"Natsu…" Happy floated above Lucy and Gray as Gray and Lucy slung Natsu over their shoulders, the three of them walking across an open field. In the distance, they could still hear the roars of a dragon and the clanging of a sword.
"At least he's not releasing miasma anymore…" Gray said as he looked over at Natsu.
Gray suddenly collapsed onto the ground, clasping his broken arm.
"S-shit…I'm just about at my limit…both physically and magically…"
"We'll rest here." Lucy said. She put Natsu down next to Gray.
"I'll keep going! If I can find Wendy, I'm sure she can heal Gray and Natsu!" Happy interjected.
Lucy, Gray, and Happy suddenly perked up as they sensed two immense magical powers approaching them. They looked over to the distance and saw four figures approaching them, two of them familiar, two of them not.
"It's Erza! And Wendy!" Happy cheered.
"But who are the other two?" Gray questioned.
"One of them looks a bit like Erza…and the other…" Lucy stared at the young woman with long white hair. "She looks kind of familiar…where have I seen her before…"
"Lucy! Gray! Happy!" Erza and Wendy ran over to them. Wendy's eyes widened as she saw the state Gray was in and an unconscious Natsu that was next to him.
"W-what happened?" Wendy questioned.
"It's a long story." Gray laughed a bit but winced in pain again.
"I'll get right to healing you!" Wendy crouched down next to Gray and put her hands on Gray's arms.
"No, leave it to me. I can heal them all at once." Elizabeth approached and pointed her hands at Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy. A bright light began to envelop all of them, their injuries fading quickly and the feeling of strength returning to their bodies.
"Aye! That was some crazy healing!" Happy shouted. Happy looked towards Natsu but he was still unconscious.
"Natsu…he's still not awake…" A frown formed on Happy's face.
"Hold on…who are you? And you?" Gray looked over at both Elizabeth and Irene who was standing to the side watching silently.
"Wait, I remember now! Meliodas has a picture of you! It's Elizabeth right?" Lucy exclaimed. Elizabeth smiled and nodded her head.
"But you…" Lucy looked over at Irene.
"She's my mother." Erza interrupted. Gray, Lucy, and Happy remained silent with a dumbfounded expression on their faces.
"We can talk about this later." Irene said. "There's more important matters regarding your friend Natsu over there, or should I say, END."
—
"Dammit!" Natsu walked around aimlessly in a white void. "First it was Zeref, then it was Sting and Rogue! Then Wendy and Gajeel…so who is next?"
"The Dragon Seed." A voice echoed from behind Natsu. Natsu turned around, hearing the familiar voice. A massive red dragon stood before him.
"That is the nature of what is inside of you. It is the seed of darkness within all dragon slayers. When it sprouts, it turns the wizard into a dragon. But I stopped its growth!"
"Igneel…" Natsu looked up at the dragon.
"Your seed should have remained dormant forever." Igneel said.
"Well, that's because you left my body." Natsu said.
"No. That is not the cause." Igneel continued. "There is another seed within you. It is the root of E.N.D. The two seeds are attempting to merge into one. And that is happening within your body at this moment. And then…"
"I will die?" Natsu asked. Igneel's eyes widened as a hand appeared on Natsu's shoulder.
"Nope!" Meliodas said with a smile. "You drank my blood and survived. There are no more seeds attempting to merge into one. You're a demon like me now."
"It was those black flames that accelerated the demon seed's influence within you, Natsu." Igneel said. "Ingesting the flames of a demon triggered an early awakening. If you were just a regular dragon slayer like the others, the flames would have been a temporary power up at best and an unbelievable sickness even worse than when you ate Etherion at worst. But because of your demonic heritage, your body took it in naturally."
"Whether the dragon seed sprouted didn't even matter then. I'm just a demon now. So in the end…I am…E.N.D…" Natsu's eyes were saddened. He suddenly felt a sharp pain hit the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward. He looked back up and saw Igneel was gone. Behind him, only Meliodas remained in the white void.
Meliodas looked at Natsu with a serious expression. He reached out his hand to Natsu.
"That's not it at all, Natsu. You know who you really are right?"
A wide grin formed on Natsu's face and he clasped onto Meliodas' hand with his own.
"Even if I'm a demon now, I'm still Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!"
Meliodas' expression lightened and he grinned back at Natsu. Behind Meliodas, he could see a fiery silhouette of Igneel.
"That's right! The Fire Dragon Demon King!"
—-
"So that's what happened to Natsu…" Wendy commented.
"Even if he's E.N.D. that doesn't matter. He's still OUR Natsu!" Erza said.
"That explains why he was able to ingest Meliodas' blood without dying." Elizabeth said.
"Irene…" Gray said. "What you're saying is Natsu right now has the power to defeat both Acnologia and Zeref? But what's gonna happen when he wakes up? Won't he go berserk again?!"
"Nah! I got it under control!" Natsu suddenly jumped up from the ground. The rest of the group looked at him with shocked expressions. "And Meliodas can deal with Acnologia! I'll deal with my brother."
"Natsu!" Happy flew towards Natsu and hugged him. Natsu patted Happy on the head.
"Once I've dealt with Zeref, we'll all be one big family again in Fairy Tail."
"Natsu." Irene interrupted. "If you kill Zeref, you'll die as well. E.N.D. is a demon from the book of Zeref. If Zeref dies, all of his demons die as well."
The group went silent at the revelation.
Natsu broke the silence.
"That doesn't matter. It needs to be done."
"So…is there nothing we can do to prevent Natsu from dying?" Lucy questioned.
"Actually…" Irene paused for a moment to think. "There is a forbidden black magic that links Natsu's life with Zeref's. It's a living pact. If we were to somehow get our hands on the book of E.N.D. I can use an advanced combination of a conceptual, isolation, and separation enchantment to possibly remove Natsu's link to Zeref. At that point, Natsu might be able to kill Zeref without dying.
"Wait…you're with Alvarez though…why would you want Zeref to die?" Lucy asked.
"Because I'm grateful to him. He's suffered long enough with that curse." Irene said. Irene suddenly flinched as she felt a massive power coming straight towards her. The rest of the group looked up in the sky as a figure came crashing down on the ground in front of Irene.
"You got some nerve sending me into a molten pit of lava!" Ban shouted angrily. He pointed his hand at Irene. Her body was suddenly lifted up and flung straight into Ban's grasp, with his hand around her neck.
"Ban stop! She's not an enemy anymore!" Elizabeth shouted.
"Tch fine." Ban's demeanor changed and he immediately let go of Irene. Irene fell to the ground on her knees, coughing.
"Glad to see you made it. Have you seen any of the other sins?" Ban asked. Elizabeth shook her head.
"Ban, why are you wearing the enemy's armor?" Happy asked. Ban looked at Happy, somewhat intrigued by the talking cat.
"Oh this? Well you see, after that woman cast that spell that separated me from the Cap'n, I found myself deep underground practically swimming in lava. The heat incinerated all my clothes. I dug myself out, and stole the clothes of one of those Alvarez punks. Also some pale dude with blond hair and a blade on his back tried to fight me but it wasn't much of a fight~♫"
"You beat Larcade?" Irene questioned as she got up and distanced herself from Ban, taking a few steps back. "Although, I shouldn't be surprised with how you fared against Acnologia."
Irene continued to look at Ban, sizing him up. A smirk formed on her face.
"With you here, we might be able to both defeat Zeref and prevent Natsu from dying."
"Huh?" Ban looked at her, confused.
"I"ll fill you in, Ban." Elizabeth added.
—
In the Fairy Tail Guild Building
Zeref held Mavis by the head. She struggled in his grip as she tried to break free to no avail.
"Zeref stop! I can release you from your immortal life! I figured it out! The way to defeat you!"
Zeref's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing Mavis' statement.
"Impossible! I have tried every single method to END my life! Even E.N.D. cannot defeat -"
Mavis suddenly vanished from Zeref's grasp. He noticed a tall figure standing at the entrance of the guild hall. In the figure's right hand he was holding onto Mavis.
"Who…are you?" Zeref questioned.
"I'm Ban. I'm a friend of the Cap'n. But I think you know the Cap'n as Meliodas.~♫" Ban said with a smirk. Several footsteps were heard approaching from behind him.
"Also that thing you said about "E.N.D." or whatever not being able to end your life-" Ban turned around and revealed in his other hand he was holding the book of E.N.D.
'He stole the book and Mavis?!' Zeref's eyes were wide with disbelief. The footsteps got closer and Zeref fell to his knees upon seeing Natsu.
"Natsu…you've…changed…" Zeref looked at Natsu, tears running down his face.
"Wait! What are you planning to do!" Mavis shouted as she tried to break free from Ban's grasp.
"Try not to kill him too fast before we free you from his link~♫" Ban said to Natsu before suddenly vanishing with both Mavis and the book.
"Hey…brother…" Natsu stared at Zeref, his eyes pitch black. A black, circular marking formed across the center of his forehead and an aura of black flames started to leak out from his body.
Zeref let out a sigh of relief and a small smile formed on his face.
"I see…you've done it…E.N.D…"
Zeref's smile grew wider and wider into a grin, letting out bursts of hysterical laughter.
"You've done it! Although I suppose it wasn't you alone…I have Meliodas to thank for this as well! But I can feel it in your magic! You've surpassed Acnologia! E.N.D! My greatest-"
Zeref felt a sharp, burning pain hit him across the face, launching him across the guild hall.
"I'm not E.N.D! I'm Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted. "And your brother!"
—
"I got the book~♫" Ban suddenly appeared in front of Irene, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Elizabeth. Irene's eyes widened as she saw Ban was also carrying Mavis with him.
"Who is that?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Oh her? Dunno. Zeref was trying to do something with her though so I snatched her right out of his grasp~♫" Ban said.
"First Master!" Erza exclaimed.
"P-Please let me go now…" Mavis pouted.
Ban placed her down on the ground and handed the book over to Irene.
"Alright, do your thing." Ban said.
"Wait, just what do you plan on doing with the book?" Mavis questioned as she looked at Irene. 'Can this woman really be trusted?'
"I'm going to separate Natsu's life link from Zeref. That way, Zeref can be killed." Irene said.
"Wait…let me be the one to kill Zeref." Mavis turned back over to Ban. "Please! Take me back to the guild!"
"Patience." Irene interrupted. "I'll have this link removed shortly then you can do whatever you need to Zeref, assuming Natsu didn't already get to him."
"I don't sense Natsu or Zeref's magic rising. Guess they decided not to fight after all.~♫" Ban commented.
"Then that makes this easier." Irene placed the book of E.N.D. in front of her. She tapped her staff on the ground and the book began to glow red, its pages starting to unravel in front of her. The book began to emit an intense amount of heat as Irene held her ground.
"Just like the plan!" Irene shouted.
Gray's hair began to rise and dark markings started to form on the right side of his body. He raised his hands up, directing his magic straight at the book. The book itself started to show signs of frost around the edges and the heat went down slightly.
Elizabeth did the same, causing a bright light to envelop the book. The heat from the book drastically lowered.
"Wendy! I'll focus on the conceptual enchantment. I need you to perform the separation!" Irene said. Wendy nodded and she stood next to Irene. Bright light began to glow from her hands. The book let out a small burst of flames, taking the form of Natsu's face.
"Separation complete!" Wendy shouted. Her magic suddenly began to waver and she fell to the floor. Irene took a knee as she felt her magic draining.
"In order to fully remove this link, we need magical power relative to Natsu…I underestimated how much I would actually be able to provide."
"So we need Meliodas?" Happy questioned.
"Not that much. But at the level Natsu reached, even I cannot provide enough on my own." Irene responded.
"Then I guess this is where I step in~♫" Ban said.
"But you do not possess enchantment magic…do you?" Irene asked.
"Nah. I got something just as good though." Ban pointed his hand at Irene.
"Gift."
Irene suddenly felt her magical power return to her. She immediately stood back up and a confident grin formed on her face.
"Just what I needed!" She tapped her staff on the ground. It immediately burst into flames as the fiery image of Natsu projected over the book vanished. The book of E.N.D. stopped emitting heat and closed itself. Gray and Elizabeth both fell to their knees.
"Did it work?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. Natsu is no longer linked with Zeref." Irene said. She looked at the closed book on the ground, starting to burn itself away with black flames.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Erza asked.
"No…normally the book vanishing means Zeref is dead. But that isn't the case right now. I suppose this means Natsu isn't E.N.D. anymore." Irene responded.
"Hey where did the First Master go?" Lucy asked. The rest of the group began to look around the area except for Ban.
"I think she ran back to the guild~♫"
—
Zeref was on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp. His body was covered in deep burns and heavy bruises that were not healing. He lay sprawled out with a smile on his face.
"Why the hell aren't you fighting back?!" Natsu shouted.
"Don't you see? I want you to kill me! You have the power to do so! To free me from this curse!" Zeref exclaimed. "Now hit me with your all! Don't you want to kill the man who caused this war!"
Natsu took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. A moment passed and he opened his eyes. He suddenly appeared in front of Zeref, picking his body up and throwing him out of the entrance to the guild.
"I don't want to destroy the guild building."
Natsu appeared right beneath Zeref, sending a kick into his back that launched him high into the sky.
An aura of black flames covered Natsu and he stepped into a wide stance, hunched over and clenching his right fist tight. The black flames around him started to move away from his body into a spherical shape around his fist. A bright red light flashed from the sphere as red flames started to mix in and the sphere compressed itself into Natsu's hand.
Zeref's limp body spiraled uncontrollably as it started to fall towards Natsu. He could feel a massive magical power coming from Natsu. A small smile formed on his face, tears in his eyes.
"This…is my time…"
Natsu's eyes turned pitch black and a black marking appeared on his forehead. Red flames mixed in with the black ones surrounding his fist. Just as Zeref's body was about to fall right on him, he got ready to throw a punch.
"Fire Dragon Demon King-"
"Wait!" A voice cried out. Natsu recognized the voice and immediately stopped his attack. He jumped back and Zeref hit the ground.
"First?!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Natsu, please leave everything to me." Mavis said.
"But I can finish him right now!" Natsu shouted. "And my link should have been removed right?!"
"Yes…If you wish to kill Zeref fine…but if that's the case, I ask you to kill me as well." Mavis said.
Natsu's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What the hell?! Why would I kill you too?!"
"Natsu, Zeref and I share the same curse. I cannot live with you all at Fairy Tail any longer now that my body is free."
"Mavis, you make it sound like you yourself have a way to kill me." Zeref interrupted.
"I do. A way to kill the both of us." Mavis said.
"What?!" Zeref shouted. "Impossible! I've spent countless years researching this curse and how to die! It is only today that I learned Natsu's power surpasses Ankhseram's curse! Even if you utilized the power of Fairy Heart, you would not be able to break this curse!"
"Do you remember how your curse of contradiction took my life?" Mavis said. "That proves you truly loved me." Mavis approached Zeref and kneeled on the ground right next to him. "And yet…I never took your life. Which means somewhere in my heart, I didn't believe in you fully. The power of my love was not strong enough."
"No…don't trouble yourself with that. In my life, no one has ever loved me. The emotion you felt towards me was not love, but pity." Zeref responded.
As Natsu watched from the side, his eyes widened and he sniffed the air. He immediately turned around and saw one figure familiar to him and the other unfamiliar.
"Jellal?!" Natsu exclaimed. Zeref and Mavis turned their attention to Jellal, who was slinging August over his shoulder.
"August?" Zeref commented.
"This guy…he's one of the Spriggan isn't he?!" Natsu shouted furiously. He began to flare his magic up but Jellal gestured for him to stop.
"He's not our enemy right now." Jellal said.
"I simply came here to meet both of my parents." August was let down by Jellal and walked towards Mavis and Zeref. "If I succumb to your curses, so be it. After having a small conversation with Jellal, I realized I needed to see you two, mother and father."
"What?!" Natsu questioned. "You're their son?"
"I suppose that makes you my uncle then, Natsu." August glanced at Natsu and smiled before looking back at Mavis and Zeref.
"S-Son? But…how?!" Mavis's face began to contort and tears started streaming down her face. One glance at August and she could immediately tell he was telling the truth. She began to feel something welling up inside of her. Zeref recognized the sensation immediately.
"A mother's unconditional love…is what will kill you." Zeref said.
Natsu immediately ran towards August and pulled him back, throwing him next to Jellal as a massive shockwave of black magic radiated from Mavis.
"Urraagghh!" Natsu flared his magic outward, creating a wall of black flames. The Ankhseram Black Magic collided with the wall, burning up.
"I'm… sorry…" Mavis said somberly.
Natsu let down the wall of flames and remained standing in between Mavis and August. Zeref, Mavis, August, and Jellal looked in complete awe at Natsu's transformation. Black horns of darkness lit ablaze by hellblaze grew out of his head. Black wings made of darkness resembling Igneel's wings came out of Natsu's back. Natsu's hellblaze began to burn a red and black color, compared to the original purple and black hue.
"Whatever it is you want to catch up on, go ahead. If any of that black magic comes out, I'll burn it away!"
"Natsu…thank you…" Mavis cried.
"Father." August turned to Zeref. "What you said earlier, about no one loving you. I don't think that's true at all. I believe mother loves you with all her heart. Love is the most powerful magic in this world, the greatest form of power that can best even the likes of Ankhseram."
Zeref looked to Mavis who was crying on top of his chest. He shakily put a hand over her back.
"The more love we feel, the more lives we take. I suppose I forgot what this feeling was."
"I think I understand what they're doing now." Jellal said. "If they both love each other, they'll both die."
"It doesn't have to be this way…" Natsu clenched his fist tight. "Where the hell is Ankhseram?! I'll kick his ass!"
"If we can't save them." A woman's voice said from behind them. The group turned to see Elizabeth and Ban walking towards them.
"You're-" August's eyes widened upon seeing Ban.
"Oh it's you old man.~♫" Ban commented.
"I can at least ensure they are reincarnated." Elizabeth continued.
"Who is this woman?" Zeref questioned, staring at the wings forming on her back. 'There's no doubt about it, she's an actual angel. But they shouldn't exist on this plane of life. Where did she come from?'
"I'm Elizabeth." Elizabeth approached Zeref and put a hand on his head. The damage done to him by Natsu was immediately healed.
"Is it a good idea to heal Zeref?" Jellal asked.
"I don't sense any malicious intent from him. I don't think he wants to fight anymore." Elizabeth answered.
"She's right. I just want my life to end." Zeref replied.
"It's the curse right?" Elizabeth asked.
"You know about it?" Zeref asked.
"Irene gave me a brief summary about what happened. I want to help both you and Mavis." Elizabeth responded. "Meliodas and I were once afflicted by something similar."
"Meliodas? Him?" Zeref could not hide the shock on his face. "I suppose love knows no bounds."
"I'm aware that both you and Meliodas are not from this world. So you were both cursed by a God from your world as well." Mavis commented.
"Sort of. It was my mother, the Supreme Deity and his father, the Demon King who cursed us. It was forbidden for a Demon and a Goddess to be together." Elizabeth said.
"So two deities who I assume can control both life and death cursed you both as well. How did you break the curse?" Zeref asked.
"Meliodas did. But in exchange, he gave up the power he used to break the curse in order for us to be together." Elizabeth said.
"Even if he can no longer do it though...I can still help you both reincarnate, with your memories intact. You can both get a second chance at life."
"You can do that?" Mavis questioned.
"Won't Ankhseram interfere with it?" August asked.
"I don't think he will." Zeref replied. "I've researched Ankhseram. Ankhseram will only interfere if you directly bring someone back to life. Purposefully reincarnating someone doesn't break the life and death cycle."
"Then I'll cast this upon you!" Eizabeth raised both hands up, her palms facing towards Zeref and Mavis and starting to glow. "Invitation to Reincarnation!"
Elizabeth's eyes widened as the area suddenly turned black around her. She could no longer see Mavis or Zeref who were right in front of her. In front of Elizabeth, a mysterious dark avatar was gazing at her.
"Are you…Ankhseram?" Elizabeth asked. The avatar said nothing and immediately vanished. The darkness in the area faded away and Elizabeth could see everyone again.
"You okay? You suddenly froze up." Ban asked.
"You felt it didn't you." Zeref said. "Ankhseram. Did he do anything to you?"
"No." Elizabeth answered.
"Well then. It's time for us to die." Zeref looked to Mavis and the two nodded at each other.
"Well I guess we should leave these two alone. Some privacy for their last moments~♫" Ban said as he began walking away.
"Mother, Father. I'm happy for you two." August looked back at Mavis and Zeref.
"You guys better join Fairy Tail again when you're reborn!" Natsu said with a grin.