July 23, 2015
Magnolia, Fiore
Fairy Hunters Exorcist Headquarters
1:04 a.m.

"Zeref-kun!" he turns to see her in the pure white room.

"Mavis?" he says and he could hear her giggle. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. Long, flowing blonde hair and pools of emerald green that she claimed were her eyes and a contagious smile that always melted his heart whenever he saw it. She truly was like the fairies she loved so much.

"Come one, silly goose! You're going to miss the fireworks!" the small blonde begins to run towards the cherry blossom trees.

"Mavis, wait!" he shouts, running after her through the path of pink petals.

The white of the room around him was slowly turning into the darkness and he began to run faster.

"Mavis!" he screamed, trying to reach her but, no matter what he did, he couldn't even get close.

When she suddenly stopped, he was able to grab her small body and hold her close.

"Zeref." there was something wrong with her voice. It sounded distorted and out of place and her neck turned towards him, revealing her red eyes with blood dripping out of her mouth.

"Why didn't you save me, Zeref?" she shrieked and Zeref immediately let go of her body, seeing all of her wounds from the accident.

"No!" he screamed, falling to his knees as he holds his head in his hands.

"It's only a dream, it's only a dream, it's only a dream-" his chin was pulled up by her hand.

"Wake up then!"

He woke up in a cold sweat, panting deeply. A wave of pain shot through his body and he gripped at the fabric of his shirt over his chest. He could feel his heartbeat speeding at an extreme rate as he tried to catch his breath.

"Shit..." he curses under his breath as he shakily reaches over the nightstand to fetch a bottle of pills lying there.

His fingers touch the tip, knocking it over and spilling the contents over the table. The capsules were small and white, almost chalky-like in texture. They seemed to be just regular old pills. He manages to grab a few of them in his palm and he quickly forced them down his throat.

As he finally swallowed, his heartbeat began to slowly sedate and he breathed deeply. He was cutting it close this time. Any later and there was no telling what could've happened.

"I have to ask Silver to get me more of these." he mumbles, taking two more of the capsules and swallowing them whole. He lays back on the headboard of his bed and wipes off the sweat forming on his brow.

"It's getting stronger. I can feel it." he looks over at the moonlight through his window, gripping at the fabric over his chest.

"You just had to take them from me. Demon."

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July 23, 2015
Somewhere in Alvarez
Location Unknown
2:38 a.m.

"So... we've lost quite a few vampires yet again, eh?" one of the dark figures mumble.

Another figure slammed the round table all the demons sat at, "We need to stop these ridiculous rebellions! We can't let any of the others loose!"

Behind them, the wails of a young vampire were heard, only to be silenced by her screaming.

"That bitch is too loud." the leader of them sighs in annoyance.

"Why do you keep her again, Master?" a woman with pitch black hair asks.

"Why are you questioning him, Seliah? Master always has his reasons for these kinds of things. After all, he only keeps that bitch around so that his favorite plaything will come back running to him like a pathetic mutt with his tail between his legs!" A blonde with a toothy grin laughs.

"Master, why not have Grimoire Heart be assigned the destruction of the Fairies?" One of the elders, an old man with an eyepatch, at the table suggested.

"Ridiculous! You had your chance three years ago and four of them were spared! Raven Tail should be the ones to defeat those flies!" Another demon, much younger than the man before him, with blue hair and eyes almost similar to one of their enemies, shouted.

"Tell that to the vampire that had deceived you all those years ago. What was her name again... Flare?" A green-haired girl teased the leader of the Raven Tail clan.

"Why you little bi-" Raven Tail's leader was silenced as he was raised off the ground by the burly bearded demon.

"You shouldn't use such language around our king, Ivan! Remember what your place is." He released Ivan, earning a chuckle from the girl.

"Kyoka... You shouldn't be rude either." the eye-patched man says to the green-haired girl, causing her to frown.

"Precht, it's not my fault if Jiemma decides to do something on his own free will. Besides, Master seems to be entertained." Kyoka turns to the throne in the room.

There sat a dark man with a very dark purpose indeed. Next to him, stood a cage and inside held a young boy in chains. He was probably no older than three with pale blonde hair and eyes as dark as the night sky. He was afraid, tears penetrating his dark eyes that were pissing Kyoka off. Instead of fury though, a smile forms on her face.

"The bitch's bastard seems to be behaving. Should I give it a lesson on how to handle weakness?" The girl taps on the bars and the boy jumps.

"M-Momma!" He cries.

"The bastard wants his mother, Master." the girl smiles more, her grin going from ear to ear.

"Do want you want, Kyoka." the black figure waves his hand.

"With pleasure, Master." Kyoka grabs the whip from her waist and approaches the young boy.

"MOMMA!!!"

The young vampire behind her door kept trying to cover her ears from all the voices messing with her head. The screams of her child, their child, was the one voice she tried to block out.

"Zero... Momma's here... Zera! Where are you? Where is she? Where is he?!" Her face kept twisted from rage to despair.

She couldn't stop the screaming voices in her head.

"Zeref... Rescue me... Save Zero... Zera..." She cries, feeling the burning pain flicker off her neck.

"Please... I can't take it anymore..."

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July 23, 2015
Magnolia, Fiore
Fairy Hunters Exorcist Headquarters
8:47 a.m.

"So, you're telling me that you six don't know anything?" Zeref asks.

He had gathered the tamed vampires that morning for a private meeting.

"Well... It's a rather complicated story..." Jellal says as he and the others started to look nervous.

"I've got all the time in the world." he turns to his brother, "Natsu?"

Natsu shakes slightly but, Gajeel grabs in shoulder in reassurance and Natsu breathes.

"Okay... I guess it all started when we all woke up for the first time..." Natsu began their tale.

The first thing Natsu remembers when he woke up is that he thought he was supposed to be dead. The light surrounding him was what he thought was heaven but, when he tried to reach out to it, all he heard was the rattle of chains. When he was finally able to fully awaken, he didn't find himself in heaven at all. It was cold and dark and damp. The walls were made of stone and he was chained to the floor by his wrists.

Did he just dream about what happened on the bus? Where was he? So many thoughts were pulsing through his mind and that was when it hit him.

The first thirst.

He recalled it being the second worst pain he'd ever felt, next to dying the first time around. His throat felt so dry and he could feel his heart beating in his chest faster and faster as he tried to find a way to quench his thirst. When he heard the door click open, he sunk his teeth into something soft and warm.

Before he could realize it, he drank the vampire guarding his door dry and the man dropped dead onto the floor in front of him. He screamed, for it seemed to be the only reasonable thing to do at the time. When he did, a woman with green hair and a blonde with a toothy grin came in and saw him covered in blood, shaking in fear in the corner.

"Impressive." the woman giggled, "It's almost like what happened with that cute blunette."

She walked over to him, grabbing him by the chin and hoisting him to his knees. Her ice cold blue eyes flashed red, which only frightened him more.

"Be a dear and take him to the arena with the other fledglings, Jackal." she chuckles, walking out and leaving him to his job.

"Don't struggle." the blonde growled as he shackled Natsu from the wall and dragged him by the chains on his wrists.

"Get in there!" the blonde throw the pinkette into another room, filled with red eyes in the dark.

"Wait..." he heard a familiar voice through that darkness and outstepped Gajeel in the exact same chains as him.

"Gajeel?!" Natsu shouts as others started to become familiar to him.

Or was his eyes just adjusting to the light? Was it really that dark before?

"Natsu, you're covered in blood too. Shit!" Gajeel curses and Natsu tries to wipe his face off.

"Can somebody tell me what the fuck is going on?!" Natsu shouts.

"Natsu-san, shh! Not too loud!" Sting shouts as a small blonde passes him.

"It's alright, Sting." she speaks as she walks over to Natsu and he falls to his knees in tears.

"Mavis, what's going on?" he begs as the blonde caresses the face of her brother-in-law.

"It'll be okay..." Mavis held him. Little would they know that they'd never see her after this again.

"All fledglings that fed were forced into this arena where the elders determined your strength." Juvia says.

"We were all forced to fight each other..." Gajeel trails off. They all shudder, remembering the horrible fights they had to engage in to entertain the bastards that turned them.

"I see... And after?" Zeref asks.

"When they determined where we would go, we weren't allowed contact with each other unless you were in positions like Jellal and me." Loke says.

"I was a head of one of the branches of clans in the underworld and Loke was the leader of the Celestial Knights." Jellal explains.

"As far as we know, everyone from the bus incident was turned and accounted for in the underworld." Gajeel says.

"Well, none of us saw Miss Mavis in the-" Natsu quickly gives Juvia the signal to shut it.

"Oh, right! I apologize!" Juvia bows in apology.

"It's alright... I wasn't getting my hopes up or anything." Zeref smiles, having Juvia sit back in her chair.

"I wouldn't be so sure that she's dead though." Lyon speaks up.

"What do you mean?" Zeref asks.

"It was a little while after the arena but, I was transferred into the Lamia Scale clan and became their second-in-command. I was required to go with our leader, Jura-san, to go to the elders meeting in the demon realm of the underworld. That's right... I could never forget screams like that. It was almost as if they were torturing an animal for slaughter." Lyon remembered the screams of a young woman, the screams of the Headmaster's wife.

Zeref was trying to control his anger, "So, what are you trying to say, Mr. Vastia?"

"Headmaster, that woman... She's alive." Lyon shouts.

Zeref's dark locks covers his eyes and he turns away from the group.

"Onii-san..." Natsu mumbles.

"You're all dismissed. Go to class." Zeref orders them out.

All the vampires leave the room, but Natsu was still there.

"Onii-san-" Natsu stood up to turn his chair around.

"Natsu, go to class." Zeref said and he began to feel his chest tighten up.

"Zeref, is something wrong?" Natsu sees him grabbing at the fabric above his chest, clutching it inside his hand.

"Shit! It's the pills again, isn't it?" Natsu realized what this was and he quickly began to search around his brother's desk to find them.

When he did find them, he popped two capsules inside Zeref's mouth and he swallowed. Just as Natsu went to put them back, Zeref grabbed his arm.

"More." Zeref breathlessly said as he grabbed the bottle from Natsu's hand and swallowed two more pills.

"I don't remember you having to take so many of them before..." Natsu said.

"Times have changed, Natsu. I'm getting older, you know." Zeref chuckles.

"Bro, you're like twenty-something. Stop acting so old." Natsu laughs.

"I'm sorry if I'm not immortal like you-"

"You think I want to be immortal? Cause I definitely don't!"

"Natsu, where's all this attitude coming from?"

"God and you say I'm the one that hasn't changed!"

"Is this about what happened before?"

"That was three years ago, Zeref! Stop treating me like I'm still a child! I'm an adult-"

"With fangs and no self control. Are you out of your damn mind to even be mentioning that to me?!"

"What do you care? I didn't go anyway."

"I only disagreed cause you'd be far from home and I was worried about you."

"Hey, I died so, you don't have to worry about that anymore!"

"Natsu!" Zeref was offended.

"Yeah, I said it!" Natsu shouts.

"I think you should head back to class now." Zeref says quietly.

"No way, I'm not done yet-"

"You're not human! This no longer concerns you!" Zeref shouted, suddenly realizing what he just said as Natsu's green eyes widened.

"I... I didn't think you'd actually admit that... Wow. Thanks for the lecture, big brother. I'll let myself out." Natsu slammed his hands on the table before he got up and left the office.

Zeref feels the trails of his tears flow down and hit the carpet under him.

"Mavis, if you're alive... Help me. I just got him back so, I can't lose my little brother again." Zeref begs as he feels the light shocks on the back of his neck comfort him.