A/N Sorry I was late updating this! Our internet was down the entire day, so I wasn't able to do anything.

Hiding the darkest mage of all times isn't easy, so they're going to have to figure something out. And, of course, not everyone is going to be happy about it. This is what this chapter is going to be about. Enjoy!

A day had passed since Zeref entered Fairy Tail. He stayed at Lucy's house, since no one else was willing to deal with him. Lucy understood where they were coming from, but unlike them, she witnessed his courageous act. Her team did as well, but they weren't as forgiving as her. Happy tried, since he never was one to bring down the mood.

"We need to get you some new clothes," Lucy suggested.

"What?"

"You'll stand out too much, looking like this. Not many people have your choice of style."

He seemed to consider her offer, and didn't put up a fight, so she was relieved. They went to the nearest clothing store, and Happy floated behind them.

"Lucy, what about this?" Happy asked.

Lucy looked at the hat Happy picked out. It was hot pink and sparkly.

"I don't think that's his style," she remarked.

To her surprise, she spotted Zeref staring at light colored clothes. She thought he would be the type to pick out the darkest colors, like black.

"See anything you like?" she questioned.

Zeref was looking at some white sweatshirts.

He showed her the sweatshirts.

They ended up buying a lot of white clothing. He had some black as well, and a bit of gold, but he didn't get anything that would make him stand out.

…

They arrived back at Lucy's house, and the first thing Zeref did was go into her bathroom, and change. He put on the white sweatshirt, and still wore his golden locket, but the sweatshirt made it, so it wasn't seeable.

Zeref exited the room, only to be blinded by a flash of light.

Happy grinned, as he looked at the camera.

"You look great!" Lucy complimented.

"Are you going to call yourself the White Wizard now?" Happy questioned.

Zeref thought it over. It wasn't a bad idea, though, he didn't have any need for that nickname yet. He would remember it, just in case a time came where he did.

"Who knows?"

"Let's go find the others! I'm sure they'd like to see your new look!"

He was practically dragged out the door, and Happy flew ahead of them. They eventually ended up in a woods, and approached a house that had a sign that said 'Natsu and Happy's House'.

'So, this is where Natsu lives,' he thought. 'How am I going to tell him everything?'

Lucy knocked on the door. There was no reply.

"Natsu?" Happy called.

There were footsteps, and eventually, Natsu pushed the door open.

"What is it? It's only ten in the morning. I haven't even eaten yet."

Zeref thought Natsu was a morning person, but Natsu looked like he didn't sleep well during the night, so no wonder he wasn't in a great mood.

'It's probably, because of me,' he grimly thought.

"We gave Zeref a new look! What do you think?" Lucy asked, perkily.

Natsu rubbed his eyes, before looking at Zeref.

"Not bad. Listen, tell Erza that I'm going to be a bit late coming to the guild today."

"Okay! See you later, Natsu!"

The three of them began to head towards Magnolia, after Natsu's door slammed shut.

…

Natsu watched the three leave through his window. Zeref turned his head in Natsu's direction, but Natsu slumped down, before he could be spotted.

"That guy," he muttered.

For some reason, Natsu felt like he had known Zeref long before their first encounter. Sure, he was cautious around the wizard, but that was only, because of what happened the first time Natsu saw him on Tenrou Island. He didn't feel bad around the wizard, just a bit curious; he wanted to get to know him more, since he didn't feel like he could trust him yet.

Even though that was true, Natsu didn't think he was ready to be alone with the guy, yet. However, he needed to get comfortable around him soon, because if he wanted to hang around Lucy and Happy, he needed to get used to being around Zeref, since Zeref was always around Lucy.

The dark mage didn't seem to have any ill intentions, but Natsu still wasn't sure. He would give the guy a chance, but if he hurt any of his friends, Natsu wouldn't hesitate to let his flames eat the mage up.

"I better get ready, or else Erza is going to kill me," he stated, as glanced at a clock that was up on his wall.

…

Lucy entered the guild, with the dark mage and Happy behind her. The only thing was, the dark mage didn't look so dark anymore. He was wearing all white!

Gray blinked, to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Did Lucy torment you with clothing shopping?" he found himself asking.

"I went willingly," Zeref responded.

"Good work, Lucy," Erza said. "Where is Natsu?"

"He said he would be running a bit late. He should be here soon."

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed.

"I see. Well, we still need to give this guy a different name."

"True. Calling him 'Zeref' would bring too much attention," Lucy agreed. "Any ideas?"

...

Zeref didn't know. He wasn't around modern day people enough to learn what kind of names they gave their children.

"Zack?" Erza asked.

"How about Z?" Lucy questioned.

"That's a good idea, it'll be easier for Natsu to remember," Gray agreed.

Apparently, Natsu didn't have a reputation as being a smart person. He and Natsu were opposites, after all.

"That will work," Zeref said.

"Good. We should let everyone else know," Erza stated.

They told the master, who made an announcement to the entire guild.

"He goes by 'Z' now, got that?"

They all nodded.

"And, I don't want to hear you talking about him outside of the guild, unless you're using his nickname. We don't know who could overhear you. Understand?"

More nodded.

"Now, if anyone has any concerns, please speak up now. I don't want any pointless battles."

Evergreen was the first to speak up.

"Master, I don't mean to go against your judgement, but I don't agree with this. Won't the Magic Council be all over us, once word gets out about a new guild member? If they even hear a description that sounds slightly like Zeref, they will come after us," she said, making some other members mutter to each other in agreement.

"That's true," Levy stated. "How will we hide him if the Council shows up?"

"The Council doesn't know this town like we do. Plus, there are many places in the guild where we can hide him, and they don't know about Natsu's house. He can go there, if necessary. Plus, if they show up when he's away, we can use Warren't telepathy to alert him."

"That should work," Warren said. "As long as they don't have anyone that can hack my ability, that is. We would have to make a short message just to be safe, so no long conversations."

"And, if they do find him?" Freed asked.

"Then, we rescue him, just like we would do for any of our other nakama," Erza answered.

"What about if he goes rogue and attacks anyone?" Gajeel inquired. "I mean, I'm sure I can take him out, but what if he gets away from me?"

Gray's eyes darkened.

"Then, we'll take him out, for good."

Zeref was glad that they took his being their so seriously. He didn't have full control over his magic, and could easily bring harm to them. But, he was surprised that any of them cared for him. No, it wasn't that they cared for him, it was that they trusted their master's decision, and were going to let him stay. Their guild was built of trust, and he was going to try to get them to trust him, because at the moment, they were the closest thing he had as allies, and the only ones that could help him rebuild his friendship with Natsu.

"I'm glad that you all understand," the master said. "Now, let's all give Z a warm welcome, and celebrate!"

Everything became chaos, after that. Beer was out, and furniture was being destroyed, because of pointless fights. A table almost flew into his head, but he was lucky enough to be flexible enough to dodge. He was going to try to avoid those fights, as long as he couldn't control his magic. To be honest, he was surprised that he hadn't lost control yet. Perhaps being around, so much light effected him?

After awhile, Natsu eventually showed up, as if he wasn't a mess before. Erza scolded him for being late, but it wasn't as bad as Natsu originally feared.

During the celebration, Zeref caught some of the guild members giving him dirty looks. He felt uncomfortable, so he scooted away, and ended up by the bar where Mira was.

"Want anything?" Mira asked.

"Just water," he responded.

He didn't really have any money at the moment, so he didn't want to fall in debt. At some point, he was going to have to go on some missions.

Zeref tried to sit there peacefully, only for something to slam into his back. Then, something else did, and that repeated. He felt anger seethe into his system and he whipped his head around, eyes red. He caught the next piece of furniture (a table) with one hand. The ones that thought it would be funny to mess with him went silent. He tossed it in their direction, but it smashed into the wall behind them. He wasn't actually aiming for them, but if he was, the result would've been much worse.

Next, Zeref took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Eventually, his eyes returned to normal. He expected Mira to be scared, but in reality, she had the same expression as always. In fact, she seemed to be happy.

"Aw, your first brawl!" she exclaimed, while Cana laughed.

Cana was too drunk to feel fear.

"Wow, for such a tiny man, he can sure pack a punch!" Gajeel remarked.

Zeref wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult, or both, but just hearing Gajeel's voice ticked him off.

"Gajeel..." Levy said.

She was the smart one for a reason. She knew how to pick her battles, and that Zeref wasn't one she should even think about fighting. He was more experienced than any of them ever would be.

"Levy, you're not the only short one, anymore!"

Gajeel was really getting on his nerves. Even though he knew that he shouldn't, he knew that he had to teach the dragonslayer a lesson.

"Hey shorty, wanna fight?" Gajeel asked.

That was it.

Zeref left his chair and faced the dragonslayer. He was sure that the dragonslayer wasn't as strong as he claimed to be.

No matter how much it burned at his core, Zeref would not use his magic. It was to dangerous, and besides, his goal wasn't to kill the dragonslayer, it was to teach him a lesson.

Gajeel moved first.

He was quick, to Zeref's surprise, but not quick enough. Zeref easily slid aside, and Gajeel's iron fist hit the floor. Then, Zeref ended up in the air behind him, and his feet slammed into the dragonslayer's back, knocking him over. Next, Zeref hopped of, but Gajeel stumbled back up to his feet, as if nothing happened.

"It's going to take more than that to defeat me!"

A long sword rushed towards Zeref, but he ducked. It came back towards him, he landed on top of it. Then, he ran towards Gajeel, and the sword vanished, but Zeref was already in the air. He landed behind Gajeel, and attempted to punch Gajeel in the head, only for Gajeel to grab his arm, and throw him into a table.

Some guild members cheered, others whistled, while some stayed silent.

Zeref attempted to sit up, but pain entered his back, forcing him back down. It had been awhile since he had felt actual pain. He was surprised that the dragonslayer was actually able to hit him. Even though Zeref felt real pain at that moment, in a real fight, Gajeel would've died the second he laid his eyes on him.

Gajeel made somewhat of an evil laugh as he closed in on Zeref. Zeref's eyes landed on him, as he attempted to sit up. It was to late. He wasn't able to stand in time. Gajeel was to close to him. Why wasn't his healing working properly? Normally, he would've been up on his feet already.

"Z, I thought you would be a better fight. I hope that when you wake up, you will make yourself stronger."

Gajeel was about to bring his fist onto Zeref's head. However, Zeref stared up at him with beet red eyes. Gajeel froze, his body shaked.

…

'I can't move,' Gajeel realized. 'What did he do?'

He saw Zeref get back up on his feet.

"Gajeel, if I wanted too, I could've defeated you the second we made eye-contact. Do not forget that."

Gajeel couldn't tell if Zeref meant when they looked at each other's eyes, before the fight or a second ago, but either way, he knew that Zeref told him the truth, whether he liked it or not. And, there wasn't a single thing he liked about it.

After Zeref was far enough away, he was able to move again.

"Are you okay?" Levy frantically asked, as he looked down at his hands.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, honestly.

He was just a bit shocked, that was all.

…

Natsu eyed the mage who went back to Mira. Mira was the same as always; happy and supportive.

The fight with Zeref and Gajeel made Natsu's blood chill. He finally found an opponent that was worth fighting. He knew that he had to train hard if he hoped to beat the mage, but it would be worth it. That would mean that he would be the strongest mage in the world!

'No, not the strongest. The second strongest. Acnologia is still out there,' his mind, reminded him. 'And, there is the master.'

"Natsu, are you okay?" Happy asked.

"Happy, we have a lot of training to do."

The exceed smiled.

"Aye!"

A/N

How well do you think I did Zeref and Gajeel's fight? And, what do you think of Zeref's nickname? If you can think of something better than Z or Zack, let me know! There aren't many good z names out there. Do you think Zebra would be a good codename? Zeref was previously a dark mage, and he's striving to be a light one, so it would make sense. Let me know! I might use it at some point.

He is going to go on some missions soon. Maybe in the next chapter. I will also probably get the Council involved eventually, and there's still Acnologia, Mavis, and the stuff with Natsu. I have a lot of material to work with.

Oh, and I'll get Lucy's mom and her ancestor's involved somehow, since Lucy is a big focus of this story.

I also need to do more about how Gray and Erza feel about Zeref, along with some of the other guild members that haven't been shown much yet.

Did I forget anything important? Anyway, see you next time!