ADL OLD CHAPTERS

27. Those Who Extinguish Life

This chapter serves to give us some insight into y/n's past. It's really short (barely 1,000 words). And in my mind, fairly boring. Sorry.

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Zeref shut his eyes tight, unwilling to open them, as the black mist dissipated from the air around him. He couldn't open them. He couldn't deal with the sight of another innocent person dead because of him. His breathing became irregular as tears began to pool in his eyes. He pulled harshly at his hair, cursing himself, the gods and the cruel, cruel world. Why hadn't she listened? Why hadn't she run?

He froze at an unfamiliar feeling. One he had not known in a very long time. A warm hand resting against his cold skin. Dark eye snapped open to be met with a pair of warm e/c ones.

She was alive.

Not only was she alive, but she seemed completely unharmed. Zeref glanced around in confusion. The grass was dead. The tree was dead. The deer was dead. The butterflies and birds were dead, bodies limp on the ground. Everything around him had ceased to exist. So why hadn't she?

"Hey, it's okay," her voice was soft as she spoke. She cupped his face with her hands, directing him to look her in the eyes. "Breathe, just breathe. Everything's going to be okay,"

Zeref nodded dumbly, breathing in sync with the girl until his heartbeat slowed. She let go of his face to sit next to him, a foot or so away.

His mouth was dry as he watched her, his mind racing. "Why... Why..."

"Why aren't I dead?" she asked, voicing the question he was unable to word. "You and I are one and the same,"

Her voice was gentle and soothing and, against his better judgement, Zeref found himself relaxing at the sound of it.

The girl raised her hand up and an all to familiar black fog danced around her fingertips. There was a dull thud and the corpse of what was once a bird landed at her feet. She kicked it into the pond and watched it sink with emotionless eyes.

"You're cursed?" he asked, turning to her with a frown. "What for?"

"I didn't do anything," she said, glaring at the ground as she spoke. "It was my parents. But because they had the protection of another god, they could not be punished for their actions. So, Ankhseram had to find someone they could punish. Me,"

Zeref's eyes softened at the girl's words. He'd been cursed as a result of his own actions, whereas she was completely innocent.

"I was born, branded with this mark," she gestured to a black symbol on her ribcage. It resembled the sun in a sense, a series of flames branching out in a circle. The mark was common in ancient Mildian writings. It had many possible translations, destruction, decay, and most commonly death. "And when my parents saw it, they abandoned me. Left me to fend for myself, hoping that would be the end of it,"

Zeref felt like he should comfort the girl, though he was unsure of how to go about it. It was rare for him to engage in casual conversation. His social skills were lacking considerably.

"I got them back though," She said. A cruel smirk spread across her lips and a malicious gleam shone in her eyes. "I tracked them down years later and I made them pay,"

Her dismissiveness towards the matter unsettled him. She didn't seem to be that old. How could she speak so carelessly? How could she be so hardened? What else had she been through? Zeref felt a pang of pity for her.

"Oh! I'm y/n by the way," she exclaimed with a bright grin.

He hesitated a moment before accepting her outstretched hand. "Zeref,"