Hey guys! This is an updated version of part 1. If you see comments saying something about a different format, know that it has been updated since those comments. I would have updated this sooner, but I have been busy and I was also not in the right mood. You see, when I write, I have to be in the right mood to write the specific chapter I am writing. If not, the chapter(s) would be mediocre, which is why I take a while to post. I like to make sure everything is top of the line quality. I like to post knowing that I tried my best and wrote something I can be proud of. But of course, I make mistakes just like everyone else. Which is why, if you enjoyed, or did not enjoy, let me know. Write a review, PM me, etc. I always love to hear feedback. It helps me improve my writing. Before I go on a tangent and write three pages about me loving to hear feedback and trying to improve my writing, I should let you guys read part 1 of my Fairy Tail Fanfiction. I hope you like part 1 updated, enjoy!

The sun sets on a small village in the distance. A man with shaggy hair walks out of his house and walks on the dirt road. He turns on the dirt street and heads to a house on the end of the block. While walking, he passes kids playing in the dirt and smiles at them. The kids smile back and go back to their games. The shaggy-haired man approaches the house and knocks.

No one answered so he decides to open the door and enter the house.

"Zeref? You here?" The man yelled.

"Yea, I'm in the back Damen." Replied Zeref.

Damen followed Zeref's voice to the back of the house. He entered the back room and saw Zeref at a table holding two strange colored liquids together.

"What are you doing Zeref?" Asked Damen.

"I'm trying to make a cure," Zeref responded.

"A cure? To what?"

"Well… I'm not sure."

Damen looked at Zeref, confused, "Then how would you make a cure to something when you don't even know what your curing?"

Zeref didn't answer. He mixed the two liquids together. The color turned black and made a small explosion inside the bottle.

"Dammit!" Zeref yelled, hitting the table with his fist, knocking books onto the floor.

Damen went up to Zeref, putting his hand onto his shoulder. "Zeref. It's okay."

Zeref pushed away Damen's hand and said, "No, it's not," and headed into the kitchen.

Damen followed behind asking, "It's for Natsu, isn't it?"

Zeref didn't answer.

"He's not getting any better?"

Zeref turned around to Damen with an annoyed look on his face. "No Damen. He's not getting any better."

Zeref turned around and headed towards the sink to pour out the black liquid.

"Zeref. You'll figure this out. I know you will…"

"Whatever," Zeref muttered.

"Everything happens for a reason Zeref. The gods…

Zeref snapped, "Don't you dare talk to me about the gods. The gods know nothing!"

"Zeref, you should not…"

"I should not what Damen? Huh? We sacrifice half our crops, half of our animals, for what? For the gods to 'Watch over us?' Tell me Damen, have you ever seen the gods?"

"Say what you want about the gods, but they do exist. They do have power over us."

"The power to do what?" Zeref asked.

"The power to destroy our lives Zeref."

Zeref turned back to the sink, angrily cleaning out the reaming liquid out of the glass bottle. He turned to Damen and scoffed, "If the gods cure Natsu, I'll believe in them," and went back to the other room and to the table.

Damen followed Zeref back into the other room. He scanned the room around him. He saw broken shards of glass lying about, crumbled up pieces of paper on the floor, and Zeref was so pale that he looked like a ghost. This is killing him. Damen thought to himself. He turned to Zeref, "Zeref… I think you should take some time off."

Zeref looked up to Damen, "Time off?"

"I mean, you've been cooped up in here for weeks. You need to get out and re-evaluate the situation. Maybe you'll find out what Natsu has and how to cure it."

"No." Zeref replied.

"Zeref. You need to get out. Take a day for yourself."

"I can't Damen. Natsu is getting sicker by the day. At this rate, he'll be dead in a few months."

"I understand that Zeref, but this isn't helping. Being cooped up in here for weeks isn't making the situation any better. You need to get out and clear your head…"

Zeref looked down onto the floor. Contemplating if he should take a day off. "Who'll watch Natsu?"

"I will." Responded Damen.

"I, I still don't know."

Damen went up to Zeref and looked directly into his eyes, "Zeref. You know I won't let anything happen to Natsu. You and Natsu are all I've got."

Zeref looked over to Natsu's room and then back at Damen, "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"I wouldn't suggest it if I wasn't."

Zeref didn't want to take any time off, but he needed too. Zeref sighed reluctantly, saying, "Okay, I'll take a day off. I'm trusting you on this."

"Don't worry Zeref, nothing bad will happen."

"I hope so…"

Damen smiled, "Like, what's the worst that could happen? A dragon coming and destroying our entire village?"

"Hah, that'd be unlikely. Dragon attacks only happen at the big cities. Small villages like us are not significant enough for them. The only small villages that are destroyed by the dragons are the ones who stupidly settle themselves next to the large cities."

Damen smiled, "The day I see a dragon is the day that pigs fly."

Zeref looked at Damen with a smirk, "They already do…"

Damen scoffed, "Not with magic though. Like they grow wings out of the side and start flying."

"Again. There are pigs like that."

Damen picked up the book that fell off Zeref's desk, "Do you want me to hit you with this?"

Zeref laughed, "Please do. Maybe I can finally get some sleep."

Both Zeref and Damen laughed. It felt good to laugh. Both Zeref and Damen have been busy with their lives that they couldn't remember the last time they hung out, just the two of them.

"Man…" Zeref said with a loud voice and a smile on his face. "It feels just like the good old times!"

"Yea…" Damen looked away from Zeref, his eyes heading towards the floor, "Just like the good old times."

Zeref saw as Damen's expression changed, "Oh… I'm sorry Damen. I didn't mean to remind you of that."

"No, it's okay. You didn't mean to."

Zeref went over to Damen and put his hand on his shoulder, "If you ever want to talk about it, you know I'm here for you."

"Yea…"

Zeref looked at Damen and said, "You should talk about it."

Damen didn't answer. He hoped this clued Zeref to stop talking about it.

"You can't keep pushing it…"

"Just shut up Zeref!" Damen snapped. "Just stop bringing it up!"

Zeref stood there, not afraid, but determined. "You can't keep pushing it away when someone brings it up."

Damen turned his head to the wall, trying not to look at Zeref.

Zeref stood there, confident, saying, "I'm here for you. Always. You don't have to talk to me about it now, but I want you to know you can."

Damen turned his head back to Zeref and sighed, "I'm sorry Zeref. It's just… it's just that… I still see her every time I close my eyes. I see her beautiful pink hair ripped off by that man. Blood coming from her chest. And… and her eyes." Damen looked at Zeref, tears rolling down his face. "She looked at me Zeref. Her eyes were screaming 'Help me,' and I couldn't do a thing. Her last words were her choking on her blood. Then, what I did afterward… she would…" Damen couldn't finish his sentence. The memory of that day was too much for him to relieve anymore.

Zeref hugged Damen saying, "You can cry all you want Damen. I'm here."

Damen hugged him back, crying and repeating, "Thank you Zeref. Thank you."

The hug ended and Damen wiped his eyes. They both stared at the ground, thinking about how simple life used to be.

Zeref broke the silence, "I know what you're going through. When Natsu's and I parents died, it felt like the world ended around us. Well… around me. Natsu was too young to remember them. I barely remember them… We were both so young."

Damen looked up at Zeref, asking, "What do you remember?"

"Not much. I barely remember their faces. Am I a terrible person for that?"

Damen stared at Zeref. Not knowing what it was like to lose a parent since he never knew his. But knowing what it was like to lose someone you love. "No. You were too young to remember. That's not your fault."

Zeref sighed, knowing what Damen said had some truth to it. "Maybe. But still, I should remember. For Natsu's sake."

Zeref stared back at Natsu's room. Zeref felt all he did was let Natsu down. He couldn't tell him how their parents look liked, and he can't save him. He felt like a failure. But little did Zeref know, Zeref was Natsu's hero. Natsu looked up to him. Natsu wanted to be like him. No… exactly like him.

Damen asked a question that surprised Zeref, "Why don't you draw them?

"Draw them?"

"Draw them. So, when Natsu's feeling better, you can show him."

"But I don't remember them that well."

"Just draw what you remember. That's all you can do."

Zeref smiled, "Maybe your right. It's not a bad idea."

"Of course, it's not. I thought of it!"

They both laughed again, happy they could still find some source of happiness in a world full of sadness.

Damen looked out the window and saw it was getting late. He turned to Zeref, "Well, I think it's about time I head on back home Zeref."

"Yea… it was nice to talk to you."

"You too, Zeref. I'll come by in the morning. And don't worry about Natsu. You get out and relax. Okay?"

Zeref smiled, "Okay."

Damen waved at Zeref and headed home.

Zeref was now alone. He felt isolated again, but he needed to get back to work. He headed to his table full of potions. He stared at the complexity of it. He didn't know what Natsu had, and that made it even harder to cure. How can I cure something that I don't even know what it is? He grabbed two empty bottles. Right before he was about to fill it up with water, he looked over at Natsu's room. He couldn't let Natsu down any more than he already has. He put down the bottles and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. He started to draw his parents. He wanted to show Natsu when he cured him.

X

Zeref woke up to loud bangs coming from outside his home. Zeref quickly went outside to investigate the noises.

"What is going o…" Zeref stopped midsentence, not able to believe what he was seeing. He tried to move but he couldn't. All he could do was stand witness to the green dragon destroying his village.

Zeref fell to the ground, shaking, his mind on fire. Then he remembered, Natsu! And quickly got up and ran to Natsu's room.

The dragon is destroying everything. Burning people alive, destroying houses. He sees a man go inside a house. The same man he was sent here for. The dragon used his magic and summoned a barrage of jade-colored fire. The barrage hit the home of the man who ran inside. The house exploded into flames, leaving no survivors…

Zeref runs inside yelling, "Natsu! Get up! We need too…"

Everything turns black for Zeref. He couldn't feel anymore. He didn't know where he was. He laid there for who knows how long. Then… he woke.

Zeref woke up to debris scattered all over him. He climbed out of the debris and looked at the destroyed village before him. Everyone he knew was dead. But one question lingered, "How am I alive?"

As soon as he said that, a dark mist appeared in front of him. In that mist, an outline of a figure appeared. The figure comes out of the mist with a smile on their face, "Do you like the gift I bestowed upon you?"

Zeref steps back, scared, he stutters, "Wha… Your…"

"I'm glad you know who I am."

Zeref looks at the mysterious figure, confused and scared, not able to say a word.

"Hmmm? Why so quiet? The other day you were saying so much about me to the townsfolk. You told them that I didn't exist. That I'm a fraud. What happened to all of that?"

Zeref stuttered, he couldn't believe that a god actually existed and was right in front of him. "What do you want?"

The mysterious figure smiles, "Throughout my life, I have seen many things. The fall and rise of civilizations. Love, misery, sadness, sickness, life, and death. I have been prayed and worshipped too. Not once have I ever been ridiculed. You know who I am, and yet you mock me." The mysterious figure's tone changed from sarcastic to furious. "Call me a fraud. Say I don't exist. Now you see me…. Tell me, do I exist now?

Zeref stared at the mysterious figure, knowing what they had done. "You're… you're the one who made Natsu sick. Weren't you?"

The mysterious figure smiled again, this time even more menacingly. "Correct. You tried to make your people conspire against me. They paid the price of your insolence and so will you… I gift you the gift of immortality."

Zeref cautiously looked at the mysterious figure, "This… this isn't a gift."

"Oh, this is a gift, young Zeref. This is your gift. You will now be able to live forever."

Zeref realized what this meant. Natsu was dead. Everyone he knew was dead. He didn't want to live in a world without them. Zeref turned to the mysterious figure, begging, "Just let me die… please…"

"Oh no. You can't die. Nothing in this universe can kill you."

Zeref fell to the floor. All he wanted was to die and join his family.

"I give you not only the gift of immortality but also the gift of contradiction."

Zeref looked up, defeated, "Contradiction?"

"You will soon find out." The mysterious figure disappeared in front of Zeref's eyes, leaving him alone once more.

Zeref looked around him, trying to find the where the mysterious figure went. He saw a patch of grass beside him, and in it, a piece of paper. He walked over to the paper and grabbed it. It was the drawing of his parents. The one he drew last night. The faces of his parents were burned out. Tears began to roll down his face as he crumbled the drawing of his parents and dropped it on the ground. Looking at where it landed, his heart stopped. He witnessed as the grass around him was dying, piece by piece, decaying into nothing. He now knew what the figure meant by Contradiction.