Not going to lie, I thought that this series would have ended a long time ago so I'm really surprised that it's reached this length already. At the same time though, I'm happy it's gotten this far and I wanted to say thank you again to my readers—all of which I didn't expect to be reviewing, favoriting, or following this story!

Anyway, thanks much, my loves. As for this one…I'm still not sure what I was aiming for. Although, I think this might be one of my favorites I've written so far in this batch of ficlets.

There's some Zervis and Jerza if you squint.

seven years of nightmares

Zeref came to him in a dream.

The world around him was frozen, like an image in the reflection of black glass. Jellal could not move, and his hands were stuck at his sides, his feet glued to a non-existing floor. His eyes were forced to look forward, and all he could see in front of him were the pitch night eyes of the death-bringing immortal.

"Remember me, Jellal?" the Black Wizard asked him, his thin lips curled up into a smirk.

As the cursed mage stepped toward him, Jellal felt his icy aura tickle his skin. A deep fear dropped into Jellal's stomach, and Jellal felt his heart stop when the shadow of the immortal was upon him.

"I remember you," Zeref purred, taking Jellal's chin in his right hand. He pulled Jellal's head to the right, and the younger man felt Zeref's cold eyes run down his jawline, following a blood vessel to his neck.

Done observing him, Zeref let Jellal's head go, and despite his will to not look at the dark mage again, Jellal found himself gravitating back to Zeref's dark and bottomless eyes.

Zeref leaned forward. "I remember you," he repeated again, softly. "I lived in the deepest recesses of your mind, picking at the evil that you had inside of you—wrath, lust, greed, pride, envy—oh, you had all of those. I waited for the fruit to ripen within you before eating them."

Jellal swallowed, dry, but it was enough to stir his courage. "You were never in my head," he asserted.

"And your fruit tasted so sweet, you know," the immortal continued, never leaving his eyes. "You offered them to me, proudly, and you would give me a tease, but then you would take them away from me. 'Wait until I can join you,' you told me. 'Wait until we can share the fruits of my labor.'"

Jellal shook his head, but found that he couldn't move under Zeref's locked gaze.

The Black Wizard smiled to him, never breaking eye contact as he produced something from his cloak. He held it out in front of him, lips pursing, admiring its rich redness.

"This is one of your fruit, Jellal," Zeref explained, with a silky and husky voice. "You've been saving this one for a long time."

He rose the scarlet apple to Jellal's eyes. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Zeref pressed the apple to his nose and inhaled deeply. "Smells wonderful, doesn't it?"

The immortal kissed its smooth scarlet skin. "It must taste so sweet," he mused, running his lips over the polished surface before opening his mouth.

Jellal tried his hardest not to whimper as he saw Zeref's white teeth graze the scarlet fruit, sharp enough to pierce it all the way through.

He closed his eyes and looked down. "Stop!" he cried out. "Please stop!"

Even with his eyes shut tight, he could hear Zeref's smile.

"You know," Zeref whispered into Jellal's ear. "Maybe the reason why you're punishing yourself from loving her is because you know that my own love was never fulfilled. Or maybe…I wanted you to share the suffering I felt from love."

Jellal hesitantly opened his eyes. He looked at the forbidden fruit that Zeref held in his hand.

"I was never possessed by you," he said, with resolve.

His courage quickly left him as he watched Zeref lick the scarlet apple.

"Are you sure?" Zeref asked him, in a low voice. Then he held the apple out to Jellal. "Then why don't you take a bite?"

To his horror, Jellal suddenly found his mouth watering, and an uncontrollable hunger form at the pit of his stomach. He was disgusted and shocked by his urge to tear away at the fruit's flesh—it felt as if all the suffering in the world, in himself, would end if he could just take one bite…

"No," he said, resisting.

Zeref smiled. "Good," he said. "Then we'll just suffer here together, for eternity."

Jellal watched the Black Wizard tuck the scarlet apple back into his cloak, before looking at Jellal with sharp obsidian eyes and a sadistic smile.

"Until next time, Jellal," Zeref said, and the immortal lifted his chin once more before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Jellal never felt his lips touch him, however.

The thought chilled him enough to consciousness, and when he woke up, he found himself covered in goosebumps.

He showered to rid himself of the nightmare, but the cold water running down his back only reminded him of evil's haunting fingers coming up to choke him at his throat.

I think I tried adding a dash of Zeref/Jellal here, but it might not have been that clear. I've always sorta really been into the evil + seductive motifs. I think that's also why I shipped Siegrain/Jellal avec Erza from the very fucking start.

Also why is Zeref/Jellal not a thing? I guess I don't see too many unique takes on the relationship, but still! Agh, next on my list of non-existing ships to write/explore: Zellal...or maybe Jeref? Yeah probably Jeref.

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