has gone wrong. Fairy Tail may be no more, but that has not changed my desire to protect you all. You being here…I imagine that means somewhere along the way, you discovered what Alvarez intends to do."
Slowly, she nodded, taking in a slow breath. "But you don't know what has happened." Her and drifted to the pendent, and she took a deep breath. "I…I didn't want to…but I just…I had to…" She choked, her other hand lifting to her mouth as she sobbed. Makarov patted her back, but it only made matters worse.
The one who should hate her, excommunicate her and ban her from the guild, was trying to comfort her. Makarov spoke kind words, patted her back, and just seemed to wait for her to stop. But she wasn't stopping. He'd told the guild to stop her. When it came down to it, she'd made Master hate her, just like he'd hated Zeref.
Still, was that really the case? He'd forgiven Laxus, at least. But what he'd done wasn't the same. No one got hurt with what Laxus did, not seriously at least. He'd made a ploy for guild master, not a ploy to steal away their greatest secret. And even if it was on the same caliber, Laxus had failed. Meanwhile, Levy had succeeded. The warmth in herself was a constant reminder of that.
The silence dragged on, and Master seemed to let out a sigh. "I cannot help you, if you do not speak of what is wrong, Levy."
Oddly, she felt as if she'd said something similar to Zeref in the past. Maybe she had, maybe she hadn't. Either way, it wasn't a logic she wanted used on her. "You can't help even if I do tell you." She hunched over, closing her eyes. "I…I don't think anyone can."
"Don't be like that, Levy." Makarov glanced at her, nodding. "You are, and always will be, a Fairy Tail wizard. We protect our own, and are closer than family, no matter what trials are thrown our way. Perhaps I am not the one you wish to speak with, but that does not change that someone out there will be there for you."
"But the person I want to help me never would." She swallowed, closing her eyes. She'd thought she could be patient and manage this. She'd thought she could handle being alone. Yet, now there was no going back and she just wanted this to be done with. Maybe she should just find Dimaria and stop Zeref that way. With no time rift, there would be no need to obtain Fairy Heart, and she could just go back to the guild instead.
Makarov sighed. "Sometimes, it is difficult, to show our care for another. Maybe this person does wish to help you, but finds themselves incapable of showing such help to you."
That wasn't the case. Zeref only saw her as a pawn, as a tool like everyone else here. The thought made her throat close, but her eyes were drying up. She'd cried too much already, and her nose was stuffy with her eyes itching. She just didn't know what to do. "Why…why did you even come here? I thought…I thought you'd be waiting to speak with Emperor Spriggan."
"Because he came and got me." Levy froze, her eyes growing wide. "I cannot say I understand why. Yet, he seemed to think I could calm your sadness, and wished for me to help you through whatever is troubling you."
Zeref thought Makarov could help? She blinked, sniffling and staring at her legs. Considering what he knew, it would make sense. As a Fairy Tail wizard, she should want comfort from Makarov, and not Zeref or even August or Brandish. Yet, she didn't. It was just that Zeref didn't understand that at all. The thought made her snort, shaking her head. "Of course he thought that." She wiped away at her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Did he really want you to cheer me up?"
Makarov nodded, frowning. "He did…" He trailed off, studying her. "Levy, you were…were you hoping for him to help you? Because that's just…"
"Please don't say anything to him, Master." She met his gaze, taking a deep breath. "I'll get better, at dealing with this. He doesn't need to know until he's…ready, I guess." Her gaze flickered to the stack of notes on the desk that he'd left behind. She'd focus on work, just like she had done before. Once she proved herself to Zeref, maybe then he'd have loosened up on her, and begun to grant her some of the trust she'd grown so used to.
"Be careful, Levy. That man seeks to destroy everything we stand for and wishes to utilize a power that should never have come to exist in this world in the first place."
She nodded, but oddly, Levy found herself thinking of a different risk than the one Makarov had in mind. Fairy Heart…that one wasn't as terrible as she'd first thought. Yet, it was the time rift that didn't belong. She'd stop it, along with proving to Zeref that his curse could be gotten rid of if he just listened to her, and trusted her for a change.
Makarov left her, and Levy was alone again. She'd asked him not to tell Zeref about this, but really, would it harm anything, to know she wanted Zeref here? It was confusing, to say the least. Rather than trying to contemplate it excessively, however, she turned towards the notes he'd left for her. The writing staring back at her was familiar, the same script from the notes on Neo Eclipse she'd read before. Picking up one, Levy took a seat on the edge of the bed, leaning back with a frown. Diagrams were drawn out neatly, with the notes written in an oddly scattered format. However, she recognized a few of the images already.
"This journal is about the R-System…" She flipped quickly, skimming through what she found. Sure enough, towards the middle was the activation circle for the entire thing. Smiling faintly, she shook her head and set that one aside. She looked through the stack, blinking in surprise as she discovered a helpful stack of sticky notes, along with some pens to write with. She wrote down R-System on one, and placed it on the cover before moving on.
The next one she picked up, it had the same sort of strange organization. Zeref likely was trying to keep others from deciphering his notes. So, how was it organized then? She set that one aside, picking up the R-System book again. The activation circle wasn't at the end. The notes themselves didn't link together either, when read like a normal book. So, what order was it meant to be read in?
Activation in the center…her thoughts trailed off, before her eyes widened. Wasn't…wasn't the inner most circle of any magic spell meant to represent how it would be triggered? Typically, it was the same for most spells, as they were triggered by a wizard's intent. Yet, some enchantments would be triggered by proximity, rather than the will of the caster.
With that in mind, Levy flipped to the front, reading through the page again. That one had made sense, establishing the overview of what sort of spell it was. From there, she went to the back, treating the book like a circular entity, rather than a linear one. It…progressed as expected, the notes clearer and easier to read. "They're coded as a magic circle…each section of pages is a ring of the circle, so it…" She trailed off, pushing it aside and moving on to the new one instead. Pulling out her sticky notes, she began skimming through the book, labeling each section as she found it. The process was…gradual and tedious, but it was necessary to comprehend what was written.
She'd been so focused on her task that she hadn't noticed the door opening again. Instead of even glancing up, she kept working, already sorting through marking her fifth journal to make it readable tomorrow. Once they were all readable, she'd compare and see what she could learn. If the one was the R-System, somewhere were notes that related to demons, she hoped.
"It appears as if you are working through those quite quickly." The voice made her jump, looking up to see Zeref standing in her room again. He smiled at her, staying near the door and watching her. "Did…did your guild master manage to assist you earlier?"
She stared at him, biting her lip. "Well, not exactly." She wasn't going to lie and tell him Makarov improved things, not now. She didn't know how well she'd react, if he was sent to comfort her again. Yet, Fairy Tail would never remember. At this point, it was as if it never happened. One day, she'd be able to hold onto that, even if it wasn't quite something she was ready to do now. "He made a comment that just got me thinking about something else. Master Makarov means well, really, but I just don't think he'd understand, is all."
Zeref frowned, watching her. "Did you…do something, to harm the one you care for?" He gestured towards her locket.
"Not really." Levy smiled, glancing at him. "At least, I don't think I have. To be honest, I can't exactly be confident in that as I'm not him." He nodded, staying silent and watching her with a frown. Behind him, he'd actually shut the door and seemed to just be staring at her. "Is…did you need something? I didn't think you planned on helping me with this, actually."
He paused, staring at the books surrounding her. "I…did not plan on assisting you either." She didn't know what he wanted then. She frowned at him, and he seemed to be doing the same. "I can leave if you wish…but I just thought that…perhaps I could come here, for a break, to clear my mind. There have been…troubling thoughts, today, and I think that perhaps I could calm myself here."
Watching him, Levy slowly nodded "Oh." She closed her book, smiling at him. "Well, you did at least try to help me earlier by sending in Makarov, so why don't you let me return the favor? If you want, I can listen and try to…help, if you want."
"You do not even realize what is on my mind." She shrugged, looking away. "What if it relates to contemplating which of your guild members I should target first? Would you still be so willing to offer your assistance?"
"Your goal is to steal from Fairy Tail, not kill us." She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. "Honestly, I couldn't see you having that issue as a result."
His frown deepened, and Levy wondered if she'd somehow made things worse. "Do…do you honestly wish to help me?" Levy nodded, and Zeref leaned forward. "Then…perhaps it would be best to…try and clarify some things, first." This might not be good. Levy nodded, sitting stiffly as she watched him. "How much of my curse are you aware of?"
"More than you might think." Zeref seemed to be waiting, so she sighed. "I know that you gained it after you developed living magic, and that it grants you uncontrollable death magic when you value life, and controllable death magic when you don't." She paused, wondering if he wanted more. "In Alvarez, you typically don't see people the same way, which is why you…aren't quite so careful, around others."
"Yet, despite being in Alvarez…something set my curse off today." Levy stared at him, her eyes widening. "I know exactly what it was…yet, I just can't…understand why it would happen. There is no way I could allow myself to…to even consider…" He broke off, inhaling deeply. Zeref ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. Yet, Levy knew that the only thing that had changed was her presence here. If it affected the curse, that meant he was starting to value her, in some form. "If…if you had a friend, that you knew would betray you or harm you one day…would you continue to further that relationship? Or…or would you push them away, to protect yourself?"
"How certain are you, that this friend will hurt you?"
Zeref was quiet, meeting her gaze. "There is no avoiding it. My…my own actions will guarantee such an event will happen."
Levy bit her lip, turning to stare at her lap. She…she was doing the same thing right now, wasn't she? She knew what Zeref would do, and despite that, she was fighting for him, no matter what it took. "I…in your situation, I think I'd consider if my own actions would be worth it, first." Zeref did not reply. "If I decided they were…well, I like to think that most friendships can endure struggle, if they come from two people who really are connected. If you think you can create a strong enough bond with them to endure the betrayal…then I say fight for them with all that you have."
"Even…even if it means risking their life?"
She knew this concern well, coming from him. He'd only had it briefly, around her, but that did not change the familiarity of it. "I'd be honest with them about your curse, of course. But…if they decide it's worth it? Then really, it is their choice to take the risk."
Zeref watched her, his frown lingering. "I see." He paused, taking a slow breath. "I…do you mind if I think in here, for a moment? It…you can continue your studies. I just…think I'd be less likely to be disturbed here."
She knew that only August could bother him in his room, and that he'd only do so to wake him up in the morning. Yet, she nodded, smiling faintly as she returned to marking the journals Zeref had brought to her. Occasionally, she'd spot his gaze flickering towards her as she worked, but as promised, he remained quiet and lost in thought. Gradually, she began to grow tired, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him to leave. When she glanced up, she saw his head had slumped to the side as he leaned against the wall. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful, just like he had looked on the park bench in Edolas. The sight made her smile faintly as she put the journals up for the night. Even with the curse, he was far enough away to be safe. So, she curled onto her side in her bed, falling asleep calmly with Zeref nearby…feeling like maybe she'd panicked a little too early, thinking she'd never be able to reach him.
Alright, my second update for the day is a little bit delayed, but I am trying to make some progress on a draft of a different story. It is going to take me a while for that one, I think, since it is becoming quite random in terms of the plot. Either way, I do hope you are enjoying this story as it gets closer to the end. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!