genessia | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Zeref and Mavis
WHAT: Mavis wants to see Zeref's 'favorite places.' What can possibly go wrong?
WHERE: The Lake in Genessia City
WHEN: Backdated to Feb 14th
WARNINGS: None!

Zeref had left a note with Tartaros that he would be 'out' today. While it was unlikely that either Marde Guille or Sayla would follow him, Suigintou was a different story; she'd know right where he was due to their Contract (and the fact that he can't take the ring off), and all it would take is for her to show up out of the water for his meeting with Mavis to be interrupted just like that.

He wasn't sure why Mavis insisted on this. He knew she didn't remember the date auction - using guild funds to bid so insanely high nobody else could compete made him the most expensive person on the auction, and nearly left Fairy Tail broke, and for Zeref of all people - but regardless of the reasons, it was a nice change of pace for him. Mavis was probably the only true friend he'd ever had, and that time a century or so ago in the woods outside of Magnolia, teaching the founding members of Fairy Tail magic, were his most precious memories.

Fairy Tail was down to only three members now from their world: Erza, Mavis, and Wendy. Natsu, Lucy, Gildarts, Makarov, and Gray were gone, now. That must be painful for them.

Zeref was seated on a rock near the shore of the lake, awaiting Mavis's arrival. He could feel her presence even as a ghost - whatever she was now, being able to see her again was nice, something Zeref couldn't deny. He closed his eyes, and waited.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mavis, as the tactician she was, of course had something in mind when she asked for this meeting. She knew those days in the woods outside of Magnolia had been happy ones for Zeref. So if anything was likely to sway him and make him reconsider his project of awakening E.N.D. and dying - and maybe killing everyone else in the process - that was probably it.

So yes, one of the reasons why she did that was for the greater good. But the other reason was that those days had been happy ones for her. Over the last century she had often missed the company of the wizard that she'd gotten to know back then. The one who taught her magic and helped her become the powerful being she was. They were both more human back then. And she craved experiencing that feeling again.

She didn't try to be quiet as she approached him. Quite the opposite in fact, she used an illusion so that he would hear the sound of bare feet on the grass coming towards him. She knew him well enough: even with his eyes closed, he was still very much aware of his surroundings. Mavis' only regret was not to actually be able to feel the cool grass against her skin as she could back then.

Had Zeref found out that that was her plan, it wouldn't have surprised him. He knew Mavis was brilliant, and her wisdom and intelligence had only grown over the last century. Honestly, her level of power was probably approaching his own by now. If she wanted to, she could possibly kill him, herself (the fact that her state as a ghost made her immune to his Death Magic would be a huge advantage in that regard), but he knew she wouldn't do it. It wasn't in her.

As fitting as it would be to be struck down by the one who was probably the only real friend he'd ever had.

He could hear her approaching quite easily, almost too easily; an illusion, perhaps? He turned to face her, and sure enough, there was an easily-recognizable head of blonde hair, complete with the wing headband. Zeref couldn't help but smile. As awkward as it might be, given that the last time he had seen her was on a date, and the last time he had seen her in their own world was when he threatened to end the world to her face, he was happy.

"Here it is," Zeref began. "This is where I stayed before Tartaros invited me to live with them."

Mavis looked around and smiled back at him. "I like it."

She walks to the edge of the lake and dips the tip of her toes in the water. Ripples appear on the water surface though Mavis can't really feel anything. The feelings of water and grass against her skin are among those she misses the most. But she remembers how it feels, and she holds onto those memories. It's good enough for now. Most ghosts don't even get to remember how being alive felt.

"I should take Zeira there sometime. I'm pretty sure she'll like it too."

But right now, she was happy to share this moment with Zeref alone. It felt like it'd been forever since they last met.

"It must be quite something for the members of Tartaros to have you there with them, right?"

"I had a feeling you would." Zeref returns her smile, and begins making his way towards the water's edge. "It brings back fond memories of mine." Perhaps the only fond memories he has of Earth-Land. He crouches near the shore, just mere centimeters from where the water would be getting his boots wet.

Zeref didn't really now how ghosts... well, worked. If he had known that Mavis could only feel warmth in intense, unbearable heat for anyone else, or coolness in temperatures that would induce hypothermia if not frostbite in the living, he'd have wanted to find a way to subvert that. Even he takes pleasures from such simple things.

"Zeira..." Ah, right. The girl who claimed to be Mavis' friend, but had apparently never heard of Fairy Tail. Being taken from before the guild was founded... that was quite sad. She'd have surely been a welcome member, if she isn't one now.

When Mavis brought up Tartaros, he frowned, and turned back to her. "Only Marde Guille seems to be aware of the true reason why I created any of them. I don't think he ever told the Nine Demon Gates." Something that was needlessly cruel of him; if, hypothetically speaking, Tartaros had defeated Fairy Tail and he no longer had any choice but to give them what they wanted, he wasn't sure how they would take the revelation that they would never get the life they seemed to want with their creator. Perhaps they would be happy to finally get the chance to do what he created them to do. Or, perhaps, it would break their hearts. It was hard to tell with creatures who were driven by pure natural instinct to do whatever he tells them to do, to obey him without question, to live for the sole purpose of finding him.

"Sayla seems to be quite happy, though. I don't think I have the heart to tell her, least of all when there'd be no point in killing me when I am not able to stay dead here, anyway. As for Marde Guille... he told me that he wouldn't dare attempt it without E.N.D. present."

Mavis beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, she's here too. She's been brought here about the same time I was, it seems. That's great, don't you think? ...I had missed her."

When he started talking about Tartaros, Mavis went quiet, listening to his explanation. At some point, she picked a flat stones and expertly sent it flying across the still waters, counting the ricochets.

"I see. So you still want to die? When you're sent back, I mean."

She turned back to him, looking him in the eye as she waited for his answer.

"Yes. She didn't believe me when I said you'd been here already, or that you went on to found your own guild. She said that you would have never wanted anything to do with another mage's guild. That they'd ruined your life. That was why you hated that other guild wasn't it? That... 'Blue Skull' guild?" The one she wanted him to teach the other members of Fairy Tail magic in order to defeat. Honestly, if Zeref knew half of what they had done, he'd probably have wanted to end them, himself. Good thing he didn't; Fairy Tail as he knows it might never have existed.

He watches as Mavis skips a rock across the water. As she asks her question, he slowly, mechanically nods his head. Back in that forest outside of Magnolia - ironically enough, near the place they had first met all of those years ago - he could almost hear her asking that exact same question.

"It is the only way," he answered, finally. "You know that better than most."

"Well this place can be a difficult concept for one to wrap their mind around at first, don't you think? You have to be patient with her." She would probably had found it weird too if she'd come from the same time point Zeira was from. ...Or not. But then again, Mavis had always had affinity for the most impossible and incredible things. And this Genessia world was only proving her right.

"Do I?" She stares back at the lake for a bit. "Sometimes the things we think we know prevent us from seeing the things that could be. That's why illusions are so effective." She winks at him. "And yet it's not real magic. We know that better than most too."

"I admit, I had difficulty believing it at first, myself," he answered, with a sigh. He gets back to his feet, though he made no attempt to move away from Mavis. He rather enjoyed having her here. He only regretted that so few of Fairy Tail remained; Makarov, Lucy, Natsu, and Gildarts would have loved to see their First Master again.

As she makes the comparison to an illusion, he shakes his head. He gets what she's trying to say, and of course, he appreciates it, but this isn't some conclusion he reached overnight. "My very existence harms our world. People die every day because of me, whether I want them to or not. And it is isn't my curse killing them, it's one of my demons or a Dark Guild claiming to act in my name."

He sighs. "Mavis... another thing you know better than most is that death doesn't have to be a bad thing."

Edited 2015-04-03 02:11 (UTC)

"It hasn't always been that way." Or so he told him. "You're not born to harm our world. And the fact that you avoid people proves you don't want it to be that way."

She bites her lip. "I'm sure I'd call it a good thing either." But he has a point there. If she could survive death, so can he. "There are things you lose forever when you die. Things I miss." It's not because Mavis looks cheerful most of the time, that she doesn't have regret. And it's a fair warning. It's best for him to be prepared.

He appreciates what she's trying to tell him. Sometimes, he also wonders if things could have been any different. If he wasn't the apocalyptic monster history regarded him as, who learned things about magic humanity was never meant to know, and who represents everything bad about the Black Arts throughout history. But they're not. They haven't been for four centuries. Light spots throughout his sordid history like Mavis were few and far between, but the fact that she was there at all meant more to him than she could ever know.

"It's irrelevant here, anyway." He finally says. "I can't die, here. Even if I wanted to. Even if Marde Guille collected all of the Charms and used them to resurrect E.N.D. like he plans, I wouldn't stay dead. The fact that I can see and hear you shows that not even you stay dead, here." For a given value of being alive, of course. "I've learned to accept it. Sayla is using her Curse to help me control my magic, but even that isn't perfect."

"I've heard about those Charms." Even if she just arrived, that's one of the things she's been told about. "I've been wondering what wish I would make if I got them all. Do you know what you'd do, Zeref?"

"She is? I'm guessing it's upon your request, right?" And, somehow, it's not that surprising knowing Zeref. "Tell me about her. And about your demons."

"... No," he confessed. He had thought about that, himself; would he erase himself from existence? End his immortality, so that he can die naturally? Summon E.N.D. as Marde Guille wanted to do?

"It is," he answered. "Sayla is one of my calmer demons, and she's very close to another demon, named Kyouka. Both are fanatically loyal to me, though their hobbies differ. Kyouka is a sadist, put simply. Sayla... loves reading."

When put together like that, it almost sounds kind of funny. "She and I share a room. I thought she would make a better roommate than Silver or Marde Guille at the time. I haven't been proven wrong. Most of the time, she just reads books from Genessia's library."

"You should think about it. I'm sure you have a couple of ideas." And she could guess which ones.

"Reading is a good hobby. You learn a lot of useful, funny and interesting things when you read. ...Is Kyouka is here too?" Being a sadist wasn't telling Mavis much about her. Truth be told most of Zeref's demons enjoyed inflicting pain on others.

"It seems she's the one who would best suit your quiet nature. As a roommate." She would have said as a friend, but... She wasn't sure if Zeref ever considered his demons as real people or only as creations, tools.

Did he, though? What if he collected them, only to be sent back to their own world with, apparently, no memory of this world? Would his wish still be relevant there? What would even be the point?

"Of course it is," Zeref answered. "I wrote the Books, remember?" Even if, in some ways, he regrets doing so. He doesn't regret his attempts to end his own life. He does, however, regret his demons going on to throw the entire world into chaos once he disappeared.

"She is one of the more pleasant demons I've created, that is true. And no, Kyouka is not here, much to Sayla's disappointment." Kyouka, Keyes, Torafuzar, or Tempester probably wouldn't have been so bad either, but Jackal, Ezel, or heaven forbid, Franmalth would have been a nightmare to live with. Don't even get him started on Lamy.

"I also live with Suigintou, but I'm unsure if you've met her since leaving before. When you were here, before, you also wanted to live with us."

Edited 2015-04-04 22:32 (UTC)

Mavis chuckles good-naturedly. "Writing and reading usually go together but not always, Zeref-san. Those are two different things!"

"You sound very proud of her, indeed." The remark is soft. Mavis is happy to hear that. Sometimes she's worried by the fact that Zeref's heart is mostly filled with regrets. So it's nice to hear there are things he's content with too, especially things he did.

"Suigintou? ...I'm afraid I don't remember anyone by that name. Is she a new guild member?"

Mavis blinks, surprised. "I did? ...You mean Fairy Tail has built no headquarters here?"

Proud? Yes... yes he supposes he was proud of Sayla, and all of his other demons. He did something that is supposed to be impossible, the realm of gods and gods alone: Creating life. Living, breathing demons. Even if their purpose, indeed their very nature, was to destroy and to kill. "I suppose they are different. Especially since what I was writing gave birth to demons."

He shook his head. "Suigintou didn't want to join Tartaros." Not that he blames her. "I'm... not sure what she is, to be honest. She claims to be something called a 'Rozen Maiden,' a doll brought to life by something that feels similar to Living Magic, but... even more advanced. And she claims there are six more like her."

He nods. "Yes. In Fayren. But you wished to live with us, anyway." He has no idea why. But then again, this is Mavis we're talking about, here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only