Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT IV: Aftermath – Psychological Wounds
400 years ago ~ Approximately X360
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Chapter 21: Brothers
"Natsu!"
He heard someone suddenly calling his name, but the sound was somewhat muffled, almost as if he had cotton in his ears. Speaking of his bodily functions, it was rather hard to breathe and for some reason the smell of milk was very dominant.
Suddenly Natsu felt his head being pulled backwards where he sat blinking, his vision blurry for some reason.
What the heck was going on?
"Huh?" Natsu mouthed feeling thoroughly confused, because it didn't feel like it was him that spoke and yet again it did.
"You almost drowned in your cereal again!" the voice spoke again in anxiety "Please be more careful"
"S-sorry..." he stuttered and felt a piece of cereal fall out of his nose, before it splashed into the bowl underneath him. For some reason Natsu suddenly felt really sad and a second later fat tears was rolling down his cheeks in a steady stream.
The other person groaned loudly "It's okay, don't cry"
"Waaaah!"
Why the heck was he crying so freakishly much all of a sudden and why couldn't he control his body? It was really weird.
"Natsu please don't cry" a black haired boy came into his blurry vision "I'm sorry I yelled at you"
"Ahh... ahh..." he sniffled profoundly feeling the combination of snot and milk gliding down his throat.
"Just be more careful, okay?" the other boy started rubbing his back.
"Uh-huh..." Natsu rubbed his eyes before turning to glare at the other kid.
Wait a second wasn't that Zeref? Why was he a kid? Now that he thought about it, why did it feel like his own body had become really small too?
It was all so gosh darn confusing. Unless of course this was what the demon meant, when he said Natsu had to relive his memories. Which meant... he was a kid too? Well that would explain why he felt so emotional and small.
"Mooh, you've got milk all over your face" Zeref sounded mildly impatient before he fetched a cloth and started rubbing it all over Natsu's face.
"Nooo..." he started fidgeting, feeling really annoyed about his brother "... ngh!"
"Sit still, you can't have milk all over your face when we go outside"
"Mmmf..." the pink haired kid pouted in defiance but sat still, as the other mage washed his face.
It didn't take long before Zeref was satisfied, making Natsu exhale in relief because he utterly hated it when his brother cleaned him.
"You ready to go?" Zeref asked with a smile "You been on the toilet and done your business?"
"Uh-huh..." he nodded before turning his head to stare at the bowl of cereal, feeling sad again.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't wanna..." Natsu whispered as a mental image of himself being dragged around the city begging various people for scraps or offering their help in exchange for food entered his mind.
"I know you don't" the other mage said before ruffling Natsu's hair "But we have to or else we won't get anything to eat"
"... hate it..."
"Yeah me too"
"When..." he turned to look at Zeref "... mum and dad...?"
"Please stop asking about them" the black haired kid sighed heavily "I don't know when they'll be back"
"Ohh..." Natsu's lips started to tremble as he swung his legs back and forth on his chair "... sorry"
Wait no ask more about our parents! I want to know!
"It's okay" Zeref nodded "now if you're ready go fetch your jacket, it's raining outside"
"... kay..." Natsu muttered in defeat as he ran out to fetch said item and tried putting it on, but for some reason he was struggling to do that with his tiny arms.
Jeez, how young was he in this memory? Natsu felt annoyed, that his body couldn't seem to figure out how to do something as simple as put a jacket on.
"Need help?" Zeref asked with a wide smile.
"Naah-ahh... can... do it..." he pouted and tried once more to get it on but failed miserably.
A sigh escaped the dark haired kid, as he gently guided Natsu's arms in the right direction until the jacket was wrapped around his body. Once that was done the other mage started buttoning Natsu's jacket, before raising a hoodie that would shield his pink hair from the rain once they got outside.
"Thanks..." Natsu muttered in a low voice.
"You're welcome" Zeref said before fetching his own jacket and putting it on.
"Mmm..." the Dragon Slayer turned his head only to find himself staring at a rather old looking mirror on the wall.
Hold on a minute, Natsu thought to himself as he glared at his own image, how young am I again?!
His body was incredible small and it looked like he wasn't more than 3 maybe 4 years old.
"Let's go" Zeref said and stretched out his hand, encouraging Natsu to take it which he did without hesitation. Or well on the inside the Dragon Slayer flinched, feeling rather uncomfortable that he was holding hands with Zeref of all people.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
The two brothers walked the streets all day, begging different people for whatever they had and fortunately a lot of people had sympathy with them, especially because they knew that the two of them were all alone. Their parents had vanished all of a sudden after being on a mission and a lot of them suspected them to be dead. Besides it was a small community so they had to take care of the two children, even if they couldn't offer a lot. But what they had they gladly gave, especially if the kids did some minor chores in return. It wasn't much but it was sufficient for the kids to survive.
On this day the two boys found themselves on top of a roof, trying their best to repair the holes in it to prevent the rain from pouring inside the house. They had been doing it for hours and honestly Natsu was getting really tired and hungry. His misery increased even more because the rain had soaked his clothes making him freeze all the way into the marrow of his bones. Or at least that's how it felt like.
Seriously who in their right mind would put a three year old kid to do this kind of work, Natsu thought to himself feeling thoroughly annoyed. Well at least they had secured him with a rope so he didn't fall to his certain death if he stumbled.
"I wanna go home..." he said in a gloomy voice thereby earning his brother's attention.
"Only one more okay?"
"Kay..." his nose started tickling and a second later a sneeze escaped his mouth.
"Bless you"
"Thanks..." Natsu snorted and used his sleeve to wipe his nose, leaving a trail of snot on his jacket.
Fortunately it didn't take long before they finished their chore and received their reward, before they could finally go home. When they got there Natsu lazily removed his wet jacket and let it drop on the floor.
His body was exhausted and cold, making him stand paralysed in his position just staring into thin air. As he stood there another sneeze escaped his body, sending snot and saliva flying in all directions.
"Don't just stand there, go get on some clean clothes before you catch a cold" Zeref said before he went to the kitchen with the food they had earned.
"Uh-huh..." Natsu said before strolling into what he assumed was his own bedroom, where he went straight to a cabinet where he found a nice clean set of clothes he rather slowly got into, because his hands was shaking so freakishly much from feeling cold.
Which was mildly annoying, the Dragon Slayer thought impatiently.
Natsu heard someone knocking on the door all of a sudden, but since he still wasn't fully clothed he just listened as his brother opened the door. However it didn't take long before the pink haired kid was finished with his task, making him sneak quietly over to the entrance. In the doorway stood a huge military looking man, with a huge moustache. For some reason the man frightened Natsu, so he quickly hid himself by crouching down next to a huge bookcase, his head peeking out so he could follow the two of them with his eyes.
"You have a message to deliver?" Zeref asked the man in a confused tone.
"Indeed" the man coughed, making the black haired kid flinch.
"Ohh uhm, if you want to come in then...?"
"No need" the military looking man coughed again, before glaring at Zeref with a hint of sympathy shining in his eyes "I regret to tell you this, but your mom and dad..." the man bit his bottom lip before continuing "... they're dead"
"What?" Zeref asked his eyes widening in horror "No..."
"Sorry kid..." the unknown man shook his head "... they got to close to the war that's been raging in the east. Your parents... was killed because they were mistaken as enemies"
"... no..." Natsu whispered to himself as his body started to shake uncontrollably from sorrow and shock.
Ohh shit, that's harsh...
"Tsch!" Zeref spat sounding both angry but also sad "Stupid, irresponsible parents..."
"They..." Natsu said feeling his own temper rising from the injustice of it all "They're not stupid!"
He roared before stomping over to his brother, tears glistening in the corner of his eyes.
"You... you heard...?" Zeref started before he was rudely interrupted by a tiny clenched fist that hit his stomach, resulting in the air getting knocked out of the older brother.
"They're not!" Natsu yelled again and watched as Zeref crouched forwards from the hit he had taken.
"No!" the pink haired kid stomped with his foot as tears started streaming down his face.
His feelings was too overwhelming, so not sure what else to do he ran to the door and leaped outside, ignoring that Zeref was calling for him.
Once Natsu started running he couldn't stop. No, he ran down the streets ignoring how his dry clothes immediately got soaking wet again, plastering uncomfortably to his body.
It's cold, he thought to himself and felt a shiver run down his spine. Once again snot was leaving his nose, but this time he didn't remove it, but let it flow just like his tears was running down his face.
Kid what the heck are you doing? Natsu thought in his mind with a hint of sadness I know you're heartbroken but please, this is... just stupid.
Of course his past self couldn't hear him, so he kept running until something on the ground caught his foot, making him stumble before falling and landing flat on his face.
"Ouch..." he said and gritted his teeth hard against each other.
His body was so exhausted and cold, that it felt too hard to get back up from where he had fallen.
"Mom... dad..." his voice cracked painfully as he gave up and laid alone on the street bawling and crying like there was no tomorrow.
Unfortunately for Natsu nobody came to pick him up for awhile. It was already late so people were home doing their own business, ignorant to the crying kid.
After a while the tiny kid felt himself drift away into a dreamless sleep. Natsu didn't know how long he laid like that, before he heard someone calling his name.
"Nnn..." Natsu groaned before he felt himself being lifted from the ground.
"Let's go home..." he heard Zeref say, from somewhere above him.
Not answering Natsu felt himself drift away again and before long he was snoring peacefully in his brother's arms.
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
When Natsu woke he found himself in a huge bed covered with lots of blankets.
"Mmm..." he blinked before turning to look around the room. It didn't take long before he spotted Zeref who was wrapped in a blanket and leaning against the bed, evidently sleeping.
His body felt weak and his throat felt really sore for some reason, making him cough to try and remove the thing that seemed to be irritating it, but it quickly turned into a fit, making his throat rattle with slime.
"You..." his brother woke immediately and started stroking Natsu's back. Once the coughing finally stopped the pink haired kid laid heavily breathing through his mouth, with pearls of sweat forming on his forehead, his body shaking uncontrollably.
It felt freakishly weird, the Dragon Slayer thought in his mind, when he suddenly felt a cold hand being placed on his forehead.
"You're having a fever..." Zeref said his voice filled with concern "... hang on I'll go fetch the doctor, so just relax okay?"
"Kay..." he muttered and dragged the blanket closer to himself and soon he found himself falling asleep again.
It didn't take long before his brother came back, with an old man following close behind him. The man was obviously the doctor, who immediately started to examine Natsu. After doing that the doctor reached the conclusion that the pink haired kid was suffering from a common cold, which they couldn't do anything about, other than wait for it to go away by itself.
As the doctor walked out of the door, everything seemed to blur before things suddenly seemed to go quicker, almost as if someone had put all the events that was about to happen on fast forward. It was really weird but the Dragon Slayer didn't question it, because all he really did in the memory was sleep and from the looks of it, things wasn't getting better.
On the contrary...
When time was flowing at a normal rate again Natsu found himself coughing into his hands, his lungs rattling even more with slime. When it eventually stopped he sat wheezing trying his best to get a sufficient amount of air to enter his body.
"I..." he started, his mouth feeling really dry all of a sudden.
"You want something?" Zeref asked from beside him, his hand stroking the pink haired kid's back.
"Wa... ter..."
"Sure thing" a glass of water was suddenly in front of him, but his arms felt too weak to lift it all by himself. Evidently his brother knew this as he raised the glass and pressed it against Natsu's lips, making the water pour into his mouth. When he was content Natsu nodded his head making Zeref remove the glass.
"Are you hungry?" the dark haired kid asked.
"No... I need to pee..."
"Want help with that?"
"No..." he shook his head and slowly got out of bed, before strolling over to the bathroom.
Holy shit what happened to his body? He felt so weak, Natsu thought feeling concerned about the situation.
It didn't take long for the pink haired kid to finish his business, before he went over to the sink to wash his hands. As he did he looked up and into the mirror
Shit, the Dragon Slayer thought feeling horror struck when he took in his facial features.
His skin was incredibly pale and it was evident he had lost a lot of weight, because his cheekbones was clearly standing out on his tiny face. Other than that he had huge and dark bags underneath his eyes making him look like a living skeleton.
It was so unnatural seeing his childish version looking like that it made the Dragon Slayer feel really uncomfortable.
Fortunately or unfortunately his body once more was sent into a fit of coughs. The outburst was so strong, his knees buckled underneath him making him sit on the floor, coughing into his hands.
Natsu heard Zeref shouting before his older brother was behind him and started to stroking his back again, until the fit eventually stopped. Once it did Natsu noticed there was something sticky on his hands, which he turned to look at and to his surprise it wasn't slime. No the red colour quickly made him realise what it was, before his hands started shaking uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry..." Natsu shook his head before he started crying, feeling scared but also really sad.
"No..." Zeref quickly used some cloth to clean his brother's hands before he scooped the tiny kid into his arms, before placing him on the bed and storming out of the house. It didn't take long before the older brother returned with the doctor who did his job of investigating the kid. Once that was done the old man let out a heavy sigh before getting into a standing position.
"He... he's gonna be fine right?" Zeref asked his voice filled with concern.
"Come with me..." the doctor said and motioned for the dark haired kid to follow him into another room.
Natsu couldn't hear what they said but evidently it wasn't good, because his brother was shouting. Normally he could hear what it was, but it was all so muffled as he started drifting off reaching a drowsy state. As he laid there Natsu suddenly heard a door being slammed before Zeref came storming into the room again.
"I..." Zeref stopped at the door where he stood staring, his eyes looking haunted and scared.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, but didn't receive an answer. Instead his brother walked over to him and a second later engulfed the pink haired kid in tight hug.
"Big bro?" Natsu tried again in a fragile voice, when he noticed that Zeref was shivering "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine..." he sniffled his voice trembling with sorrow.
"You sure? Can I help?"
A chuckle escaped the other mage as he placed his forehead against Natsu's "No..."
"Kay?" blinking he was surprised to see tears rolling down his brother's face "You're sad, why?"
"I..." he took a deep breath "I need you be strong from now on okay? Can you do that for me?"
"Uh-huh"
"Good..."
No... please god no, the Dragon Slayer thought as time seemed to fasten again, until he once more found himself laying on the bed struggling to breathe.
His body felt so tired and exhausted as he laid there, while Zeref was removing some stray hairs that was sticking to his sweaty face. Natsu could feel the gesture against his skin, but he couldn't move. No, his body was so close to the edge that he could feel how his heart was starting to beat unnaturally slow in his chest, while his breathing was becoming frighteningly shallow.
Zeref was saying something to him, but he couldn't make out the words. No it was like everything around him was muffled. Even his own mind seemed to be a big blurry pool making it hard to think straight.
No... please I don't want to experience this! The Dragon Slayer shouted in his mind as he felt his heartbeat slowing down even further.
Please anything but this! Horror struck, he felt how his heart gradually became weaker, until he could barely feel it.
…...
He wanted to fight it! To stop it from happening, but he couldn't do anything.
When it seemed like his heart was mere seconds away from stopping, he felt something suddenly hatching into his back before it started pulling him backwards and away from the scene.
Fuck! Was the last Natsu thought as he left his memory only to find himself going into another place in his mind.
A/N: Talk about being cruel, no? I just killed a 3-4 year old kid in this chapter (I'm so sorry...?).
Okay so because this was a rather emotional chapter I've decided to add a bonus chapter bellow, that has nothing to do with the story. It's based on a conversation I had with J.S but it took forever before I got around to do it. But it's here now and that's all that counts ^^
Omake: In the meantime...
Zeref was chuckling to himself because he had successfully infiltrated the guild of Fairy Tail and was now sneaking down to the basement, unnoticed by the members who was launching in the hall.
When he reached the bottom, he quickly turned his head to make sure no one was around before tiptoeing over to the big glistening crystal.
"Mavis..." Zeref whispered before he placed both hands on the cold surface containing her body "... it has been too long"
Sighing the dark mage placed his forehead against the crystal, where he stood breathing through his mouth, making it fog where his breath hit the blonde's prison.
"Do not worry" he smiled before reaching into his clothes where he fetched a tiny doll "I haven't been completely alone, look I have a plushie that looks just like you"
Zeref chuckled as he glared at the doll "And do not worry I have more than one of these, at my mansion where I have a whole storage of them in various sizes. Some are for hugging others are small like this one so I can bring them with me. You know that's the reason I always wear these shaggy and big clothes, so I can keep a few plushies inside my cloak"
The dark mage smiled as he brought forth a blanket and cuddled up against the cold crystal.
"Ahhh" he sighed in pleasure feeling incredibly satisfied, as he nuzzled his cheek affectionately against the crystal "Goodnight my sweet girl"
Zeref blushed as he turned around and gently kissed the crystal.
"You and me... even if you're like that we'll be together forever"
And before the dark mage knew it, he was fast asleep hugging the orange prison, with a bubble of snot dangling out of his nose.
Zeref would occasionally sneak down to visit her, but sadly his nightly adventures to the basement was rudely stopped, because all of a sudden only members of the guild was allowed to go there.
Zeref was mad and furious! But what could he do about it?
Ohh yeah he had an army!
Bring it oooooon Fairy Tail! Zeref thought and slipped a hand through his hair, before waving his locks back and forth making it look like he was in a shampoo commercial, as his black hair glistened perfectly in the air.
"I'm getting my baby back!" the dark mage grumbled as he put a toothpick into his mouth and brought forth a pair of sunglasses "And there ain't no Fairy Tail bitches who's gonna stop me"
(insert awesome guitar solo)
The End
