7Chapter 1: The Immortal Mage and His Beloved Demon
There weren't many things Zeref Dragneel cared for in the world. He was always far beyond his peers, intellect so beyond anything and everyone that forming any bonds was difficult and tedious.
Sure he cared for his parents, they had birthed him into the world after all. But at the end of the day he didn't truly love them, they were strong enough to take care of themselves after all. They didn't need him to protect them.
But all of that changed the moment Zeref laid his eyes upon him.
"This is your younger brother, Natsu." Zeref had ignored the warm smile his mother had given him, he ignored his happy father who was hugging his mother.
All of his focus had been on the small bundle of white cloth. Zeref saw the small patches of pink hair on the most precious thing Zeref had ever laid his eyes on.
Natsu.
Seeing his younger brother, looking so quiet and vulnerable, his younger brother looking at everything in wonder so unlike a normal baby would, brought forth something within Zeref.
Zeref had reached his hand out upon instinct and amazement— and Natsu's warm, small hands had gripped his much larger finger.
This feeling.
This warmth.
It was something that Zeref had been missing his entire life, as short as it had been. A desire overwhelmed Zeref far more than his thirst for magic and knowledge.
The cute laughter of his little brother, the only one Zeref would and could consider his equal, solidified the desire to protect and guard from all that would dare to harm his little brother.
As the years passed and as Natsu made friends with the other children, Zeref watched with a smile. Admittedly there were times when someone older brat tried to pick on Natsu and Zeref lost control of his closely guarded emotions.
Natsu had always been a sensitive child, quick to laugh and draw attention and people to him like moths to a flame.
So when Zeref had seen someone try to stifle the warmth of his younger brother Zeref made sure that was the last thing they ever did.
Being an unparalleled genius and the son of the strongest mages in the town made it even easier, after all children did go missing all the time.
Zeref was a brocon, something he would unapologetically admit. His parents were rarely around so the responsibility of raising Natsu fell onto him, something Zeref gladly accepted.
He personally brought Natsu to Mildian Magic Academy when he had his classes. He taught Natsu how to talk, read and write.
Natsu was his.
So imagine the one time Zeref left his little brother in the care of his parents while he was busy with learning a new form of magic and everything had gone to hell.
He had returned back to the town he lived in burning. Zeref had ignored the burning bodies screaming and begging for help. He had run directly to his house and saw the dead bodies of his family.
Never had Zeref felt so much hatred towards his dead parents at that moment for letting his Natsu die.
A rage so deep and encompassing that it led to the deaths of millions, creation of living and walking calamities, powerful magic artifacts that caused empires to fight and destroy each other for.
All so he could bring his younger brother back to life, and where all had failed Zeref Dragneel succeeded.
Sure he was now cursed by Ankhseram but he would deal with that bastard God in the future. He had all the time in the world all thanks to the immortality he was gifted with.
Zeref's musings were cut as the previously dead body of Natsu Dragneel showed signs of life.
The laboratory was littered with books, scrolls and research papers. All neatly organized, Zeref was many things but sloppy wasn't one of them.
Zeref pressed his pale forehead on the oval shaped tank. A masterpiece of magic and science.
"Etherious Natsu Dragneel." Zeref smiled for the first time in decades. "I'm your older brother, Zeref."
Natsu briefly opened his eyes before going back to his slumber but the air bubbles and the gentle movement of his heart signaled his life.
Zeref saw it and could do nothing but laugh even after a miasma of death poured out of his body.
A laugh so maniacal and twisted that it could even make Acnologia shiver.
His brother was alive!
…
"Where are we going big brother?" Natsu asked with wonder. He occasionally tried to grasp the passing clouds.
Adorable.
Zeref carried his little brother in his arms as they flew towards the lair of one of the oldest and most powerful beings on Earthland.
Ahead was a mountain seemingly floating in the sky. Despite it being a mountain it was entirely filled with lush green forests and a river that flowed down to the earth.
One of the 12 wonders of the world, The Sky Waterfall so aptly named by the humans down below. Zeref landed in front of a cave, he could hear the snoring of the beast that slept within it.
"Verethragna wake up, I'm here." Zeref said.
"I'M HERE!" Natsu echoed. Truly his little brother was the cutest.
There was some grumbling as a glowing pair of white eyes woke up. The angry grumbling of a sleeping dragon made Zeref smile.
From snout to tail Verethragna was approximately 200 meters, from his claws to his head he was another 30 meters. As one of the biggest and oldest dragons, Verethragna was over 10,000 years old and was nearing the end of his lifespan.
Zeref gave him another 6 years before he would die. It was perfect. 6 years was just enough time for Natsu to learn and master the Storm Dragon King's magic.
While Igneel was easily more powerful and someone whom Zeref could consider a friend, Verethragna's magic was the exact opposite of Natsu's nature as an Etherious.
In the future Natsu would have a far easier time controlling and suppressing his powers should things go awry.
The Storm Dragon King had beautiful light blue scales and the tips of his feather like wings were a deep purple color. Natsu's eyes lit up in amazement.
"Woahh" it was so adorable that Zeref couldn't stop himself from cuddling his little brother.
"What does the Paragon of Sin, Zeref Dragon, want from this old dragon?" Verethragna's voice held some trepidation.
His glowing white eyes watched both Natsu and himself, wary and silent. "Nothing much really."
Zeref put Natsu down and gently presented him towards the dragon who took a slight step back. No doubt aware of his true nature.
Zeref smiled coldly at the dragon as he pinned the Storm King with a slight glare. "This is my little brother Natsu."
Verethragna lowered his head, and Natsu ran towards the dragon. Fear and weariness were completely absent from his face as he jumped onto the dragon's face, grabbing his curved sword-like horn that extended out of his snout.
"Big brother let's keep him!" Natsu said.
Zeref could only chuckle while Verethragna only looked offended but didn't say anything. After all, what could he say? As long as Zeref himself was here the old dragon could only cower.
Maybe Igneel would've been a better choice. Zeref was disappointed but in the end he shrugged the thought away. "Of course little brother, he's yours to begin with."
"YAY!" Natsu climbed onto the head of the Storm Dragon King.
Looking at his happy little brother Zeref could only chuckle. "Natsu you'll be learning Dragon Slaying Magic with Verethragna, make sure to learn and get stronger."
Natsu nodded his head cutely. "Okay big brother."
"Don't I get a choice in this?" Verethragna asked weakly.
Zeref ignored the Dragon King. "Take care of my brother, I'll be watching."
With that Zeref turned away from the newly formed pair of demon and dragon.
Lightning for unparalleled attack.
Wind for unstoppable speed.
Water for heavenly regeneration.
Yes, his little brother would grow to be an unconquerable demon bred for war.
"Take care Natsu, I love you." Zeref turned his head and said.
"Love you too big brother." Natsu gave Zeref a bright and cute smile that nearly made the Immortal Dark Mage trip on his feet.
Truly Natsu was the cutest little brother anyone could ask for.
…
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Zeref watched the 6 kids with mild interest. Natsu was facing off against Igneel's daughter and Metalicana's son. The other 3 dragon slayers were of no interest for him. Hell the only reason he was paying attention to the two was due to Natsu fighting them.
Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. The pink haired girl attacked Natsu with a savage grin on her face, her right fist enveloped in red-orange flames.
Water Dragon's Thrashing Fist. Natsu responded in kind, light-blue water coating his left fist, while his left eye was seemingly coated in a wavy water like scar.
Iron Dragon's Club. To not be left behind a black haired 11 year old also attacked both Natsu and Igneel's daughter. His arms extended as a pillar of metal attacked both Natsu and his opponent.
Both the girl and Natsu disengaged to dodge the attack before rushing the Iron Dragon Slayer.
Lightning Dragon's Crumbling Fist. Natsu's eyes changed from water and they instead had lightning-like scars coming out of them. His entire body was enveloped in purple lightning as he closed the distance of 50 meters in an instant, appearing behind the spiky black haired boy.
A possible side effect of simply going against his natural element as a fire demon. Though Natsu was more like Zeref in regard to his true talent being Magic itself. But turning Natsu into an Etherious did make him far more inclined to the element of fire.
"GAHH!" The black haired 11 year old yelled in pain as he was launched towards the running girl.
Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. Fists alight with flames, Igneel's daughter struck the Iron Dragon Slayer in his face knocking him out as his body was flung to the side, near the other 3 watching Dragon Slayers.
The girl was completely unaware of the oncoming danger to herself. Zeref watched amusedly.
Lightning Dragon's Crumbling Orb. A ball, the size of a baseball, of purple lightning formed on Natsu's index finger as he launched the attack the moment Igneel's daughter struck the black haired boy.
Boom!
A small explosion occurred as the pink haired girl was knocked out.
"Haha I win, losers!" Natsu proclaimed throwing up a peace sign in the air. His purple sleeveless shirt was slightly torn up, the white sash belt around his waist burned and his light orange pant had some holes in them.
"Natsu's so cool!" A young boy with spiky blond hair cheered. He wore a sleeveless white button up shirt over his orange long sleeve shirt and a pair of white pants and black shoes.
The boy had a scar on his eyebrow and he had a crystal piercing. The other boy next to him had a black buzz cut and wore a cream colored jacket with gray pants and black shoes.
Metalicana's son's brown shirt was nearly burnt off as the youngest Dragon Slayer used her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic to heal the boy. Light green magic flowed out the young girl as she headed the Iron Dragon Slayer.
Grandeeny's daughter had short dark blue hair and brown eyes. She wore a blue dress with yellow rhombus designs and black shoes.
"I-its n-not o-over y-yet!" Igneel's daughter struggled to stand, twitching as Natsu's attack caused her nerves to be somewhat fried. Her vermillion eyes shining with resolve despite every step she took looked like it hurt.
The pink haired girl wore a white dress which was covered in dirt and tears. Zeref was impressed by the young child, Igneel truly taught her well.
"Nina, you're still standing." Natsu said as his mouth twisted into a battle hungry grin.
Purple lightning crackled around the young Etherious as he got ready to attack the girl.
Well that's what would've happened if it wasn't for Grandeeny's daughter. "Big brother stop! Big sister is hurt!"
The young girl ran between the Fire Dragon Slayer and the Storm Dragon Slayer with tears in her eyes. Zeref narrowed his eyes at the blue haired brat calling his Natsu big brother.
Natsu pouted as he stopped his magic. "Just cuz you said so Wendy."
Heal. Wendy placed her hands on Nina and soon the light green healing magic got rid of the injuries that the Fire Dragon Slayer incurred.
"I'll kick your ass next time, Natsu." Nina promised with a frown.
"Yeah whatever." Natsu waved his hand with a smirk.
The blue haired girl went to Natsu to heal him but Natsu waved her off, after all he only lost some magic and wasn't injured unlike his opponents.
"Natsu." Zeref called, stepping out of the tree he was leaning on to greet his younger brother.
"Big brother!" Natsu's eyes shined as he ran towards him and leaped up leaving Zeref to catch him.
"Big brother?!" The other kids yelled in shock. They had never seen the older man before and despite them seeing him for the first time they all felt that he was dangerous and powerful.
"How have you been?" Zeref asked. Zeref wore black robes with gold lining, black boots and had a white toga draped over his body. He wore a silver amulet and despite being over 40 years old he looked like a young adult around the age of 23.
Standing at 6 '1 with jet black hair, alabaster skin and black eyes. Zeref Dragneel was inhumanly handsome and looked much like an older version of his younger brother but with softer eyes and different hair color.
"I've been getting stronger!" Natsu said happily.
"That you are" Zeref nodded with a small smile. "Verethragna did his job properly."
Natsu looked sad at the reminder of his foster father. "Dad is…"
Zeref pulled his 11 year old, physically at least, brother's head into his chest before he could start crying. "Death is a natural part of life, one day all of your friends, wives, children will cease to exist. All you can do is cherish the memories you have of them."
The sheer magnitude of hypocrisy that came out of Zeref's mouth was shameless, more so was the fact he said it with a straight face. "Will big brother also leave me and die?"
Natsu asked, his voice muffled in Zeref's robes.
"Never." Zeref smiled warmly, in the back of his mind his curse was churning, ready to raise havoc and kill everything in the vicinity.
Zeref put Natsu on the ground. "Go play with your friends, we'll see each other soon little brother."
Natsu nodded and the last thing Zeref saw before dissipating into shadows was his younger brother getting grilled by his fellow Dragon Slayers.
…
"What are we going to do about Natsu, Zeref?" A short beautiful blonde haired woman asked. She was a head shorter than Zeref himself, with warm brown eyes, fair skin and a sinful body that even stirred some emotions within Zeref himself.
Igneel, Grandeeny, Metalicana, Skiadrum and Weisslogia all performed the Dragon Soul Technique gifted to them by The Crystal Dragon Animus.
Zeref originally planned on modifying the Dragon Slayers memories but decided against the action. Maybe it was due to pity or maybe it was because he wanted Natsu to have a group of friends once he went to the future.
Either way this would benefit Natsu in the end so that was all that truly mattered to Zeref.
"Verethragna is dead and Natsu doesn't have a Dragon to stop his Dragnification." Anna Heartfilia added with a worried frown on her beautiful face. They wanted to stop Acnologia and not create another one.
"I know." Zeref murmured. Zeref's mind told him to send Natsu into the future but his heart told him to keep Natsu by his side.
Indecision tore at the Black Mage. In this world only Acnologia gave him a pause, unbothered by his Curse but at the same time unable to harm him due to his Immorality.
Similarly Acnologia's anti-magic rendered everything in Zeref's arsenal useless, while physically Zeref stood near the top of the world Acnologia was a Dragon, theoretically only Dragon Slayer Magic could harm him.
That was something completely out of Zeref's grasp unfortunately otherwise he himself would've gone to face off against Acnologia rather than sending a bunch of brats and Natsu to the future.
Zeref tapped his biceps and hummed before he let his heart win. "I'll take care of Natsu, get out of my sight Heartfilia."
"What?!" The Celestial Spirit Mage screeched. "What about the plan?!"
The Eclipse Gateway was nearly open, her 12 Zodiac Spirits were working tirelessly but now the creator of the said Gate was changing their agreement.
Zeref scoffed. "I've done my part, don't make me repeat myself Celestial Mage."
She was abandoning her husband, her 2 year old son and all she cared about just to save the world from Acnologia's terror but…
That's right. Anna calmed down. The man in front of her was no less of a terror than Acnologia; the only difference was that Zeref didn't want to destroy the world.
Anna wanted to laugh and cry at the absurdity of it all. It was already too late to stop Zere had seen to it after all.
She couldn't believe she had let herself get seduced by the honeyed words of Zeref, there was even a time where she had thought of the man as a selfless and tragic individual whom she, if she hadn't met her husband, wouldn't mind marrying.
A pretty face, intelligent mind and charismatic discussions had clouded her judgment. She shouldn't have ignored her husband's concerns about Zeref's character, shouldn't have dismissed them as jealous ramblings of an insecure man.
He was selfish. Someone who went against a God just to revive his younger brother, someone who unleashed the Etherious Demons upon the world, he was truly as vile as the rumors said.
Natsu might've been the strongest and most talented Dragon Slayer amongst the children but Anna could make do with the other children.
Anna watched in silence as Zeref picked up his demon and disappeared as if he was never there, leaving behind another one of his artifacts.
Natsu Dragneel under the care of Zeref Dragneel would grow up to be just as monstrous as his older brother.
Anna could only pray that the other Dragon Slayers would grow to stop them in the future.
Damn Anna isn't trusting in Natsu's kind hearted nature whatsoever, tuff. Yandere Zeref was definitely fun to write about but now I gotta think about some shit to write about the next 400 years. Fuck.
I already got some plot points written out but other than that I'm cooked.
Or I could just skip those and they can serve as plot points that can be brought forth in the future? Hmm.
Any guesses who Nina could be? She's an expy from another series about dragons.
This story was deadass just a spur of the moment, so don't expect anything to come from it. Maybe. Probably. Idk.
Anyways did you guys enjoy this? Let me know in the reviews, if I get enough I might be interested in writing more. (Yes I'm a review whore, bite me.)