"Ankhseram is a God," Mavis spoke with some caution to her voice, "the one who cursed Zeref and I, not a villain."
"Okay, first, you've both been played. No God ever cursed you," Nashi spoke, interrupting them before they kickstarted a long discussion. "Ankhseram didn't curse you, and he's most definitely no God. Well, not in the way you believe. The ones who cursed you were the scholars."
"The same scholars I killed with the curse, you mean?" Zeref repeated, dubious.
"This isn't a short story, nor an easy one to tell, Centuries ago, before you were born, before Natsu's death, the Dragon Wars… even before Acnologia, Earthland belonged to the Gods and Dragons. The only continent untouched by them was Aegis, a place where humans thrived.
There was one unspoken rule that everyone followed: Dragons and Gods were to never ever interact with one another. Each species had their diplomats, and they avoided war at all costs because, as much as they both loved carnage and fighting, they also loved living and a war would be the downfall of Earthland itself.
But because there was no rule regarding humans, a few of them interacted with the weaker species. Some Gods liked to play with humans, Dragons mostly saw our kind as food. But humans can only be repressed for so long before they fight back."
"This sounds like Irene's story, only with Gods in it," Zeref commented.
"Irene's story is about Dragon Slayer magic. This one is about God Slayers," Nashi explained, "that's how the magic was created. Humans had no chance of learning from Dragons at that time, they weren't strong or smart enough to play them. But Gods liked to interact with humans, even if to use them, and that was their opportunity. A group of people called the Riders slowly developed God Slaying magic, and humanity rose from the shadows by removing some Gods from their land… and pinning it on the Dragons."
"Aren't Gods supposed to be all knowing?" Mavis asked.
"Only three are, and they didn't meddle in anything: Chronos, the God of Time. Veritas, Goddess of Truth and Reality; and Healjha, God of Life and Death. They're… a different story."
"Go on with yours, please," Mavis sounded like a kid during story time, "we can go back to those later."
Nashi felt weird, but complied.
"This started the War of the Dragon Gods, and it went on for years until something changed: someone, stronger than any God or Dragon, showed up. He slowly killed every God alive. He wasn't fast about it, and because his only target were the Gods, the Dragons and Humans let him be. Humanity prospered then, the overlooked people in the war of the Greatest, and Dragons took the time to regroup and grow stronger. The Gods fought the mysterious enemy, unaware of who exactly he was."
"Until he revealed himself as the son of their Queen with the then King of Dragons. A hybrid of the two most powerful species that ever existed, walking the Earth, and with his own agenda."
"Ankhseram rose to power by wiping out every God he could find, and a few Dragons who saw the danger in letting him live. He grew stronger by the minute, and darker too. And he claimed to be loyal to the humans."
"So Dragons saw humanity as a threat, and some came for us," Zeref completed, making sense of the story, "starting what we know as the Dragon War.
"Yes. Thing is, because of what he did and how he went about it, Ankhseram was perceived by humanity as the God of Life and Death: he killed the evil Gods who toyed with humanity on behalf of humans. So they worshipped him. For years, between the beginning of the war, Irene, and Natsu's death, Ankhseram walked the Earth killing and becoming stronger without anyone able to stop him - or trying to. The Dragons were too busy fighting themselves, and the pro-humanity versus anti-humanity conflict took over their primary goal. On top of that, Acnologia showed up. There was just no way that the Dragons could stop Ankhseram. Not then."
"Zeref, you went to the Academy run by the descendants of the Riders, a group of people who lived off studying the true story of humanity. They knew this exact story I'm telling you, rather than the popular 'Ankhseram is our God and our friend' crap that humans started believing. They, like their ancestors, decided to do something about the entity that was far greater than humanity, and far more dangerous. But Ankhseram wasn't a God, or a Dragon. He wasn't anything they could find a specific magic for, or at least none that I know of… but they figured out how to bind it."
"The binding ritual wouldn't kill Ankhseram, but it would seal it away. The catch was that the host needed to be able and prepared to receive the entity, and it had to be a living organism. No object would ever be strong enough to contain such a powerful evil… and using a Dragon was too risky: what if the Dragon were to absorb and gain control of the Dark God's powers? And what could they do to counter the strength, since they knew they'd never find a host that had that kind of capacity?"
"The answer is a word you know well: contradiction. From the beginning, Gods and Dragons contradict one another in just about everything. Gods are perfect forms, beings above all else, whereas dragons were wild creatures. If Gods had tremendous magic control, Dragons made up for it in physical strength and speed. If Gods were unreachable in their realms, Dragons were smart in a way that made them always find a loophole. Dragons were Nature's answer to Gods' existence, because Nature demanded balance. So Ankhseram, by being both, is the contradiction. And the only thing that could be used to seal a contradiction would be another one… the curse of contradiction."
"Then they met you," Nashi looked at Zeref then, but she noticed he seemed to be connecting the dots in his mind, "the young, extremely smart boy who had a will of steel. You were the kid who lost everything yet your willpower remained strong, if not stronger. You fought to find a way to get what you had back, you created powerful magical contraptions… a pure soul doing very dark things for pure reasons. And you were a human, the weakest form of being. They deemed you the perfect host, and they started the ritual…"
"Wait," Mavis interrupted her, but she looked sorry at Zeref, "if this is true… if the scholars wanted to seal the god and use Zeref… why have we never heard of it? All we know about Ankhseram, all books show, is that he's the God of Life and Death, a God who will curse whoever plays with life."
"Because the scholars realized that sealing Ankhseram wouldn't last if humanity idolized it. His followers wouldn't rest until they released him. Remember how Dragons also wanted Ankhseram defeated but had no time to fight? Well, they had time to help with some magic. The Scholars reached out to a few Dragons they knew would help, and had them force a memory in the minds of many different people around the world: a memory of Ankhseram retreating to his own realm, deciding not to interfere in human affairs any longer. The memory had a request from the God, that humans spoke of him only as the God of Life and Death, but never as the God who fought with them: humans had to get the courage to fight for themselves. It was some corny motivational thing, but it worked. The scholars made sure to erase every last book that mentioned Ankhseram's true story, and when the Curse of Contradiction was cast on Zeref, and Ankhseram successfully bound, there was nothing in the world left to spread the truth about who he truly was, or what had truly happened to him."
"As long as humans didn't know the truth, nobody would go looking for a way to break the seal, and Ankhseram would be gone."
"This is awful," Mavis spoke, horrified, "what about Zeref? Didn't they care?"
"Your guild created a weapon that would wipe out the magic from an entire continent just to stop Alvarez from invading, and another that could actually wipe out a whole town out of existence for the same purpose. The scholars doomed one boy to try and save humanity, because that's what they perceived Ankhseram as: a threat to all of us. I won't say they were right, and I'm sorry for what it did to you," she looked at Zeref, "but there's no way to judge them as completely wrong."
"But they were," Zeref spoke, "you know everything and you're telling us, so they failed. And why is Mavis cursed?"
"Mavis was Ankhseram's first and only attempt at breaking free. He's alive, a part of you, and although the curse of contradiction worked enough to keep you in full control of yourself, and you even managed to learn how to control his magic and make it yours, fact is he's still struggling. But the only time you let your guard down enough that he could make his presence stronger was with her," Nashi pointed at Mavis, "so he used it. When she first used her illusions on you, when you were able to enjoy life again for once without your curse working, Ankhseram poured a little bit of his magic on her own. So when Mavis used a spell created by his magic…"
"I gave him an opening," Mavis' eyes were wide in realization, "so… it's stronger?"
"I don't know that. I think he tried to escape and just ended up bound again, meaning now he needs both you and Zeref to die so he can be free. Which is why I need you two not to die."
"Sounds easy enough," Zeref didn't sound bitter, but she knew he felt so.
They were in silence for a while after her explanation. She could see their eyes change as they processed everything and waited.
She felt better. Her magic was finally at a steady level so she could use it without harming herself.
"This… What you're telling us," Jellal broke the silence.
"I know it's a lot to take in, and I know you've spent over 400 years believing a different story. I am sorry to bring it all down at once, but this can't wait. I can't risk having everything that happened once going on again,"
"But Nashi," Mavis spoke softly, "you say he's more powerful than you. What's to stop him from following you here?"
Jellal's face went chalk white then.
"I can't tell you how I know this, but there's no way for him to follow me," she said in such confidence that it was hard to doubt her. "Believe me, when I say I planned this to the very last detail, I mean it. I left nothing to chance."
"That's not possible," Jellal quickly said, and she smiled. "Everyone makes mistakes, we can't operate on the assumption that you didn't…"
"I'm not saying I didn't make any mistakes through this whole thing," she interrupted him, "hell, Aiden is out there on a mission to save most of our group because I failed to provide them with enough information to keep them from making stupid choices," she gritted her teeth, "what I am saying is that the whole plan was to make it so Ankhseram doesn't win. And I did everything to ensure that we have a chance, that includes ensuring he can't follow me."
"This brings the next question: why would I trust you?" Jellal asked.
"Are you that afraid of me?" She inquired, tilting her head, "If I were dangerous, if I were untrustworthy, why would I be going to all this trouble? I could have just attacked all of you."
"So you're saying that the demon side of yours isn't a darkness we should be wary of?" Jellal asked, doubtful.
She smiled, and it was a sad smile.
"I'm saying that you don't have to worry about me being END, Jellal. I've actually made sure that if for some weird reason I lose my humanity, that I'll be taken down," the three of them looked shocked at that.
"You planned your own death?" Mavis asked, and she sounded sad.
Nashi shrugged.
"I have full control of my demon side, but whenever I use it, it demands something from my soul," at that, she lifted her shirt to show her stomach and lit her hand on fire - a very strong, powerful fire. As it burned, a small dark line appeared on her stomach. "As I use it, these lines fill all of my body, and although I can't be sure, the theory is that if they reach my heart, the demon takes over," she explained while stopping the fire and covering herself, "I can regress it, purify myself so to speak," she added and Jellal breathed relieved, "but where we were, I couldn't be sure that I'd be able to stop every time. There was always the possibility that I had to go too far to save someone. So instead of worrying about it, I made sure to have a contingency plan so that, If I ever do go dark, I can be stopped."
"Nashi, that's-" Mavis spoke, then frowned, "what is it with your family and the eagerness to die?" She turned towards Zeref.
"Hey, different stories," he shrugged.
"You say you're Natsu's daughter," Jellal said, "there is no way that he would ever let someone kill you, no matter the circumstances."
"My parents were one of the first casualties from Ankhseram's rise, I was five when they both died," at that Mavis covered her mouth, "Wendy and a few other mages were around while I grew up, and we all knew I could lose control. So yeah, I have planned my own demise if the situation requires it. I want Ankhseram to fall, whatever happens after that I don't care."
Mavis and Jellal looked at each other, clearly at a loss. It was Zeref who broke the silence.
"Why should I care?"
"I don't need you to care," she said simply, "I need you to stay alive. And since the only two people who can kill you are me and her," she pointed at Mavis, "as I see it, you have two options. One, keep waging war, although by now Alvarez is no longer yours to command, so I'm not sure what army you could use."
"If we do this, if we figure out a way to get rid of Ankhseram, that means we get to live," Mavis spoke to Zeref, and it was surprising, to Jellal, how her voice seemed to calm him, "actually live. Grow old. Have bonds."
The rise in dark magic made Jellal move backwards extremely fast, but it wasn't enough. He thought he'd meet his end when the wave of darkness came.
Nashi raised a hand and fire burned the darkness away.
"Ah, yeah," she spoke to three very shocked mages, "this deadly thingy is Ankhseram's ultimate move. He used it pretty much every start of battle. I had to figure out how to counter it, so we stopped losing hundreds of allies daily," she shrugged. "Like I said, I never knew if I'd need to overuse my demon side."
"You can keep us from killing?" Mavis asked in awe.
"If I'm around when the curse triggers, sure. But I need to undergo purification every now and then," she added, and they noticed that her left arm now had the dark marks."
"How?" Mavis was curious.
"It's a regular cleansing ritual, usually around something of natural regeneration, like a waterfall," she was simple, "there's one on the way to Alvarez' castle. I can do it there."
"The castle?" Jellal repeated, "what about Fairy Tail?"
"I'm sure I can leave the two of them with you," she said calmly, "just keep them away from one another as you travel and stay at a distance and you'll all be fine. I need to reach out to a few more potential allies here before I go back."
"You're building an army," Mavis understood her moves, "but I thought that as long as Zeref and I are alive, we don't have to fight him?"
"No offense, but I'd rather not count on that as the only plan," she said, coldly, "I've read stories about you and how loyal you were to your guild, but the truth is… I don't know you. I don't know if you might give up eventually and I'd rather not take that chance," she shrugged.
"Right, we should go before you make new enemies," Jellal spoke, noticing the girl's lack of tact, "just find us whenever you're done."
"So now you trust me," she stated, but he felt like she was mocking him.
"I trust that you've proven who you are and I'm choosing to believe in your family tree," he shrugged. "I do want to know one thing… if you're Natsu and Lucy's daughter, then who are the parents of your other friends?"
"None of them are yours," Nashi assured him, "and this is their story to tell. Be careful not to have any dragon slayer around when you ask them."
He nodded and she left them, promising to meet them eventually. Mavis and Zeref watched quietly while Jellal moved away to get into a safer distance.