Firefall || Fairy Tail

50 : h e r . t r u t h

Kia ready herself as, for one of the few times in her life, she felt exposed, and she hadn't even explained anything yet. She took in another breath, before starting, "Before I begin, I'm going to tell you the story as Dad and I knew it, so if you want to see why we did what we did, you can. I will fill in the new details after."

"What does that matter?" Though Gray grumbled under his breath, his words were heard by those around him and those with heightened hearing.

Kia didn't even flinch as she locked eyes with him. His hatred toward her was clear as they stared at one another, as was the betrayal and confusion that he felt.

"You can hate me all you want, but you'll have to wait till after the war if you want to act upon it." She didn't even blink, "After that, I will not stop you, even if you want to slay me."

"Sis?!"

"What?!"

"Why?!"

"Kia?!"

"Stop it!" Verani was across the stage in a second, "You don't get to say that, not after everything you've done for everyone else! When are you going to think about yourself for once?!"

"Verani..."

"No!" She didn't want to hear another word from the pinkette's mouth. Her magic began sparking along her arms. "Are you honestly just going to keep devoting yourself to those damn promises you made Igneel?!"

Kia didn't falter as she calmly looked her best friend in the eyes, "Go for a run, V. You need to calm yourself before you fry the guild hall."

A ragged breath passed over Verani's lips as her shoulders rose and fell.

"I don't think you need to hear any of this again anyway."

The blonde turned from Kia, meeting Amber's gaze. The two shared a silent conversation: she would go for that run if Amber would keep an eye on things. The Blood mage gave a single nod as she lightly patted the satchel that she had slug over her shoulder. This was enough for Verani. A bright light and crackling filled the hall before the main doors slammed open and closed.

Many gazed between the stage and the doors, trying to comprehend how quickly the blonde had just moved since they hadn't been able to track her with their own eyes. Kia took that lull as the opportunity to take a deep breath, trying to settle the nerves that were reigniting inside her.

"For you to understand I have to start four hundred years ago when the war between dragons ravaged the land."

Wendy blinked at the familiar information, "Zirconis mentioned that when we talked to him in the graveyard."

Kia nodded, "One side fought for co-existence with the humans while the other wanted to rule over their favored food source. There were many casualties that were just caught in the crossfire. One of these villages was where Zeref called home."

There were looks of confusion at the mention of the Black Wizard, but they all remained quiet to let her continue.

"After losing his whole family in the fires, he began studying what was known about magic at the time. He focused on developing either a way to bring the dead back to life or to travel back in time to prevent at least one of his family members from dying. Zeref's efforts angered the god Ankhselam, who placed his curse on Zeref. Also known as the Curse of Contradictions, it is the reason he has lived all these years."

"But this only drove him into solitude so that his presence wouldn't kill those around him, he still continued his research. It wasn't long after that he decided to test run his revival theories on the corpse of a random young girl." There was the slightest of pause in between her words, but she forced herself to finish the thought, "She would become the first Etherious."