Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima


ACT V: Ragnarok – The Fateful Encounter

Approximately X793

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Chapter 31: Family Ties

In families you share stuff. It was the same with the guild Fairy Tail, they shared good and bad times as a strong unity, which was why they could overcome hard obstacles because together they could fight anything. That was also why they could have the best of times, since they boosted each other's moral. So basically Fairy Tail was a family that was all about sharing.

But that didn't automatically imply that he was okay with sharing everything with his super annoying brother even if they were a family of some sort too! Hell fucking no!

Natsu's body wanted to react but since he was paralysed in the air all he could do was watch as Zeref approached Lucy, before he smashed his lips against hers like it was nothing! Like it was his way of greeting her of something. Well hopefully it wasn't a habit his brother suddenly had gotten, because the thought of kissing Zeref did nothing to improve his mood. Quite on the contrary as he felt his anger rising to new levels.

Ohh and after that his brother had taken care of Acnologia with ease, before he started hugging the celestial mage like they were best buddies all of a sudden. That was a double up on no-noes, because he wanted to get the dragon for what he did to Igneel.

Growling in his mind Natsu felt an overwhelming urge to at least smash Zeref's face into a puddle of mush, hoping that it would teach him that there were some boundaries that should never be crossed.

The Dragon Slayer could feel his muscles prickling for a second, before his body suddenly started to fall at a fast pace before he slammed against the ground.

"Ungh!" he exclaimed in pain as the air was knocked out of his lungs, his ribs rippling with agonising pain from the attack he took earlier on. It didn't hinter him though from quickly bouncing up on his feet, before he sprinted in Zeref's direction while panting heavily.

"Natsu..." Lucy called his name, but he ignored it as he ran past her and in a swift movement smashed a clenched fist against his brother's cheek, making him fall down and land on his butt.

"How DARE you?!" the fire mage spat in fury as he snatched Zeref's clothes and brought him into a standing position so they were face to face with each other "You piece of shit!"

The dark mage blinked, looking oblivious to why there was this sudden hostility against him.

The other Dragon Slayers who had gotten back on their feet as well stood close by, ready to act if they needed to, but none of them knew what to do about Natsu who was throwing a tantrum against the dark mage. Besides this was probably a once in a lifetime moment to observe, so why not watch it and see the scene, that was like it was taken out of a soap opera.

"Don't look at me like that!" Natsu gritted his teeth in anger while staring daggers at his victim.

"Why not?" Zeref smirked teasingly, as he finally understood the situation "Since I fail to see why you're angry with me"

"Gosh, are you an idiot?!"

"I might be since stupidity is a family trait" the dark mage chuckled wickedly, earning a more ferocious growl to escape from the pink haired kid.

"Family trait my ass!" Natsu's eyes flashed red for a second as he brought Zeref's face closer to his own.

"Natsu... please stop" Lucy said in a gentle voice before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Heck naw!" Growling he turned to look at her blood covered figure "This idiot crossed the line and deserves getting punished for... well not only for killing Acnologia but also for violating you!"

"I understand you wanted revenge but he's been dealt with isn't that what counts?" the celestial mage smiled reassuringly "And about the other thing I'm not mad about it"

"WHAT?!"

"I know I probably should be, but I'm not" Lucy rubbed her arms like she was cold all of a sudden.

Stunned Natsu stood perfectly still as he stared intensely at her, hoping it would reveal something. Perhaps it was because he hoped to catch her in a lie, but she looked so calm and collected that he was certain it was her honest opinion.

Well auch, that smashed his insides into splinters...

"I see..." he said in a low voice "... okay"

Releasing Zeref he took a step backwards, his hair shadowing his eyes.

So kissing people wasn't something she regarded as something special, huh?

"Tsch!" He spat in anger as he spun around on his heels wanting nothing more than using his remaining strength to smash some of the enemies until they were piles of blood underneath his fists.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked because she knew all too well when Natsu was in a bad mood.

"Seriously..." Zeref rolled with his eyes sounding impatient "... why am I related to such a drama queen?"

"Shut it" Natsu growled angrily not in the mood for his teasing.

"Let me give you a lesson about women" the dark mage sighed heavily and sounded tired all of a sudden "But rest assured I only do this because this isn't the time for this sort of behaviour"

"I don't care..."

"You do! Now shut up and listen!" Zeref said in such a demanding and dark voice that it forced Natsu to turn around to face his brother.

"Right now you're butt hurt about this situation and sulking like a pathetic idiot, which is silly and stupid, because there's absolutely nothing for you to be angry about"

The Dragon Slayer was about to open his mouth to protest, but somehow managed to keep it shut.

"Lucy said the acts I committed against her doesn't influence her, which is true to some degree. However you are not considering her reasoning" Zeref motioned with his hand in a circle "Which is rather simple and easy to understand, because the fact she didn't mind is not only because this isn't the correct situation for her to be emotional, we are after all in the middle of a war. Unlike you, Lucy is a girl who can keep her composure"

"Tsch!" Natsu spat trying his best not to let the provocation get to him.

"Furthermore this girl has no personal connection with me, which is why she's so good to brush it off and focus on the situation. If it had been someone she liked, I'm pretty sure her actions would have been quite different"

"Really now?" the Dragon Slayer raised an eyebrow, clearly sceptic about that.

"Ohh I'm certain and I can prove it" Zeref smiled knowingly, before pointing towards the blonde "Go over and kiss her, then you'll see it for yourself"

"What?!" Lucy and Natsu screamed in unison, both of them blushing profoundly.

"I rest my case" the dark mage chuckled "If you don't get it now, then you really are hopeless"

"Uhm..." for the first time in a long time the Dragon Slayer didn't know what to say. It was like he was suddenly caught in the moment, his feelings twirling in a huge mixture and his heartbeat pulsating so fast it created a loud beating sound inside his skull.

"Now that is over with" Zeref nodded to himself, instantly going into serious mode "It's time for the inevitable to happen. Our battle can no longer be postponed"

"Yeah..." Natsu narrowed his eyes as he too brushed off his previous emotions and focused on the situation "... you really think you can take on all of the Dragon Slayers at once?"

"I could, but I don't have to" Zeref smirked as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"What are you planing?" the celestial mage asked clearly not comfortable with the situation.

They both got that answer as the other Dragon Slayers started roaring, making them turn to look in their direction. To their surprise a few bigger demons had spawned with them, all of them having various looks which indicated that they were stronger than the minions, like the one Lucy had fought against what felt like ages ago.

"You summoned them here..." Natsu turned and looked at the culprit.

"Yes" Zeref confirmed "I don't want anyone interrupting our fight"

"We... do we have to?" Lucy asked her voice sounding sad.

"We do" the dark mage nodded "This is our destiny and what will determine the future"

"Yeah" the Dragon Slayer clenched his fists ready to attack.

"Please..." the blonde shook her head "... you don't have to do this"

"I'm sorry Lucy but he's right. This is something we're bound to do whether we like to or not" Natsu confirmed, because deep inside he knew this was an inevitable fight.

"But... you're brothers..." the celestial mage appealed "... you shouldn't kill your only remaining relative"

"Who said anything about killing him?" Natsu sent her a confused look "I'm just gonna beat him to a pulp, because this is a fight that's been under way for 400 years now"

"Indeed" Zeref agreed.

"Ohh..." Lucy muttered as her eyes darted between the two of them, because the atmosphere had suddenly gotten very serious as the two stood completely still, their eyes transfixed as they stared at each other in determination

This is it, the Dragon Slayer thought to himself as he took a deep breath, before exhaling the amount of air very slowly while closing his eyes. He needed to focus and keep calm in order for this to work. Which was really important because for him to succeed he needed to bring forth all the power he had in reserve, especially because his usual magic supply was running really low.

But he didn't want her to see it.

No, Lucy looking at him with huge frightened eyes was unbearable just thinking about. Besides he didn't want to be discouraged by it, because he needed to focus one hundred percent if he wanted to come out of the fight victoriously.

"Luce..." Natsu opened his eyes and gave her a sad look "... you should get out of here"

"What?" the blonde blinked feeling outraged "I can't do that, what if you need me?"

"Please..." his stomach sunk because the look in her eyes clearly told him, it was a futile effort to try and convince her to go away "... just leave, okay?"

"No... I'm not going anywhere" Lucy shook her head in determination, before pushing a key against her chest and chanting "Star Dress, Sagittarius form"

"Now that's a unique spell" Zeref muttered to himself fascinated by the sight.

"Shut it!" Natsu spat back in annoyance.

"Yes... I will shut it as you so proclaim" the dark mage said in a low voice and raised one of his hands "it's time to get serious"

"Uh-huh..." the Dragon Slayer took a deep breath and felt himself connect with the demon inside of him, making his markings pulsate and glow before it started spreading across his skin "... let's do this"

"Natsu..." Lucy sucked in her breath as she watched the transformation and before long horns had emerged from his head while his hands had turned into something that looked like claws.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier" Natsu sighed and turned to look at her, which he regretted immediately when he saw her flinch in fright.

"It's okay..." she forced herself to smile, but it was painfully clear that all of her body was shaking from fear "... I'm glad that you... managed to control it"

"Yeah..." his eyes now shining in a red colour narrowed, before he turned his head to look at the dark mage, who smiled somewhat warmly as dark magic spawned around his hand.

Natsu didn't answer but raised a clenched hands were bright, warm orange flames mixed with black and ominous looking ones. And with that the dialogue stopped and the fight began...

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

It was a tough fight and there was no room for mistakes. Of course Lucy knew this was the case from the beginning, but it was still a lot harder even with Natsu using his curse to try and improve their chances. After all Lucy was close to her magical limits, so she couldn't summon any spirits

and soon she would be forced to primarily use physical strength. Which essentially meant she was aware that she couldn't keep using her Sagittarius Star Dress because each arrow used a small amount of magic, whenever she summoned one. So she was using her magic it cleverly as she preserve some of her magic for when she needed to change strategy.

Lucy was ready to attack when she watched Zeref fire a huge amount of darkness in Natsu's direction, but he managed to dodge it by a millimetre as he ducked underneath it. As he did this Lucy quickly fired an arrow in Zeref's direction, hoping that the dark mage was too occupied with his attack to avoid the incoming thread. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, because Zeref easily swatted it away with his hand like it was a mere fly that was irritating him. Which was rather annoying because no matter what she did, it didn't look like her arrows had any effect.

Ohh well at least it was annoying the guy and it was keeping him somewhat occupied, even if it was only by a little.

Actually Lucy almost felt out of place in the fight, not because her attacks didn't do a lot to improve their chances of winning, but because the two boys was both using what could look like somewhat similar magic. Or well Zeref was using his usual mass of darkness while Natsu was using a combination of his regular fire and the black fire that came from his curse and because he was low on magic, he was primarily using the power provided by his demonic side.

If only she could improve the power in her arrows, Lucy thought and bit down her bottom lip, as she ran across the battlefield, because Zeref had launched an attack against her, which she successfully dodged by running. As she did an idea formed in her head, but the problem was timing it correctly, so she would have to pay a close attention on the attack patterns from both opponents.

Not letting that fact get to her she quickly summoned another arrow she fired against the dark mage, but again he just used his hand to destroy it.

Focus Lucy, any second now.

The blonde watched carefully as Natsu dodged a roundhouse kick from Zeref before the Dragon Slayer tried using a clenched fist to deliver an uppercut to the dark mage, however he avoided it by leaning slightly backwards.

Catch his attention.

She thought while sending yet another arrow towards her target, which flew directly into the gap that was between Natsu and Zeref. As it did the Dragon Slayer used the momentum to spawn fire around his elbow he forcefully slammed against his brother, who was caught of guard and was sent flying backwards a few metres.

"Got it!" Natsu yelled to her as he easily bounced backwards, before quickly making his way to her position.

"Ready?" Lucy asked while raising her bow.

"Yup!"

Sucking in his breath Natsu yelled "Fire Dragon's Demonic Roar!" before a combination of black and orange brilliant flames was sent flying. At the same time Lucy quickly summoned her arrows and fired a bunch of them that intertwined with the fire, making it curl up around them improving their speed and power as they rocketed towards their target.

Zeref saw the attack incoming and quickly summoned a huge wave of darkness, but it was too late to destroy everyone within his range which meant one of them dug into his stomach and another made it's way into the meat of his left arm. The dark mage didn't scream in pain instead he made a groaning sound, that sounded like he was annoyed about the situation as he stood staring at them.

"Awesome Luce!" Natsu smirked as he looked in her direction, which caused her to flinch a tiny bit inside because she still wasn't used to his eyes glistening in that crimson color that emitted death and anger.

"Yeah... you too" She forced herself to smile briefly before her eyes found their way to Zeref's unmoving figure.

"You shouldn't be so quick to celebrate" their opponent shook his head as he effortlessly removed the arrows from his body, causing blood to spatter from the wound. Just as it started pouring with blood, dark magic emerged around the wounds where multiple black strings spawned before they started crossing like fine threads together with each other, until the wounds eventually vanished.

"Oy, that's an unfair trick to use!" Natsu pointed an accusing finger at Zeref who shrugged in return.

"When it regards love and war nothing is fair. That's my advice to you, as your older brother" the dark mage chuckled, making the Dragon Slayer fume in annoyance.

"Don't you spout out nonsense like that all of a sudden, you immortal stupid... brat!" Natsu growled "Now shut it and bring it on!"

And with that said the fight continued once more.

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Lucy had no idea how long they had fought, when she suddenly saw a person running in their direction. The man she recognised as Jet showed no sign of stopping, because he was clearly busy delivering essential messages across the battlefield.

She knew it wasn't the time to catch a break, but still she really wanted to know how people were faring in other places. It itched in her to know that everyone was alright and nothing bad had happened to her precious friends.

The blonde was watching him from the corner of her eyes debating what to do, when she felt something suddenly grabbing her neck. It had only been momentarily, but the split second she wasn't focused Zeref used that as an opportunity to strike.

"Tsch, tsch this will not do" the dark mage shook his head "Not at all"

"Let her go right now" Natsu roared when he saw his brother's hands tightening its hold on her neck, making Lucy gasp and pant, because she was suddenly struggling to breathe.

"I will... I can assure you of that" Zeref smiled as he tilted his head to the side "But I want both of you focused on our fight and if I need to give you a little leeway, then that's what I'll do"

What does he mean by that? Lucy wondered as her lungs started to burn, indicating she needed air really soon.

"You'll see" the dark mage sighed and a second later he vanished from their sight, making Lucy suddenly fall down since there was no longer anyone holding her body.

"Umpf!" she exclaimed when her body hit the ground, where she sat rubbing her now sore throat while gasping for air.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked clearly worried about her condition as he placed his claw like hand on her back.

"Ye... yeah... fine" she panted and forced herself yet again to smile in his direction.

"Now let get this over with" Zeref said as he reappeared and dropped Jet in front of the duo.

"Jet... how are you...?" Lucy started but the pain in her throat caused her to cough loudly as she tried getting more control of her breathing.

"Why did you bring him here?" Natsu asked sounding both angry and suspicious.

"Because he carries information and it seems that Lucy can't concentrate unless she receives an answer" Zeref smirked and looked satisfied with himself for a second.

And why wouldn't he be, he was right on the money with that one.

"Jet, how are you? How is everyone doing out there?" Lucy managed to say this time as she turned to look at him.

"D-d-d-d-dd-d-d!" the fast runner sat stuttering with his finger pointing towards Natsu.

"What's wrong?" she encouraged him to speak, not fully understanding his reaction.

"Demon!" Jet finally managed to say, with tears of fright spawning in the corner of his eyes.

"What the heck man?" the Dragon Slayer crooked an eyebrow "I ain't no demon"

"Ohh..." Lucy wanted to facepalm herself for not realising it right away, because obviously Jet had never seen Natsu in this form. Heck, it had only been herself and her team that had seen him transform. Sure the rest of the guild knew about it, but they hadn't seen it for themselves.

"Yeah you are!" Jet stubbornly said, holding on to his belief.

"Jet, he isn't a demon, that's Natsu" Lucy smiled hoping that the fact didn't frighten him too much.

"WHAT?!" his eyes bulged "Is that why he has pink hair?!"

"Yeah, that would be why" she nodded wanting to chuckle at his response.

"I... I see..." Jet smiled nervously avoiding looking in Natsu's direction "... but what am I doing here?"

"I..." Lucy bit her bottom lip and regretted being in this situation for a second "... how is it going out there?"

"I'll be honest with ya" all nervousness was replaced with a serious attitude as he stared at her "It isn't good but it isn't too bad either at the moment"

"Okay that's something at least. So how are everyone doing?"

"They're.." his eyes darted momentarily to look at Natsu before he continued "They're doing great, there's nothing for you to worry about. Honestly we'll pull through somehow"

"You're lying" the pink Dragon Slayer stated, in a voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I..." Jet sank clearly intimidated by the more demonic presence his friend had taken "You should focus on yourselves and your fight here"

"Is it that bad?" Lucy sank dreading what he was implying.

"Just tell them already" Zeref moaned as he flicked a finger against Jet's forehead "My patience is growing thin"

"Oh... oh kay" the poor mage stuttered feeling scared that the dark mage had touched him so nonchalantly "There's been some... set backs, but I've been ordered not to tell anyone that doesn't know since it might influence their fighting spirit. So uhm... what I can tell you is the minor demons are pretty much under control now, the bad news is that we're still struggling on how to find a method to kill the corpses. This means a lot of teams have already finished their own fights and are currently supporting those who are dealing with the dead army"

"That's good, but you're still hiding something aren't you?" Natsu said in a serious tone.

"I... okay I'll tell you" Jet sighed heavily "Some of our comrades aren't doing so well"

"Ohh..." Lucy blinked and felt a cold droplet of sweat trailing down her forehead.

"Some of our comrades have been severely wounded, to the point that it might be fatal" Jet looked at the ground because he couldn't face them any more "But it's gonna be fine because they're all being treated at the healing facility Poly quickly established with the Exceeds help"

"No..." the celestial mage shivered uncontrollably as sorrow and disbelief entered her system.

"But they aren't dead?" Natsu asked sounding optimistic.

"True" Jet answered not looking in his direction.

"You're still lying" Zeref said in a dark tone before he placed his hand on Jet's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

"I... I... can't tell them..." Jet's voice cracked painfully as tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Ohh you can and you will or you'll see how fast you can run without legs" the dark mage threatened making the three humans gulp loudly.

"Ye.. yes... of course" the poor man snorted clearly frightened "There's been some casualties... we tried our best but it was too late. Sawyer from Crime Sorciere, Beth and Risley from Mermaid Heel... Jenny from Blue Pegasus, Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus and Yuka from Lamia Scale... they're all..."

"Dead we get it, so what is the status on the Fairy Tail members" Zeref said clearly not satisfied with the runner.

"Mest..." Jet took a deep shaking breath before continuing "Evergreen and Lisanna... they... fought so hard but in the end we couldn't... no one could save them..."

"And if that's all then I suggest you get out of here, before you accidentally get caught in our fight" Zeref said in a cold tone, signifying he was done with the little information exchange.

"Ye-yes" the fast mage sluggishly got up on his feet, before he started running away in a pace that suggested he was too overwhelmed with sorrow to run fast.

With him leaving nothing but dust in his place, it was time for the two mages to learn and deal with the burden of suddenly being confronted with the truth about war, because it was like Zeref said to them earlier in love and war nothing was fair. Death and casualties are always a possibility which is why war shouldn't be taken lightly. For each enemy they took down, there was the chance one of their opponents would take one of their own down.

It was a sad truth but a factor none of them could ignore any more.


A/N: Sorry for killing people off panel, it's just this story is already waaaay longer than I wanted it to be and there are still a lot more content to come. So... yeah -.-'

With that said I think the updates will be a lot faster really soon, because I'm getting to the part where I can copy paste from a lot of stuff I've already written, which is pretty neat ^^

To guest reviewer: Thanks for bringing that up. I think you're correct in thinking Acnologia be a big thread against Zeref, especially after we saw Natsu almost Koing him. However this story and the plot was organised a long time ago and in this story, Acno is heavily wounded from fighting the Dragon Slayers, so it's fairly easy for Zeref to deliver the final blow. Hope that makes sense :3

Anyhow the next chapter will be out soon (hopefully), until then have a great day :D

/H