Hey all, I am so sorry for the huge hiatus. There has just been soooo much work that I finally now have time to write. So this is one of the chapters written by someone else, so give them your love! They didn't have a title so I made on up for them!
The writer: ronin warriors fanatic, they wrote the bolded italicized stuff, I wrote the reactions.
Warning, if you are not past chapter 416 this is SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.
So for this story, the point in time it takes place is after Tartarus and is different than the actual storyline as it pretends the Fairy Tail guild didn't disband.
I don't own Fairy Tail.
After the previous story, the guilds decided to take a 'bathroom' break to let people have some time to do what they needed so they wouldn't miss part of the story.
Soon after Mira made everyone reconvene, regardless of the last few stragglers attempting to make it to the bathroom.
Plopping the new victim, ahem, reader onto the chair her megawatt smile was filled with a bit of strain.
She knew what was coming, after all she sometimes read them first because she couldn't help herself. Mirajane kind of regretted reading this one though.
The Love of a Brother By: ronin warriors fanatic
In the midst of the hidden Library of Tartarus, Zeref sat down with the Book of E.N.D on the table, next to it appears to be a double fudged chocolate cake with red velvet icing, and a side of ice cream.
After the first sentence finished, many people's faces grew stony, hearing the reminder of the dark wizard.
Most had connections to him, be it from his fanatic followers or results of his past actions.
But they knew Pine-chan would never force them to listen to a story they couldn't handle. Also they were Fairy Tail, they might have had some bad experiences, but together they were strong.
"Happy Birthday, Natsu." Zeref said as he took a bite of the cake.
Zeref relashed in the cake's taste, then stared at the book
"It's clear to me. Natsu, you must be the one to kill me."
Zeref took another bite, his mind wandering in the memories of the past. 400 years previously, Zeref and Natsu are sititng under their favorite tree, the older of the two, Zeref, is currently reading the story of Jack Frost.
"Ice Magic... that's what he uses, right Nii-san?" Natsu asked.
"Wait what?! Nii-san? Is this writer crazy?" Natsu shouted, a little put out by the idea of Zeref being his brother.
"Well I mean, if you think about it, it's possible," Lucy said, shrugging her shoulders.
"But he was born like 50 billion years ago!" Natsu whined.
"True…" Lucy responded.
"Well, just go along with it for the story!" Mirajane shouted, peeved the story was being interrupted.
"Maybe, but it's just a story, besides, magic is a little more complex than just what the fairy tales have to offer." Zeref explained.
"How complex?" Natsu asked.
"Well… it's easier just to show you." Zeref informed.
Zeref raised his index and middle fingers together, and a small orb of light flashed between them. He then pointed his two fingers at the ground, and a small flower with 24 red petals grew from it.
"It's called life magic, basically I can create life in the simplest forms." Zeref said, answering Natsu's unspoken question.
Natsu picked the flower up, and sniffed it, the scent of the flower reminded him of something he smelled before.
"Those projects you're working on... are they life magic as well?" Natsu asked.
"The Etherious... well I guess they are... in a way." Zeref answered.
"In a way?" Natsu asked.
"The only one I got working, lullaby, it's melody... when you play it, it's supposed to create life as well, and it can even heal wounds... however there's a flaw with it." Zeref sighed.
"A flaw?" Natsu repeated.
"Basically, people keep playing it's song in reverse... I'm still trying to figure out how to fix that." Zeref informed.
"Can I help with that?" Natsu asked.
Before Zeref could answer, he was brought back into reality.
"My my, how time flies." Zeref thought.
Suddenly the cake didn't seem appealing to him anymore, so Zeref picked it up... then without a bit of thought, he took it with him as he teleported. Zeref ended up in Magnolia, close to the Fairy Tail guild. He quickly ran to the shadows to make sure no one could see him.
"Fairy Tail… her guild." Zeref sighed.
Zeref once again found himself traversed in the memories of his life... this time jumping back 200 years. In the city, he was just walking and taking in the sights, then without warning, he bumped into a small girl with big bushy blonde hair, and the most adorable sapphire eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Zeref quickly apologized.
"No worries, my name's Mavis, Mavis Vermillion." She introduced.
"You know, it's almost poetic. Dark meeting light," Levy mused, her book loving mind whirring to find romance. "It's Romeo and Juliet!" she giggled.
"Uh Levy, you realized you just shipped our old guild master and the darkest wizard in history…?" Lisanna asked.
"Wh-what hahahahaha uh noooo?! I uh just mentioned it could be cute. I mean, uh, sigh never mind," she said, giving up on her attempts to justify her previous comment.
"Zeref, Zeref Dragneel." Zeref bowed.
Mavis giggled slightly, and Zeref chuckled as well.
"You new around here?" Mavis asked.
"Yeah... I guess you could say that." Zeref informed.
"I see... are you a wizard by any chance?" Mavus asked.
"Yeah... I know some useful spells, I can show some to you, if you're interested." Zeref offered.
"Sure, I know the perfect spot too!" Mavis exclaimed.
Mavis quickly grabbed Zeref by the arm, and dragged him to the forest, Zeref sighed, but enjoyed having someone to hang out with... in fact, the bushy haired girl, Mavis, reminded him of his brother, Natsu.
"Ew Levy, you just shipped Natsu with Zeref!" Gray laughed.
"Shut it ice cube!"
"Make me flame brain!"
"How about I make the both of you shut it?" Lucy said, her eyes radiating anger.
"Ay, yes ma'am!" they screamed, hugging.
"So, I sense a curse radiating off of you, care to explain?" Mavis asked.
"I see, to answer your question... the god of life and death did that, he hated the fact I was able to revive my brother, and cursed me for it." Zeref answered
"So, it's a contradiction curse... that's not easy to break." Mavis sighed.
"It's fine... you wanted me to teach you some magic, right?" Zeref asked.
"Yes!" Mavis exclaimed.
"Alright... I don't have a name for it right now, but..." Zeref trailed off.
Zeref put both of his hands together, dark clouds hung low over the sky... finally a pillar of light rained from the clouds, and struck the lake. Mavis clapped in applause as the water of the lake rained on the two of them.
"I take it that you like it?" Zeref asked.
"Yes... in fact, I think I have a name for that spell." Mavis answered.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Zeref asked.
"Well... since the guild I run is called, Fairy Tail, I think it should be called Fairy Law!" Mavis answered.
"I gotta admit, it is hard to digest the fact that Fairy Law was created by Zeref, even if it is a story," Mirajane sighed.
"Agreed," Erza nodded, "it almost begs the question how the law came into existence in the first place."
"Well young ones, that's a question for another day," Mavis said, her ghost floating through the upstairs.
The Fairy Tail members began to pelt her with questions as the other guilds looked on.
"Uh, Rogue, are they talking to air?" Sting whispered.
"It would appear so," Rogue said.
"Y'know, I always thought this guild was a little, cuckoo," Lyon said.
"Makes sense considering some of the things they do," Yukino whispered back.
"Fairy Law... I like it... as for the forest… it has taken some damage." Zeref sighed.
Mavis looked around the area, curiosity took over her thought process.
"Not to worry, I have a spell for this as well." Zeref informed.
Zeref raised his index and middle fingers, then the trees and grass started to reform, and after 10 minutes, the forest was back to its natural state. Mavis had a confused look on her face as she witnessed what Zeref did.
"It's called Life Magic, 200 years ago, I showed my brother this after reading him a story.
"So gentle and destructive at the same time, you're a man of wonders, Zeref Dragneel." Mavis stated in awe.
Before Zeref could answer, his mind was forced back into the present, confusion presented itself on his face
"That's right... I wanted to give this cake to Natsu." Zeref thought.
Zeref casted several invisibility spells over himself and the cake then walked through the city.
"It has changed since I was here last, my friend, Mavis and my own brother... I guess they're the only ones I've kept close to my heart." Zeref thought.
Zeref stopped walking, and looked forward. He witnessed a blond haired girl wearing a deep blue shirt/pants combo, brown boots, and holding a pouch of silver and gold keys.
"A celestial mage, wonder where she's going." Zeref thought
Zeref followed the girl closely, making sure that he doesn't bump into her, or his invisibility wears off. In fact, all he can make out from her mumbling was "getting back at Natsu" and "Where does Natsu live".
"I see, Natsu must have made this girl mad... that tactless little brother of mine, he really needs to get a clue." Zeref sighed.
"AHAHAHA, SUCH AN ACCURATE DEPICTION!" Gray laughed, wheezing from the lack of oxygen. Gajeel snorted in agreement.
Natsu turned and glared and the two before hearing another set of giggles on his right. "Lucy," he whined, "why are you laughing too?"
"I'm sorry Natsu, it-it's just so true!" she said before collapsing into another round of laughter.
Without realizing it himself, Zeref was being followed a woman's voice kept chanting "Cake" over and over again. It was sometime before Zeref turned to find a red haired woman wearing knight armor hot on his, or should I say, cake's tail.
"Welp, he should have been more careful carrying around cake in the same town as Erza," Jellal sighed.
"Yea once she gets wind of it she never stops!" Asuka giggled.
"Even our youngest member knows," Makarov laughed.
"Crap." Zeref thought.
Zeref removed his concealment spell, and placed the cake down.
"I don't know who you are, but I won't let you have this cake!" Zeref exclaimed.
"All I know is, I smell cake, and no one will stop me from having some!" Erza exclaimed.
"If it's a fight you want-" Zeref started.
"It's a fight you'll get!" Erza finished.
Erza requipped into the armor she beat Minerva with, and rushed at Zeref. Zeref had two black spears in both his hands, and his eyes turned red with anger.
"Black Dragon's whirlwind!" Zeref exclaimed.
A tornado made of black colored wind materialized between the two of them, the gust tearing off several rooftops, but that didn't stop Erza as she cut it in half.
"You really thought a weak attack like that would work?" Erza asked.
"No, but I still won't let you have this cake, it's going to someone I hold dear to me!" Zeref exclaimed.
Erza rushed forward again, but Zerf jumped and landed behind her.
"You're foolish, the cake is for someone I hold dear, not you!" Zeref exclaimed.
Two orbs of light materialized in his hands, and dark clouds formed low over the sky.
"That spell... just who are you!?" Erza asked.
Zeref didn't answer her, instead he clapped his hands together.
"Taste heaven's judgement! Fairy's Law!" Zeref exclaimed.
Just as the light from the attack flashed on top of Erza, pink sheep wool appeared between Erza and the light.
"Lucy!?" Erza exclaimed.
The blond haired mage Zeref saw earlier appeared right next to Erza, and behind Lucy was the celestial spirit, Aries.
"I'm sorry if thst wasn't good enough, Lucy-sama." Aries apologized.
"No, that was great Aries." Lucy informed.
Lucy grabbed another key, and held it over her head.
"Open, gate of the bull, Taurus!" Lucy exclaimed.
Suddenly, a humanoid bull wearing nothing but blue tights, and two belts over his chest appeared in front of Lucy.
"Annoying, you're all annoying!" Zeref exclaimed.
Lucy and Erza both looked confused as Zeref charged another attack.
"All I wanted was to wish him a happy birthday, but if killing the two of you is what it'll take, then so be it!" Zeref screamed.
A dark aura radiated off of Zeref as he charged more and more power.
"Hell's gate, demon's essence!" Zeref exclaimed.
4 arms made of dark energy gripped all 4 of Zeref's opponents with no problem.
"Who... who're you!?" Erza exclaimed.
"Zeref... that's all you need to know!" Zeref screamed.
Erza and Lucy's eyes opened in shock at the mention of that name.
"Erza, what did you do!?" Lucy asked.
"All I did was smell cake, that's it!" Erza answered.
Lucy sighed in exhaustion, dealing with Natsu was troublesome enough, but Erza's cake fetish was more than what Lucy could handle.
"To be honest, I can handle Erza more than this idiot," Lucy commented, jabbing her thumb in Natsu's direction.
"Luce, why are you picking on me today?" Natsu pouted.
Lucy faltered as she saw Natsu's puppy dog face but stood strong.
"I'm being honest Natsu," she said but at the sight on Natsu's final puppy dog form, she said, "but don't worry it is a joke this time."
"Hehehe, power of the puppy dog face," Natsu laughed.
"Why isn't it a kitten face?" Happy commented, wondering where his species went wrong.
"Well… back to the story," Mirajane said quickly.
"The cake wasn't for you... now, if you leave me alone for the rest of my stay here, I won't destroy your guild... understand?" Zeref asked
The two girls nodded in agreement. Zeref sighed and let them all go, he then looked to check the cake, and it was fine, no damage what so ever.
"I just hope he likes it." Zeref thought.
Zeref traveled through the town... but with curiosity filling their bodies, Erza and Lucy followed Zeref at a relatively safe distance. It took him several hours, but he finally found Natsu's house. Zeref then looked through his bag, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.
"Happy Birthday, Natsu. Hope you enjoy this cake, love Lisanna." Zeref wrote.
Zeref placed the cake and note down on the doorstep, and rung the bell, then quickly hid in the forest.
"Wait... how does Zeref know Natsu!?" Lucy asked.
"He gave Natsu a cake... if only Jellal was that considerate!" Erza exclaimed as tears rolled down her face.
"That's not the issue here!" Lucy yelled.
"This guild's priorities," Hibiki face palmed.
"Believe me, wait till you see Natsu plus building plus nearby food cart," Lucy shuddered.
"You're right, Zeref could've poisoned the cake, which could force Natsu to choke and die!" Erza exclaimed.
"That's far from the truth." Zeref telepathically informed.
"And why should we believe you!?" Lucy asked.
"Because, Natsu is someone important to me, and I want him to kill me one day… it wouldn't make sense for me to kill him, now would it?" Zeref asked
"I guess not." Lucy stated once she thought it over.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I'm leaving." Zeref said as he mentally closed the conversation.
"Just what does Zeref want with Natsu?" Lucy thought.
Later that night, Erza and Lucy saw Natsu walking to his house with Happy flying behind him. As Natsu was reaching the front door, he noticed the cake Zeref has earlier.
"Happy Birthday, Natsu. Hope you enjoy this cake, love Lisanna." Natu read.
It took several minutes, but Natsu's face turned extremely red when he re-read the word 'love'.
"Hehehehehe, someone's in looooooooooooooooooove!" Happy maniacally laughed.
Lucy's eyebrows furrowed slightly at that line.
"Something doesn't seem right... why would Lisanna bake you a cake? Wouldn't Erza eat it before it even left the guild?" Happy asked.
"Who cares, free food is free food." Natsu said as he dismissed Happy's question.
As Natsu entered the house, and ate the cake whole, Zeref went back to the hidden room of Tartorus, slightly crying.
"I couldn't tell him I sent it, he'd probably think I'd poison it." Zeref laughed.
"No, stop it Levy, don't feel bad for a dark wizard," Levy chanted, forcing her gooey feelings to recede.
"Yea I get what you mean Levy," Lucy said, tears in her eyes. She remembered her own father, never accepting her gifts but she couldn't imagine giving a gift but never getting to take credit.
Zeref went to sleep, and started to dream. In this dream, he went back to the time Deliora ravaged the land. He was traveling through the destroyed village. Tears rolling down the sides of his face.
"I can never begin to ask for their forgiveness, they all probably hate me." Zeref thought.
Zeref continued walking until he heard a small groan.
"What was that?" Zeref thought to himself.
Zeref turned to see a man in leather clothing bleeding to death. This man has spiky hair, and that's all he could make out.
"P-please, help m-me!" The man asked.
"Are you sure you want me to help?" Zeref asked.
"Y-yes, my wife is dead, and I have no idea where my son is. I need help so I can find him!" The man exclaimed.
"I'll help you, but will you join the demon guild, Tartarus, as your payment?" Zeref asked.
"I'll do anything!" The man exclaimed.
Zeref smiled when he heard that phrase
"Before I begin, what's your name?" Zeref asked.
"Silver... Fullbuster." The man answered
Gray stiffened at the mention of his father, his face getting tight.
Team Natsu surrounded him, almost a barrier so the other guilds couldn't see him.
"We are here for you," Lucy whispered.
Mirajane sighed, seeing this coming. She urged the reader on to rip the band aid off quickly. It would be less painful in the long run.
"Silver... I see. Alright, don't move." Zeref smiled.
Zeref placed his hand on top of Silver, then charged power into his body.
"Become my ice devil slayer, etheriuos of the ice and cold... Silver Fullbuster!" Zeref chanted.
In an instant, the healing energy Zeref poured into Silver restored his body and physique, then Zeref helped him out of the rubble.
"As promised, you must join the guild, Tartarus. Train to become stronger, as one of my etheriuos you have one job only, to kill me, and bring this world back to the peace it deserves." Zeref explained.
Silver nodded in agreement, then Zeref teleported him to the Tartorus guild. After that, Zeref woke up in his secret hiding place.
"He needs to know the truth about all my projects." Zeref thought.
Zeref grabbed an empty piece of paper, and grabbed a pen as well.
"Natsu, you may have seen several of my experiments first hand, and believe them to be evil, but the truth couldn't be more opposite. So I'll cover them in segments for you to understand:
The demon flute, lullaby, it was created by me. That's true, but the intentional purpose was to kill me. When it failed to do so, I sealed it away.
As for Deliora, it's also something that was supposed to kill me, but I ended up saving people from it, and it just kept roaming the lands until the ice mage sealed him for me. I'll have to pay my respects soon.
The R system, it couldn't revive me since I wasn't dead, I created it to revive you from the moment you died. The Eclipse gate was also meant for me to come visit you in the past but a certain god wouldn't allow me that.
The demons of Tartarus you will soon face, none of them can beat you, since you are Tartarus' guild master. Igneel tried to kill you, but I made sure that you'd stay alive, I'm writing this because when the time comes, you have to know, you're the only one who can kill me, Etherious Natsu Dragneel."
Zeref closed the letter, and put it in his pocket, awaiting for the time he and Natsu will meet face to face.
"ThAt's iT?!" everyone shouted, angry at how quickly it ended. "Where is the happy ending? The cuteness?" people cried.
"That's all we got for you for now I'm afraid," Mira proclaimed. "Until next time," she winked, sensing the slightly damper mood.
She started with the drinks hoping they would feel a little happier after a somber story.
And as the drinks flowed and the laughter increased, only a rain women noticed the tears of a frozen man.