Hi guys, happy extremely belated New Years! I can't believe it's almost been three years since I first began this story and it's STILL going, I guess I have myself to blame for that. ...But otherwise hi, Im going to try and make this short since last A/N was so long, though I haven't been here in a good amount time so I'll be a little rusty.
First I'd like to thank everyone for their support over my feelings towards this story and respecting it, I really didn't expect this much kindness from you guys but it's really made me really happy to see the overwhelming support you've given me and I'm so happy you guys love this story to want to see it finished to that extent. (Though to be honest I'm just surprised anyone cares enough to read this XD)
Second of all I'd like to thank the newer readers as well, I'm really glad that you enjoy the story 030 Thirdly, since I had originally drafted this in June I had written the backstory for Zeref a little differently to how it was finally revealed in the manga a few months ago and because of that this chapter unfortunately won't be following his manga backstory. If you don't like this then it's fine, it doesn't really impact the story as a whole but I thought it would be nice if I just wrote it anyway, I hope you don't mind ._.
Finally about the fate of this story, I will try my best to find another writer to continue this story but for now I'll be trying my hardest to finish it, I do however still have school and other things back on again as well as the other issues as well so don't expect too much out of it XC If you yourself would like to continue this story PM me and we'll discuss the details there.
Thank you and I hope you don't mind backstory XD
Chapter 39 (The Man Who Lived Forever and This Beautiful World)
Normal POV,
There once was a man who lived forever. He had everything humans spent their whole lives striving for - power and time. His life however was a never ending road, it was not only perpetual it was lonely as well. Like a blind man he saw only one colour for a very, very long time.
At first he was happy, he would never age and his powers were known across the continent, people respected and feared him, there was a point in his life where he had everything but eventually that faded as well.
As the years passed he saw hundreds of people come and go from his life, each of them passing by as fleetingly as he saw their lives.
His empty heart soon learnt after loosing the first ones that left him, that all the time that he had been given was after all, less of a blessing and more of curse.
He slowly began to realise that although their lives were short, they experience so much more than he ever had in his never ending journey to the end. His life was forever unending and perpetual, it was worth very little yet he couldn't just throw it all away either.
Little things he was never able to experience soon caught up to him and he started to hate all the time he had been allotted.
As time went on the memories of his human days, back when time was still short and fleeting, when he had no clue he would be ever be trapped in time, when his life still meant something, faded as well as his humanity. The human emotions and all of it's wonders disappeared from his mind until he was nothing but a walking shell.
Constantly walking on a path he knew he would never find the end to.
But sometimes god would smile down at him and grant something to cure his loneliness, company he so yearned for would appear out of nowhere and make him forget that his life would never end, that he had no goal to come to. Being around them made him feel vulnerable, as if his life was like theirs - that it could end at any moment.
The venerability was bliss to him and it forced him to appreciate everything around him - something he couldn't ever do alone. The sun was hotter, the flowers brighter and the air fresher.
It was as if living forever had taken away the very essence of living, the ability to feel.
All those emotion, feelings, sensations bought back to him by one person but often just as abruptly they had appeared they left as well, taking with them little bits of his own heart he never knew he had.
Slowly he began to despise this as much as he did when he was alone but he couldn't stop it nevertheless. He yearned to feel again, even though he knew it would hurt him in the end.
His resentment towards his loneliness and his boredom soon grew and his childish jealousy towards the human race drew him to killing. It was as if time had trapped him from ever truly growing up and behind his cruel, emotionless facade was really a child who had never even experienced the simplest things in life.
And what little he did had already been taken away from him.
Nevertheless, blood flew wherever he went.
People began to notice and he was more than happy to fight back, this led to a full scale war and destruction of Fiore & it's surrounding continents. Around the end of this war against him, now nicknamed the Dark Lord he kidnapped their commander - a young girl who was known by the masses as genius in war and strategy.
Many regarded this as a direct hit towards the humans but in reality the young man was only curious of this girl's intellect. Grown sadistic over the years he regarded this war as a hobby, although the humans were slowly winning this war against him he could barely careless.
To him these humans were disposable and stupid, most importantly they were fragile as well, even the tiniest lack of thought could hurt them and he knew that well. This coupled with his inability to feel and appreciate the passage of time meant that the humans were no match to him.
After all humans can't be replaced even after they died, he knew this better than anyone else. They could take as many of his demons' lives as they wanted but the lives of their humans would never be forgotten.
Besides, how could these humans, so stupid and fragile be allowed happiness if he could never have it no matter how much power, how much time he had.
They would never be able to understand his century long struggle for his own sanity, why should they be allowed to live if he couldn't even have the luxury of death.
That was what he thought until Mavis Vermillion changed everything.
Mavis was the youngest and the most powerful of all the human generals, her height only added to her perceived age as she was not very tall either. Her emerald green eyes and white-blonde hair more than made up for her height however.
She was intelligent just as the rumours had said and extremely powerful as well though she often worked in the sidelines instead of the battlefield. A genius in war strategies she was the reason the humans had gotten anywhere near the man at all. The fact that he had begun loose footing only further proved her intellect.
The man was often intrigued by this young girl who's only directions had gotten the human race so far into this war against him, a child essentially who was barely thirteen had turned the odds against him almost immediately after she had joined the ranks.
Who wouldn't be curious?
Her confidence in her own abilities were obvious as well, even in shackles she remained dignified and no amount of pain or torture could could destroy her pride. She had a childlike trust in her people and continued to justify their cause, convinced that what the man was doing was wrong.
Though he disliked her confidence he found himself drawn to her stubbornness and her intelligence, he knew this girl had no outside contact with any of her own army yet she never seemed deterred even when she was told of another loss from her own army.
Her gaze however were not as emotionless as she had wanted it to.
The man knew her pride would never let her show the pain she felt when she heard her people had died yet again, she would never show anyone her tears and instead keep it inside of her.
Eventually it'll build up and she'll go insane.
He recognised those eyes, they were the same as his all those years ago before he became who he was today and because he knew it would eventually be the end of a child still so young, it struck an emotion deep inside him he had forgotten he had.
He pitied her.
Anger took over his thoughts as the war raged on, he refused to believe that the slight quivering of his heart whenever he saw Mavis's sad yet defiant eyes could possible be something so intimate.
Why would he pity the enemy and a human at that. She would never understand what hell he had been through, the torture he had experienced that overtook any kind of human torture.
After all, he had to see his own life rot away before him, see the world change around him while he himself never changed. He was still the same as he had been thousands of years ago, because time had trapped him in impenetrable bubble.
There was a part of him that had already died yet he continued to live, forced to walk on no matter what happened to him.
But despite his protests the war slowly slipped his mind and the time he spent with Mavis increased, it was as if all the anger, resentment and pain he had been holding onto to keep him sane were slowly slipping away from him. He became fond of her.
It was as if the more he talked to this girl, the looser his hold was on his own hatred which was the only thing he has held onto all those years to keep him from going insane. But now that she was here he was slipping, looser and looser until eventually he let it all go.
And suddenly it all disappeared, replaced with every other emotions he had long forgotten about - happiness, sadness, excitement, wanting all these things he had long forgotten about overwhelmed in a single instant as soon as his eyes met hers.
It was like he was feeling for the first time all over again.
Eventually he found himself doing anything he could to make her happy, it was as if he shared her happiness as much as she shared his pain. Although they were only small things he began to feel happiness just being around her and as time went on he began to forget that she was human as well.
He led himself to believe that maybe, just maybe he had finally found what he had been trying to find for centuries.
His need, his want, his will to live.
He was addicted to her, nothing else made him happier than she did. Like a teenager on ecstasy he constable went back for more and he couldn't handle being away from her, his lack of experience with his own feelings caused him to be overwhelmed by his own heart and before he knew it his curiosity had turned into love.
A love so strong that even he knew would destroy him even more than his immortality ever could.
During the period he had been inactive in the war, the humans launched a full scale attack on him, convinced that the man had done something horrible to their commander.
Without his commands his demons fell easily and before he knew it the humans had cornered him in his own base.
Like a mouse trapped in a corner he began to defend himself furiously from the approaching army but he was quickly outnumbered, without an army and no time to make more he had lost not only the war but Mavis as well.
She had been left without even saying goodbye.
As he walked out into the cold, rainy day, the smell of blood and gun powder filled his nostrils as he met the gaze of a familiar pair of emerald green, the wind seemed blow away his voice as he surrendered.
"You win, Mavis." The man whispered with a bitter smirk.
The blonde girl lowered her gun as she frowned, unsettled by the man's bitter remark but before she could speak the sound of gun shooting cut her off.
The shot of the gun echoed through the sky as a bullet the size of the man's thumbnail came hurtling towards him. He had heard it before he saw it, giving it the time to soar through the air and straight at his face.
He had no time to react.
The man closed his eyes as he waited for the impact to hit him, unable to do mor but laugh at the naïveté who whoever was trying to kill him. As if it was easy to die from a gun shot wound to the head, if it was really that easy he would be dead.
But no one told Mavis that.
The impact he was expecting never arrive, instead he could only hear the dull thud of a body falling to the floor as he opened his eyes quickly. Realising that someone had taken the bullet for him he turned the body around to see who had been stupid enough to run in front of him.
It was Mavis, his addiction, his love, his happiness. She had stepped in front of him in a futile attempt to save his life.
He stared at the body in shock, as if staring at it would somehow change the person it was lying in front of him. The same empty green eyes stared up at him as he continued to look unable to look away he could feel his cheeks heating up.
A tear dripped off his cheek as his arms continued to shake, he grabbed the still warm body and hugged it tightly to himself, as if trying to forcefully take his own time and inserting into her body.
But it was futile, there was way he could ever give even a fraction of his time here to her. She had left him with all the time in the world, she had saved a monster who should have died a long time ago,
How dare he live when Mavis would never be able to grow up.
He had lived for thousands of years but none of the other departures had ever left him quite like this, his scarred heart something he had tried to protect for so long had collapsed violently back into tiny pieces.
But then again he had never fallen so hard either.
He was punished yet again for being happy, even the slightest bit of happiness was taken away from him. It was as if god himself was punishing him for all they he had done before by taking what little he still had.
Suddenly centuries worth of hatred, anger and resentment came crashing back down on him, crushing him beneath their weight as the rain continued to fall around him.
It was his fault after all for not stopping himself earlier, it was his fault for ever letting himself be happy despite knowing the consequences, it was his fault she was dead.
It was his fault for ever believing she was anything more than human.
He was the one with too much time.
Her empty green eyes seem to yell at him as he closed his eyes unable to look. He could feel himself breaking as the thought of never speaking to her again grabbed at his mind, thousands of thoughts choked him as he looked towards the humans that had killed her.
He felt his power well up inside of him as he stood up, his body soaked to the skin from the rain above. But as he took a step towards them the anger disappeared, replaced by a empty detachment. "Go on. Kill me." He whispered, his tone suddenly empty as his mouth twisted into a grotesque grin.
"If you can, that is."
That day he swore he would never be hurt like this again.
X791, Present Day
A small figure sat on the long branch of a tree, her back leaning against the base of the tree as moonlight cascaded from the branches above her, reflecting against her golden hair like an angel's halo.
Her feet swung idly underneath her as she stared blankly across the forest tops, her seemingly ageless features shinning under the white light of the full moon. A loud crack made her freeze as she turned slightly behind her, she wasn't alone anymore.
"It seems you were wrong, weren't you Mavis?" Her shoulders stiffened as she recognised the owner of the voice almost immediately, a slight frown emerged from her solemn gaze but she provided no response to the Dark Lord. He chuckled slightly and sat down at the base of the tree she was seated on.
"My children found her wandering in streets of that useless city alone - what do you think happened, Mavis?" He continued, ignoring the fact that the First Leader of Fairy Tail hadn't bothered to give him an answer before.
"She will never succumb to you." She hissed suddenly, her underlying fury burning heavily in her tone. "Are you still hoping she's coming here to kill me?" Zeref asked, mildly amused at Mavis's sudden outburst. "From what I've heard she had come willingly."
Silence filled the air as both waited for a response but after a few minutes Mavis finally spoke, "I have faith in her, she is one of us." Her tone a lot calmer than it had been before but Zeref didn't miss the slight anger still evident in her voice.
"I know you are trapped in a child's body, but you should stop acting like one as well." He answered nonchalantly, "Mavis you must learn to embrace this ugly world we continue to live in." He continued standing up and joining Mavis's gaze at the moon.
"Hope can do no good." He added gently as if coaxing a misbehaving child. Mavis's usually blank features were now twisted into an angry scowl. "And yet you are still trying so desperately to change it?" She demanded, her true anger still hidden deep within her heart.
"Embracing does not mean I cannot change it." Zeref answered, his tone reflecting his slight annoyance. "Beauty is what I seek in this world, such beauty that does not exist yet in this world." Zeref laughed, insanity lacing his words, he hesitated. "This friendship and family you hold so dearly to your heart is filthy."
He was silent for a minute. "Have you forgotten who killed you?" Mavis did not answer. "I have left them alive for far too long, yet you want them to continue to live. You of all people understand the ugliness of humanity." Zeref snarled, his anger suddenly erupting from his face as his tone grew sharper.
"It wasn't suppose to end that way." Mavis answered finally, her voice barely audible as the wind rustled the leaves a over her head. "I'm already dead, there's nothing you or I can do to change that." Zeref laughed, "As if this is only about you. Do you understand how long I've been alive?"
"Do you understand how many people I've seen die, how many lives lost? Time passes, people die and more are born, the world is changing but do I change? I've been living for as long as I can remember but I might as well be dead."
"Because I've finally found the reason to live and that's to die." Zeref breathed heavily as he composed himself, his tone settling into a tight yet calm voice. "But it's alright, once I change this horrible world, I'll finally be at peace, I'll finally be able to leave this life and seek another. I'll finally be free."
As Zeref finished Mavis laughed quietly, "Is that what you think living is? To die? Has all this time gotten to your head?" She hissed, "To live is to experience the little things in life good or bad, friendship and family included. What is life without someone to do it with? "
"Friendship and family are bonds that can last a life time, no matter how far you go you know they'll always be with you. They're the morality behind us all and it is because of these things we are able to experience the feeling of love and belonging."
"They will stand behind you no matter who you become or what you do." Mavis stopped as she looked up into the sky, her emerald green eyes shinning against the moonlight when Zeref finally answered.
"But these are the same bonds that we fight for, there is not a single human out there who wouldn't fight for who or what they love and that same emotion leads to war."
"And that will take away everything they have." Zeref smiled, "And you would understand that, wouldn't you?" He asked as he looked up into the trees. Mavis turned around and met his gaze with her own.
"I'm sorry that I did this to you." Zeref's smile widened as his eyes filled with an emotion even Mavis couldn't decipher. "I would apologise but I'm not sorry."
"It's a beautiful world Mavis, this world you've left me with is beautiful after all, even without you in it."