A Dark Secret? (Rewrite)

Part 14 - Memories of a Distant Past

Zeref's hand hesitantly reached forward as he petted one of the animals. He felt a warm sensation fill his body as he stroked the animal's snout. "This is my magic." The girl said as she looked at him with a soft look in her eyes, this was the first time someone looked at him without fear and it confused him. Most people would run once they realized who he was. "Can you please teach my friends and me how to wield magic? There's an enemy that we have to fight." The girl begged him. Zeref looked at her sadly, he'd eventually kill her.

"Please." The girl said in a quiet tone.

"Fine." Zeref said as he stepped back, "Meet me here in a week."

A week had passed, and as she promised, the girl had brought her friends back to Zeref. Zeref had instructed them to begin meditating as he sat on a rock. The blonde girl sat next to a brown-haired girl, did she even know that the brown-haired girl was an illusion? Zeref looked up at the starry skies, he wondered what the future would be, perhaps Natsu would be strong enough to kill him by then. His head snapped towards a blonde-haired man who shuffled uncomfortably and straightened his back before letting out a groan.

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching us magic, so why in the world are we meditating?" The blonde-haired man grumbled.

"To produce magic you must first have complete control over your body and be in tune with the world around you. There are thousands of ethernano floating around you right now as we speak. Magic is harnessed from this, each time you cast a spell your body absorbs a certain amount of ethernano. Since none of you can naturally do this, we must build up your body's ability to absorb and contain it." Zeref said in a bored tone.

Zeref didn't want to be doing this right now, but he also didn't want that girl to annoy him by begging him to teach them. Another few weeks had passed and they were quickly developing their powers, except for this one man who produced weak attacks. "I want you to teach me a magic that I can use to defend my friends rather than attack." The black-haired man said as Zeref stared at him. "Okay then," Zeref said as he stood up and stretched his back. "Perhaps you can use a magic that is centered around nature." He said to the man.

X696

"Just one more push Rita!" A blonde-haired man said as he held onto the girl's hand.

The girl let out a scream as she sat up clenching tightly onto her husband's hand. A baby's cries then filled the air as it was quickly wrapped up in a blanket. A lone girl with long wavy blonde hair stared with wide eyes as the blonde-haired man held onto his baby with a soft smile covering his face. "Hello little Makarov, I'm your father." He whispered to his son. He turned to the girl with wavy blonde hair and pushed the baby towards her, "Look at how small he is Mavis! Can you believe it, I'm a father!" Mavis grabbed onto the baby and stared down at it, she felt her heart begin to beat rapidly as the baby slept peacefully in her arms.

Mavis felt a dark magic begin to stir within her and frantically looked around, this couldn't be happening. She did nothing wrong. "Rita?" The blonde-haired man said in a frantic tone. Mavis' eyes watered as she handed the baby to one of her friends. "Rita, please wake up, Rita!" The blonde-haired man shouted as he frantically shook his wife's body. Mavis ran from the guild hall as tears began to fall from her eyes. "No, this can't be happening, why, Rita didn't deserve this, I have to leave," Mavis said to herself as she continued running. She stumbled into the forest, her feet scraping against jagged rocks as her vision blurred with tears.

One month, she had been in the forest for one month. During that entire time, she hadn't eaten or drank any water or slept. She couldn't die, she was cursed by Ankhseram. She had cast an unfinished and forbidden spell and her consequence was this nasty curse. She heard a twig snap and looked up to find the familiar face of Zeref staring down at her with sad eyes. "What are you doing here?" He had asked her in a soft tone.

"I hadn't eaten or slept in thirty days, yet I can't die no matter how much I try," Mavis said softly as Zeref sat next to her.

"That's the Curse of Contradictions. The more you love life the more you will take it," Zeref said in a bitter tone.

"I killed her, Rita, she had just given birth and I killed her," Mavis said as tears gathered in her eyes.

"You had no control in that matter," Zeref said.

"I deserve to die," Mavis muttered.

"Yet no matter how hard you try, you won't die." Zeref sighed as he looked up at the sky.

"Let's run away together then, we can go to Tenroujima and live out our days there alone and away from everyone until the world ends!" Mavis was in his face.

"Mavis," Zeref said as he began to move back.

"I can't die and neither can you, we're immortal! Please Zeref, let's just go away from everyone. Say that you love me Zeref and let us run away together!" 

"I love you, Mavis." Zeref stared at her as she put her hands on his chest.

"I love you too." Mavis' lips met his and Zeref felt his heart racing within his chest, and the world seemed to disappear just for this moment. It was only them and nobody else, a man and a woman loving each other in the only way that they knew how.

Time seemed to freeze as Zeref felt her body crumble beneath him. He fell to the ground and held her tightly. He knew that this would happen, Ankhseram was a cruel god. Even the people he cursed couldn't find solace within each other. He felt a tear fall down his face as he stared down at Mavis, she looked peaceful, it was as if she was just sleeping. Zeref stood with her in his arms and began to walk back towards the town. He walked down to her guild, Fairy Tail, and stood outside of the doors as a man with white hair stared at him in confusion. Zeref threw her body down onto the cobblestone paved street and stared blankly at the man, "I have no use for her anymore, go and bury her." He said as he turned and walked away.

Zeref felt the world go blank around him, there was no use in anything anymore. Even someone with the same curse as his own would be killed by him. If this is what Ankhseram wanted, then so be it. Zeref could hate everyone, he could hate the world if that's what was wanted. He would never let anyone get this close to him ever again, just 100 more years and Natsu would be strong enough to kill him. He could wait, after all, that's what he always did.

X796

Zeref woke up with a start as he felt tears falling from his eyes. It had been one hundred years since he last saw her. He stared out at the moon with a blank look in his eyes. "We will meet soon again Mavis." He said tp himself as he left his chambers and called for his generals to meet him, this was his last chance.