All Rights to Hiro Mashima

This chapter will be dedicated to screennamesarelame for being the 100th follower and DIGIKO12 for being the 50th favourite. Thank you all for the huge amount of love and support for this story!

BEWARE! THE ANGST! PLEASE DON'T BE MAD!

(Also…anyone catch a glimpse of the manga release 522? GRAY MY SWEET ICY CINNAMON ROLL! DON'T DO IT. That is all.)

Chapter 8: Serpentine

Stone that resembles the skin of a snake; excellent meditation stone, used to find inner peace; carried by ancient races so the gods would double bless the user; possibly removes venom of the body and mind

Deep in the bowels of the castle sat the King of Ignis, his hands dirty and stained, fingernails cracked and split. He had finally finished moving and refurbishing the family crypt to suit his needs.

He would use this dilapidated place for his own means, for his experiments dealing with life, death, and resurrection.

He knew that he would be successful, it would just take time. He would be safe from prying eyes and the disdainful glares of his council. Honestly, he doesn't know why he keeps those stuffy bastards around anymore.

Wouldn't it be so much easier just to kill them?

He pushes that thought to the side to focus on more pressing problems. Who knows? Those nine men and women might come in handy later into his plans.

Zeref sighs as he lays a single hand on a large clear crystal situated in the very middle of the underground room. After all, it was the single most important thing there, so the object would take centre stage.

He drinks in the visage of a petite blonde woman within the lacrima crystal. She looked so peaceful, like she was only asleep, just waiting for him to wake her up.

"Mavis…just wait for me, my love, it won't be long now…"

He turns away to focus on the complicated drawings and incantations, a mix of mathematics and magic swirling around the parchment. Somehow he can understand the gibberish and pull out the important parts.

It was time to begin the plans for his biggest project yet.

-ooo-

"I don't know Luce, he's just…different than before. Something happened when I was gone, I can feel it. Zeref's colder than before. His eyes don't have any happiness in them anymore."

Natsu found himself sprawled across Lucy's personal balcony, staring up at the stars that were once such a comfort to his best friend.

Now they only remind her of the pain she feels for her spirits that she can no longer call out.

"From all the stories you've told me in the past, Zeref was never one for large declarations of love or someone who chose to seek out companionship. He's not like you or I Natsu, he enjoys the quiet I think."

Lucy's mood had skyrocketed since Natsu had returned from his journey all those months ago. Even though she hadn't been outside the rune barrier that was erected around her room for almost a year unless it was under heavy guard, her spirits were much higher than before.

She still refused to converse with the King under any circumstances. She knew if she opened her mouth, her tongue would most likely lash out at Jude and make her situation even more unpleasant than it already was.

At least he allowed her to write in peace. She had long since run out of memories with Natsu to place onto the parchment, so she made up her own. Lucy penned epic tales of love and happiness, journeys and hardships, friendship and legendary beings.

Everything that she wished her life was but wasn't.

She kicked her legs out from her place on the floor as close to Natsu as the runes would allow and looked at her best friend with a quizzical eye. "Natsu…has something happened to provoke these feelings? Did Zeref do something?"

Natsu's pink hair rubbed across the stones he lay on as he shook his head quickly. "No, he hasn't done anything per se…its more like a feeling. We share blood, Luce. I can almost feel the darkness in his heart. I love him, but he sometimes scares me."

He didn't like to admit to anyone that he feared something. But this was Lucy, his friend for over four years now. He told her everything.

Lucy watched Natsu curl his fingers into the front of his tunic, a nervous habit he seemed to pick up in the last year. The blonde knew he was gripping the hidden pendant she had carved for him. She hoped that it gave him strength and courage.

"Mmmm…yummy fishies…"

Both children giggled at the blue cat as Happy rolled over in his spot, almost falling off of Natsu's stomach as his dreams became for involved. Their little kitten that they had found in that egg so long ago had grown up into a large cat with strong wings and an incredibly sharp tongue.

The early morning glow over the distant mountains reminded them of the time. "You tired Natsu?"

"No." Natsu's yawn, filled with sharp canines and a low growl gave him away, Lucy knew that he would stay here all the time if he could. He had told her once that he felt so guilty for her 'incarceration,' if he had never given her that sword, she would still be able to come out. If he had just stayed, then maybe he could have stolen her away before all this happened. If he had just taken her with him, she would be free.

"Get some sleep you silly Dragon. I'm not going anywhere. You can see me again whenever you want."

His eyes drooped as he tried in vain to stay awake. It wouldn't be good if he passed out mid-air flying back to Ignis. Crashing to the ground like a falling star would be a truly rude awakening.

"Alright! Alright, I'm going. I'll see you soon Luce."

"I know, I look forward to it. It breaks up the monotony around here."

He didn't know what monotony was, but Lucy said the word with such disdain that he knew it wasn't something good.

She caught the look in his eye and stifled a small giggle. Honestly, Natsu was a touch dense, and not so good with words. But he had the biggest heart she had ever seen, and his smile always made her grin right along with him. "It means boredom, Natsu."

"Oh. Well, I'm happy to be of service Luce. I should get back, though. Zeref's been asking where I've been going off to most nights. I haven't told him anything, don't worry, but…I don't know. He's acting so strange. I think I should lay low for at least a week, but I'll bring something fun to do next time or a new book or two for you."

They had found early on, that the barrier only repelled people and weapons from going in and Lucy or objects coming out. Books, food, parchment and the like had been supplied by her friend over the weeks to help stave off the tedium.

Hence the small cake sitting by her right hand and the gold ring with a single onyx teardrop on her pinky finger.

Natsu gave her one last glance while stretching his wings out, glad to have the opportunity to get the cramps out of his joints. "Bye Luce…oh, and Happy Birthday."

-ooo-

Things became a routine for Lucy and Natsu for the next four years.

The runes remained around her room, and she was still mute except when conversing with Natsu and Happy late into the night.

They had tried everything to bring down the barrier and free Lucy from her prison, including all manner of weaponry, Natsu's flames and fists, Lucy using her magic as best she could.

However, without her keys, there wasn't much she could do. Her holder magic was strong, but it needed a conduit. Without it, she was essentially useless when it came to casting. Natsu had once brought her a book on rune creation, but again she needed a conduit to create the new runes or rewrite the old ones and the stupid barrier believed that a magic pen was some type of weapon.

Which in this case it was. Sometimes the pen was mightier than the sword.

Natsu had even tried sliding in weapons that didn't look like weapons, like hidden explosives and the like, but the barrier always recognised them and rejected the intrusions. He had then gone to Domus and demanded to speak with the man who had placed the runes around Lucy's room, but found that Governor Justine had been contracted by King Jude of Astralis to maintain those stupid purple runes in the first place. The bastard actually lived in the castle.

When King Makarov had heard Natsu's story, he wasn't impressed with the level of isolation that his long-time friend and ally was imposing on his only child, but his hands were tied. There was nothing anyone could do because Jude was a King and could 'look out for Lucy's safety' as he saw fit.

So Natsu, Lucy, and Happy planned and plotted when they weren't joking or laughing, their ideas becoming wilder by the second. It was almost a game to stave off the rising anxiety in all of them.

Natsu had once suggested that he should attack the guards that surrounded Lucy when she left for her lessons, but Lucy had immediately vetoed that plan.

"But why Luce? I've stolen you before, this wouldn't be any different. I'm stronger than those puny knights that your father has in his army."

"I would agree with you normally, but he has a stupidly strong mage with me at all times by the name of Blue Note. He uses a strange type of gravity magic and he accidentally killed a servant a month ago by crushing them into the ground."

"Aweee…Luce! I could take him!"

"No Natsu!"

And that was the end of that plan.

-ooo-

One winter night, just after nightfall, Natsu had landed outside her room with a manic grin plastered on his face and had only cackled when she asked why he was in such a good mood.

His answer was to throw a glimmering silver key at her. He crowed in happiness and spat a plume of flames high into the air when his suspicions were confirmed.

They key in question sailed right through the runes without so much as a blip and hit Lucy smack in the middle of the forehead. She glowered and grumbled at the stupid Dragon who ignored her and instead just plopped himself down on the stones of her veranda waiting for her to stop her cursing of this good name.

Lucy gasped when she recognised the design. "Where did you find this?"

"It was in Igneel's horde. It looked just like you gold ones so I thought that you might be able to use it?"

Natsu looked uncertain when Lucy started to cry heavily. He knew these were tears of joy and relief, but he still hated to see her weep, even after all these years. Especially because he couldn't soothe her pains from behind his accursed wall.

"Thank you, Natsu! You don't know how much this means to me! I'm going to summon him now."

"OPEN! GATE OF THE LITTLE DOG! NIKORA!"

One poof and many golden sparkles later, a single little white…thing…sat shivering on the floor of Lucy's room.

Natsu watched as Lucy squealed and hugged the spirit to her growing chest and spun around in a circle. "I'm going to call you Plue! Is that alright."

The spirit seemed to have no problems with it.

"Alright, Plue. Nice to meet you!" Lucy pointed at her best friend. "This is Natsu. He's the one who brought you to me."

Plue gave the Fire Dragon Slayer a shaky wave. He grinned back at the new spirit. He was proud to have given Lucy a companion for when he couldn't be by her side. It also helped that Plue could give her hugs when he couldn't.

It had been almost six and half years since he had held Lucy in his arms, and for the young hormonal teenager – that was trying in vain to stop noticing Lucy's slowly developing curves – it was more than a bit infuriating. He wasn't good with words, he was an action person. How was he supposed to show Lucy that she was safe if he couldn't even hug her?

There wasn't a good answer for him, and it wouldn't occur to him until much later in life that he should've just told her that he loved her right then. But what did he know? He was a naïve sixteen-year-old that didn't even quite realise there was a huge difference between familial love and romantic love. (Natsu would want to come back in time years from now and kick his younger self in the face for his ignorance.)

So all Natsu did was smile and wish Lucy a nice night, and left her to her devices. He knew that she would want to get well acquainted with that new friend. He zoomed back to Ignis feeling lighter than air at the fact that he could make Lucy smile that gigantic smile that made his heart happy once again.

He couldn't wait to make her grin like that again and watch as her chocolate eyes lit up in absolute joy. Natsu vowed to search for more of those keys so that Lucy wouldn't feel lonely again.

Little did he know that someone was waiting in his room that very night, someone who would take away his happiness – and by extension, Lucy's as well – for the next decade to come.

-ooo-

It was finally ready!

The R-system he designed and subsequently built with the help of a couple of shady groups of slavers off the coast of Caeruleus Kingdom was complete. Obviously, he had done this in secret, and with a fair chunk of money too. He had raised the taxes of Ignis at least three separate times to accommodate the price of the materials and the expenses of the slave masters and also the upkeep of the slaves.

He was assured that the place would be cleansed when it was all done, and he was not let down. Everyone on that god forsaken rock had been eliminated at the first sign of dawn.

Other than a hiccup in building within the first year by a group of rebellious children, the Tower of Heaven had been completed on time.

He was assured that the upstart kids had drowned in the ocean when they had tried to swim to the mainland, so he knew that his secret remained intact.

With the means in place and ready to begin with the resurrection sequence, all Zeref needed was a test subject. A patient zero as it were. The King was a scientist at heart, and his head contained one of the most brilliant minds in all the Kingdoms, so he believed that the scientific method should be followed to the letter.

Ergo…the test.

Just as he didn't know the consequences of his tampering with the flow of life and death, he didn't know what the consequences of pulling someone back from the afterlife. He wouldn't even entertain the thought of even possibly putting Mavis in any more danger than he had already done, so he meditated on the problem until he found the solution.

He needed to use it on someone who trusted him, who wouldn't suspect anything, on someone around the same weight and height as Mavis herself.

His love was barely taller than a teenager, so all the adults in his life were out, and he had other plans to use his council.

So that only left one person really.

Zeref sat on the edge of the king sized bed, relaxed and at ease with his decision. He saw no other choice, so although he lamented the loss of life he was about to witness, he felt no remorse. Mavis was more important than anything in the world, so the collateral damage was worth it.

It had to be done, and he didn't have to wait long before he spotted the young boy flying towards the room where the King lounged. It was a simple task to knock out his brother's little cat friend earlier that evening, placing him in an endless sleep, courtesy of Lullaby, the demon flute he had recently created. Happy…or whatever his name was, was currently slumbering quite nicely beside Mavis' crystal.

He didn't want his only family to wake up with no friends after all of this was finished after all.

"Zeref? What are you doing here so late?"

Black eyes found onyx. "Natsu, I wanted to tell you something. Something very important."

A blinding grin stole over Natsu's face, his joy couldn't be diminished in the slightest at the moment as Lucy's smile was still fresh in his young mind. "Sure. What is it?"

A wolfish grin, full of malice and hatred lifted the corners of Zeref's thin lips. His eyes danced with insanity. Zeref glided forward towards Natsu and unwound Igneel's last gift from around his neck, exposing a cross-shaped scar. "I love you so much, brother." His statement was the truth, but it was also not enough to save the young boy from harm. Rather, it was what sealed his fate.

Death magic exploded out from the King and engulfed the room, leaving nothing alive in its wake.

Within one second and the next, Natsu, Prince of Ignis, Son of the Fire Dragon Igneel and best friend to Lucy and Happy, collapsed on the floor, dead with the ghost of his last smile on his face.