Lion's Pride

"For the majority of us, the past is a regret, the future an experiment." - Mark Twain

Chapter 4

Zeref's Will

In the guild library, Gray found Wendy and Charle. The girl had borrowed Lucy's Gale-Force Reading Glasses so she could speed-read through piles of books surrounding her, studying child development and midwifery. He was amused by how studious the girl looked wearing those glasses, totally focused on the material, all for Lucy's sake. His movement caught her attention, and the large-eyed child looked up curiously.

"Ah, Gray!" Wendy grinned. She yanked the glasses off and set them aside. Charle picked them up, fit them over her petite feline face, and began flipping through a book. Gray realized it was a seafood cookbook. "It's the first time I've seen you in the library. I figured you didn't like places like this."

"I like to read," he snapped, already tugging on his shirt.

Without even looking up, Charle scolded, "Keep your clothes on! You're in a library," forcing him out of his habit.

"Right," he grumbled. "I just wanted to research something on Zeref. Perhaps learning about him might help Lucy with this Celestial Spirit baby issue."

"Oh, I have a book on that." Wendy dug through her pile of thick books, but knocked over another pile. "Yes, this one." She hauled out a tome with an old binding and a rather long, dull title:

Zeref: A Study on the Life, Achievements, and Horrors of the Black Mage

"I read it because Loke said he was a Human-Spirit hybrid," Wendy explained, handling the book as if it might have a curse written within. "Sadly, there's not much that describes Zeref himself, just stuff on what he made, wars he started, the Great Gathering that finally stopped him, and the chaos that followed after his creations were set loose. The chapter that was supposed to be on his childhood was filled with historical facts, things happening in the world around him, but not much on Zeref himself. I'm rather disappointed," she frowned. "Nothing is really known about his childhood."

"It makes sense," Charle pointed out, flipping page after page. "He lived in ancient times. It's lucky historians know anything at all about him."

"But they don't say where he was born, or if he went to school. They don't even really know his age, or who his parents were."

Gray frowned. "Nothing on his parents?"

"Not much. His mother was named Naomi, and it says she was a famous celestial summoner at the time. Maybe I could look into her more, if she really was famous. The thing is, I don't know when to look. There's nothing at all on when his mother was pregnant with him. The book didn't even say who the father was, or the fact that he was a Celestial Spirit. I'm shocked this wasn't a well-known fact."

"Well, I certainly didn't know until Loke told us," Charle said haughtily, already finished with the cookbook.

"I also had never heard about that," Gray agreed.

"Oh," Wendy pouted. "Well, I don't know much about Zeref, so I also never heard he was half-Spirit. Still, that seems like an important fact to be lost through the passage of time."

"Unless people didn't want others to know," Charle deduced. "It very well might have been the Celestial Spirits themselves who hid that fact from humans. Otherwise, some dark guild wanting to create a new Zeref would simply coerce a Celestial Spirit into mating with a powerful mage."

"But...that's despicable!" Wendy cried out.

Charle had to nod in agreement. "It's a good reason why the ancients might have wanted to hide the truth behind his birth."

"So, there's nothing on the father?" Gray mused with disappointment. "Then that's not the book I need."

"Eh? You want to find out Zeref's father, not the mother? Oh, yeah," Wendy realized, putting a finger to her mouth. "That makes sense. The mother died centuries ago, but the father is an immortal Celestial Spirit, so he'd still be around."

"Assuming he wasn't killed for breaking the laws of the Spirit World," Charle added in quietly.

"Well, I could look up which Spirit Keys that woman Naomi had," Wendy decided. "There are usually records on these things. Then you could have Lucy ask that Spirit about what happened. I bet he knows all about how things went."

Gray turned out of the library. "No...I don't think he does."

Meanwhile, in a distant land, high in a vast mountain range where the snow never completely melted, the sky boiled in thick clouds, and it looked like snow would fall yet again. In a cavern high on a craggy peak, lit only by torches, was an ancient cave painting depicted a battle. Horrific forms of what could only be demons and a powerful black enemy bringing down lightning battled against an army that perished under the dark threat.

Another picture further down the stone wall showed the demons falling to dragons and smaller creatures with wings. The dark enemy fled; the grand army advanced triumphant.

Another section of the wall showed a hole in the heavens. The dragons were strong enough to fight it, but the smaller winged creatures were swept into the abyss. The army feared the heavenly hole and fled, pursued by the remaining demons.

Then a hero arrived with a small host behind him, only twelve warriors, yet they looked like animals. One of those, hard to decipher in the ancient painting, grappled with the dark enemy, while the others fought off his minions.

At last, victory! The sun shone again, the enemy was buried under a mountain, yet if a person looked at this last cave painting, the hero was not present with the celebrating army. He stood to the side with his small group of twelve, facing away from the party. Was he shunned? Was he mourning? Was he the sort who saved the day and walked off before thanks could be given? It was open for interpretation, but it gave a melancholy mood to what otherwise was jubilation for the epic battle's end.

"'Tis time," a sinister voice hissed from the torch-lit cave. "A Celestial Spirit mage of the west doth carry a child of the Spirit World."

"Verily, are there still women like that?" a melodious female voice asked in an archaic speech. "And which is the concupiscent culprit this time?"

"Her mate is Leo the Lion."

"Leo?" The woman sounded stunned, jolted out of her perfect equanimity. Slowly, she hummed, relaxing into the idea. "Leo...mmm, yes, the Spirit any woman would want in her bed. Perfect! At least the slut mage hath taste. He is quite...skilled, from what I remember."

"He is still strong. His son shall be magnificent, mistress-s-s!"

"Is this rumor confirmed?"

"The Lion stayeth by her side night and day."

"But...not confirmed."

There was a slight pause, then the hissing voice spoke with a hint of worry at displeasing her. "T'would be hard to confirm at this time, mistress-s-s."

"That is true," she mused with a sensual hum. "Art thou certain the child is Leo's?"

"That also, we cannot know. He is the one caring for her, but she is master to ten out of twelve Gold Keys, plus numerous Silver Keys-s-s."

"Ten already, eh? So it could be...but no, Leo is the only one who would dare. T'would be too perfect if it is so. Very well, I must see her myself. I wish to see if she truly is the one we desire."

"It shan't be easy, mistress-s-s. She resideth in the kingdom of Fiore, protected by the Lion and the children of the Fire, Iron, and Sky Dragons...with their flying cats-s-s."

"The Exceed? They've returned? Even more intriguing. Just like old times, eh?" She chuckled in wry amusement.

A lithe form in dark purple rose and slipped quietly through the cave. Only her hair, black and tumbling down to her knees, made a whisper as the strands moved against her flowing gown. She walked to the cave wall, to the second battle scene, the winged creatures taking on the demons, and her fingers caressed the dragon breathing fire.

"The dragons...and the Exceed...united once more, this time to protect a child of the Spirit World. This all aligns to the prophecy. Shall they succeed in shielding the child, or shall it be like what happened back then...with him?" She put her finger between her lips, trailing a moist line down her bottom lip. "I wonder if I can seduce Leo to my side. Shouldn't be hard. After all, he said I was his best lover."

"He would make a powerful ally," the hissing voice said ingratiatingly.

"Indeed, but he's a proud one. I still need the Key to his Heart."

She twirled around. The lambent flames showed her face paler than the snow outside, harder than the stone walls of the cave, eyes the color of onyx and piercing like stone, anemic lips, and around her ivory throat was a short necklace holding a silver pearl that gleamed in the firelight.

"Take me to this woman...this vessel for the Successor of Zeref's Will."

End of Chapter 4

Rhov's Corner:

Ex-girlfriends can be nasty bitches! In the previous chapter, Erza overheard "child of the Spirit World" and "Zeref's Will." Here we go!

Zeref's mother "Naomi" is the Japanese name, not the Hebrew name. No particular reason why, I just have a thing for names, and I like Naomi. 直美 means "honest, straight" and "beautiful"...a pretty name!

I continue to be flabbergasted by this story's reception. I'm stunned, speechless. I'm trying to type and words fail me (which isn't good in my career!) I feel unworthy to write a FT fanfic since I only began reading the manga this past summer, after my otaku friends chided me for not reading it. Such a deprived person, I'm pathetic! ^_^ My fear of being unable to portray the characters properly—especially since I haven't seen the anime yet; I will for sure!—is slowly being alleviated by your kind reviews. Thank you so much! Please tell me if I got something wrong. I'm a Fairy Tail neophyte, so as they say in Japan, "Please take care of me!"

=^._.^= "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

"Yes Happy, that's how you say it."

"Aye!"

"Don't you mean 'Hai'?"

=^..^= "Aye, hai!"

"Um...right, Happy..."