Chapter 49: Zeref the God of Time

At the Thousand Sunny.

Yajeel was on the deck sitting on a chair that was brought from the inside of the pirate ship. "Hmm..." He took a sip of tea. "I have to admit this tea is tasty." Next to him was a small table with a small plate of small sandwiches which he took a bit. "Quite the sandwiches."

Franky was inside the ship inspecting the ship for any damages. He saw that only a barrel of cola spilled on the floor. "Geez, talk about major spill." He saw a few barrels that still had their lids on. "Well, at least a few barrels of cola are still full." He nearly forgot about the tanks. "Man, guess I'll have to check for the tanks later after the war."

Sanji was making stew on the stove. "Looks like the beef stew is almost ready."

Chopper came out of the deck wiping his hands. Yajeel approached the reindeer doctor pirate. "Raccoon dog, is my grandson alright?" Chopper almost facefaulted at being called "raccoon dog" again, but, he remained calm before replying. "Yes, his wound is patched up, though, I suggest he takes a few weeks off before he goes into battle again which I suggest since I'm the doctor. However, until the town is no longer under attack I suggest you and him rest here."

Yajeel bowed his head in gratitude. "Doctor Chopper, thank you, I'm in your debt." Chopper began to do his happy dance with a flattered expression on his face. "Aw, thanking me doesn't make me happy you jerk."

"Jerk?" The old mage questioned.

Nami giggled awkwardly. "Don't mind him, that's just how he expresses his feelings."

Chopper regained his composure. "Anyway, Ajeel is asleep for the time being too. Sanji shall prepare his food when he wakes up." Yajeel nodded.

"Hey guys!" Usopp was waving on the street.

"Well, it's Usopp!" Chopper waved back. "Nami, bring him aboard!"

Nami nodded but before she did. "Usopp-AAAH-AAAH-AHHH-AHHH!" Usopp fired a grappling hook with a long length of rope and swung itself around the ship's mast.

Elfman sweat dropped overhearing Usopp's invention's name. "Seriously, that's the best name he could up with?"

"Wait, Usopp, don't fly over too fast!" Nami comically yelled.

"Whoa...whoa...I'm going to crash!" Usopp crashed into the pole as the grapple hook was unhooked and the sniper's long-nosed man fell on his back with dizzy eyes. "Am I dead?"

"Moron..." Nami muttered.

Yajeel chuckled a bit at the pirate's antics.

Franky opened the door. "Hey guys, just done inspecting the ship. No serious damage to the inside besides having some major spills of cola on the floor. Anyway, once this war is over, I'll need some help looking for the tanks." Yajeel overheard this and had an idea. "Excuse me, I believe I might be able to help you find your...tanks."

Franky was intrigued by this offer. "I'm listening."

Elfman started chowing on some sandwiches. "These sandwiches taste super manly!" He spoke with a full mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Lisanna scolded.

Aquapad was chowing on some jerky sticks. "Yum, quite the meat." He chowed on two jerky sticks. "So tasty." Lisanna giggled. "Well, don't eat too fast otherwise you might choke."

After learning of Anna's plan, the group decided to take a break. Wendy has a chat with Anna. "Anna. Sensei...I don't remember..." Lucy's ancestor put her hand out with understanding look. "It's fine, I expected this to happen and no doubt the other dragon slayers' memories are hazy."

Wendy still felt a little bad for not remembering. "I know, but, I wish I could remember." Anna giggled. "I appreciate you saying so, but your memory will come back in due time." She had a question. "Though, I'd like a favor, if you don't mind, could you tell me about the worlds you explored with your friends after this war?"

Wendy smiled. "Sure, though, the two worlds we went to were crazy and most details are quite extreme." Anna just smiled. "I would imagine so."

Usagi, Erza, and Jellal were around the corner. Jellal was sitting on a large crate of oranges.

Erza was peeking from the corner keeping an eye on the two wizards. "You have the right to be suspicious of her. Though, her plan is the only option we have to defeat Acnologia." Erza looked at her childhood friend for a second before she looked down at the floor. "Honestly, I don't suspect her."

Jellal lifts his head in surprise not expecting that.

"She's right, at times like this, we need to put trust in each other," Usagi agreed. "I mean, that's why we were able to survive by trusting and working together despite how on edge we must feel."

Erza chuckled a bit. "You're quite wise Usagi," She glanced at Wendy and Anna. "Honestly, I'm still surprised that the Heartfilla family was one of the Ancient One clans. The fact that dimensional gateways existed and were hidden for so many years is quite astounding."

"I was told by Dogstorm and Cat Viper meeting a man who claimed to be a wizard was unbelievable," Usagi said getting Jellal and Erza's attention. "I didn't think much about it, but, I'm guessing they were referring to Zeref."

Erza had a question for Usagi. "Usagi, I know this is a bad time, but, I noticed when Oden asked you about Dogstorm and Cat Viper, you were a little hesitant, though you claim that your two friends arrived in Zou safely." Usagi's face tensed up and looked a bit pale. "Your reaction tells me that you didn't tell Oden the full story, is there a reason why?"

Usagi turned away silent for a second until he sighed then looked back at the red scarlet haired woman. "I have a reason, though, I can't tell you not until we win this war." Erza was about to question him again until Usagi had a serious look on his face. "I promise to explain and I will share it with the entire guild. Pango, Tigress, and Temukai will explain too."

Erza could tell that Usagi was serious and decided to take the rabbit mink's words. "Very well."

Anna was chowing on another orange. "Chomp...Chomp..."

"Pardon m'lady!" Ichiya was behind Anna. "We're getting close to the location...men!"

Anna flipped her cape drastically. "Alright, it's time!" Everyone nodded in response.

Hibiki was concentrating on Acnologia's distance and the location where the Rift of Time. Eve glanced at his guild mate. "I hope your calculations are correct." He said earning a light chuckle from Hibiki. "Of course it is."

Ren saw one flaw in that plan. "If we miss that Rift of Time, it'll be game over for us."

Jessica placed her hands on her hips. "He's right, so make sure you got this otherwise we'll be sucked in too." Acnologia was closing the distance between him and the Christina ship. "Crap, he's closing in on us!"

"He's getting too close to me!" Jessica comically squealed.

"Eve, push this thing faster!" Ren ordered.

"I know but not yet!" Eve replied. "We have to lure him closer as we can."

The radar on the screen showed that Christina was getting closer by the second. "Four hundred meters to go!" Eve stated.

Ichiya saw that Acnologia was closer now. "Men... it's gone time!" Christina's boosters were activated and sped off with incredible speed causing the ship to shake roughly. "300...200..."

"Alright, everyone hang on tight!" Anna called.

Eve spun the steering wheel as Christina came closer to the hole. "100!" Everyone nearly lost their balance. "Barrel Roll!" The Christina did a barrel roll barely passing the hole.

"We made it past the rift with no damage to the hull," Eve reported.

"Nice work," Hibiki praised.

"Once we watch Acnologia get sucked into it..." Ren added.

"And when he touches the Time Rift, it's over" Anna concluded.

Acnologia flew further at them until he came in contact with the Rift of Time. "He's in!" Eve stated that everyone was relieved until their victory was short-lived when Acnologia reappeared and grabbed hold of the ship.

"No way! Hibiki exclaimed in shock.

Ichiya reacted the same way. "But, he hit the Rift of Time!"

"How is that possible?" Ren asked.

"He just went through it!" Anna summarized and gasped in shock at what she saw next. "The Rift of Time, I can see inside it!" Then things got worse. "Wait...the Rift of Time..."

"What is it now?" Usagi asked.

Anna continued to stare at the shrinking Rift of Time. "The Rift of Time...is closing?"

B

"I discovered the Rift of Time, a power that tremendous power...I've decided to close it when the Neo Eclipse is ready!" Zeref declared.

B

"How is this happening?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, but, we need another plan," Erza suggested.

"Wait, did you guys say that this ship has an anti-motion sickness lacrima!?" Usagi reminded.

Erza realized what the rabbit mink was getting at. "That's right, Ichiya destroy that lacrima and Acnologia will surely let go because he's also a dragon slayer!" Understanding the idea, Ichiya pumped his body. "Power Perfume!" He punched the lacrima which destroyed its power giving Wendy and Acnologia their motion sickness. The black dragon released its grip and fell off the ship.

Wendy tumbled over holding her stomach. "My stomach..." Erza felt a little bad. "Sorry about this, Wendy."

Jellal looked at Anna. "What do we do now?" Anna had one option. "I'll try to force the Rift back open, there is no other choice either life or death."

At the park, Gray, Lucy, and Happy prepared to open the book of E.N.D. As they did ancient letters emerged from the book flying out. The others decided to stay and watch.

"What the hell is going on?" Leone asked.

"Those letters are flying out!" Happy pointed out.

"Those must be about Natsu," Gray guessed.

"I can't be sure..." Lucy said quietly.

"That's quite the ancient writing," Chelsea commented.

Akame noticed two people were missing. "Guys...where's Luffy and Ace?"

"Where'd those idiots go off to?" Gray asked.

Robin wasn't too worried. "I'm sure those two have their reasons, they'll be fine."

Brook nodded. "She's right, I'm sure Luffy and Ace are doing something."

After hearing that, Lucy decided to take their word. "Alright, let's begin!"

Natsu was still locked in the purple magic energy. "Try as you might but you can't stop me," Zeref said with a dark smile.

"Then I will..." Mavis stood by the entrance door.

"AARRGGHHH!" Natsu roared as his flames grew more hotter and intense overwhelming the binding spell. "Stay back first master, I'm all fired up!" His face began to change drastically.

"There is the dragon's power..." Zeref muttered. Natsu stomped his feet as the fire surrounding him grew more intense than ever with a devilish grin.

"That's the dragon force," Mavis whispered.

"Very impressive but it's still not enough, if only you had the power to transform into a dragon the power Acnologia possesses," Zeref said.

"I'm human so I'll never end up like Acnologia...you know, because this is what Igneel wanted for me!" Natsu declared. "I'm done talking now, let's finish this now!"

"I admit that you're not a dragon, but you're far from human...YOU ARE E.N.D.!" Zeref pulled back his arm surrounding it in black magic energy.

Before the two brothers delivered their final attack Mavis stood between them spreading her arms apart. 'Wait Natsu!" Zeref was taken by surprise not expecting his former lover to be in their fight.

Natsu wasn't too pleased by the first master's actions. "Hey first master, what's the big idea?!" Mavis looked at the fire dragon slayer with a serious look. "Listen to me, I have an idea to stop this!"

Suddenly the ghost girl felt her hair being tugged by a hand. "He's right, the time for talk is over." Despite the pain she was feeling, Mavis leaned her head back to look at Zeref's eyes. "I have an idea to break the curse of immorality."

Zeref was seemingly interested for a second. "There is one way to end your curse and stop your pain," Mavis added. "Let explain my plan."

"That's pointless, I tried everything and created countless demons but not even E.N.D can kill me," Zeref replied doubtfully.

Mavis had a question of her own. "If that's the case, why do you fear Acnologia?"

"That's because I'm unable to die like you and as he is now, he can't be defeated it would be impossible even for immortality." Zeref put his face close to Mavis' "Acnologia will be the end of human history once and for all. Once he realizes this goal and humanity is wiped out only the two of us immortals will remain. No doubt, he'll torture us for his sick and twisted pleasure meaning we'll be his playthings for eternity!" Natsu hated to admit, but, he wouldn't deny that part might be true.

"I'm telling you that I figured out a way to break the curse!" Mavis pleaded to struggle to get free.

A sickened smile formed on Zeref's face as he placed his hand over her stomach. "I came up with a plan of my own...the Neo Eclipse..." He began to absorb Mavis'body which glowed brightly seemingly blinding Natsu.

Zeref's smile widened. "Your magic power is mine...I'm claiming the Fairy Heart!"

Christina's rear wing was damaged. "Damn it, the rear wing was damaged we can't maintain our speed!" Eve reported.

"Magic Booster Activate!" Jessica pulled back a chain activating Christina's boosters speeding off.

Acnologia chuckled darkly. "Running won't help as long as that little dragon slayer is there, I'll be sure to end her life!"

Anna saw their chance. "We need to buy some time to reopen the Rift of Time!"

Jellal and Usagi stepped in. "We'll volunteer."

Erza was concerned about them. "Are you two sure?" The two nodded and walked to the deck of the Christina.

Zeref continued to absorb Mavis' body. Natsu charged toward his brother pulling back his arm however he was hurled away by Zeref's magic power. "Please...stop this." Mavis pleaded.

"It's okay..." Zeref spoke softly. "The Neo Eclipse will allow you to relive your life...I'll return to my life four hundred years back when I had a family." Images of his family including Natsu. "This time, I'll avoid being immortal and then getting death, the drawback is that I'll never get the chance to see you again. I'm sure you would've been happier if you never had such a misfortunate." The black wizard's face softened a bit which Mavis noticed. "Zeref..."

"I will make one promise that I'll defeat Acnologia and have Natsu fight by my side! By doing that, mankind will have a chance of a future! However, it'll mean I'll say goodbye to this world..." Zeref was finished absorbing Mavis' magic power and she dropped to the floor.

Natsu ran toward her and picked her up. "First master...get up..." No reaction came from the ghost girl.

"She's not dead, but, her magic power is gone, so, she doesn't have the energy to stand up." Hearing that didn't make Natsu feel as he glared viciously at his brother. "Damn...you..."

Magic energy emitted from the floor and glowed brightly that enveloped the guild hall creating a lot of smoke. Once it cleared away, Natsu saw Zeref's clothes changed drastically and his hair was white and had wings of white light. "I'm without equal in this world...I'm a God with control of Time itself."

Luffy and Ace were making their way to the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Gray, Lucy, and Happy began to search through the Book of E.N.D. The Rift of Time is closed by Zeref's magic and left with no other choice, Jellal and Usagi volunteer to fight Acnologia. Mavis tries to reason with Zeref, but to no avail, and gets her magic absorbed giving Zeref control of the time. Luffy and Ace make their way to the guild hall, but, for what reason, find out next time.

End of chapter.