Chapter 23: Tale of the Gateways

Early before Natsu's team awake.

The sun rose over the battlefield and Zeref couldn't think of a more fitting way to begin the battle ahead. His Spriggan Twelve gathered together and his army right in front of the guild. He'd like to see how Fairy Tail would overcome this. "Before we begin, is there anything that needs to be reported?"

"I do..." August looked at his majesty. "I encountered two individuals yesterday."

This was getting interesting at least to Zeref, Brandish had to share some info too. "Yes, both August and I met Fairy Tail's new friends, I wonder if rumors of them disappearing overseas was true."

Heinhart was suddenly intrigued by this. "That's right, the rumor was that they escaped from Ajeel, I suppose something must've happened as soon as they got over to the ocean." He had another additional thought. "On top of that, during the battle of Hargeon, I saw an unusual creature, I didn't get any details about the creature, but, it's clear it was on our enemy's side."

Dimaria was a little interested in this. "Did you get a good look?"

Heinhart looked at the goddess wizard. "It was only a glimpse, but, I could've sworn the creature was holding eight swords and creating a power attack that sank our ships."

Invel was in deep thought for a moment, until he recalled Natsu's and Zeref's conversation including the power that his majesty's brother unleashed.

"That power he used to knock out most of our army..." He then remembered what Zeref mentioned. "The power you used, I believe was the Conqueror's Spirit...a power that some people rarely use. A power that a little few have. It brings me back, meeting the first pirate king." He also remembered the name of the pirate king, "Gold D. Roger".

After hearing August's describing the two unusual enemies, he gasped in realization. "August, you and Randi met this skeleton and rabbit, did ya?" The wizard king nodded in response. "I fought those two, the skeleton wasn't much, however, the rabbit was clearly fast and forminable. I think it's name was Usagi, from what his friends mentioned."

August had more details to share "The skeleton was not only quick on his feet and he froze me in ice, however, it wasn't able to hold me too long," That detail got some of the Spriggan Twelve baffled. "Hold on old timer, you said that some talking skeleton was able to freeze you, getting rusty are you?" Ajeel mocked.

That earned the sand wizard a glare from the wizard king, only for a second before he continuing on. "Not only that, there was also a black-haired woman, she was clearly human, but, I didn't sense any magic from her."

Brandish had a detail to say. "The talking skeleton, I believe his name was Brook, I didn't sense any magic from him, though, he was unique and was a pervert."

Dimaria was disgusted and looked at Brandish. "Pervert, what did this skeleton or whoever say to you?"

Brandish sighed as a flustered expression formed on her face, which was uncharacteristic of her. "He asked if I could...show him my panties..."

Everyone was silent at that, most were in awe. "That pervert..." Dimaria growled in disgust.

Invel knew this was getting off track. "Everyone, we don't know the reasons for these unusual allies or creatures. However, according to our resources, they encountered some strange people in Hargeon, there are reports of some people using a power weapon that was running on wheels or something. On top of that, there was a strange raccoon dog and a big perverted man wearing no pants."

Dimaria was more disgusted than ever. "A man wearing no pants, such indecency."

Irene was getting tired of this meaningless conversation. "Let's stick with the subject that is going to start now."

Zeref put his arm out in front of Irene. "It's fine, I'll explain, however, Neinhart, I'll need your assistance once more, because this will give more information about what I was doing during my travels."

Neinhart was blessed and had more news to share. "As you wish I have more Historia that may be of some use to you, They're rather quite...interesting and maybe have connections to what our comrades are informing us about."

Zeref nodded. "Alright, start your magic now."

The Historia Collector nodded at his emperor. "Thank you. I advise everyone to move away. This group is quite large." The other Spriggan Twelve do what they were told and moved away creating a circular formation. Neinhart brought his hands up. "Historia of Corpses!" He snapped his fingers. In an instant, a large, familiar group of people appeared in the center and one of them had a strange small dog.

Former Jaegers Members: Dr. Stylish, Run, Seryu Ubiquitous & Koro

Former Wild Hunt Members: Champ, Enshin, Cosmina, Syura, Izou, Dorothea.

Former Rakshasa Demon Member: Shizuka

Former Great General: Budo

Former Strongest of the Empire: Esdeath

It took a few seconds for the empire group to register where they were as Syura looked down at his hands and was the first to freak out. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"

The other followed suit and shared Syura's confusion. There were overlapping murmurs among them. "I thought I was killed?"

"How am I alive?"

"I could've sworn I activated...Dr. Stylish, you're here too?"

"What the hell is this!?"

"The last thing I remember was...that stupid lion bitch dropping a boulder on me!"

While everyone was talking, Esdeath looked at her hand and clenched and unclenched it. "How is this possible..." She recalled that she was killed by the Tartaros Demons that invaded her world and unleashed an all-out attack on her and killed her, not only that, Dr. Stylish was part of that assault.

"I must say, I find all of their reactions quite amusing." Esdeath heard a voice and turned to where she heard it. She saw a scarlet-haired woman wearing a ridiculously large hat. At first, the former general thought she was a cosplayer until she felt a terrifying strength of her aura. "What the...what is this aura?!" She took a step back and noticed what she did. Esdeath glanced at her foot and thought about what she had done. "I...took a step back?" Never had Esdeath retreated nor ever taken back from someone. She looked around and saw multiple people standing around her and the rest of the group. "Who are these people?" Among them, Esdeath did sense no aura at all coming from three of the Twelve and her group had no aura either.

She sensed a particular aura from Zeref, which was unlike anything she'd sensed before. "His aura...it's...I can't even make out what it is..."

Zeref was rather pleased with the Historia Neinhart had summoned. "This is quite impressive, though, I believe there is more to be seen."

Neinhart nodded in agreement as a large individual and another that was shorter than the other appeared behind Zeref. "Is that you, Zeref?"

Former captain of the Roger Pirates/Pirate King: Gold D. Roger

Zeref recognized that voice, a voice he didn't think he would hear again. "Gold D. Roger...The King of the Pirates, so, you've come..."

Hearing that piqued Esdeath's interest a little. "King of the Pirates, is something like that real?"

"I see you got a strong group here, you mentioned an army you were gathering, I should've expected no less from the man that's immortal."

Invel narrowed his eyes at the pirate. "So, that's Gold D. Roger."

Ajeel just laughed with a cocky smug on his face. "So, this old geezer is a king, he doesn't look too tough!"

Gold D. Roger heard this and smiled devilishly at the Sand mage which completely took him by surprise. The look that the pirate king was giving him was so intense. "What is this...this feeling, why is his stare sending chills down...my spine."

"Not so confident are you little punk?" Gold D Roger's devilish grin didn't leave his face.

"Ooh, scary," Irene said almost amused.

"Where the heck am I...where are the Sun Pirates?"

Former Captain of the Sun Pirates, Sea Bream Fishman: Fisher Tiger

"Just what or who is that?" Ajeel asked a little weirded out.

"How did the hell we get here?"

Former members of the New Fishman Pirates/Citizens of Fishman Island: Taron, Jester, Saizou

Fisher Tiger glared at the three Fishmen. "Saizou, Taron, Jester, why are you three here?"

Saizou quickly recognized the voice and looked at the Sea Bream Fishman. "Well, I'll be damned, if it isn't the hero of Fishman Island."

Taron grinned widely. "Heh...quite strange how we meet you here, wherever here is..."

Jester chuckled amusingly. "To think the famous Fishman that was claimed a hero to have freed our people from slavery is here and in the flesh."

Fisher Tiger didn't flinch nor react to the three perverted Fishmen. "Saizou, Taron, Jester, how did you three guys get here, last time I saw you punks was before I left on my voyage."

Before the three Fishmen could answer. "Excuse me..." Zeref approached the sea bream, Fishman. "Are you Fisher Tiger?"

Hearing that got Tiger's attention. "How do you know my name, human?"

Dimaria glared at the Fishman. "Hey, that's emperor Spriggan to you, Fish!"

Zeref put his hand out. "It's fine..." The goddess warrior scoffed but stood down. "Anyway, to answer your question, you remind me of the Fishwoman I saved, I believe her name was Fisher Lily."

Fisher Tiger let out a small gasp and narrowed his eyes at the immortal wizard. "How do you know of my sister?"

"I'll tell you in due time, however...I believe there's more to share." He looked behind the Fishman. "My, it's quite surprising to see my creations here," Fisher Tiger turned around in the direction where Zeref was looking and saw some unusual creatures.

Former Tartaros Members: Leon, Poison Ivy, Fang, Snapjaw, and Saki

"To think, that six demons are here,"

Like everyone else, Leon and the others were perplexed about how they came back to life. However, none of that mattered when they all saw their creator standing before them. All of them walked in unison and past everyone else. Esdeath and some of the Jaegers recognized them. Run recalled the demon Poison Ivy attacked the church where Seryu was playing with children. "Snapjaw, Poison Ivy, Fang, Leon, and Saki."

Saki felt honored their creator had remembered their names. "You..remembered us."

Zeref chuckled a little. "Of course, I always remember the names of my creations."

All six demons kneeled before their creator and lowered their heads out of respect."

"Quite the creatures, I must know, who are these guys?" A voice rang out.

A large and very muscular man towering height standing in at 382 cm was approaching the demons. He had long, wild hair of black color that was notably gathered into a large, flat, circular plant at the top and also included a prominent widow's peak and triangular sideburns. He had relatively sharp, black eyes whose inner and outer corners were marked black jags doing down and up respectively and above a pair of prominent, highly arched eyebrows.

He had red eyeliner around his eyes, making them look even sharper. He had a mid-sized, slightly hooked nose, a large, expressive mouth, and a broad chin. He wore an orange kimono, leaving most of his legs exposed; the kimono had two yellow crescent moon designs on it. He also wore a large purple and white nio-dasuki tied around his shoulders that ran down his back. He wore two swords across his left waist tucked inside an obi belt.

Former Samurai and Daimyo of Wano/2nd Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates/Former Member of the Roger Pirates: Kozuki Oden

Izou observed the tall muscular man with interest, though, he had his eyes on the two swords. "He must be a skilled swordsman...no...he's more than that."

Irene was a little intrigued at the man's sudden approach. "Quite the unique man he is, he's not showing a hint of fear at Zeref's creations."

Wall was practically laughing his head off. "I never thought a human would casually approach Zeref's discarded toys."

Oden didn't take his eyes off the seven demons. "Tell me, what kind of creatures are you, I'm all ears!"

"Who is that weird old fart?" Syura asked rudely.

Oden didn't hear the rude question, instead, he kept his eyes on the demons but not before he saw Zeref at the corner of his eye. "Zeref, is that you? How are you doing old pal?"

This time the Spriggan Twelve were perplexed. "Old pal?"

August had a question of his own. "Your majesty, do you know this guy?"

Zeref chuckled a little. "Indeed, it was a long time ago, when I was traveling the ocean, a world that was much ocean but islands were being discovered and ones had different villages with people." He smiled at his old friend. "Nice to see you again, Lord Oden."

Oden returned the emperor's smile. "Likewise, Zeref."

"So, you're Zeref, I've heard about your travels and the damage you caused on the Grand Line, I didn't know you'd encountered my rival and the man I called my brother."

There stood an old yet abnormally large man with a long face, plowed because of advanced age with many wrinkles around his eyes and many scars running along his chest, and was very muscular. He wore a black bandanna around his head and adorned himself with a white captain's coat which hung loosely from his broad shoulders and bore his Jolly Roger's symbol. He was also wearing light, loose pants tucked inside his large black boots and a dark pirate sash around his waist. He wielded a gigantic naginata called Murakumogiri, one of the 12 Supreme Grade Blades.

Former Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates/One of the Four Emperors: Edward Newgate/Whitebeard

Oden was happy to see his old friend. "Whitebeard, long time no see!" He practically was brought to tears. "Roger, I thought you died, but, how are you still alive?" Before his two former captains could say anything...

"Pops...how did I get here?" There stood a young man, a pirate who was lost at Marineford, Whitebeard was stunned and more so than before in his life. "Ace..."

Hearing that caught Roger's attention and looked directly at the young teenage boy. "Wait...could he...be?"

Former Captain of the Spade Pirates/Member of the Whitebeard Pirates: Portgas D. Ace

"Pops, how are you here but more importantly, how did I get here, last thing I remember..." He stopped abruptly when he saw Roger and was silent for a moment.

The Twelve and others were puzzled at this sudden silence and some were talking among themselves.

"What is with those two?"

Budo didn't know why, but, he began to suspect something about them that struck him. "Strange...those two..."

Roger broke the silence with a laugh. "Ace...is that you, so, Garp kept his word, so I see, though, if you're here then, I assume that you died..."

Ace didn't reply instead he lowered his head.

Roger stopped his laughing and smiled at the young teenage boy. "Guess fate had different plans for us, my son..."

Every of the Spriggan Twelve even Esdeath and her group along with the three perverted Fishmen and the undead Tartaros Demons were silent but were stunned at this revelation.

Oden was the most surprised. "WHAAAATTTT!?" He couldn't believe what his former captain just said. "Roger, you had a son all this time!" But, then he was suddenly excited and bowed before Roger's son. "Excuse me, what is your name, young man?"

Zeref clapped his hands getting everyone's attention. "Alright, we're getting off track here." He looked at each group. "Everyone, I'm sure you got a lot of questions, I'll explain most of my story, I'm Lord Zeref and Emperor of the Alvarez Empire."

Esdeath was putting two-two together after hearing that name several times. "So, he must be...

Zeref looked at Esdeath and her group. "The Hands of God: Perfector. Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires. Thousand-Mile Flight: Mastema. Moonlight Sword Dance: Shamshir. Great Tremor: Heavy Pressure and Thunder God's Rage: Adramelech. I can assume the rest of you have Imperial Arms as well. This means...all of you must be from the other world the empire is in. Which means somebody else must've gone through that gateway as well." Everyone was surprised Zereft not only knew the weapons these other people carried but where they came from.

He looked at Gold D Roger and the other pirates. "Gold D. Roger, the captain of the Roger Pirates, and Edward Newgate, captain of the Whitebeard Pirates...Lord Oden, Daniyo and Samurai of Wano..." He looked at Ace. "Portgas D. Ace, the son of Gold D-"

"Shut up!" Ace's outburst stunned everyone minus Whitebeard and Roger. "Whitebeard is my father...my only father!"

Oden was stunned to hear such a declaration from Roger's son. "What did he say?"

Roger didn't seem phased or hurt, he couldn't blame his son, he wasn't there for his son when he needed him.

Ajeel glared at the pirate. "Hey punk, you dare interrupt emperor Spriggan's statement?!"

Ace glared back at the Twelve Shield. "You got a problem with that, bastard!" The two glared at each other like they were about to fight.

Roger smiled widely with a proud expression. "You truly are a spirited one."

Zeref cleared his throat. "Ahem, moving on..." Ajeel backed down and Ace did too.

Budo had a question for the black wizard. "Excuse me, how is it that you know of our Imperial Arms and the Empire?" Everyone else wanted to know that as well.

Zeref chuckled at the question. "Because I had been to the Empire before." Esdeath and the others were surprised to hear such a thing from Zeref. His demons included.

Roger and the other pirates were intrigued. Whitebeard would think this was something for kids, but, after hearing about the One Piece from Roger and how his famous rival claimed that he reached the island that had the legendary treasure, he thought that maybe some things and places waiting to be discovered.

"Which reminds me, what year was the Empire in?" Zeref asked.

"Imperial Year 1025," Budo answered.

Zeref chuckled lightly at that. "I see, time seems to have passed since I was there."

Esdeath continued to study Zeref and remembered something a long time ago when she was with Gray and the events that transpired throughout the time. "I remember the demons told me of a gateway and the ones that arrived during the last battle at the empire." She even remembered one final thing that completely pissed her off. "I was trapped in the body of the demon that killed." An image of Aquaius flashed in her mind. Her body being used by the demon soured her mood and she wanted revenge. Though, this was the chance to get more answers. "Excuse me, I have a question, what can you tell us about the gateway and is there more of them?"

Zeref was more than happy to explain that part to her. "Very well, back four hundred years ago, possibly earlier than that, there was once a group of people who were devoted followers of an ancient deity that was said to travel to other worlds. They wanted to replicate that power and created three structures to use such powerful magic. I believe it was called: De Regnis Aliis or Gateway to Other Realms."

Irene was familiar with the story that Zeref was telling. "Yes, I remember hearing this as well, even before I met you and I read about it in old books too, but, I thought they were just old myths, though, it seems I was wrong."

Zeref continued with his explanation. "I admit I was curious once I learned about this ancient myth, so, I sought out the locations of these three gateways, and, after doing some calculations, I located three of them. The first gateway was in an ancient city that was reduced to ruined buildings."

Saki and the other demons recalled that, the ruined buildings where the first gateway was. "So, that was the first gateway that Zeref went to."

"When I arrived at the emperor I finally at the empire where I met the emperor, I told him who I was and where I'd come from, but, he didn't believe me, so I demonstrated my power which convinced him. So, he showed me the empire he ruled over and I learned of its history including the weapons that being built over the years. The Imperial Arms I mean, each one had interesting backgrounds each was either created by gems, danger beasts, or materials. I explored more of the empire even further away to different lands and villages. Then I came across ruins that were similar to the ones back in Earthland. There were skeletons throughout the site and I managed to find several documents left behind which belonged to the same group that created the ruins in Earthland. Their travel was a success, however, they soon realized they had no way to return, so they build the gateway that connects to the Earthland, but soon a severe problem occurred, they became ill the longer they stayed in that world."

Oden thought that the last part was tragic. "So, these ancient people must've traveled to this empire only to be lost and perished due to an illness, how tragic."

Esdeath couldn't help but remember the time she saw Gray's condition, he became sick and learned that detail from Budo when he was about to use a final attack on the great general only to cough out blood and pass out. "They realized they're suffering a slower version of Magic Deficiency Disease. On top of that, they constantly had to fight the beasts of that world but in doing so, they used up their magic and ultimately, they all perished without finishing their way to return home.

Roger was silent but he couldn't help but feel pity for those that had died.

"I admit that I was worried myself about how I was to return home, then, I remembered the rainbow lacrima I found in the ruins back in Earthland. Perhaps the group that stayed had realized this problem and developed this lacrima to prevent what happened to the group in that world. As I suspected, when I applied my magic to it, lacrima opened a portal that let back to Earthland."

Gold D Roger was surprised upon hearing this. "I see..." Everyone looked at the pirate king. "When we first met, you mentioned that the gateway leading to this other world you spoke about was what inspired you to create your empire."

Zeref nodded with a smile. "Indeed, after a while, I began to gather any strong fighters and loyal suspects."

Esdeath had another question. "Okay, but, how do you explain being in the world that Roger and the others are from?"

Zeref was more happy to explain that. "Yes, the second gateway was once part of an island that was further out in the ocean."

Budo raised an eyebrow. "The second gateway was on an island that was further in the ocean."

"Yes, the island was one of forest with trees and ancient ruins, the gateway was in the center of the island, however, it wasn't easy to track down."

"What do you mean by that?" Whitebeard asked curiously.

"Allow me to explain it clearly, whenever I went to the location of the second gateway, it was suddenly gone, rather, the island was gone." Everyone was baffled by that.

"Hold on, are you saying the island just disappeared on its own?" Syura questioned. "That's bullcrap, how can an island just disappear?"

Zeref already had that answer. "It's simply, the island was somehow alive, or rather, the island was unusual, in other words, the island was on top of a giant sea turtle."

Almost everyone gasped at that detail while having gaping mouth expressions.

"Hold on, that second gateway that was on this island was part of a giant turtle!?" Fisher Tiger questioned

"Yes, but, I forgot the most important part of this second gateway, the ancient people that created this gateway also wanted to make sure it wasn't found so easily, so, they structured the gateway on a giant island turtle, meaning the giant reptile was an animal and island altogether, so, even if someone located the island and sailed to find it, the island would be go in a day or so," Zeref answered.

"How did you find it so easily?" Esdeath asked.

Zeref took out a key. "This key, it's for the ancient turtle, only experienced wizards like scrollers and Archaeologists and once they do, the key releases magic power that puts the turtle a sleep for least a week or so, therefore finding it at its location was easy as long as I found experienced Archaeologist mages that would be able to activate the key using their magic and by mere luck or so, I managed to find some that were able to locate the ancient island turtle."

After hearing that, Gold D Roger put two-two together. "I guess after you found the turtle, you found the ancient ruins that had the second gateway, right?"

Zeref chuckled lightly at the question. "That's right, I learned of the world of pirates, I sailed countless islands seeing the different islands and their people. Even learned about the World government and the Navy. I came across some books that had stories about islands that were explored by legendary sailors or adventurers like the Sky Island."

"Sky Island?" Syura scoffed. "What kind of a fairy tale bullcrap is that?"

"Hush, brat," Budo scowled earning a nasty glare from the Prime Minister's son.

"It's true," Everyone looked in Gold D Roger's way. "I went there with my crew, and we discovered the Skypians, people that lived in the sky where island clouds were, and that people lived there."

Oden wanted to share his experience too. "That's right, I was there too, two crew members of Roger's crew and I got chased by a giant snake, but, we escaped." He then looked at Zeref. "Sometime after we left the Sky Island, we crossed paths with Zeref."

Zeref smiled lightly. "Yes, I was getting ready to go home when I came across their ship. I had to inform of my curse and tell them I couldn't be close to them."

Roger remembered that. "I remember that you said that you were cursed and that curse killed many people even though it wasn't your fault."

Zeref lowered his head which the Twelve noticed. "Your majesty..."

"Huh...oh, ahem...sorry, I was lost in thought," Zeref recollected himself as his emotions were starting to come back to him. "Anyway, Roger told of the legendary treasure, though, I had no intention of finding it myself, I was quite interested, I heard of old legends including the weapons that were once used about thousands of years ago."

Whitebeard did recall other legends too. "Yes, the Joy Boy and Bluton, weapons that would shake the world to their core."

"Joy Boy and Bluton..." Esdeath thought.

Dr. Stylish was intrigued by these ancient weapons. "Ancient weapons...sounds quite interesting."

Zeref had another detail. "I also learned of devil fruits and the powers that people get rarely and that's Haki."

Invel gasped quietly as he remembered that. "I see, so, that's the power that Natsu used."

Whitebeard, Oden, Roger, and Ace were suddenly intrigued by that detail. "Hold on, someone from this world has learned to use Haki too."

"Who is this Natsu person you speak to?" Ace asked.

Zeref was quiet for a minute until he decided to speak. "That's my secret."

"Can you explain this third gateway?" Run asked.

Zeref saw no problem. "Yes, in fact, it also will answer the question he asked." He was looking at Fisher Tiger, who suddenly remembered the question he asked the black wizard. "Sometime after I left the world of pirates, I decided to travel to the location of the third gateway, which was located in a secret underground city that was further across the Fiore, about 100 miles away."

"Hundred miles away!" Whitebeard and Ace exclaimed with gaping mouths.

"That's right, the city was in ruins, though, the city's tech was still intact, but, there was little power left." Zeref continued. "Rather, magic was used to store power in the city, however, it looks the people that once lived there probably used too much which might've overloaded the city's power source and left the city in ruins." He recalled lurking through the city. "I soon came across the gateway that was further at the end of the city, though, but once I activated the gateway's power, it didn't seem to work, I tried activating the lacrima I had, but nothing happened."

"So, did you give up and leave that underground wasteland?" Syura asked sarcastically.

Zeref just smiled. "On the contrary, I learned of another way to activate the gateway, after exploring more the city, I found another key that looked different from the one that was used to point out the second lacrima. In simple terms, the key was made of some high technology that was more advanced."

"A key that was more advanced?" Fisher Tiger thought in question.

Budo was having similar thoughts. "How did you figure that out?"

Zeref chuckled lightly. "I found a journal that was left by the ancient ones that traveled to the other world where high tech was being created and they learned how to use this tech to create new items."

Esdeath could guess what items Zeref was referring to. "Like that key that you found in the underground city,"

"Correct, and as I mentioned there were ancient ones that discovered these other two worlds, however, I learned in the journal that were more ancient people, but, were in different groups, each discovering a way to travel to these worlds, however, regrettably they either died or made it back to Earthland only to succumb to the disease they had gotten but left information before they perished."

Oden couldn't help but feel bad for the other ancient people dying after returning but left details in a journal hoping for someone to discover their travels.

"Anyway, I manage to activate the key by putting it into a keyhole that was in a control panel that was on the side of the gateway." Zeref continued. "When I did that, the gateway began to make a humming sound, and soon magic energy that was within the key powered up the gateway and created the portal which I went inside."

Esdeath was more intrigued to know. "What kind of world did you see in this other world?"

"I arrived and saw the tallest buildings, it had more buildings than the Alvarez Empire had, I walked through the city and saw countless tech even machines that I never saw before. The machines were carrying people like carriages but it wasn't having animals pulling them, the machines rode on wheels. I even saw machines that flew through the sky, they made a loud whooshing-like noise."

Oden could hardly believe the information he was hearing. "Machines on wheels and flying machines made loud whooshing-like noises. What kind of machines does this other world have?"

Dr. Stylish was more intrigued than ever. "If that's the case, the scientists might have more high tech that's more advanced than ours."

"Did you draw unwanted attention to yourself, your majesty?" Invel asked.

Zeref chuckled. "Yes, I also learned the balance between Magic and Science."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Wall asked.

"Before I get into that, I came across scientists that were doing experiments, the kind that I'd never seen before." Everyone was suddenly interested in this mostly Dr. Stylish.

"What did you do at this place, but, more importantly, what was the city called?" Seryu asked.

"The city was called-" A strong wind blew over the area as Zeref explained which left most of the other worlders stunned and in disbelief.

"I also decided to create some new demons, I studied the tech that was being used by scientists and began to create a new species of demons that used my magic and the AIM Diffusion fields that were being used by people with unusual abilities."

"Aim Diffusion Fields were created by people using abilities, that don't even make sense," Syura groaned looking confused.

Irene had one theory. "If I have to guess, his majesty is saying that these Aim Diffusion Fields are something that is created by these people with these abilities and you used that to create new demons, am I right?"

Zeref nodded. "That's one way to put it, anyway, the abilities that these people have are also on the Science Side, those people with these powers are called-" Another strong wind blew over as Zeref told his loyal subjects and the other worlders of whatever he was saying.

"That's what the people are called that have abilities like that," Oden was more stunned than he was before.

Whitebeard had to admit, he never thought such power or people exists. "Damn, to think powers like that exist."

"If that's the case, then, what happened to those new demons that you created, did you ever finish them?" Saki asked as her demon followers wanted answers too.

Zeref had a troubled look on his face. "I did manage to create them, however, someone from the magic side learned of my little project and sent knights to stop it, not only that, they were going to capture me as well." The Twelve gasped in shock. "I managed to escape but I was going to release my creations, only I didn't have time to find them. So, I had to flee and considering the danger of the knights that crashed my project, I can assume they were captured and killed."

Fisher Tiger was stunned upon hearing this last story, however, he wanted to get some answers about his sister. "Zeref..." The immortal wizard looked at the Sea Bream Fishman. "This story is interesting and all, but, I want to know if my sister is safe and don't try to sugarcoat it."

Ajeel glared at the Fishman. "Hey Fishman, you don't get to give orders to our emperor!"

Dimaria agreed for once. "That's right, a lowly creature like you doesn't deserve to get-"

"That's enough!" The outburst came from Oden, who looked angry. "That's not how we treat Fishmen!"

The two Shields looked at Oden and were utterly stunned. "You should respect those that are different from you, treating those that different only exposes your ignorance, you both should be ashamed of saying such disrespectful words!"

Fisher Tiger was taken aback, a human never stood up for him, though, he remembered Koala and how grateful she was towards him and considered him a friend. He couldn't help but feel a little happy than he was. He began to wonder if Koala was safe after all these years he was dead.

"That's enough..." Zeref spoke getting the Fishman to look at him. "Anyway, to answer your question, I went back to the World of Pirates only to discover several years had passed and that Gold D Roger was executed but announced to the entire world the legendary treasure which got every pirate in the world to sail the seas. Though, that didn't stop me from traveling once more." He then looked at Fisher Tiger. "I remember hearing a story about you Fisher Tiger, that you freed countless slaves even humans as well but, I read in the newspaper that you died after being denied of blood."

"What do you mean he was denied of blood?" Irene asked.

"He means that my kind as well as merfolk share the same blood as humans do," Fisher Tiger answered.

Everyone was surprised to hear that detail, though, Dr. Stylish wasn't due to him being in the body of a deceased demon.

"Tragic wasn't it, I eventually went to the island where you were wounded, I saw a female Fishman that looked like you, I take it was your sister." Hearing that made Fisher Tiger's eyes widen. "She had a bounty that was equal to yours, but, she and her crew were soon ambushed at sea, I sailed as close as I could and activated the lacrima to open a portal that send her and her crew somewhere safe."

Zeref then had a slight regretful look on his face for a brief moment. "I thought she and her crew would be here on Earthland, however, it seems that wasn't the case, I realized that I used the new Lacrima that was created using the high tech from the city I went to...in other words, your sister and her friends are not in Earthland but the world where magic and science are."

Fisher Tiger clenched his hands tightly. "So, you don't know if she or her crew are alive?"

Zeref shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, I couldn't go back either since my reappearance at the city would've drawn unwanted attention.." Fisher Tiger didn't say a word, he just stood there in silence.

Esdeath was about done with this storytelling. "You say that you're the emperor right, what does your Alvarez Empire look like?"

Zeref chuckled lightly in response and stepped aside. "See with your own eyes. He gestured at the cliff near him.

Esdeath and the rest of her group walked toward the edge of the cliff. As they neared, every one of them gasped in a mix of shock and amazement. As far as they could see, a massive army covered the land as a sort of black blanket. Syura whistled at the sight. "Damn, this makes our army look small in comparison."

For once, Budo agreed with him. "Indeed. An army of this size, including those close to their emperor." He turned around to face Zeref. "For all your forces to gather in one location, you must be expecting your enemy to show themselves, am I right?"

Zeref gave Budo a small smirk. "Correct, in the grand scheme of things, you can say we're waging war against the continent of Ishgar. But who we're fighting against is a guild that you may have all heard of before, that's Fairy Tail."

Oden was stunned at this waging war thing, he never thought someone that he thought was once cool was waging a war against another continent.

Esdeath remained silent upon hearing who Zeref was fighting against and continued to stare at the grand army that was laid out before her. Syura, on the other hand, now found all of this laughable. "You've gotta be kidding me." He scoffed at Zeref. "You mean to tell me that you have this massive army, plus these nine guys surrounding you with a monstrously strong aura, is all for one little guild, overkill is an understatement and that's saying something coming from me."

Budo begged to differ on that logic. "You're naive as ever, boy."

Syura turned to Budo and shot him a nasty glare. "What was that, old man?"

Budo wasn't intimidated by the look that Syura was giving him. "If they have their forces gathered together to fight this Fairy Tail guild, then they must be an enemy not to be underestimated, I believe that's how you were killed in the first place."

Syura took offense to that. "Hey, you were killed too, old man!"

Before they could banter any further, they and the rest of the Empire group along with the demons and pirates heard laughter coming from Esdeath. They stared at her as her laughter became louder until cackled into the sky. Most of the twelve thought of this as odd, especially Jacob and Wall. "What's gotten into her?"

Esdeath continued to cackle until she calmed down but smiled deviously. A war, is it, this is just too perfect." She turned around to face her group and Zeref while still keeping her smile. "The previous war I was in not only spoiled but I lost badly to some of your creations, however, this is a second opportunity for me to enjoy a war. This time, I won't let anything get in the way of my enjoyment. If you want to use us, fine, all I ask is for me to enjoy this for as long as I can."

Zeref had no qualms about Esdeath's request. "Very well, then, I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you can do, the time is almost upon us."

That was all Esdeath needed to hear and looked back at the massive, blackened army. As excited as she was about the upcoming war, she was looking forward to seeing a certain someone else more. "Gray, it won't be long until our paths cross, I can hardly wait to see you, my love."

"Zeref..." The black wizard looked to see his old friends Gold D. Roger and Oden in front of him and looked unhappy. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Whitebeard, Fisher Tiger, and Ace also approached the black wizard. "We would like to talk with you too."


There you have it, Zeref explains his travels through the world of corruption(Akame's world), the World of Pirates, and the world that has Magic and Science(I'm sure anyone can figure out what I'm referring to). Don't get mad that I brought Oden, Ace, Gold D. Roger, and Whitebeard. Those that remember that Luffy encountered Whitebeard back at Marineford.

End of chapter.