Chapter 45: The Wizard King's True Name
Mavis was walking through the street remembering her last time with Zeref in a dead forest. "Zeref, I won't reject you...I promise that we'll find a way to break the curse and once we do...we can find our happiness."
Zeref felt a glimmer of happiness flow inside him. "Mavis...I..don't know what to say..." He wrapped his arms around the immortal girl. "It's the first time that someone has been so kind to me."
"Come on..." Mavis pulled back placing her hands on the black wizard's shoulders. "I think you just forgot about that what it means to show kindness.
"It's the first time I ever felt this way." Zeref cupped Mavis' cheeks and kissed on the lips.
Mavis snapped out of her thoughts. "Zeref...it's time to end this." She then heard something from a nearby alleyway. "Who goes there?"
Luffy and Ace arrived.
"Luffy, Ace!"
"Hey ghost girl!"
"It's Mavis, you dumbass!" Ace retorted dope slapping his brother before looking at the ghost wizard. "Anyway, what's going on, you heading to the guild, am I right?"
Mavis nodded. "Yes, I also have to give some of my friends this." She held a black book. "It's a book on Natsu, his origin."
Luffy tilts his head. "Natsu's organ..." Mavis almost face-faulted Luffy's obliviousness.
"You mean E.N.D, right?" A gasp was heard from Mavis, who looked at Ace. "I know of Natsu's true form and what fate will fall upon him."
Luffy felt a little troubled. "Hold on, Ace, what are you saying?"
Mavis decided to explain the situation. "Luffy, there's something you need to know, so listen carefully."
Gajeel's team were entering Magnolia Town.
"Looks like we made it," Gajeel said, he felt a someone grab his arm. "Levy..." The short haired girl smiled sweetly. "Gajeel..."
Jet and Droy looked with jealousy stares. "That's not fair!"
Jimbei chuckled a little. "Youth..."
Fishertiger fell on his knees. "Ugh..." Jimbei ran over to his former captain in a worry state. "Fisher Tiger, what's wrong?" He tried to take hold of his friend's arm but the moment he tried, his hands went through. "What is going..."
Jet and Droy observed the Fishman's body and was blinking like a light bulb that was about to go out. "His body..."
"Is fading away..."
Fisher Tiger chuckled as he lifted his head. "Jimbei...looks like my time has come..." Jimbei gasped with wide eyes. "No...you can't leave now...we still need your help!"
"You heard your friend, don't give up!" Gajeel yelled.
Fisher Tiger chuckled once more. "I'm happy...that...I have human friends..." His words surprised Gajeel and his team and he looked at them with a smile. "Gajeel, Troy, Jet, Levy...I'm glad to have met you four...but, what makes me more happy is that there are still humans are opening up to my people."
"Of course, anyone a friend of Jimbei is a friend of ours!" Jet choked almost on the verge of crying.
"Yeah, Fisher Tiger, I know that you had a sad time and that you were betrayed by humans." Levy sobbed as tears dripped down her cheeks. "Though, we have respect for you. You tried what to do you could to help your people and for those you call friends. No doubt, that Koala still sees you as a friend."
Gajeel had an idea. "I think we can do something for you." He whispered to Levy's ear, who reacted in surprise.. "Gajeel, but, do you think I can do that?"
"No time for doubts, do it now." Gajeel turned his arm into a iron-club.
"Solid Script: Ink!" Levy wrote with her fingers and the word "Ink" appear in mid-air which poured into a small bucket. "Though, if we had a stamp of the Fairy Tail symbol, things would be easy."
Droy had an idea. "Plant Magic: Green Plant Guild Mark!" He grew a small plant that took the shape of Fairy Tail's guild mark and poured the ink on it. Jet took out a piece of white paper. "Quick press this paper on it!" Levy took a piece of paper and pressed it on the plant, the paper had a copy ink shape of Fairy tail's guild mark. "This will have to do..." She walked over to Fisher Tiger and pressed it on his right shoulder. "I know the symbol might be weirdly shaped, but...Fisher Tiger, I welcome you as member of Fairy Tail...and consider it a gift as a first bond our friendship."
Fisher Tiger smiled happily as tears dripped down his cheeks. "I'm happy...thank you so much...I'll never forget this...my friends..."
Gajeel had more thing to say. "One more thing, you probably don't remember, but during your attack on Mariejois, you saved little girl named Miyaka, she's grateful to you and will never forget what you had done for her."
Fisher Tiger chuckled a little. "I do remember her, but, I didn't get her name, but, I'm happy to know she's safe."
Levy giggled while wiping a tear from her eye. "Yeah, she's a member of Fairy Tail, I wish she was here to see you again." Fisher Tiger's body began to fade away as he looked at Jimbei once more. "Jimbei...I'm happy to see that you're grown...say "hi" to the Sun Pirates and Hachi for me..."
Jimbei sobbed as he bowed his head in respect. "I will...old friend...farewell...captain...Fisher Tiger..." Fisher Tiger smiled as his eyes closed and he vanished into thin air.
Jimbei stood up wiping his eyes with his arm and took a deep breath. "My friends, let's return to the guild." The four wizards nodded.
After August made a serious threat toward Cana, Gildarts gave a vicious glare at the wizard king. "You bastard...if you dare lay a finger on my baby girl, then...YOU'LL BE BEGGING FOR DEATH!" He declared with rage and rushed at the old mage.
"Don't be an idiot, he's trying to provoke you!" Cana warned, though her words weren't getting through to her father.
Gildarts threw punches and kicks at the wizard king, but the old mage was able to evade each attack. August pointed his staff at Gildarts and the tip of the staff glowed purple which sent Gildarts into a wall.
"Are parents supposed to love their children, is that how it's supposed to be in this world?" August asked releasing red magic streams.
Gildarts rushed and evaded the energy streams at the same time. "Of course, what kind of question is that?" He tried to throw a punch only to be hit in the stomach by August's staff sending him skidding on the ground.
"In that case..." August pointed his staff releasing a strong shockwave that sent Gildarts crashing into the ground once more. "Old man!" Cana called as she tossed several cards downward.
"Stay back, Cana!" Gildarts ordered as the wizard king flipped over to avoid Cana's cards without using his magic.
"Cut that out, I'm not a child anymore." Cana landed on the ground.
A small smile was placed on Gildarts' face and he stood back up. "Doesn't matter, you're still my little girl and I love you."
"Yet still, his majesty's child never earned love," August said.
"His majesty's child...wait, does he mean Zeref?" Cana thought, though she quickly dismissed the thought.
Somewhere in the town, Larcade was limping in an alleyway. His body was seriously damaged and yet he kept dragging his feet along the road. "I...have...to protect father..."
Natsu and Zeref continued their fight throwing punches at each other. Natsu got an opening and kneed the black wizard in the stomach.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu blew strong flame breath at the black wizard.
The breath attack seemingly engulfed Zeref, but, the flames were extinguished by Zeref's black magic.
Natsu reappeared behind twirled his body around and slammed his foot down. Zeref was able to block with his arm.
"Neither of them is giving an inch," Brook said.
"No kidding, Natsu is a badass as ever," Leone commented.
"Indeed, I wonder how strong he would be against Luffy," Robin wondered.
"Who knows, but, it would be fun to watch," Chelsea commented.
Gray chuckled. "That would be the day."
"Gray, Lucy, Happy, Robin, Akame, Leone, Chelsea, and Brook!" Hearing Mavis' voice took them by surprise. "Are you guys at the guild?"
"That voice..." Lucy recognized the voice.
"First master..." Happy stated.
Akame felt relieved to hear the first master's voice. "Glad she's alright."
Leone chuckled with a grin. "Sounds like the first master manage to get her ass away from the enemies. Bet that pissed off the Twelve."
Despite the foulmouth comment, Leone had a point.
"Hey!" A familiar loud voice rang out.
"It's Luffy!"
"Did you forget about me?" The voice of Luffy's adopted brother was heard.
"Ace..." Brook spoke quietly.
"Glad that you're okay," Robin said looking relieved.
"We don't have much to chat, so, Mavis will get straight to the point," Ace said.
"Everyone, leave the guild right away!" Mavis ordered. "I'm approaching the guild hall, though, I want you to meet up with me and the others."
Lucy and the others hesitate to leave their friend behind.
"Why do we need to do that?" Gray asked.
"Yeah, we can't just leave him," Happy agreed.
"Have faith in Natsu," Mavis kept running.
"You heard the girl, leave now," Luffy commanded. "Robin, Brook, that includes you both!"
Robin, Brook, and Akame began to leave. "Let's go."
"Akame, Robin," Lucy said quietly.
Akame turned to look at the blonde girl. "Lucy, I know how this sounds, but, master Mavis gave us an order."
"She's right, besides, I'm sure your master has a good reason," Robin agreed.
"Indeed, so, plus, we'll get more details once we meet up with her and the others," Brook added.
Mavis was proud to hear the support she was hearing from Akame, Brook, and Robin. "This is for Natsu's fate which is in your hands."
Gray still didn't understand, though, he understood Robin, Brook, and Akame's point of view. He began to walk toward the entrance.
Chelsea felt unsure about this but it was an order. "Guess we got no choice." Lucy took one last look at Natsu. "Don't lose." Soon everyone left to meet up with Mavis and the two pirate brothers.
Natsu and Zeref skidded across the guild hall looking at each other.
"What fun this is, Natsu," Zeref spoke getting Natsu to tilt his head.
"I must defeat you here and now, or the future of humanity is doomed..." Zeref had his head lowered with a faint smile on his face. "And yet I find this fun I can't understand these feelings."
Natsu didn't quite follow what Zeref was bambling about nor did he care. "Enough of this yapping crap!"
Zeref lifted his head showing a psychotic expression on his face. "Either way, I'm enjoying this time."
Natsu was a little taken aback by the last words. "You're insane..." Suddenly he felt a strange feeling wash over his mind and placed his hand over his face.
There behind him was Larcade who had two fingers up. "Go to sleep now." Natsu glanced at him not expecting anyone else to arrive. "Where'd you come from?"
"Larcade...you're here..." Zeref was surprised to see one of his Twelve at the guild hall.
"Father..." Hearing that word surprised Natsu.
"What...father..." Natsu was even more surprised and he began to feel more dizzy. Then he began to punch his face comically. "Come on, wake up, wake up!"
"Now, this is your chance, kill him! You'll be free from his curse! Let his spirit of pure white be taken to heaven's light!" Larcade proclaimed spreading his arms apart with a manical smile. "
Zeref seemed angry about the Larcade's interference.
F
Around the time when Precht was the guild master, he was researching Mavis' corpse. He discovered something unique. "No. that's impossible...according to this date. There is another life inside Mavis' body...unbelieveable" He placed his hand on his face with concern and conflict. "What should I do...I should let it die or live...die...or...live..."
F
Zeref put his left arm out releasing a purple magic energy stream that went straight through Larcade's chest.
The effect of the Twelve's on Natsu was quickly gone and the fire dragon slayer witnessed this unexpected turnaround.
August began to look at the sky. "Why...why wasn't his son showed love."
Gildarts noticed the spacing out that the wizard king was displaying. "Old geezer, you get lost in thought, that's unexpecting. Either way...I will tear off your beard right off your face!" He rushed at the wizard king and thrust his arm delivering a punch.
Cana threw her cards once more. "Move it!" August caught this and dodged the cards.
Gildarts put his right arm out. "All Crush!" He released a strong shockwave splitting his body into red-like cubes.
The red cubes pulled together and August came soaring at them with a strong dark red aura surrounding his body knocking away Cana and Gildarts.
"This fatherly love won't be able to save you! August pointed to his staff releasing a dark red magic stream that went straight at Cana.
"Cana!" Gildarts exclaimed with wide eyes.
Cana was almost stabbed until a figure flew right in front of her and large massive blue wings glowed blocking August's attack. "Trump Card...Divine Wings..." There was Run, who activated his Imperial Arms' trump card.
"What the hell..." August felt his magic being used against him and sending him skidding across the destroyed cathedral.
"Who are you here?" Gildarts asked.
Cana observed the young man. "Wait, are you one of the Jaegers?"
"That's right, I came here to help," Run replied not looking back at the two wizards.
"Run...it's you... surprised to see that you're around despite Neinhart's defeat," August felt a certain pain in his body. "Your Imperial Arms is more than I could've imagined."
Gildarts had a question. "So, you're one of the Jaegers my friends fought that I can see. Why are you helping us, though?"
Run glanced at the Crush mage. "I owe you and your friends for showing me the light...that, for saving my former team." A small smile was shown on his face. "For that, I will assist you guys in this war as long as I can."
Gildarts saw no problem with that. "Very well, I suppose I owe you for saving my daughter."
Cana looked at Run closely and smiled. "I admit you're quite strange, but, you look handsome up close." Run's face went red and quickly turned his head away hiding his beet-red face.
Gildarts chuckled a bit before looking back at August. "Anyway, we tried to fight against this bastard's magic, so far, Fairy Glitter and my Crash Magic aren't laying a scratch on him."
Run had a theory to share. "Yes, I noticed and from what I heard about his countless battles, he seems to be able to fight those with Caster Type magic."
Gildarts gasped quietly and then a big grin appeared on his face. "Really, in that case," He rushed at August, who stabbed his enemy in the shoulder.
"Gildarts!" Cana yelled with wide eyes.
Run wasn't expecting that to happen. "What are you?" He then heard Gildarts chuckle. "This pain isn't nothing compared with my fight with Acnologia. I'll be fine." He placed his hands on the staff holding tight.
"Why are you doing this?" Cana asked.
"Because I'm your father," Gildarts replied in a raspy tone which surprised August. "Pretty lame, but since I was young I only cared about myself. However, when you appeared in my life."
Cana had one more question. "If that is true, then why'd you run away?"
"I thought it would be awkward to have your old man around," Gildarts replied as he struggled to move his feet. "If you want me to stay with you, that's fine with me!"
Cana scoffed. "Sounds annoying to me!" Gildarts began to run toward August despite the pain he was in. "Thing is whatever my daughter is in trouble, I will do whatever I need to do...EVEN IT MEANS THAT I HAVE TO TAKE YOU TO THE GRAVE WITH ME!"
Gildarts kept running toward August until he was in close range. "You fool!" August yelled.
"Wrong, I'm a loving father!" Gildarts declared getting August to gasp with wide eyes.
Larcade was on the floor unable to move due to his fatal injury. "I don't understand...why...father."
Zeref stomped his foot on the Twelve's chest causing the young man to gasp loudly in pain. "I don't have any children."
Natsu was stunned as Zeref continued to stomp his foot on Larcade's chest. "No, that's not true, I'm your son." An evil chuckle was heard from Zeref. "You're merely another demon from the Book of Zeref. Among countless others to create Natsu, I gave you the Dragneel name and that's all there is to it."
Larcade began to sob with tears forming in his eyes and he struggled to sit up. "Still...I'm..."
A darkened look appeared on Zeref's face. "You have the nerve to disrupt my fight with Natsu when I was having so much fun..." He started to punch and kick his so-called son like a punching bag. "You useless piece of trash!"
"Stop that!" Natsu demanded as Lacrade's body was lying on the floor as Larcade continued to sob in despair of being rejected by his father.
"Now, Natsu, you're ready to continue, let's end this." Zeref turned with a maniacal smile on his face.
F
"The child of Mavis...is Zeref the father?" Precht said looking so confused. "How is...wait...she may be a child, however, she's an adult." He looked at the basket with baby Larcade. "He has a magic that's neither light nor darkness...what is wrong to let him live."
Precht took baby Larcade and left him in a canyon. "Precht abandoned me, but I don't hate him for that. All those years I began to remember Zeref and Mavis, knowing them being my parents. I kept struggling for food and shelter. That is until I met him...my father...who saved me."
Linebreak
"None of your magic will work against me," August yelled keeping his grip on his staff.
Gildarts grinned. "Wrong, I figured out how your magic works. I realized that your magic is the ones that you copied! That is how you neutralize every spell thrown at you."
Cana was surprised to hear that. "On top of that, you weren't able to counter Run's Trump card, because you had never seen weapons like his." Gildarts continued.
Run smiled. "I knew it."
"Lastly, you were able to counter Fairy Glitter and my Crash Magic, but, you dodged Cana's cards, why is that?" Gildarts grin grew wider. "It's simple, you can't block magic that's Holder Type Magic."
August's staff was snatched away by Gildarts. "It makes sense to me, it's alol like how Lucy needs her keys to summon her Celestial Spirits. In other words, you can't copy magic that relies on tools!"
Cana smiled proudly. "I knew there had to be something." She threw countless cards at August. "CUT THAT OUT WITH THE TAKING YOU TO THE GRAVE CRAP YOU WERE SPITTING OUT!"
August took damage from Cana's cards. "I ain't going to die, I wouldn't be able to see a smile on my daughter's face!" Gildarts pulled back his prosthetic arm. "In this arm will be something you can't copy!"
Young August was shown holding his father's hand. "My father did not know about me but it was better that way."
"Purifying Truth!" Gildarts threw his fist which was surrounded by a white light and slammed into August's chest and was engulfed in strong yellow magic energy.
F
"My father realized he knew he would have to give me a name."
"I remember a wonderful time I was blessed by a special girl. It was in the summer, during August...somehow you remember me of her. August shall be your name."
"Why did his majesty show his child love...it was...because he never realized he had one." August thought as he felt his body getting damaged.
F
Larcade continued to sob in despair. "Why father...why are you doing this to me?"
Zeref sneered at the Twelve's sobbing. "Stop this pointless sobbing at once!" Larcade struggled to get up as he reached his hand out. "Father please..."
This was the breaking point for Zeref, who put his right hand out as a dark aura enveloped his so-called son. "I can't stand the sight of you any longer, be gone!"
"Father!" With that, Larcade was gone in a flash leaving nothing behind.
Natsu glared viciously at the black mage. "How do you do that, he was your son!?"
Zeref was trembling despite what he did. "He was...nothing more my creation, not my child. He was a piece of garbage." In a split second, he was punched in the head.
"I get it now, someone like you who hurt his child is no father," Natsu said in a venomous tone.
In unknown realm
Gozuki and his former team were there.
"Where the hell are we?" Gozuki asked.
"It looks like some kind of a realm." Najasho guessed.
"Strange, it's not heaven or hell that's for sure," Natala pointed out.
"Either way, why are we here or who brought us here?" Green asked.
"How the heck did I get here?" There was Tom, the Fishman.
"Whoa, who the hell are you?" Cornelia asked preparing to use her Shingu.
"Whoa, no need to worry, I ain't going to hurt you!" Tom defended as he laughed.
"Why is he laughing?" Guy asked with a sweatdrop.
"Strange guy," Gin added with a sweatdrop too.
"Such a strange beastly creature," There stood Merraid alongside her were Gilberda, Babara, Taeko, and Cassandra.
"Well, look who the cat dragged in," Gin joked.
"About time you all gathered here," The ghostly spirit appeared from above and flew above the group. "I brought you here to have a chat with you, about what you have missed through all those years."
August was seemingly defeated by Gildarts and Cana, who was assisted by Run. Fisher Tiger fades away but not before receiving a parting gift from his new human friends, Gajeel, Droy, Jet, and Levy. Larcade is cruelly rejected by Zeref and Natsu confronts him about his actions. In another realm, Akame's former team, the Oarburgh Clan, and Tom are brought together and are approached by a mysterious spirit. Who is the spirit and why did it decide to meet up with them? That will be revealed in due time.
End of chapter.