Chapter Text
"They say small differences can have major effects on history. So what does that say about major differences?"
Zeref had started to believe that happiness was something he would never again feel. That he would spend the rest of eternity in a state of perpetual misery, until either Ankhseram grew bored, or the last light in the cosmos flickered out. But now, as he pressed his lips against those of Mavis Vermillion, he was willing to hope that he could finally be happy.
When he opened his eyes, though, he fully expected Mavis to disappear. But no, there she was, smiling up at him. For a while, the two just stared at each other, savoring the moment, until finally, Mavis spoke up.
"So…," she said slowly, "What do we do now?" She cried as Zeref suddenly swooped her up into his arms.
"We go West," Zeref said, "To where I'm building my empire. And together, the two of us will rule."
"It's a bit of a step up from leading a guild to leading a country," Mavis said with a smile, looking up at him.
"Not as much as you may think," Zeref said, "I think the basic principle may be the same." Mavis' smile just broadened, as she reached up to touch his face.
"I think we can make this work," she just said gently.
"Yes…," Zeref said slowly, blinking away a few tears, "I think we can…"
(|)
For Zeref, it had been an exciting few months, in which his and Mavis' nation had gone from a kingdom, into an empire. With Mavis' brilliant strategic and tactical mind, it was only a matter of time before all the various other states and guilds had been subdued, and the Magic Council of the continent was left with little choice but to yield their will. The empire the two now ruled was called "Alvarez", derived from the ancient language on this continent that roughly meant "Fairy Army" (needless to say the name was Mavis' idea).
Zeref was glad to see that most of the other kingdoms had yielded without too much of a fight, generally with the promise that so long as they acknowledge Alvarez as their overlord, they'd be allowed to mostly run their own internal affairs. But that wasn't the primary reason Zeref was happy; the real reason was because he had been able to do all of this with Mavis, rather than alone. Even the two of them were still otherwise unaffected by their respective curses, the same couldn't be said fro their people, and so they were left to approach their Empire as if this was a massive game. It was deeply frustrating to have to see human lives this way, but the alternative wasn't much better; but they made it work, even if it was rather difficult
Zeref was currently looking over a map of the continent, having long since changed out of the ancient outfit he was used to, and now wearing a simple white dress shirt under a black vest, with black pants. He also had a couple rings on his finger, one with the symbol of Alvarez in green, and the other with the symbol of Mavis' old guild in red, showing the two things in the world most important to him. Speaking of which, he glanced up as the door opened, and one of those important things sauntered.
"Mavis?" he asked. The young woman had changed her outfit as well, wearing a flowing green dress with short sleeves, though she was still wearing no shoes (according to Mavis, she wouldn't be herself with no shoes).
"Zeref," Mavis said with a mischievous smile.
"What is it?" Zeref asked, setting his quill down as his wife approached, and sat on his desk, "Is something the matter?"
"No, not necessarily," Mavis said, her smile widening, "But there is something 'up'." Zeref cocked his head, confused, which Mavis took some satisfaction in.
"I was thinking," she then said, "This is an empire now, right?"
"Well, yes," Zeref answered, sitting back, "Why?"
"Well," Mavis said, stressing the word slightly, "An empire needs a royal family, right?"
"I suppose,, but I'm not sure…" Zeref stopped as he suddenly closed his mouth. Mavis' smile turned slightly less mischievous, and a bit warmer.
"Mavis… are you…"
"I'm pregnant," Mavis finally said, as she leaned forward, touching her stomach. It took a full three minutes (Zeref somehow knew that) for the Emperor to realize what he had just been told. He was going to be a father?
His hands slowly reached up to cup Mavis' face, as he brought his hand up to her face, as she took his had in her own. No words were spoken between them, as they pressed their foreheads together.
"I love you," Zeref finally said, "I love you so much."
"I love you more," Mavis answered.
(|)
"July 7, 777," Zeref said slowly.
"Pardon?" Mavis asked, as she looked up from the book she was reading. The two spouses were lounging in one of the various suites in their palace, with Mavis lying on a love seat while Zeref sat on a chair by the window.
"This is the week that date will come," Zeref said slowly, as he looked longingly out the window, tapping a finger on the armrest.
"What's so special…," Mavis started to ask, but then she stopped herself. She then remembered something Zeref told her decades ago, about a certain date. A date that was far more than just "important" to her husband.
"That's the date isn't it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, rising to her feet. Zeref just nodded for a time, as he rose to his feet, and walked to his window.
"400 years ago this week, I sent my brother, and four other children, through the Eclipse Gate," he explained, "In a couple of days, the gate on this side of time will open, and they will arrive in this strange world… alone." Mavis was silent for a time, as she stared at Zeref, and sighed slightly.
"Go find him." Zeref blinked in surprise, as he looked at his wife. Was she telling him to leave Alvarez?
"He's your younger brother," Mavis continued, "As far as I'm concerned, you have an obligation to find him then."
"I can't just…"
"I can manage affairs of state while you're gone," Mavis interrupted, "I'd say 'what's the worst that can happen', but I can assure nothing will happen while you're gone." She then came up and leaned on Zeref.
"Besides, I'll admit that while I always wished for a little sister," she said, "but having a little brother would be pretty nice too." Zeref chuckled briefly at the idea that Mavis was now Natsu's sister-in-law, before he took a breath.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," Zeref said, looking to his wife.
"Take all the the time you need," Mavis answered, "This is something that demands all your attention." Zeref's smile just widened, as he considered just how fortunate he was to have Mavis in his life.
He quickly made the necessary arrangements, and was now on a ship making its way East to Ishgar. He looked back at the port city he had departed, where he had left this wife. But Zeref tried not to think about that.
"I'm coming Natsu," Zeref said, as he let himself smile, as he looked onto the horizon, to where his brother was waiting for him.
/|\
The town of Ori was a decent sized settlement that existed in the fertile highlands east of the Imperial Capital. It was a farming town predominantly, helping supply the larger communities with wheat. At least, that was what they were supposed to be doing; for the past couple weeks, their fields had been plagued by a terrible monster that was attacking their farmers and destroying their crops. The leaders of the town appealed to the Imperial authorities, who quickly agreed to send support.
On the edge of the town, a group of kids were playing keep away, but as they were playing, a shadow came over them. They all paused, and looked up to see an enormous airship soaring overhead. It was painted dark green with red highlights and had the head of a dragon on its prow, and the image of Alvarez emblazoned on its hull. The ship soared over the town, landing on the opposite side, where a ramp came down, and the door opened.
"Natsu c'mon!" a little blue cat wearing a green knapsack said as he jumped up, "We're here!" He was talking to a young man with spiky pink hair. He was wearing a black and orange vest with white pants, and a scaly scarf around his neck. Tattooed on his shoulder was a red Alvarez insignia.
"This is it!" Natsu Dragneel declared between moans, "I'm never riding an airship again!"
"You say that every time you ride an airship," the cat, Happy, said, putting a paw to his face.
"Seriously? Are all Dragon Slayers such whimps?" Natsu glanced up as best as he could to see a young woman squatting beside him. She had blonde hair that fell slightly past her shoulders, a little bit of it being tied up in a small ponytail with a blue ribbon, and she was wearing a blue skirt with a blue and white shirt with knee-high boots. Like Natsu, she had the Alvarez mark on her body, only hers was pink, and on the back of her left hand.
"Why couldn't we have walked?"
"Because it would've taken two days to get here," Lucy Heartfilia answered as she stood back up, "I, for one, want to actually go home when this is done."
"What's so bad about that?" Natsu moaned as he put his face back on the floor.
"Lucy's just lazy," Happy chimed in as he stuck his head in.
"Shut your trap, cat!" Lucy hissed, shoving him away.
"Natsu!" another, much fiercer voice called. Natsu yelped as he immediately jumped to his feet. Lucy laughed at that as they all glanced over to see a tall young woman with long, straight hair that was brilliant scarlet. She was wearing a blue skirt, like Lucy, but unlike her, she also had a steel breastplate that had the Alvarez insignia engraved over the right breast, along with steel gauntlets; the Alvarez mark was in blue on her left arm. But what really caught the eye was the massive palette of luggage that was she dragging behind her.
"We're supposed to be hunting a monster," Erza Belserion declared, "You'd better keep up!"
"Says the woman with the most amount of luggage," Lucy quipped under her breath, being careful to not let Erza hear.
"Now at the double," the knight said as she walked past them, down the ramp, "We have things to do and people to help."
"Aye Ma'am!" Happy asserted as he leapt onto her shoulder.
"You heard her," Lucy said, patting Natsu on the back
"Why'd you even want to come in the first place?"
"Because someone needs to keep you and Erza from wrecking the whole town," Lucy answered, frowning at him, "We're here to help the people, not ruin them."
"When do I ever do that?" Natsu asked.
"You do it a lot, Natsu," Happy commented.
(|)
Vistarion was easily the largest city in all of Alakitasia, and probably one of the largest in all of Earthland. Kept under the diligent protection of the Imperial guard, it was considered a safe haven for people fleeing the chaos and disruption of the wide world. In the very center of the city was the colossal imperial palace, which was virtually a city in of itself, housing the vast bureaucracy and ministry of the Imperial government.
Deep within the confines of the sprawling palace, were the personal chambers of Irene Belserion, the Imperial High Enchantress, who had stood alongside the emperor since the earliest days of the empire's founding. Her room was filled with scrolls, potions, and magical artifacts with no windows, and even the door disappeared and reappeared as Irene wanted it to. In the very center of the room was a stone pedestal, that had a pool of water, where Irene was currently standing her, brow furrowed in concentration.
"Hmm," she mused, narrowing her eyes at the swirling waters. To the average viewer, it might've looked like she was just staring into a puddle of dirty water, but those familiar with enchantments would recognize it as a scrying pool.
At the moment though, something was off, and while again, an average viewer wouldn't be able to discern it, something with Irene's experience could read even the tiniest difference. The magical energies had shifted, and she could sense it. Waving her hand over the pool, the image changed to an overhead view of the continent of Ishgar, across the ocean to the East of Alvarez. Focusing on the image, Irene tried to narrow her search for the source of the disturbance. Eventually, the image in the pool faded, and reformed into another one, showing a country on the end of the continent's peninsula, one Irene was vaguely familiar with.
"Fiore," she muttered, before snapping her fingers. The image in the pool dispersed again, as it began to flash different towns and communities there. Normally narrowing in a specific source would be easy for an enchantress of Irene's caliber, but something about this particular disturbance was less localized, as if it were constantly on the move.
"Where are you," Irene said with clenched teeth, her frustration building. Finally she stopped on one image, of a mountain. She could feel it, this was where the disturbance was. For a moment, she stared, trying to discern what was going on, but then a shadow flashed across it, so sudden that even Irene was slightly started. She then looked back, but the shadow was already gone.
"It... can't be," Irene said, but she couldn't deny what she saw, and that was wings, a tail, and a huge form that she was very familiar with.
"Well then," the enchantress said, as she let the pool grow dim, stepping back, "I guess this changes things."
(|)
Zeref knew that ruling a nation would come with a heap of responsibilities, especially one as large as Alvarez. He'd always been prepared to accept that, and sometimes he even took some personal satisfaction in getting things like this done. But other times, like the meeting he was currently setting in, he got so bored he felt like he hadn't slept in ages.
The table was mostly empty, save for Zeref sitting in the center, with Mavis to his immediate right, their hands locked together under the table. To his left was Invel Yura, his Prime Minister, and head of government, looking as diligent and focused as ever, jotting down notes. Beside him was Yajeel Raml, who while he didn't have Invel's rank, he had more experience than perhaps all of Zeref's ministers combined, and was a trusted source of council; his eyes were wizened and aged, but no less alert, as he paid close attention to the topic. Speaking of which, on the other side of the table was a man of medium height with blonde hair, and a blonde mustache, one Jude Heartfilia, the Imperial Minister of Finance.
The man was from Ishgar, across the sea, having arrived about ten years ago, with his young daughter under his arm. An experienced tycoon and businessman, he was a natural choice for the position, and since then, he had served with distinction. In the decades since Zeref and Mavis established the Imperial ministry, he was quite possibly one of the most capable; unfortunately, he was a man who had a tendency to go on... and on... and on...
"With all this data, I now suspect that the project will be more over budget than we initially assumed," Jude said, using his light pen to dry his notes in thin air, "I'm estimating about a 6% loss in funds by the time is over, potentially higher."
"This is all well and good, Minister," Invel said sternly, "But I'm hearing plenty of problems, and not a lot of solutions."
"I do have a few potential courses of action," Jude said, turning back to his notes, as he drew, "The first and easiest one is raising taxes on a couple of provinces but 0.5%."
"Raising taxes?" Mavis suddenly said, looking up, frowning, "Are you sure that's best solution?"
"It is the easiest one," Jude said politely, "I'm only proposing we do it for the Northern provinces. They should be able to shoulder the burden without much trouble, and it would only be for half of the year."
"Taxes are only for when it's absolutely necessary," Yajeel said, looking to Zeref, "We shouldn't rely on them as a first option."
"I disagree," Invel said, "Minister Heartfilia is right. Taxing a wealthy province for a brief period is the easiest way to do it."
Zeref listened to both points, as he took a breath, looking down at the table, as he leaned forward. The project in question was for some new aqueducts, with the intent of providing water for more out of the way communities; Zeref always knew it would be costly, but had hoped the treasury could shoulder it without issue. Alas, ruling was never that straight forward, and sometimes hard decisions like this had to be made. He then looked at his wife, who was frowning at him in that same, youthful face that he had always looked to when times got tough, and he sighed.
"No," Zeref said, looking up at his finance minister, "These projects are for the betterment of the people. I won't make them have to pay for them." Yajeel nodded in agreement, while Invel just took a breath, and jotted down some more notes. Jude didn't seem disappointed, or even that surprised, as he just cleared his throat, and turned back to his notes.
"Well then, the second option..." He continued on after that, but Zeref began to zone him out. Eventually it just became white noise, as Invel asked most of the questions. To that end, Zeref was actually slightly startled when an aide came over, and leaned close, whispering something in his ear. In that moment, Zeref jerked up, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the room, especially Mavis, who leaned back in surprise.
"I have to go!" the emperor suddenly said, as he stood up, and his form seemed to flicker away. No one was surprised by how he was just there as a thought projection (it was always how he addressed affairs of state), but they were surprised by how abrupt this was. Indeed, Mavis frowned at the space where her husband was once sitting.
"Is there a problem, Your Majesty?" Jude asked respectfully.
"Not as far as I know, but I should go make sure as much," Mavis answered as she stood up as well, looking to Invel, "I trust you can carry on in our name?"
"Of course, Empress."
"In that case, you may all carry on." With that, Mavis winked away as well. Invel then cleared his throat and gestured to Jude.
"You were saying?"
(|)
"And you're certain about it?" Zeref asked.
"I've considered every other possible option," Irene answered, "And this was the only one that remained." The two were gathered in one of Zeref's many personal studies, as Irene explained what she saw in the pool to her emperor. Mavis suddenly materialized in the air, getting their attention.
"Mavis," Zeref said, smiling at the sight of his wife, as Irene bowed her head briefly.
"Zeref?" she called, as she floated down to his level and put a hand on his arm, "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," Zeref said quickly, not wanting her to be too worried, "It's... nothing really."
"Well, the fact that you trailed off says that's probably not true," Mavis said with a frown.
"I certainly wouldn't say that it is," Irene said
"So what's going on?" Mavis asked. Zeref looked at her and sighed, before turning to Irene.
"When's Natsu supposed to be back?"
"Well, Erza said tomorrow at the latest, depending how long it takes to find the monster," Irene answered, "Why do you ask?"
"Because I've got news that he's going to want to hear," Zeref answered.
(|)
"Fire Dragon's Iron First!"
"Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!"
All the usual battle cries echoed across the valley, though Lucy couldn't see much of anything between the thick dust clouds as she sat on the ridge overlooking it. The monster in question was a giant manticore, and with Natsu's nose, finding it was quite easy. For Natsu and Erza, this wouldn't be much of a challenge, but it was still taking them longer than Lucy thought, and she wanted to go home.
"Why aren't you helping?" Happy asked as he trotted up next to her.
"Because this sort of stuff is their speciality, not mine," the blonde answered plainly. Happy couldn't argue that, as he sat in Lucy's lap.
"I'm just glad it's out in the wild instead of in the town," Lucy said as she kicked her feet, "At least this way they won't wreck everything." As if on cue, there was a roar, followed by a burst of fire, at least one of which probably came from Natsu. Followed by another roar, this time from the manticore, and the sound of something big hitting the ground. It then got strangely silent, as the dust slowly started to settle.
"Looks like they're done," Happy noted.
"Yeah, seems like it," Lucy said as she stood up, Happy still in her arms, "Mind giving me a lift?"
"Give me the rest of your fish and I'll consider it!"
(|)
The manticore was much bigger than normal, with a vaguely human face and a long, scorpion tail. It was little wonder that the townspeople couldn't handle it on their own, but for the brother and the Emperor, and the daughter of the High Enchantress, it was small game.
"Woo!" Natsu said, wiping his brow as he stood on the beast's body, "That worked up an appetite. Hey Erza, you got your fire starter kit?"
"You can eat when we get home," Erza said as she jumped down from some rubble, her sword blinking away, "Besides you always say the fire made by those kits tastes terrible." She was currently dressed in her Heaven's Wheel armor.
"But the new ones use that new kindling, and that makes the flames taste so much better," Natsu said as he jumped down to her level, putting his hands behind his head, "Can't we just maybe get the people in town to make us something? They owe us."
"You know as well as I do we can't do that," Erza said, as she requipped into her regular armor, "We do this because it's our responsibility, not because we get paid for it."
"Yeah, yeah," Natsu said, pouting slightly, not going to argue, "I'm still hungry though."
"If you want something you can pay for it yourself," Erza said, before she noticed Lucy floating down with Happy's help.
"You guys okay?" Lucy asked as she droped down to the ground.
"Of course, something like that ain't going to give us any trouble," Natsu said, jerking his thumb towards the manticore.
"Then can we please start heading home?" Lucy asked, spreading her arms, "I was hoping to finish the next chapter in my novel today."
"Aye!" Happy said, "I want some fish!"
"Well, I suppose there's nothing keeping us here," Erza said, before looking at Happy, "Go fly ahead to the airship. We'll go and tell the ealdorman that we're done, and that the manticore won't be troubling them anymore."
"Aye!" Happy said as he flew off to do as Erza asked.
"Ergh!" Natsu said, "I don't feel so good all of a sudden."
"For crying out loud, we aren't even near it yet," Lucy griped.
