Welcome back! This week we have a flashback chapter. Kinda. All of this happened in the past, but Natsu is at present remembering everything as he saw it as a child.

KEEPING SECRETS, CHAPTER 2- THE FAMILY RUIN

He lived here. This was his house. This was his room. His and Zeref's. Yeah, Zeref was his brother. He remembered everything. He remembered his father, Thaddeus. His big infectious smile, which Natsu inherited, along with his salmon hair. He often joined in Natsu's and Zeref's adventures through the village, especially when Natsu's wrestling got too rough for Zeref.

And he remembered their mother, Ruth. She was beautiful, like Lucy. If Natsu got his looks from his dad, Zeref got his from their mom, inheriting her dark hair and pale skin. Natsu remembered he discovered his love of food from his mother's cooking. He remembered the sweet-sounding songs she'd hum and sing, whether she was just working around the house or comforting one of her sons. Even though she scared everyone whenever she (usually justifiably) got mad over something, Natsu remembered her as a light wherever she went.

Natsu had loved his family and thought nothing would ever tear them apart.

That was, until the day his world quite literally stopped.

Their village was small and remote. It wasn't near any important cities or landmarks. By all descriptions, they should have been completely safe.

But reality is often unkind.

As dragons descended upon his home, Natsu watched as one breath attack incinerated the village's defense force- his father included. His mother had grabbed him and Zeref, pulling them under their table as one beast lit their roof on fire. As their home burned, their mother told him and Zeref to run to the forest and hide and that she would be right behind them. She pushed them out from under the table, screaming at them to run. It was the last time Natsu heard his mother's voice.

Running, he heard Zeref cry out in pain as he tripped. Natsu turned back, offering his brother a hand. Both boys were nearly knocked off their feet by the house's sudden shaking. Cracks shot across the ceiling, and they realized a dragon was on the roof. Pausing a moment, there was one more big shake, and the trembling stopped. As the brothers sighed in relief, a rafter began to crack. Right above them. Without thinking, Natsu pushed Zeref toward the doorway, and tried to use the momentum to follow him. He wasn't fast enough. There was a horrible splitting sound, and then nothing but darkness.

Natsu tried to move, but everything felt stiff. Like he had slept a really long time in one spot. It was also wet, like he had gone under water in the lake near their home. He could hear someone saying something but couldn't make out what it was. Before he realized he hadn't taken a breath, he felt the water? drain around him.

"Natsu...can you hear me?" the voice was clearer now. It was weak, heavy with emotion, like he had been crying. Natsu's eyelids felt extremely heavy, and when he opened them, the light was way too bright. His vision cleared, and standing before him was a young man, an ecstatic smile on his face. His dark hair was messy, he had bags around his eyes, which were bloodshot red. Still, Natsu almost thought it looked like a grown-up version of-

"My name is Zeref Dragneel. I'm your older brother. Do you remember, Natsu?" Zeref, apparently, asked again.

"Of course I remember," Natsu said, his voice extremely dry and scratchy. He sounded like he had a bad cold. "Why are you so big, Zeref? Where are we? Where's mom and dad?"

Zeref smiled, but it was a sad looking smile, Natsu thought. "Natsu... the dragons... destroyed our entire village. I was the only one to make it out."

"Don't you mean 'we'?" Natsu asked, stumbling as he went to take a step. Why does it feel like my feet and legs are asleep?

Zeref shook his head. "No, Natsu." Taking a step backwards, Zeref plopped himself on the floor in front of Natsu... and whatever the egg thing was he was trying to get out of. "The truth is... you pushed me out of the way of the falling ceiling. I tried to get you out of the rubble, but I wasn't strong enough. By the time I finally was able to move everything on top of you... there was too much smoke in the house... you were gone Natsu. You died, same as mom and dad that day."

Natsu's eyes widened. "What... but if I died... how am I here?"

Zeref's smile returned, but now it bothered Natsu. It didn't look like Zeref's normal smiles when he was happy or laughing. "I brought you back! I saved your body and kept it in a lacrima... the crazy old man that lived next to the mill had one! I tried so many different spells... and then... ha-ha!" Zeref started laughing but it didn't sound like it was over anything funny. "I was cursed. Now everything I love, I kill... But! I found an ancient magic so old no one knows its name. I call it etherious magic! I used it to bind your soul back to your body! " He pulled out a large, leather-bound book with the letters E.N.D. engraved on it. "I achieved my two main goals at once, little brother. I finally brought you back, and now, you being a human powered with etherious magic, you can kill me!"

Natsu's eyes widened as he stumbled back. "Kill... you? Zeref, what are you talking about? I'd never kill you! You're my big brother! I love you! Why would you want me to kill you?" His voice went from fear to anger the longer he spoke.

The crazed look seemed to fade from Zeref's eyes, his creepy smile fading from his face, replaced by a horrified expression. "No, Natsu... no, I don't want you to kill me. You don't understand, this curse... even my very thoughts contradict themselves. Your soul is linked to my magic now, so if you kill me, you would likely die too. I'm so sorry little brother. No, please don't kill me..." he grasped his head in his hands and folded into himself as he spoke. Natsu felt himself tearing up, seeing his big brother like this.

Zeref's head suddenly snapped toward Natsu. His creepy smile returned, and his eyes... were they red?!

"I have a better idea. I'll kill you instead!" A sinister looking orb of black mist formed in his hands.

"No Zeref! Big brother, please don't!" Natsu screamed at Zeref, eyes flooded with tears. Zeref seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then began to move toward Natsu again. However, before he could get any closer, something wrapped around Natsu's waist, pulling him out of the room and Zeref's reach.

"Stay here, young master. Your brother is not well." Opening his eyes, Natsu found himself in a hallway outside the room he had woken up in. Wrapped around his waist were several thick vines of thorns. None had hurt Natsu, miraculously, and they disappeared as soon as they appeared, vines traveling back to their source, a tall man with long black hair tied in a ponytail and narrow, scheming black eyes. Natsu thought he looked creepy but also didn't complain as the man had just most likely saved his life.

"My Lord! You have worked tirelessly for years to revive your brother and now you have!" the man yelled, stepping back into the room Natsu had come from to confront Zeref. "At the same time, he is your crowning achievement- the ultimate etherious, even possessing the capabilities to destroy you! You do not want this My Lord! Snap out of it!"

Zeref stared at the man, creepy smile staying still. However, it wavered as he realized he had tears pouring down his face. The smile turned into a look of horror, and his eyes returned to their dark color. Zeref collapsed to the floor, on his hands and knees. Looking toward Natsu, he called out to his brother, voice breaking as his emotions overwhelmed him- "Natsu! I'm so sorry! Please, forgive m-" his last word was cut short as he clenched his chest, and that scary black mist stuff like he made the orb from earlier began to emanate from his body, so much so that it was filling the room.

The strange man had moved so quickly Natsu hadn't seen him or had time to fight as he scooped him under his arm, running down the hallway away from the room. Natsu's own tears fell down his face, his arm reaching out but then falling limply against his rescuer's back as they turned the corner, and Zeref was out of his sight.

Natsu didn't see Zeref again for a long time after that. Well, actually, he wasn't allowed to.

The man who had rescued Natsu was named Mard Geer Tartaros, and apparently like Natsu he was an etherious, which was a being created with Zeref's etherious magic, as well. He explained that he was a pure etherious however, created entirely from said magic Zeref was talking about. Not like Natsu, whose soul was bound back to his body with etherious magic. Natsu really didn't get it and he didn't care. He was just upset he couldn't see his big brother anymore.

Mard Geer had attempted to explain Zeref's curse to the young boy, telling him the more his brother valued the people around him, the more his curse would kill. However, if he began to no longer see worth in human lives, he was able to control his curse.

Of course, this didn't deter Natsu from attempting to break into his brother's lab. Unfortunately, Mard Geer wasn't the only etherious around, and all of them always seemed to stop him just before he'd get into the lab with his brother inside. They weren't all bad, he guessed. A lot of them showed him their magic, or curses, as they called them. A lot of them were really cool looking too, he thought. But he wanted Zeref to come see their cool curses and have fun with them too. Natsu eventually was able to break into Zeref's lab a few times, but his brother would just look at him with sad eyes and quietly say he couldn't play with Natsu, and he needed to go. Then one of the etherious would show up and drag Natsu off, again.

The etherious weren't as nice as his mom and dad either. They would always scold him for trying to see Zeref, and when he'd show them things he'd made or drew, they didn't seem to care. They tried to make him sit down and read and write things, but they got mad if Natsu seemed disinterested. He liked stories and books when it was his mom or dad or Zeref telling them or reading them but the etherious didn't make it fun like they did.

And when he'd have a nightmare or think he saw something scary, they'd just tell him he was being ridiculous and to go back to sleep. Natsu had many sleepless nights in the strange place, which he swore he could hear breathe and worse, sometimes growl.

Finally, one day Zeref stopped by. Natsu had been so excited. He had listened to him talk for a little bit, with a sad smile on his face. When Natsu was done, Zeref asked if Natsu wanted to follow him, that he had a friend of his he wanted Natsu to meet. Natsu followed along happily, even though he had to stay a bit back from Zeref.

Coming outside, he realized the strange place they had been in was way up in the sky. He wished he would have known they had been flying! When he asked Zeref about it, Zeref had looked confused but then explained he made this place to keep people from finding him. When Natsu asked why, Zeref said he had done a lot of bad things due to his curse and that a lot of people wanted him dead. "The problem is... I can't die Natsu. I don't age, nothing done to me, no matter how awful or painful, will kill me." Zeref sighed and looked away into the clouds. "You know it's been almost 50 years since I've been cursed. But I haven't aged since I was 16."

"Big brother..." Natsu reached out his hand, walking toward Zeref.

Zeref held up a hand, beckoning for him to stop. "I'm sorry Natsu, you still can't be near me. It's not safe." Zeref sighed and looked down. "That was probably why I reacted the way I did when you first woke up. You don't know how sorry I am, little brother." Natsu just stared at him with wide eyes. "I wish things could be different... but the fact is Natsu, you're not safe being near me. I care for you far too much." As if on cue, that black stuff that came out of Zeref, circling around him, the same way it had on the day Natsu was resurrected. "As you can see, even just talking to you is enough to make my curse act up." Hearing a roar, both Natsu and Zeref looked up. Smiling at Natsu, Zeref said, "So I decided to ask one of my friends for help."

Natsu's eyes widened as he saw the source of the roar break through the clouds. A massive red dragon. At one point Natsu had thought dragons were the coolest things ever. Now... Now he was terrified. "Zeref, it's a dragon! We need to run!" Natsu shouted, Zeref just smiled at him.

"It's fine Natsu. He won't hurt us. I promise."

"It's true little one." Natsu stared in shock as the dragon spoke, his voice so deep it made the ground rumble. When he finally landed in front of them, it felt like an earthquake. "My name is Igneel. I have been a friend of your brother's for many years now." Igneel lowered his head, and Zeref walked up, touching the side of the dragon.

"Ironically, dragon scales are resistant to my curse so they are the only creatures I can safely be around. I've known Igneel since... the day our village was destroyed. He was the one who found me after... everything." Zeref said, the same sad smile still on his face.

Raising his head back up, Igneel nodded and looked right at Natsu. "Indeed. I heard about the attack on your village and hoped to get there in time to stop it. Alas I was not fast enough." The dragon lowered his head again. "I am very sorry I could not save you or your parents, young Natsu."

This felt surreal. "It's ok, Igneel. Thanks for being my brother's friend."

"Of course. Say... would you like to ride on my back?"

Natsu's eyes lit up. "You mean like... fly?"

"Indeed!" Igneel swung his tail around to where it was close to Natsu. "Climb on!"

Natsu screamed in glee as he got to see the sky. On the back of a dragon. He wished his mom and dad could have seen this. "Look, Zeref! I'm flying!"

Zeref smiled as he heard Natsu's joyous yelling.

As Igneel landed, Natsu yelled, a huge grin on his face, "That was so much fun! You should try, Zeref!"

But Zeref simply smiled that same sad smile. "What do you think, old friend?"

"I will happily take him... but are you sure? He's the only family you have left."

Tears started to fall down Zeref's face. "I know, but that's why he should go with you."

Natsu was confused. "Why are you crying brother? What do you mean I should go with him?"

Zeref, black mist swirling around him, continued to cry as he smiled and raised his hand. "Igneel's gonna take care of you from now on Natsu. I'm... sorry I was such a failure of a brother to you."

"What, but I don't wanna leave you! Please big brother!"

Zeref collapsed; face buried in his hands. Through his sobs, he got out, "Igneel, please go before I do something stupid."

Nodding, the dragon took off. "No! Zeref! Don't make me go!"

Getting back up, Zeref offered Natsu a smile as he began shrinking in the distance. "Goodbye Natsu. I will always love you, no matter what."

Natsu called out to him again. But they were too far away. Eventually that floating place was just a speck in the sky. Igneel flew into and landed in a forest, his own heart breaking as he heard the child on his back sob for his big brother. He gently picked the child up with his tail and then just as gently wrapped his tail snugly but not too tightly around the child.

"I'm sorry young one... truly I am. I'd take you back to him if I could... but he's right, it is far too dangerous to be around his curse." Igneel's voice was deep with sorrow, as if he himself had experienced something like this before. "All I can do... is offer my own tears with you, Natsu." Natsu watched in shock as the dragon's own tears rolled down his scaly face. Natsu grasped the big dragon's body, his own shaking as it was rocked by his sobs.

Later that night, Natsu woke from a nightmare. To his surprise the dragon was sympathetic. No one had comforted him from a nightmare since his mom and dad had died. He wrapped his tail around Natsu again and gently touched his massive snout to the child's head. "You have suffered far more than any child should have." Igneel lamented. Natsu just grasped onto him tighter, trying not to cry anymore. He had never liked crying- not even back when his mom and dad were there to dry his tears. That had always been Zeref's thing. He had cried more today probably in his entire life, other than the day of his resurrection, knowing his parents were gone and seeing his brother lose his mind.

The night was silent other than the chirping of the crickets. Until Igneel's deep voice broke it again. "Maybe... things won't always be like this, little Natsu."

Natsu let go and looked up into Igneel's eyes, now looking down on him. "What do you mean?"

Igneel smiled. "I've been alive for a long time, little one. I've seen many things, including curses, no matter how strong they seem, can always be broken."

Natsu's eyes grew wide. "But his curse... it came from a god! How could it possibly be broken?"

"Bah! That thing is no god. Any god that would give a curse like that to a suffering child who only wanted to see his family again... is no god. He is a demon. And despite what you may have heard, demons can be killed. I know from experience." Igneel smirked before continuing. "It will not be easy, little one. But perhaps together... we can find the answers."

"Do you mean it? You'll help me cure my big brother?" Natsu looked at the dragon with wide eyes.

Igneel smiled at him again. "Of course, Natsu. Dragons don't lie." Igneel yawned. "Perhaps we ought to start tomorrow. I know I cannot be the only one who is sleepy."

It was true, Natsu's eyes felt heavy. "Okkkayy... he said laying his head against Igneel, feeling himself drift off to sleep. "Good nightttt, Ignee-" Natsu couldn't finish the sentence, as he had already drifted back off to sleep, snoring softly.

Igneel smiled as he closed his eyes. "Sleep well, Natsu."

The next day Igneel and Natsu set off. Unfortunately, the nearest town they found wasn't very friendly, as the old librarian lady told Natsu to stop wasting her time when he couldn't pronounce the name of the god who had supposedly cursed his brother, saying that his parents should keep better eyes on him and not let their children run off and spin such ridiculous stories.

That was the day Natsu learned dragons had very good hearing, as next thing he knew the library was missing a roof and an angry Igneel was lecturing the librarian on showing sympathy and compassion to a suffering child, having heard the entire exchange despite waiting in the woods outside of town. He was even more offended when the librarian decided to take a nap during his lecture (in truth having passed out in fear). Then the angry villagers had shown up so he and Igneel just left.

The next village proved to be a dead end as well. Natsu brought Igneel a book that he thought was on curses. When Igneel asked what it said, Natsu said he was hoping Igneel could read it to him. Igneel then sheepishly admitted he didn't know how to read human writing. As the two grew discouraged, Igneel suggested a new idea, "You will no doubt encounter many enemies on your quest. You must know how to defend yourself, young Natsu. I may not be trained in your human forms of swordplay, but I know plenty about fire magic. Since you and Zeref are brothers, I can only assume your magical potential is astounding. What do you say Natsu, would you like me to teach you what I know about the power of fire?"

Natsu's eyes widened, and a massive grin formed on his face. "Yes! Please teach me!"

So Igneel did. As expected, despite being only a boy, Natsu's magical potential was incredible. Igneel taught him many things about fire and ways he could use it in practical and helpful ways- in addition to attacks that used its destructive force, of course. Igneel was, however, very careful not to teach him any abilities that could be 'draconic' in nature. He knew the price of such power after all, and he did not want Natsu, who had already suffered so much, to suffer the fate of those who came before him. That's what he told Natsu anyway.

This changed one day when Natsu had set fire to some ungrateful farmer's dead crops (it may have killed some of the alive ones too, Igneel noted in hindsight). As they fled the angry shouting farmer through the sky, Igneel smelled a familiar scent as he saw a person flying towards them.

Wait, flying towards them?

Natsu recognized the figure as it drew closer. He had seen her several times during his stay in Zeref's floating house. She wasn't very nice, and her name was weird. Kay oka? Cota? Cream soda? Natsu just called her bird lady, and she didn't like that either. Igneel descended to land as she flew near them, and she followed suit. As she walked towards them, Natsu noticed the bird lady was smiling.

"You're one of Zeref's creations," Igneel noted as she kneeled before him.

"Indeed. I am Kyoka, and I come on behalf of my master. He has good news, and he requests yours' and E.N.D. 's presence, mighty fire dragon king."

Natsu was gonna ask who E.N.D. was before he remembered that's what Zeref said his name technically was now that he was part etherious, but Natsu didn't want to be called that. He scowled and grumbled, "My name is Natsu, dumb bird lady." He missed Kyoka's eyebrow twitch.

Igneel looked surprised. "Oh? What good news does Mister Zeref have?"

Kyoka smirked. "He believes he has found a way to destroy Acnologia."

Yeah, super lame for me to leave off in the middle of a flashback, right? Well I agree.

So that's why chapter three is getting uploaded tomorrow!

This was all one chapter originally, but it felt too long. So, I broke it up into two! I will be traveling most of the day so it will be probably later in the evening when I post it.

Furthermore. Natsu and Zeref's parents' names, I made up. To my knowledge we don't know their actual names, but I needed to give them names other than Natsu's mom and Natsu's dad for...reasons.

Also, I know some of what I wrote is different from cannon (how Zeref and Igneel met for one), which is also for...reasons.

On a related note, hope no one minds that this will be a long story... XD