Chapter 7

Zeref paused for a long sigh. The story he was about to tell was long, convoluted, strange and ancient. And it was dark and twisted. It was a tale of horror and tragedy. It was his and Natsu's tale. Something he relived every single sleepless night that he had spent since 700 years. He didn't like reliving those moments. But the story had to be retold.

"Mine and Natsu's story starts 700 years ago, deep in the forests of the island of Tenrou. We were both born to a Dragneel man and woman. The Dragneels were a simple fishing community. Our lives at first were simple. And that's how I expected them to end. Of course, fate had decided otherwise."

Mirajane narrowed her eyes. "T-Tenrou? But… no one lives on that island. Fairy Tail owns it and has owned it since centuries. We have been there countless times. We have never seen a village or town there. Not even the ruins of one."

Zeref turned to her. "Yes. Our village was wiped off the face of that island 700 years ago. Soon after mine and Natsu's birth, infact. Only a forest now grows where we once lived."

He smiled. "Have you ever wondered how that island came to be under Fairy Tail's possession?"

Mirajane looked at Makarov and Gildarts, but they both looked just as blank as her. She slowly looked back at Zeref and shook her head.

Zeref nodded. "You don't know because the answer is beyond your time. Fairy Tail owns that island because there lived another fisherman clan on that island besides the Dragneels. We were close to each other. Two old clans living harmoniously away from the rest of the world. You know this other clan already. It was the Vermillions."

"Vermillions? Did he say that?"

"I… I think…"

The Fairy Tail mages looked at each other. That name was dearly personal and familiar to Fairy Tail.

Mirajane stared at Zeref, dumbfounded. "M-Mavis Vermillion?"

Zeref smiled and nodded. "Mavis's people. Yes. They lived beside us Dragneels on Tenrou. Mavis invariably inherited that island. Our clans were close together. We would often marry into each others' households. The island did a great job at hiding us from the politics and the power struggles of the rest of the world. The rest of the world didn't even know that we existed. And it was all for good reason. Dragneels and Vermillions were non magic folk."

Levy narrowed her eyes, and tried for a while to find her speech. "Non… Non magic folk? But… they existed only in legends. No such people were ever recorded in the history of the world."

She looked at Natsu, who was staring at Zeref, listening to his own story. What was going on in his mind at the moment? She looked back at Zeref.

"And… can't you and Natsu both use magic? And Mavis must have been able to use magic too, being the first master of the strongest guild in Fiorre."

Zeref shook his head. "As I said, we lived hidden from the rest of the world. There was no way anyone could have found out about us. That's why no records exist of non mage people in history. And Mavis never could use magic. She hid that part of her identity from everyone. She wasn't one for undue attention, and being one of the mystical rare species of humans that couldn't use magic would have brought her just that. As for me, you already know that I was cursed by Ankhseram for my crimes. He didn't like the idea of me playing with life and death, and bending his rules. But with the curse he laid on me, he brought me dark and mysterious powers. My magic is as a result."

Levy stared at Zeref. She would have never dared to look at Zeref, considering how frightening and terrifying his presence was, but in the midst of the revelations he was making, she forgot all that. Mavis was a non mage, Zeref was a non mage that gained his powers along with his curse… and Natsu…

"What… what about Natsu?" She asked.

Zeref smiled and looked at Natsu. "My brother… he was always special. He was born with magic."

More gasps were heard from the crowd. Erza looked at Natsu, as if measuring him. Natsu was born with magic to a family that had been non mage? What happened? Had he… come from outside the island? She looked at Zeref again. "But… H-how?"

Zeref shook his head. "I don't know. Gods had a special plan for my brother. They had written great things in his destiny. Things beyond our comprehension."

Zeref looked down at his feet and paced up and down along the hall. "Dragneels and Vermillions… were less than accepting of magic. They believed magic to be the cause behind all the grief, strife and struggle in the world. And it's absence the reason behind our happiness. So when they found that Natsu could use magic… that he could produce fire from his body and didn't get hurt by it, they… they fell short of answers and explanation."

Natsu looked down at his open hands. His clan was non mage, but he was born with his fire? Why?

Zeref stopped pacing, and stared at a piece of rubble near his feet. His until now calm and handsome demeanour changed to that of anger and outrage. "They all disregarded Natsu. They claimed he was a curse. A demon of prophecy born to destroy the peace of our two tribes. They were so enveloped in their old and convoluted beliefs that they couldn't understand the simple fact that Natsu was born the way he was born. That he had no control over his destiny."

Erza, and some other mages looked at Natsu's quiet form standing before them. They all could sense the fact that he wasn't treated the best in his childhood. But why? What was the reason behind his magic prowess? What were the gods planning?

Zeref continued. "Our elders disregarded Natsu. The adults wouldn't let their children play with him. And the kids of the village themselves discriminated against him."

Erza looked at Natsu again. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't remember his past. It couldn't have been ideal. "What… what happened then?"

Zeref looked up at her and smiled, his eyes shut. "Whatever destiny had in mind. And it… wasn't pretty."

He sighed. "Natsu would usually play alone. Sometimes with me and Mavis when we had the time. But usually, all alone. One day, when he was playing in the forest, some kids from the village cornered him and started to torment him. Even the kids carried disdain for him. That's what they had been taught by their parents. Natsu ran to hide from them, and hid away in a small fishing hut by the river. They found him, and the torment and abuse only grew."

Zeref looked up, and saw the starry night sky through a hole in the ceiling. What came next… he had hoped he would have to never relive it. "Natsu's magic flared up by accident… and he burnt down the hut from within. Only he escaped the fire."

Silence prevailed in the hall. Many eyes were dotted at Natsu, and many agape mouths tried to say something. Anything. But no one dared to speak. The silence and quiet was unnerving, yet relieving. A broken water pipe plinked somewhere.

Zeref slowly continued the story he had never expected he would be able to tell someone. "An angry mob showed up to our house. They only needed an excuse to banish Natsu from the village… or even kill him. And now they had that. Our father tried to stop them from entering, but… was beaten to death."

The silence continued. So did Zeref. "They wanted Natsu, and they wouldn't stop at anything to get him. So I took my ailing mother, Natsu and Mavis and hid in the forest. We hid in a fishing hut that had been abandoned for a long time. The hunters would have easily found us… but something terrible happened to the village and the villagers at the exact moment after we had run away. The hunters… never came."

He turned to face the mages. "The demon of prophecy that they had thought Natsu to be, who would destroy the villages, was Acnologia all along."

Gasps and murmurs showered in the hall. It was already difficult to wrap their heads around the story until now. And Acnologia's mention only made the story that much more convoluted. How did Acnologia fit in this story? That old ancient dragon whose origins were yet unknown… It was mind shattering to think that the stories of Natsu, Zeref, Mavis and Acnologia were all somehow intertwined.

"What… What do you mean? What did Acnologia have to do with this? What did he do?" Levy asked, morbidly curious.

Zeref looked at her. "As soon as we hid, Acnologia happened upon that island. Whether by accident or not, he decided to burn down both the villages and kill all the people residing in them. The Dragneels and the Vermillions, except for me, my mother, Natsu and Mavis… all went extinct on that day. We survived thanks to Acnologia. I told you how our villages are no more, and only a forest grows in their places. Acnologia made sure of that."

The silence in the hall was the ideal environment for the mages to slowly digest and envelop the story that they were listening to. And they needed every bit of help hearing it and comprehending it.

It was weird to think that if it wasn't for that random act of violence by Acnologia… Natsu, Mavis and Zeref wouldn't have existed. Nor would have existed Fairy Tail and Alvarez. Acnologia had changed the course of history.

Levy wanted to know more about the story. And on the other hand, she also didn't. She could already tell that the story was heading towards a dark conclusion. She had read many dark and heart wrenching stories and novels… but this was reality. This was Natsu's story. Her friend's tale. A grim and twisted one.

Zeref continued. "Me and Natsu hid on that island with my mother and Mavis. A year passed in absolute solitude. Our villages were gone. All the people we had known, all our relatives, friends, companions… Everyone was ash. Days passed slowly, and my mentally ill mother only got sicker as time passed. What… whatever she did after that, she claimed that voices in her head told her to do that. That she saw visions of forest spirits frightening her, telling her to do it. What she did changed our lives. To… to avenge our father's death…. She slaughtered Natsu."

The silence continued. But within the minds of the listeners, a loud storm brewed. A storm that dared to uproot all their understanding of the world. The storm that made sure that each of them knew that what they were listening to wasn't a fictional tale. It was all reality. It had all happened to Natsu.

It had already dawned on everyone's mind that for Natsu to become a demon, he must have had to die at one point.

He died at his mother's hands.

Zeref clenched his fists, then unclenched it. His heart rang painfully with grief and heartbreak. It was as if he was back in time, experiencing his brother's death again. The agony, the trauma… the longing. When Natsu was taken from him, he felt as if he had no reason to stay in the world either. But something had cracked within him. He wanted to stay… and teach the world a lesson. A lesson in separation, heartbreak and bereavement. A lesson in pain and death. A lesson in destruction.

"I got rid of my mother after that. She deserved it. For the next year, I kept Natsu by my bedside as I researched occult magic. I… I loved Natsu indefinitely. I loved him beyond nature's boundaries. Beyond death and time. And… I wanted him back. And I was ready to cross any hurdle to see him again. Even the inescapable hurdle of doom. Once Natsu was by me again, breathing and vengeful, my next plan was to rain hell on the world. To curb it for everything it had taken from me. So I waged the Great War. Mavis… was less than appreciative of my idea. And she was horrified by what I had done to Natsu. She said that Natsu wasn't Natsu anymore, and that I should have left him alone. That he was better off in the skies and the clouds and the winds… rather than be corrupted beyond reason and brought back to Earth. So she gave me an ultimatum. Either I stopped planning what I was, or I did it without her. On that day, I chose hatred over love, and Mavis left me, swearing that she would raise an army to stop me before it was too late. And I, cursed by Ankhseram, went my own way. And thus, Fairy Tail and Alvarez came to be."