Fairy Tail: The Element

Chapter 43: The Calm Before The Storm

"Right now?!" Happy questioned in shock.

"They interrupted the second round, so it doesn't count! And Neos still owes me a fight!" Natsu said while throwing punches in the air.

"Are you crazy or somethin'?! Do you seriously think you can beat me in your condition?!" Gajeel locked heads with Natsu.

"Yep! It'll be a cinch! I'm a Lightning Flame Drag-" Natsu said when he suddenly started to feel the effects of eating Laxus' lighting and fell over.

"H-Hey, now..." Gajeel uttered with a sweat drop. "What kind of way to faint is that?!"

"Why don't we return to the camp for now?" Wendy suggested.

"We need to rest and recuperate." Carla said.

"Yeah, that would be wise." Ace said looking at his new weapon. Both he and Lily manage to get their hand on new weapons that suits them.

"By the way, what was that all about, Mana?" Erza is looking at Mana, who is trying to avoid eye contact, before quickly hiding behind Neos.

"I'll explain later." Said Neos as everyone looked back at him. Before nodding in understanding, this is a secret shared by the Zero's sibling. Wendy looks somewhat sad but she understands why Mana hid it. While Erza keeps glaring at the back of Neos's head. She really thought she knew everything about her younger brother, only to find out there was still more that she didn't know about him.

"Let's go!"

They all then began walking away as Makarov looked over at Hades. "Makarov... Finish me." Hades said.

"I learned much from you. As a token of gratitude, I will let you go this time. Leave this island." Makarov said.

"What soft-hearted drivel... if you leave me alive, I will destroy the guild next time." 

"I lost to you. But the kids beat you." 

"You're wrong. That brat was the one that beat me, even before my heart was taken, and the Tenrou Tree got restored." Hades said still looking up in the sky laying on his back.

"Neos Zero... he shouldn't even be alive. I bury him." Hades said.

"What do you mean by that?" Makarov asks now beginning to feel worry.

"From the name, eyes, hair even down to the magical energy. It seems that the boy really doesn't know about his own heritage. Neos Vermillion. The firstborn of Mavis Vermillion and the Black Wizard Zeref." Hades said as Makarov's eyes widened, he knew that Mavis used to have a son before he died not long after his birth. He always thinks Mavis said Neos was her son as a way to cope with her loss all those years ago. He didn't actually believe Neos is actually related to Mavis and Zeref.

"Why did you fall to the dark side?" Makarov questioned and Hades began by saying that darkness is the source of all magic. And that this world is a fake world of magic while the so called, Grand Magic World is the true world of magic and how he wanted to see that world. "Even if you found it, it would change nothing. It doesn't matter if magic was originally darkness or if it was originally light. Magic is alive. As the times change, so does its role. It grows as we grow. What we each think and feel... that is magic. Each perception can be anything, whether it's light or dark or red or blue. Fairy Tail lives with freedom. These are all things you taught me, Master Precht." Makarov said as he walked away.

Makarov walks away and stays a few feet behind his kids. As he processes the new info. 'According to Neos, Zeref killed everyone in his village. But if what Master Precht said is true. Then... was he really from the village he said he was in? Or was it just some fault memory implanted in his mind? Or is he actually suffering from somekind of memory loss? If so what would happen if he ever recalled them?' Makarov thought as he looked at the Elemental Mage.