This is an AU reaction. Things are different from Canon, based on a Fanfiction that rewrites the backstory of the series.
Today was like any other day in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Laughs echoed all along the building, the thud of finished pints and the orders for refills were felt by the floors of the hall itself. And of course the most energetic members of the guild were currently embroiled in an all out fist fight that Master Makarov was sure he'll regret not stopping earlier.
Makarov looked at his 'children' and at one in particular amongst them. Having just entered the guild hall, one Levy McGarden carefully approached his seated form, with a large object on her person.
Makarov waited for the young woman to reach him and once she did she placed the object beside him with a groan after it left her hands.
Now that he could see it closer Makarov identified the object in question as a Lacrima, judging by its shape and magical presence, but this Lacrima felt different from any other he'd ever seen before. He looked back at Levy, no words were needed for his question to be acknowledged.
"I found it this morning in my apartment, it was resting on my dining table when I saw it, it had this note beside it and what it said was … Interesting …" the girl trailed off.
Makarov asked for the letter and the girl quickly handed him a blank envelope, once he opened it and unfolded the letter he carefully read through its words.
Dear Fairy Tail
This letter is directed not only at the guild's master, but to the guild itself. If everything's right beside this letter is what you'd recognize as a Lacrima, a magical storage device, however this particular Lacrima is so much more than that. If this Lacrima is fed with magical energy it would allow everyone to observe the past and future of your world through a projection screen. I know that to many the concept of seeing the past and future might be thought of as lost magic nowadays, but this method is very different from those lost magics and as per my associate it needs the magic of your resident Dragon Slayer. I simply hope you take this as an opportunity to learn more of your world and potentially be able to affect your future in ways that will be necessary if you wish for Fairy Tail to endure.
There was no signature on the paper and no way for it to be tracked back to any particular individual. After he sent his magic around the letter he noticed many magical seals brightly revealing themselves, itched on the letter and envelope, the most prominent of which he recognized as one which mitigated any smell or magical signature that could be detected.
Master Makarov gave the letter back to Levy and asked "Did you check for any signs that it could be some kind of trap?" It could be a bomb; or long range storage Lacrima, which could trap the guild inside the Lacrima and many more possibilities.
Levy perked up and said "Yeah, it's why I came so late: I checked for magic signatures, the possible triggers for an explosive, put something close to see if it was a storage lacrima and used Natsu's fire to check its activation."
" … You know how to replicate Natsu's fire?" the Guild Master asked a brow lifted, carefully inspecting the Lacrima in his hands.
"Oh, yeah Natsu taught me how to replicate it with Solid Script." Levy nodded, however a blush made itself present on her face and said "... although it's a pretty complicated process, but even with that I wasn't able to activate the Lacima." The master was about to ask how Natsu knew Solid Script magic and when he taught Levy, but she interrupted his thoughts before he could ask "Either way, after all the tests I put it through I think it's legitimate." her eyes glistened as she shared her thoughts to the master. "I think the reason why my copy of Natsu's fire didn't work is that the Lacrima might activate with Natsu's magical signature or soul, not his magic… Where is he?"
Makarov could see the young woman's enthusiasm at the prospect of the Lacrima's legitimacy, but he had many questions about the origin of the Lacrima, who the writer of the letter was, who was their associate, and why would it need Natsu's magical signature specifically? He then responded to the girl's question, "He was commissioned by a member of the magic counsel for a job." he quickly answered. He let out a sigh and with his Giant's magic he enhanced the power of his voice and shouted the guild quiet.
He informed them of the Lacrima, where it was found, the letter, and how it could be activated. However, everyone noticed the clear absence of the resident Dragon Slayer.
"It needs his magical signature? Specifically?" asked Erza, her confusion obvious to everyone looking.
"We believe so." Levy answered and all but satisfied Erza's inquiry; Levy and everyone else was surprised when a bright light emerged from Erza's hand and some kind of locket now rested atop it. Made of Silver with intricate marks and etchings of patterns and runes that only the master with his vast knowledge of ancient artifacts recognized.
Erza seemed to hesitate. She looked like she wanted to say something, but was unsure of her words.
Finally she spoke, "Natsu gave me this as a sign of his trust, he told me that this locket holds a fragment of his soul within it." She carefully handed it to Makarov who, like her, handled the artifact with care. He slowly opened the locket and saw a torn up image with the only remaining fabric showing a tall black haired man, a serine smile present on his face, with a hand on his shoulder, the owner of that hand absent due to the wear and tear of the image. Makarov didn't know the man, nor recognized anything on the torn up image itself. The man was clearly important to Natsu if this locket held a fragment of his soul, but then the mystery came up of why the image was torn, and what was in it originally. From looking at it he could tell the fragment of the image only takes up one-fourth of the area in the locket.
After his inspection he moved the locket close to the lacrima to check for any reaction it would cause. In only a second after the lacrima brightly shines and a ray of light projected from its glass like surface. The light clashed against a wall of the guild and the guild members noticed an image shown by the light and recognized it as Image Projection Magic.
The image was what the letter told of, it showed two words of white text against a black background, those words being Past and Future.
"So it is real." spoke out Wakaba, who with Macao and many other members thought the letter was a practical joke.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" exclaimed Levy with a squeal at the realization. Others too in the guild got excited at the prospect of learning about the past and future.
" … But why did the lacrima need Flame Brain's soul to work?" asked Gray his question too, roaming in the heads of the guild. Gray's eyes stared at the silver locket still in the master's hand "and why does that hold a piece of his soul?" he once more questioned.
As he said those words Makarov handed the locket back to Erza, who when the question was uttered looked longingly at the Locket in her hands. "I honestly don't know. One day Natsu told me to follow him to his home and gave me the locket, he said it was a sign of his trust in me and that he knew I could keep it safe." she moved a strand of hair covering her left eye aside "Later on he informed me that the Locket held a fragment of his soul and that it wasn't the only one … " she then looked towards the Lacrima and after a moment of silence continued "I simply want to know why Natsu would do such a thing as fragment his soul."
Not even a second after the red head's words echoed across the guild hall the projection shown by the Lacrima changed, its text shifted to show the words.
Alakitasia X349
July 13th
"What the…" Levy trailed off when she recognized the name and date shown on screen and realized what they were about to witness. "The lacrima acted on its own. It's showing us something from four-hundred years ago in another continent." She quickly informed the other guild members. Many of them weren't that well studied and some didn't even know there was more than just their continent, Ishgar, in the world.
A blunt echo traveled through the wind and a nail was hammered down with a loud thud. A strong steady hand guided a nail to be hammered down, but just then hesitated. Everything moved, it shook and the rustle of metal nails against the hardwood clinked in everyone's ears, and when the hammer came down to crash onto the nail it slipped and made a visible mark in the wood. A deep voice then said "These earthquakes…"
A tall man, profusely sweating and wiping the sweat off his brow looked up towards the brilliant sun visible in the clear blue skies. The man wore a white robe or toga which reached down to his knees, which partially exposed his right arm and breast with a leather belt keeping the toga fastened to his body, he too wore stringed leather sandals which exposed his toes. The man looked to be in his early thirties and, particularly, had short pink hair which spiked up forward, giving the visage of a singular, short, pink horn atop his head.
The man's appearance immediately struck the Fairy Tail members. "Did the Lacrima react to Erza's voice?" wondered Laki out loud. Her inquiry turned many guildmates who heard her words thoughtful at the question. Makarov quickly came to the same conclusion.
"Hmm … It seems that the Lacrima acted on Erza's words to know more about Natsu and his actions and is now showing us an ancestor of his." Many members nodded their heads, quickly accepting the master's theory of events.
Standing up from his crouched position the man walked to the edge of the roof and jumped down, kicking up dust in the process, the pink haired man then opened the front door of the home. The home was mostly made of wood, and looked to be on its last legs, many supporting beams supporting the structure all around it.
The man entered the home, the sound of his sandals slapping against the wooden floor resonating against the quiet home. He moved towards a table with four carved chairs around it and sat in one of them. In front of him was a woman swiftly cutting vegetables and lamb meat with pinpoint precision.
The woman looked to be no older than in her early twenties and had long curly black hair, with two bangs framing her face and the rest tied up in a bun. She like the man wore a white robe which conformed to her feminine features and reached down to her ankles, but left a window between her large chest and let her midriff open for all to see and like the man had a leather belt on her waist and wore leather string sandals.
"Damn!" Macao exclaimed, he and many other men in the guild felt blood flow from their noses and bright smiles growing at the sight in front of them. Laki used her Wood Make to form pillars of wood which sprouted from the floor and hit all the men in the guild in the back of the head. Some were knocked out by the hit while others complained.
"I'm spent." the pink haired man sighed. He smiled at the woman "Where are the kids?" he asked, getting up and from the cupboards pulling out four smooth ceramic plates and placing them on the table.
The woman stopped and poured the cut vegetables in one metallic bowl which she previously poured some kind of oil beforehand and She placed the bowl atop an iron rack. Below the rack and carved into the wooden top was an intricate pattern with strange symbols in its etching. She tapped the carving and not a second later a flame burst into existence now heating up the bowl and vegetables as well. "Pinky is with his girlfriend." a beautiful smile framed her face. "And Zery is with the smith. He is quite enthusiastic about learning from him." She then looked towards the bowl and after a few seconds she said "The food will be ready in an hour. You can go look for them if you want." the woman waved her hand "See you later" she called out as the man walked out the home.
Walking down the haphazardly formed cobblestone streets of the town the man walked in a straight line to a building larger than most in the town with smoke coming out of a gap in the ceiling. As he approached the site the clang of metal against metal became more and more apparent. It filled the eardrums and it all ended with a pang once he opened the door.
Standing beside an anvil, one hand holding a sword blade and the other an iron hammer is an old man with a long braided white beard wearing tattered overalls and a sleeveless white shirt underneath messy and dirty from the work in the forge. Gently lowering the blade into a bucket of water the elder took his gloves off and from a stand in which lay most of his tools he took a long wooden pipe from which he began to smoke as he approached the pink haired man. "The young lad is in the back … " he said, stopping and letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth. "You know, he's been asking more and more about these.'' He walked with the father through the forge and gestured to the many swords and armors strewn about in the back of the shop. " … I think he wants an apprenticeship here." he whispered when they got to the back.
A young boy in his early teens was crouched down with many sword blades and spear tips strewn across the ground looking at them with what the old man recognized as an eye for detail, searching for any imperfections in the metal.
The boy was tall for his age, one hundred and sixty-five centimeters and had medium length hair, tinted black like his mother's. It reached down to his chin and fell down like flowing water, however a patch at the top of his head spiked up like an antennae staying up despite the pull of gravity. Like his father he wore a white toga, with a black shirt beneath, leather belt and stringed sandals.
There was a pregnant silence present in the room. The pink haired man walked up and crouched down next to his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "Having a fun time Zeref?"
That name, a name nearly all who listened recognized, chaos begat in the guild. Chatter between the guild members got louder and louder and Makarov quickly realized that it would not quiet any time soon. He ordered Levy to try to pause the Lacrima, but before she did anything it seems the Lacrima reacted to Makarov's voice and stopped its projection, looking as if time halted.
Through the noise and commotion he heard a metal clank and step and saw Erza once more approaching him, Gray beside her both with clear questions in mind and uncertainty in their eyes. That name rested at the tip of their tongues. Zeref.
Everyone who had an inkling of knowledge of history knew of that name. The black mage, the most reviled man in all of history and creator of all demons, Zeref himself was hated even by the 'gods'. The story was told for hundreds of years; Zeref, The Black Mage had killed a god himself and desecrated its legacy and power, and with that power gave life to the first demons. No one in this age knew his face nor were there any records of his childhood left after so many centuries. Now however, judging by what the Lacrima had shown them and particularly the locket which once more rested in Erza's hand.
Opening it Erza looked at the torn image with the black haired man, Zeref, now she knew. The path was clear, but Erza didn't want to come to a conclusion she dreaded with all her will.
Looking at the image as well Gray and Makarov felt a weight falling on their shoulders.
Both Erza and Gray had their childhoods' ruined by the acts of the Black Wizard. Erza who alongside thousands of other children were kidnapped and enslaved by the cult of Zeref, until she and others were able to escape their captivity when soon thereafter she was taken in by Makarov and Fairy Tail. Gray's family and teacher, Ur, were killed by the hands of a demon of Zeref, the Giant Deliora. The people of the north of Ishgar fled from their lands in fear of the Etherius, Gray being one of them with no one to count on. Until he met Makarov, a Wizard Saint sent to fight off the threat of Deliora, but had come too late, and soon after; Makarov gave Gray the knowledge that he was welcome to the walls of Fairy Tail.
Their lives had been irreversibly changed by Zeref's actions and the thought of their closest friend and comrade being connected to the Black Wizard was not one they want to accept.
Makarov saw the hesitation and concern in the faces of two of his children, he looked to his side to Levy and saw that she too had come to the same conclusion as the previous two. Somehow Natsu is connected to the Black Mage.
It was to Erza as if the Lacrima had complied with her wish to know more of Natsu's past, but in a way she could have never imagined.
Natsu is the kindest and most understanding person she knew. He is like a bright star to everyone that knew him, always shining down on them and lighting their skies in the darkest nights. Showing mercy and offering friendship to those he deemed as people who could be redeemed, which in all the time she knew him were each and every criminal he had defeated.
She couldn't judge him for his connection to the dark wizard. Everyone was entitled to their secrets, after all no one but Makarov knew of her and Gray's lives before arriving at Fairy Tail. It came to her now that the possible reason for Natsu's constant acts of goodwill and selflessness was directly tied to his connection with The Black Wizard. As though he sought to counteract Zeref's evil actions with his own good.
A few more minutes of commotion passed. Makarov let their worries fester as he saw them as justified at the current moment, but he knew he soon must calm the guild down before things escalated. He sighed and used his Giants Magic to increase his size and grow from his small stature to tower over the guild members barely not touching the ceiling and crouching down. "That is Enough!" he shouted and with that the whole guild turned silent.
He then shrunk down the attention of the guild now resting in him. " I know that seeing such an infamous wizard of the past with your own eyes is a reason to panic, but before anything happens allow me to speak." No one said a word to defy him. "I assume you all know the story of the Black Wizard, right?" Once again no one spoke, only after a few seconds Levy nodded for everyone, confirming the master's question. "Very well then…"
"The Lacrima has shown us events from the past and has chosen to show us a young Zeref before he became the Black Wizard. My wish for all of you is to not cause a commotion for this. This is a monumental moment for us to be able to observe the past and such an illusive figure as the Black Wizard." Makarov then walked back to his spot beside the Lacrima and Levy.
A few seconds later the Lacrima resumed from its frozen state. Having stopped once the commotion began as if it were listening to them.
Zeref stood up and gave his father a gentle smile, he nodded and began to take the blades and spear tips back to their proper places, organized in the many stands in the back. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour, and I have yet to see your brother." his father said. Zeref waved goodbye to the old smith as the duo of father and son left the forgery.
"He should be with his friend on the south east of town, they love to play in the sand." Zeref told and the two walked at a relaxed pace in that direction. There was no rush and his father had something he wanted to ask his son.
"You've been spending a lot of time in the forge with Old man Lee lately." he stated. His statement caused Zeref to look at him with a slight raise of an eyebrow.
"Is that a problem?" he asked
"No, there isn't one. I just want to ask where this sudden interest came from." the father clarified.
There lay a long silence when Zeref thought deeply of a response, the two were approaching the beach and it wouldn't be long before they saw his brother in the distance.
"I would say it's because I find it fascinating." The answer confused his father.
"Elaborate." he said and Zeref complied.
"hmm … I find incredible how Lee is able to turn clumps of Iron and rusted waste into works of art. His swords and armor are top of the line and I find the warriors that come by are very satisfied by his work. Brother does something similar. When he grew the garden by himself, I saw then how he turned a bunch of dirt into a beautiful flower reef. Irene loves those flowers you know? … What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I want to make something that will, hopefully, make an impact on someone's life. Be it protective armor or a beautiful scenery. And while it would be great to be a carpenter like you, I would like to make something of myself, something to call my own and that no one's ever seen before." he finished, a small smile stretching across his face.
Gray felt his clenching fist tightened, clenched since the realization that this kid was Zeref latched itself in his mind. He looked for every minute detail in the conversation between the son and the father that all too looked like an older version of his best friend and rival; sometimes mentor. He was seeing signs even at this young age Zeref was invested in the creation of something never seen before, maybe not now, but when he grew he was sure that Zeref would do anything to achieve that dream.
The Pink haired father looked contemplatively at his son; his words seemed to have struck a chord in him. "You have a great ambition, Zeref. I am not sure what I can do myself, but know that I will always support you in whatever you seek to achieve." he patted his son's back and a few seconds later they arrived at the beach and like Zeref said before his son and his friend were playing in the sand and running trying to catch each other, playing tag he presumed.
The man's son like his father had short and spiky pink hair, spiked in all directions long enough to reach to his ears and wore a black shirt and shorts, his toga and stringed sandals on a rock alongside those of his friend. He was, like his brother, tall for his age, over one hundred and forty centimeters as he and his friend were quite young, both nearing their first decade of life. He had a bright smile son his face despite the many scratches on his face gained from the two's rough playing and even when he slipped and fell face first in the sand his smile didn't waver when he picked himself back up and continued his chase.
His friend was a girl, just his same age and only a few inches shorter than him. She had flowing red hair which covered her right eye and reached down to her shoulders. Like the boy she wore a black shirt and shorts, her bare feet slapping against the sand she too wearing a bright smile all across her face.
"This is getting weird now." said Nab, him and many others weirded out by the uncanny similarity of Zeref's brother and his friend to Natsu and Erza.
Erza looked intensely at the locket, the torn image of Zeref and whoever might have been in that image with him missing. She wondered if Natsu's and her doppelganger would have been in the original portrait. More accurately, she thought, she and Natsu were the doppelgangers.
Noticing the two approaching them the pink haired kid stopped, his feet scraping against the sand and waved at them. Before he could though he was tackled by the red head. A smile on both their faces the two continued to roll around in the sand.
Zeref's father looked at the two with a smile on his face. Zeref himself had a gentle smile and after a few more minutes of the two kids being trapped in their own world Zeref's father finally called out for them. "Natsu come over! Food's ready." Following his command the two kids came to him, the girl being pulled by Natsu to meet him.
"Can Irene come with us?" he asked, the girl Irene nodded in agreement with Natsu with a blush on her face.
Erza felt a strange relief when the girl's name wasn't Erza different from Natsu's doppelganger who had the same name as him. "What are the odds?" With a frown and beside her Gray asked. "What are the odds that an ancestor of Natsu looked the same, acted the same, and hung out with someone who looks just like you?" Erza couldn't bring herself to disagree with him as those same thoughts rumbled in her mind.
"Of course." Zeref's father answered by scratching both of the two kid's heads and messing up their hair. Zeref gave them their sandals and robes, having picked them up while the two were rolling around in the sand. "Just wash your hands before, otherwise mom will be furious," he said.
They begin to walk back home with Natsu and Irene walking with their hands intertwined both walking a bit faster than his father and Zeref, hungry from their long time playing in the sand. Suddenly a rumble began in the earth, small pebbles and piles of dirt began to shift and peoples all around felt as if the ground was moving all around them. A loud crash and deep rumble filled everyone's ears and Natsu and Irene crouched low to the ground to not lose their balance.
A few minutes later the rumbling stopped, everything seemed to calm down and Natsu and Irene looked concerningly at each other and Natsu's father. "Was that another earthquake?" she asked. He nodded and told them to stay close and walk carefully.
After a while they finally arrived at the family's home. The two kids wash their hands and get ready to eat, both sit on the same chair as there were only four.
They began to eat shortly thereafter Natsu and Zeref's mother placed the cut lamb meat, salt and vegetables on the side. Quiet without much conversation in between just simply enjoying the meal. While the two kids ate faster than the others they managed to maintain their manners and told what they had been doing that morning.
"I have to say," began Mirajane "Those two look adorable…" she then turned to Erza "Don't you agree?" a wide smile along her features, and something else shining in her eyes.
Erza knew Mirajane's game, having experienced it many times before in private conversations, she chose simply to ignore the white haired woman. She instead began to ponder on a particular detail she realized she forgot in the revelation of Zeref and his connection to Natsu and the Natsu doppelganger onscreen. That Natsu's soul was fragmented, into many parts, she didn't know how many, but it had to be more than three, including Natsu himself and the locket. She didn't know the mechanics for soul fragmentation or how one could do that, so she chose to ask the master on this conundrum.
Like she had expected Makarov himself had thought deeply about this same mystery as her. "There haven't been that many recorded cases of events like these in the first palace, so there isn't much to work with; and I myself aren't that educated on the subject." he said, scratching his chin in deep thought. "The thing with soul fragmentation is that you are not only splitting your soul or magic apart, but your mind as well, memories and the personality all together could be separated into different fragments and the more there are the less of them some have." He took another moment to recollect his thoughts. Everyone in the guild we're now listening to his lecture. "It is a dark magic for a reason, it can be incredibly harmful to the user." "Think of it like this-" he raised his thumb. "Imagine there is one Natsu, Natsu is kind, hotheaded, forgetful, wise, etc." He then raised his index finger "Then Natsu fragments his soul, now there are two Natsus. Now both of them have half the magic power they originally had and memories and personalities. One is now kind and wise while the other is hotheaded and a forgetful." Makarov raises his middle and ring finger, "Those two are fragmented again and now each one has a fourth of the original magic power and memories. There is now a nice Natsu, a Wise, forgetful, and hotheaded."
"Each time there is less and less of the original person left until they become a caricature of their original self." Above them on the second floor everyone heard Laxus's voice speak out. "So that's what Natsu is, huh? A pathetic half of half of a relative of the Black Mage."
Before anyone could talk back Makarov spoke once again. "There is far more to Natsu than you believe Laxus … if what he said to Erza is true, that his soul is fragmented in potentially three, four or even five pieces then his character and strength of will is stronger than anything I have or will ever see. The true mystery is why he would turn to such a thing as this."
Makarov observed the young Natsu onscreen, the girl, Irene, who looked remarkably similar to Erza was eating with him. He couldn't say for sure, but now Makarov was beginning to believe that this Natsu is the same as their Natsu, living through hundreds of years through soul fragmentation. The current Natsu probably only remembers that he's but a piece of the original.
Alakitasia X349
July 14th
The crash of waves against wet sand filled the air and mounds of sea salt lined the coast line. Walking across were Natsu and Irene, both with shells and clamps in their arms that they had recollected at the beach. Pouring all their findings in an old wooden bucket the two sit beside it, spent. With a sigh Irene shifts her legs on the sand moving to a more comfortable position and swipes the sweat falling from the forehead. "Natsu?" she asked, the boy in question turning his head in surprise having done the same as her before and laid on the sandy beach with his head looking at the sky. His surprise was sullied and the red head continued "When do you think they'll be back?" Upon the question the boy stayed silent for a moment, the newfound breeze that touched the scorching beach being a new pleasure for his reddened skin.
"I don't know Coz" He moved to a position that now the two were parallel in height. "Aunty Rose and Uncle Bern are plenty strong, but they might take longer … You know, they said in that letter they'd return. And that was a month ago."
At that Irene gained a frown "Mr. Delos told me that mom was working hard making the hurt feel better and that papa was beating up all the dragons beyond the mountains." she threw a fist forward simulating the 'beating up' she imagined that happened.
Natsu gently smiled at Irene and stood up. In the distance the lone figure of Zeref approaches the two. He picked up the bucket of sea shells and clamps and with the help of Irene the two began to carry it to Zeref's direction. "Dad and Uncle Bern are strong, I want to be like them when I grow up," he said. "And you can be like mom and Aunt Rose, they're strong and scary too."
"Am I scary?" asked Irene, scrunching up her face and giving him a hard look, but her puffed up cheeks and reddened face made her look adorable.
"Well not now, but I'm sure you'll be when we grow up Coz."
Erza felt a small smile emerging from her face, memories of similar words told by her Natsu echoing in her mind. The similarities between the two kids and her and Natsu brought her a great sense of Nostalgia. The years since she had left that tower and joined fairy tail have been the best years of her life to date. One of the reasons why was Natsu's determination to bring her out of her shell, or armor, and while he didn't succeed in making her open up to the whole guild a small group in the guild became her closest friends and the forefront amongst them is Natsu himself. A ray of sunshine lighting the darkness of her past he, he is … she stopped herself from bringing up darker thoughts and looked back at the projection.
Levy was on a different train of thought. She had a notebook in her hands and had been writing notes on the events shown by the Lacrima. Specifically the dates shown and the Locations too; Alakitasia is a continent to the west of Ishgar, one of the three main continents. The time of X349, that was approximately four hundred and thirty-five years ago. From what the Lacrima had shown them Zeref, and Natsu's ancestry originated from Alakitasia. The Erza looking girl, Irene, mentioned that her father was fighting the dragons beyond the mountains. In the present Dragons were not as commonly seen as in the past, but sightings of them were confirmed many times, however it was known that only the wizard saints could hope to battle a dragon in combat.
The two now stood next to Zeref, him looking at the bucket full of clamps and shells. "These are enough for Franz." He was handed the bucket by the two kids and followed him when he walked to the center of town.
The cobblestone road had many holes with reeds and vegetation growing in between the stones. The center of town is the mercantile center of the village, where all the traveling merchants pass through and where the townspeople buy their daily necessities. Beasts of burden carried the merchandise of passing merchants. There had recently been a foreign caravan that set up shop in town and Natsu and Irene looked at new and unknown items from all over the continent with big open eyes. "Here we are." Zeref spoke as the group of three entered a small stand on the side of the main road, a colorful tent blocking the sunlight with many vegetables in the front for display and buckets of salt just behind them. Rocking on a chair overlooking the produce sat a man in his late thirties; he had a long mustache that curved upwards, a long robe that reached down to his ankles and stringed sandals just like the three kids on his feet.
"You got them kid?" the man, Franz asked. Handing him the shells and clams the man gave a few coins to Zeref who then gave them to Natsu and Irene. The man put the bucket next to the ones of salt and noticed the presence of a kid of the group he'd never seen before. "Oh, who's that girl you have with you, Natsu?" The man asked, a side smirk on his face and a water pipe on his left hand.
"Oh, this is Irene. Irene, this is Franz." the pink haired boy presented the two. An ever present smile on his face as he did so.
"Hi." The girl said shyly waving at the man while behind the pink haired boy, a nervous blush on her face.
Erza remembered how shy she was when she was the girl's age, hiding behind others like the girl when meeting new people. Only she never hid behind Natsu, but a blue haired boy.
"Oh. What's your deal little lady? Can't talk to me without your boyfriend?" Franz asked, smirking at both the pink and red heads.
The girl's ears turned red and a prominent blush covered her face, the other boy too seemed to understand what Franz meant and a slight blush covered his cheeks. Zeref meanwhile simply held a gentle smile, entertained by the duo's reaction. Franz let out a puff of smoke from his pipe "Don't worry kids, I won't tell anyone." he winked at the two. Irene's face reddened even further and pulled Natsu away from the stand.
"L-lets go buy something Natsu." She stuttered, while Natsu simply looked confused at the sudden act.
"Wait, I've got to tell Zeref that-that … " He stopped when the girl turned to look at him with a glare that reminded him of times when his mother got really mad at him.
"Let's. Go. Buy. Something, Natsu." Natsu would have sworn he heard her growl at the end, but was too stunned to say anything and was dragged away from the laughing Franz and smiling Zeref.
"Hahaha!" laughed Wakaba, others joining him looking at a familiar sight before them.
"That's more like Erza." agreed Macao and no one could disagree with him on that.
Gray too couldn't agree more, having himself seen a similar situation happen a few years after he had joined Fairy Tail. He noticed that Erza's ears like Irene turned red, not as much as the girl but enough for him to notice. He tried to keep his mind away from the presence of Zeref in the Natsu and Erza doppelganger's life, at least for now, until he obtained as much information as the Lacrima could give them.
The two kids soon left and only Zeref and Franz remained at the stand. Zeref was about to leave to not lose the two in the market, but Franz told him to stay. "There's something I think you'd like to have," he said. He stood up and from a shelf in the back he pulled out a book, meticulously taken care of. "An uncle of mine brought this from his trip to the eastern continent." he gave it to Zeref who simply stood there. "What?..." Franz asked "The book isn't going to catch itself" he dropped the book and Zeref caught it, careful to not damage the book in the slightest.
"Why?" he simply asked, looking at the engraving in the book, The Many Magic Societies of Ishgar, It read. Franz looked at him with half lidded eyes and let out another smoky exhale.
"I am not interested in all that magical business, I am simply conducting good business. Building a loyal customer base is crucial to that … Let's say that's a bonus for your assistance in keeping this establishment running." He then smirked at the dark haired teen. "Of course, as long as your family keeps buying from my humble shop."
Zeref smiled back and hugged Franz. The man waved in goodbye at the teen as he left to find the two missing lovebirds.
"Do you know about that book Levy?" asked Gray. Levy was first surprised at the sudden question, but then turned irritated when she saw many other guild members looking at her for answers.
"No I don't, Gray, I haven't read every book in the world." She huffed "Besides if it's more than four hundred years old it's likely to have been lost to time," she said solemnly at the end.
There are many countries littered all over Ishgar, some small, some big and the country they lived in Fiore was on the smaller end of those, but no less influential than any other. Seeing that the viewing had ended and the lacrima was preparing to show another scene, Makarov chose to inform his children of what he knew of those times. He took everyone's attention with a call and began to speak.
"Long ago, in Ishgar the Wizard Saints were formed as protectors and guardians of not only the people of Ishgar, but the King as well." hanging around his neck lay a medallion, engraved with many runes, shining platinum, with an engraving of a dragon. "The Old Dragon King of Ishgar, the whole of Ishgar was under his rule, with many of the kingdoms in the continent were his vassals, some ruled by dragons as well, some not." "However, some in the east, around the Pergrande, Bellum, Sin, Enca, and Desierto kingdoms chose to separate themselves from the King's rule, and thus a great civil war began." He sighed and drank from a pint Mirajane had passed to him before. "The war began in X361 after an assassination attempt on the Old Dragon King was foiled by the Wizard Saints." he finished
The Guild reacted in various ways to the information. Most of them knew not much about the history of Ishgar and those who did, only did up to two hundred years in the past. Levy was well read, but still didn't know about the Old Dragon King, she'd read about a war in the time of Zeref, but not much else.
"Why isn't this well known?" asked Erza, questioning the reason for the public's lack of knowledge of the past.
" … I don't fully know why. In the past Fiore wasn't the country we know today." Makarov looked at Reedus and asked him to draw a map of Fiore. After he did, Makarov with a light pen began to draw over the magical drawing of Fiore. He expanded the borders by a great deal, moving them to engulf Bosco and Seven, with parts of Minstrel, Stella, Iceberg, and Caelum in there. He then separated the area of past Fiore into many smaller provinces. "In the past Fiore, or what we know today as Fiore was a Confederacy of many different states and peoples, all under a banner due to a shared Faith." He then drew a sigil, one that only Erza recognized, having previously seen it on the Silver Locket Natsu gave her.
A flower with five petals, with a darker gradient in its color as it traveled to the tips of the petals, in a starfish shape. Five white petals on top of them with twelve stamens sprouting from the center and a ring of runes that not many recognized outlined its edges. Those who did recognize it identified it as a prayer. It read, "Oh, Bringer of Light, bestow unto us your divine grace, Oh Beautiful Flower, may we be reborn and bloom with your light, Oh Creator; let the valleys, forests, and mountains brim with life." Makarov continued his lecture. "She was a god, a goddess of life and was said to have been the one who brought life to Ishgar, she had many names, most of which have been lost to time, but one of them was Titania the Fairy Queen."
Many eyes widened and heads turned to the only one who they recognized with that name. Erza was called Titania for she is the strongest female Fairy Tail mage and Erza herself began to feel a bit overwhelmed by the knowledge that her title was the name of a god.
"The Fiore we know today was where she would descend from the heavens and would interact with her worshippers and bring life to the land, the flower seen in the sigil is said to have been her favorite flower and why our land is known as Fiore as it is here where that flower grew, the Fey Flower."
Many "oh-s" and "Ah-s" came from the guild. Many had questions in the tip of their tongues, and amongst them Gray raised his hand to attain Makarov's attention. Once he did he asked "Does this god relate to the Black Mage?" he asked, Zeref had killed a 'god' in Fiore and this Titania was no longer present in the modern day.
The master nodded in confirmation, "Yes, this was the god that Zeref killed, thought it is unknown how he'd done it or why." he then looked to the projection of the Lacrima which now begun "We can only wait and see if this Lacrima will show us the answer." he finished.
Gray wasn't pleased with Makarov's answer, but steeled himself to wait and see until the Lacrima gave him what he wanted. Most of all he wanted to know how Zeref created the Etherius and any weaknesses they would have. Foremost, he also wanted to know more about Zeref's strongest Etherius, the being known as E.N.D.
The illusive figure E.N.D. Not much is known about it, except that it is the only recorded Etherius to have betrayed the Black Mage and is thought to be the one that killed Zeref over four hundred years ago. Today it is unknown if E.N.D. died in its battle with Zeref or if it's still amongst the living. Gray hoped it would be the latter, if E.N.D. was still alive to this day and he'd betrayed Zeref then he might be willing to kill the other creations of Zeref, like Deliora. Though, if that's the case then why hadn't E.N.D. killed the Etherius in the four-hundred years since Zeref's death?
Alakitasia X349
July 16th
The incessant Galop of a horse rang through the foliage of the forest, rapidly traveling across a dirt road. An armored man with black hair, rode the horse ordering the horse to go faster, his eye never straying from the road ahead and gritted teeth. He had his right eye missing bandages covering the empty socket with dried blood over the same side his eye once lay. His armor was damaged with a large gash breaking through the armor in the right side of the man's chest, dried blood in that place as well.
Concern hit the guild, wondering who the man was and the reason for his injuries.
With a sudden cough which the man covered with his armored hand, it stained red with fresh blood the man had spit. He kicked the side of the horse and it sped faster than before, the forest clearing and now in his vision was a coastal town. Closing in on to the center of town, the market where many merchants bustled about and customers purchased, the man with his horse still racing at great speeds forced many bystanders to jump out the way of his steed. Slowing down and fully stopping when he was at the center of town, and only once everyone who previously went about their day now divesting their attention onto him did he scream. "The Barrier of the East has fallen! Everyone evacuate, the Dragons are coming!" He then rode off from the plaza leaving a shocked public there without another word.
Panic quickly spread, merchants began to pack up their merchandise and leave town with their horses and donkeys pulling on their cargo while the townspeople ran to their houses to inform their families and evacuate.
"Whoa, so they were truly fighting dragons?" half-asked Macao, him and many others skeptical of the claim of Irene that her parents were battling dragons across the mountains.
"And it seems they were holding them off." continued Laki
The man arrived at a home in town. He knocked on the door, impatiently tapping his metal shoe on the ground, but after only a few seconds of waiting he left, riding his horse once more and arrived at another home. Natsu and Zeref's home.
He knocked on the door and not long after, it opened and Natsu and Zeref's mother with her curly black hair framing her face came out to greet him. Once she saw his damaged state she immediately pulled him inside and laid him on the floor.
Now a blanket lay draped under him. "What happened Delos?" the mother asked, bandaging the man's torso where a large wound lay, chunks of flesh missing. Even with his injuries the man acted as if he only had small flesh wounds.
'The Barrier has fallen … Rose and Bern are dead." he muttered, crestfallen.
Erza watched on, in shock at the words the man, Delos, said. Rose and Bern were her doppelganger's parents. Even when she would have felt down and pity normally for the girl, she felt a certain closeness to Irene she couldn't comprehend, unrelated to their physical similarities which made the news so hard to swallow.
"W-what!?" the woman sputtered, Delos simply nodded.
"I need to give this to Irene." he pulled out a note, slightly red with dried up blood stains on its paper. "Where is she?" he asked, slightly delirious due to his blood loss.
"Don't worry I'll bring her to you shortly, okay?" she reassured him. Delos nodded and closed his eyes. Breathing rhythmically to calm his racing heart. After a few minutes of work, making sure that Delos would be fine alone for a moment, she left and called out for Zeref and his father.
"What's wrong?" questioned the father, who was previously working outside in the garden of the family. Zeref shared the same sentiment as he'd been overlooking his sibling and Irene playing in the distance while he read the book Franz gifted him.
She quickly brought them to the room where Delos still lay and said "You–" she pointed to her husband "Go find Doctor Wilfred in town and you–" she addressed Zeref "Bring Natsu and Irene, Delos has a message from her parents." The two quickly followed her commands, seeing the critical state of Delos made them leave the room in a rush that kicked up dust as they left.
Not even a minute after Zeref left, he reentered the home with Natsu and Irene behind him, both looking confused at the older boy's face of desperation, his tension made him forget him still clutching the gift from Franz. Once they saw the downed Delos, Irene quickly ran to him and kneeled down beside him, Natsu followed shortly thereafter. "What happened Mr. Delos?" the girl asked her eyes tearing up at the sight of Delos's body, now mostly covered in bandages.
The man's eyes slowly opened and when he saw the young girl's brown irises he lifted his arm and handed her the bloodied note with a whisper "It's from Mom and Dad." he said, his eyes downcast.
Irene quickly opened the note while Natsu stared at Delos's injuries, he saw the large gashes now covered in bandages over Delos's abdomen and in particular, his missing right eye. Bloodied and destroyed armor now lay discarded in a corner of the room, a red cape with an emblem of a shield and two swords over it, now tattered and scarlet. Natsu heard Irene gasp and a torrent of tears burst forth from her moist eyes. Wailing inconsolably the girl clutched onto the letter with strength that might in all tear it apart. About to stand up Natsu felt a hand clutch his arm and noticed Delos look at him with his one eye, staring and telling him to come closer. He did and the man spoke to him in a hushed whisper.
"Vow to me that you'll protect Irene with all your might... and never leave her alone. I know you Natsu. I-I know you'll become a man who'll protect his family at all costs and be a shoulder for others to cry on. Irene needs someone like you to be there for her, someone her age who she can relate to and not feel alone." Natsu stared at the man, tears threatening to shed and slowly nodded. Delos smiled, a soft weak smile and looked up at the ceiling and closed his eye; his breath slowed down and a minute later completely subsided.
No words were spoken, only sadness and pity for the kids and adults on screen was felt by the members of the guild, some were on the verge of tears and others had not been able to contain them.
It wasn't long after that Zeref's father returned. He saw Delos's corpse, watered by the tears of a crying Irene and beside her a sobbing Natsu tightly clutching the girl's hand. He saw his wife in the corner of the room sobbing beside an unresponsive Zeref. "It was too late. We must leave," he said. He walked up to the dead man and picked him up. Carrying the body, the father addressed everyone in the room. "Dragons from the west are on their way here right now, come on!" he opened the door and following his command everyone left the home with him.
Outside they saw multitudes of other villagers rushing out of their homes, some with their belongings in their arms, others with them on their mules or bulls pulling wagons and others simply fleeing, running for their lives north.
"To the north is the Castle of Duke Seath, there we'll be safe from the dragons." the father told his family. Taking Delos's horse he mounted it, carefully placing the man's corpse in the horse and pulling on the leash. The family, plus Irene followed him at a rapid pace, the father careful to not stray too far from the group.
They still hadn't left the epicenter of the town, but were nearing the edge, following the outskirts of the port town. There a sudden shake brought many to their knees and hands flew to cover the ears.
A deafening smash and boom hit everyone in town and its vicinity. They felt their bodies vibrate and shake and the ground moving below them. The ground split, and the roads were destroyed. No longer were they traversable for wagons of beasts of burden. Out of panic many dropped their belongings and began climbing through the rubble. Animals were startled by the calamity and the father was thrown off the horse and he and the corpse fell with a dry thud.
Natsu looked behind them and saw a dark figure covering the sunlight. Not long after another figure appeared, and another and another. Seven figures flew directly towards the town. With gigantic wings over a hundred meter span and bodies like those of lions, covered with scales of red, blue, green and other colors. Tails that were as long as their wings and heads like those of lizards with slit eyes that saw not fleeing civilians, but easy prey.
A bright light blinded everyone and a strong force pushed them back. Wind flowed and a dragon roar had brought the town to flames. Dragons landed on the scorching village. With tail swipes and body tackles they turned the town into a wasteland of flaming rubble. The mutilated bodies of people caught by the dragon's incursion lay all over, some burning and little spared by the carnage.
Mouths were open in shock and tears flowed freely from many of the guild. Some had run out and were emptying their stomachs.
Opening his eyes Zeref was greeted by the sight of his father's dead eyes. Arms spread out, he jumped in front of them and protected them from the dragon's flames, his body burnt and despite what must have been an excruciatingly painful death, Zeref had heard no words utter from his father. Protecting them as well was Zeref's mother. She lay on the ground, her back too burnt to a crisp and just barely clinging to life.
Zeref with desperation he'd never felt before rushed to his mother and saw if there was anything he could do to help her. 'Zeref' he heard, come out her mouth. Moving closer he heard his mother's dying words. "Zeref, take care of those two…" her voice forced, and choppy broke Zeref's heart "-remember, we'll always be with you…o-okay?"
"-okay." Tears flowed from Zeref's eyes. Standing up Zeref saw his previous home, dragons still flattening it, and spraying debris and ash in the air with each swipe of their tails. Behind him were Natsu and Irene, the boy protecting the girl like his father and mother had done for all of them.
Zeref pulled on the two kid's arms, bringing them to their feet and rushing them to run away. They sprinted as fast as they could running for their lives, burning foliage and buildings were their only source of light now. While running Zeref heard a growl in the distance behind them. Beset by a sudden torrent of wind the trio stopped to not lose their balance, but upon looking up they saw one of the dragons, a green dragon, its face bloody from the unfortunate he had devoured, in front of them, blocking their path.
With a roar a pillar of fire erupted from the dragon's maw. The swirling vortex shattered the ground below and forced the group to separate. Irene was now separated from the brothers. Natsu tried to run to her once the fire subsided, but was pulled back by Zeref. Natsu was about to punch Zeref for him to let him go, but stopped when another roar flooded the air.
Another dragon had arrived. It was different from the others. Its scales are a dark red with similarly red wings, but to where the other dragon's wings were like those of bats this one had wings like an eagle or swan. Its skull was like a reptile, but its jaw was far wider than the other dragons. And its eyes were brilliant red, but unlike the other dragons it didn't look at the humans below him with frenzied bloodlust. Instead it stared at the green dragon with sharp eyes that told all they needed to know.
With a roar of defiance the green dragon charged and was met with the crimson dragon. Gnashing and biting at each other, their fight separated the trio further.
Natsu tried to reach for Irene once again, but was once again pulled back by Zeref. "Stop! We need to get Irene!" he screamed, frantically kicking at Zeref to let him go. Zeref carried the boy on his back and rushed behind some of the unburned vegetation of the area.
"We'll get her when there's an opportunity," he said. Looking back at the two dragon's he noticed Irene on the ground, knocked out by the shockwaves caused by the fight.
The Crimson Dragon with a tail swipe knocked the Green Dragon to the ground and with its two hands, and pushed its head down on the broken earth. With a roar it sunk its teeth into the dragon's neck. It jerked and pulled and severed the head from the body a burst of blood splattered on the blackened and broken road.
Zeref was about to let Natsu go for Irene, but he noticed the triumphant dragon turn back and move towards Irene's direction. If they tried to rescue Irene now, the dragon could simply kill them on sight. The dragon stopped right before its foot crushed the red head's body and lowered its head to the girl. Zeref covered Natsu's mouth and pulled him back, it was futile now. He forced Natsu to follow him, north to the castle of Duke Seath like their deceased father wanted. Careful to make as little noise as possible on their way.
What he didn't see, but Natsu, eyes fixed on the limp Irene on the blackened stone floor, was when the dragon picked up the body of the girl with one of its clawed hands and carefully held her with it. spread its wings and with a swirling vortex of wind flew away to the east, disappearing into the horizon of the ocean.
The Lacrima stopped completely, the projection halted and the Lacrima turned silent.