Hey guys, here is the next chapter in this story.

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Chapter Twenty-Three

Reunion

The break out at the Prison nearly two months ago had sent a lot of nervous signals to the world and even the knowledge that Acnologia had been freed caused that fear to grow even higher.

Rave could feel that something was about the change in the world. He didn`t know how he knew but something within him told him that something is coming, something strange and powerful.

They have been rumors of strange creatures sighting all over Fiore and even some villages were attacked by them, destroyed and everyone was killed. With the mounting fear, the people turned to the King to give them protection but even the King was as clueless about the situation.

"It`s a whole damn mess," Harry sighed, taking a seat, "To think that right after the Dragon Wars have come to an end, this have to happen…"

Rave watched the old man.

"Does that mean the Festival will be canceled?" he asked.

"The King isn`t going to cancel it," Harry told the boy, "This Festival might be the only way for him to get the trust of the country back. It will be heavily guarded and since they will be Dragons there, I recon that it might be the safest place in Earthland at the moment."

"That means we`re going right?" Rave told him.

The old man nodded his head.

"We`re going to have to," he said, "I have a feeling that everything will be revealed there."

Rave stared at him confused.

"What?"

The old man glanced up at him.

"If those people had managed to invade Impel Prison one of the most secured prison in all of Fiore and free one of the most dangerous inmates in there, what are we betting that they will make an appearance during the Festival?"

Rave thought about it.

"Are you sure you aren`t…I don't know, stretching it thin?" he said.

Old man Harry chuckled a little.

"I am just making an observation," he said, rolling up then newspaper in his hand, "That Zeref guy have been pretty ballsy to attack the Prison, who knows, the Festival is one of the most famous event in Fiore and they will be a lot of other countries nobles present. This will be the perfect moment to make a move if he ever was planning one."

Rave stared at him in shock. Only one thing had stood out to him in that monologue right there.

"D…Did you just say Zeref?"

Harry glanced at him.

"Yeah," he said, "You know him?"

Rave didn't even answer as he took the paper from him, reading the article that was written. He couldn`t believe his eyes at what he was seeing.

Impossible, he thought, He couldn`t be him right?

But something within him couldn`t let go of the possibility that this could actually be his older brother. But Zeref supposedly died in when his Village was attacked. Wasn`t that what Igneel had told him that day, that he was the only survivor.

Rave narrowed his eyes.

I am going to have to make sure, he thought, frowning.

If that Zeref in the newspaper his is older brother, he will have to meet him.

"Harry," he said, "I am coming with you to the Festival."

The old man stared at him in confusion, his green eyes seemingly searching his face for whatever caused the sudden change within him.

"Rave, what exactly is going on?" he asked.

"My brother…," he said, "My older brother, had the same name."

Harry`s eyes widened.

"What?"

"There might be a chance that he is my brother," Rave told him, meeting his green eyes, "There might be a chance that Zeref survived the incident that befallen my village. This might be a way to meet him if he appeared during the Festival."

"Look, Rave I don't want to pop your bubble but this Zeref is a criminal by law," Harry told him, "You saw what the papers said, just because he freed Acnologia from his prison he is wanted and will be executed by the King."

Rave tightened his fist.

"He is my only family," he said, "I don`t care if he is a criminal or an enemy of the state. I will help him."

Harry`s eyes narrowed in anger.

"Then I have nothing more to teach you," he said.

Rave blinked, a shock running through him.

"What?"

Harry stared hard at him.

"If you`re going to be helping a criminal," he continued, "Then I won`t teach you anymore of my magic. Your vow to me when I started training you was to become a better man than you are today. If you go and help Zeref, than that`s where our road part ways."

Rave stayed still standing in the middle of the room, his body shaking. He couldn't believe what Harry was doing. He tightened his hands together before turning around and walking out of the room going upstairs.

He had made his choice. If his brother is still alive, he will have to see it with his own eyes.

He packed his bags which was a lone one since he didn`t have many clothes and then his traveling cloak upon his body. The new black cloak covered his body well as he now stood in front of the still seated Harry with his bag upon his shoulder.

"Then we part ways," he said, giving him a bow, "Thank you for all that you have teaching me."

He turned around and opened the door.

"You know," Harry said, the old man`s voice stopping him from moving, "In a way, I am proud of you. The little boy from seven years ago would never have the guts to refuse what I had to say. You have grown up well Rave."

The young man didn't say anything before simply walking out of the house even thought he felt a strange feeling in his heart, he continued to walk leaving the only place and home he had for the past seven years.

Crocus or as it was commonly known The Blooming Capital

The Main capital city of Fiore was beautifully decorated with flowers earning it her nickname of the Blooming Capital. It had taken Rave an entire week to get there considering that he had to walk, but he had made good time. He wanted to see for his own eyes, that the Zeref that was mentioned in the papers was his brother.

Dressed in his black cloak and his dark hair falling down around his face, thought it didn't hide the black eyes that were fugitively glancing around. He noticed that they had a lot of guards around, all of them armed as they made their round across the city.

Even thought the air was cheery and people were celebrating the end of the Dragon Civil Wars, the warning that Zeref had given them had put them all on edge. The nervous signals that was given was underlying there, hiding right beneath the surface…

He bumped on someone causing him to falter in his steps.

"Watch were you going kid," the man`s voice said.

Rave turned toward the man. He was dressed in some robes thought he had the Dragon Slayer symbols upon his outfit.

"A Dragon Slayer," he murmured softly as the man simply shook his head and continued on his merry way.

That was strange.

The Dragon Slayers had been disbanded ever since the end of the war…At least, that`s what the Kingdom had told the people…

Suddenly the sun disappeared causing Rave to glance up toward the skies noticing the dark clouds that were passing above. He frowned to himself. Those were rain clouds from the look of it, but where did they come from when the sky was clear all morning?

I have a bad feeling about this, he thought.

Above the city, the large black clouds were gathering themselves but the strangest thing was, there was no thunder as the clouds continued to gather forming a large whirlpool of darkness above the city.

Standing upon a roof that was overlooking the city, a woman stood there, her long white hair falling down upon her shoulders as her blue eyes watched the city below. Then softly, rain started to fall above the Blooming Capital.

"Lord Zeref, Your rise will begin soon," she said.

She put her hands together as a magical circle appeared in the sky, right beneath the clouds as the rain continued to fall.

"Poisedon Wrath," she said.

Rave as everyone within the city were surprised at the turn of events that was happening as the rain started to fall. Then the large magical seal had appeared right after that causing everyone to stare at it in shock and surprise.

Then in front of everyone`s eyes, the rain water grew even larger as they fell, growing the sizes of full carriages as they hammered down upon the city, destroying houses they touches and causing panic in the middle of the city as everyone started to scream and run away.

But Rave noticing what was happening and knew that it was the move that Zeref could be behind…

He is here, he thought to himself as he ran forward going the opposite way everyone was running.

From beside him a raindrop slammed upon one of the house, causing it to blast apart and caused him cover his eyes as the rocks flew about. Rave, then put both of his hands together and assumed a stance.

Then as his magic gathered around his body, three large magical circles were spring into life forming a triangular pattern around the boy.

"Three layered Magical Circle: Crystal Shell."

He threw both of his hands toward the sky as the three circles flew high and then, crystal started to shape around them forming a large umbrella shaped like shell above the town he was in and felt the raindrops hitting the shell he had put in place.

Then he noticed that the Water spell that had been casted stopped as the dark clouds dispersed themselves causing him to let his hand down as the crystal shell above the city disappears in glitters.

Then his eyes found a woman standing on top of one of the towers. The woman met his gaze as another person stepped forward. That was a young man, dressed in a strange red cloak with a toga around his form, which blew in the wind.

His eyes widened in shock as the man`s face came into a view…

No…way, he thought.

"What was that before Siren?" Zeref asked the woman beside him.

"I would have thought that this old magic would have died out," Siren said a soft smirk on her lips, "The Crystal Magic, one of the most powerful defensive magic…even stronger than runes. It was said that this sealed magic once sealed will last for eternity."

Zeref narrowed his dark eyes.

"Is that so," he murmured, "But even so, it doesn't matter. I think it's time to call him into the fight."

Siren chuckled.

"You want to crush their will that fast?"

"Crush is a too nice word for what I will do to this world," Zeref said, a red glow appearing in his eyes.

Siren blinked and noticed that the Fiore Army had found them as they were quickly approaching toward where they are.

"Here they come," she said.

Zeref simply looked down at the soldiers, noticing the number of rumbles around them. He then put his hands together as the dark aura appeared around him.

"Nemesis," he murmured.

All around the soldiers which were getting their weapons ready to fire toward the two mages that stood above them, demons started to rises from the rubbles around them. That caused them to glance around in shock and in surprise as enemies seems to grow out of nowhere all around them.

"W…What kind of magic is this?"

"They are everywhere…,"

"Get ready men," a General yelled drawing out his blade, "We will show them the might of the Fiore Army."

The soldiers steeled their resolves as they lined themselves behind their general before charging into battle, fighting against the demons that were attacking them. The soldiers quickly noticed that as they fought, the demons were taking no damage from the attacks they were landing upon them but they were losing a lot of mens in the fights.

"Our attacks are not having any effects," a soldier yelled.

The General gritted his teeth as he stared at the army of monsters that were standing in front of him.

"Just…what kind of dark magic are we dealing with here?" he said.

To think that just a few minutes ago, everyone was laughing and celebrating. Now everything was thrown into chaos. Rave made his way toward where he had seen Zeref. He couldn`t actually believe it but the brother he had thought that was dead for at least seven years was alive…

He was alive.

He ran pass a soldier who was yelling to the civilians of the city to evacuate as he seated upon a mounted stead. He had his sword drawn as more soldiers continued to run toward where the main problem was happening in the city.

He continued to run until he reached the location finding that Zeref was standing alone now, and the woman had thrown herself down from where she was, her body turning into water.

Then she landed in the middle of the fight, and then she exploded into water, throwing everything that was near her back, soldiers and demons alike. A lot of people screamed as the water threw them away and landing painfully on the ground, most of them knocked out.

Rave was openmouthed at the display.

She took out a large platoon of trained soldiers in only one go, she thought, So this is the strength of a powerful Mage.

The woman turned her gaze toward him seeing him standing there. Then she raised her hands toward him causing Rave to widen his eyes. Water suddenly flew out of her hands, aiming straight at him. Instincts from training kicked in and Rave threw himself out of the way of that attack as a magic circle appeared in his hands.

"Crystal Fist," he yelled.

The large fist mage out of crystal aimed straight toward Siren who`s eyes widened in surprise, but she had managed to avoid the attack that had come for her.

"You are the Crystal Wizard?" she said, her surprise evident in her voice, "I expected you to be older..."

Her eyes seemingly were checking Rave out, a sensual smile growing on her lips.

"Much older," she said, "Even thought, I am not complaining."

Rave narrowed his eyes at her.

"Sorry to disappoint," he let out.

Siren smirked and then said, "You know…you look, remarkably like him, the only thing that`s different, is your eyes."

Rave glared at her.

"If you`re talking about Zeref," he said, "I should look like him, after all, he is my older brother."

Siren raised her eyebrows in shock.

"Impossible," she said, "He has no family…no one except for me."

Rave blinked at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Exactly as it sound like," Siren said, "Now I will take you down."

She moved quickly launching a spell at him, "Water Typhoon."

The water spell aimed straight at Rave, who marveled at the speed, before covered his face, letting the water attack hit him, pushing him backward but with his feet incased in crystal and into the ground, he wasn't moving an inch.

Damn, if I stay here any longer, I won`t be able to breathe…, he thought.

The pinkish glow appeared around him.

"Crystal World," he thought.

The water suddenly solidified as Siren`s eyes widened in surprise.

"To be able to crystallize my water Magic," she said, her voice showing some approval, "You`re quite skilled."

"And I am not done yet," Rave said breaking the crystal that had solidified around him.

He spun his hands together as another magical seal appeared.

"Crystal Prison," he said.

Crystal grew around Siren`s form encircling her form until she was completely sealed inside the round shaped crystal. Then Rave turned his gaze toward the top of the tower, right at Zeref who was looking down straight at them.

Their eyes met.

Zeref stared curiously at the young man below. He had heard the conversation that had gone between Siren and him and he had grown curious almost angry at the young man. Then when he stared at his face, he can feel a slight shock running through him.

H…he look just like Mother, he thought, but how could that be…Rave was the one that looked like Mother. Could this guy be…Rave? How could he had survived when I saw him died?

Then a noise caused Zeref to turn his gaze toward the large shapes that were appearing in the skylines. He recognizes those shapes as he narrowed his eyes in anger. Those were Dragons, at least the Dragons that were still loyal to Fiore and he can even sense the Dragon Slayers there too.

Now they finally show up, he thought, but, I see that they had taken my warning well.

"So you`re Zeref," one of the Dragon Slayer said, as he landed on the roof behind him as the dragons stationed themselves around him.

"So you have came Dragon Slayers," he said, "And you have brought your Dragon Masters."

A small smile crossed Zeref`s face.

"But you should know," he continued, "I have brought one of mines too."

The Dragon`s attention turned skyward as they stared at a shape that was slowly descending from the heavens.

"W…What is that?" one of the Slayers said.

"It`s…It`s a Dragon," one of the Dragons said, growling, "But I have never seen those scales before."

A dark grin continued to grow upon Zeref`s face.

The Dragon had black round scales upon his upper body, which were decorated with blue markings. The white eyes glowed eerily, even in the sunlight as the black wings that were opened gave a dangerous aura.

Then the dragon let out a large roar which shook the nearby buildings.

"Allow me to introduce, The Black Dragon, Acnologia,"

Carnage has arrived on to the battlefield...

Next time: The Power to change

Hope you guys have enjoyed this update.

Jacques0 out.