Fire, Blood and Stars

Chapter 36

A/N So, my exams are over, and me and my friends are doing a Voice Acting narration for this story, so the updates will be slower, but larger. I'll post the links once we post the VAs on YouTube.

Also, half of this chapter was written before the exams, and half of it was written afterwards, so the continuity may seem a bit rushed, or not properly bridged, or whatever. So, if the fight scene seems like a completely unnecessary, boring thing to you, and you don't know why it's there, I don't know either.

That night, Zeref and Mavis stared at Natsu and Lucy in mild surprise.

"Uh, Mavis, tell me if I'm seeing things wrong, but they're sleeping, right?"

"Yes...?"

"And, they are also kissing. With tongue, and all sorts of other stuff. Right?"

"Yeaaah."

"Mavis, do people normally fall asleep while kissing?"

"Maybe?"

"Let me rephrase, have we ever fallen asleep while kissing?"

"No, you kiss too well for that."

"Right." Zeref got a very evil grin on his face.

Mavis looked at Zeref with an eyebrow raised. "Why do I feel you're planning something?"

Zeref chuckled evilly. "You know me too well, darling."

The next morning, Natsu and Lucy woke up tied together in a cocoon and hung from a tree. Still kissing, although this had less to do with their subconscious instinct and more to do with Zeref's excellent ropework.

Zeref had a lot of practice in tying people up, after all.

Time passed slowly. Lucy trained in the magic circle arts. She and Natsu also roamed the islands. Natsu could appreciate the beauty of the island better now. Of course, that may have had more to do with the company than the actual beauty of the place.

Having nothing to do, Gray began spending a lot of time talking to Deliora. Yes, Deliora couldn't reply, but he could listen. The first few days, Gray just vented a lot. How Deliora destroyed his village, how he had wanted to kill him. Then he went deeper into his life story.

About his stripping habit, how it arose. About how he learned magic. Within a few days, he had verbalized all his issues, even those completely unrelated to Deliora. The demon had listened to him patiently, not interrupting him or saying anything. Not that he could, but still. It was nice.

Lyon was in a problematic situation. The 'man' who knew the Arc of Time had turned into a woman who resembled Ur, and had proceeded to tell him everything. Lyon had just asked her why she would start crying and ask him to resurrect Ur if she hated Ur, and she was about to answer, when Jellal and Erza crashed into their base.

Jellal had recognized Ultear's magic as the one that was possessing him. So had Zeref, which was why he appeared a few seconds later.

Having sensed magic very similar to Ur's, Gray took a minute longer, but he appeared too, just in time for the confrontation.

"You", Jellal whispered in a rage. "You dared take control of my body!"

Erza's eyes widened. This girl was why they'd suffered. The one that took Jellal away (temporarily). Weapons started appearing and falling around her, a sign of her anger.

Zeref didn't show any physical signs of anger, apart from his lips tightening and a slight frown that made him seem more dangerous than an outright glare would have.