Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

With a fiery breath, Natsu’s training came to a close. Igneel looked at his son with a sense of pride, impressed by how far the boy had come, as merely a month ago he had struggled with the Fire Dragon’s Roar, and now he breathed flame like a normal person would oxygen. Though it shouldn’t have surprised Igneel, given the boy’s inhuman nature that despite Zeref’s many insistences, Igneel made sure to inform the boy of what he was. Natsu knew full and well what he was, but the knowledge of such things didn’t alter the kind and energetic boy’s outlook on the world, though the topic of life was a difficult one for him to grasp. 

“Igneel, there’s something Ms. Anna taught us that seems kind of weird.” Natsu said, the boy’s face furrowing in confusion.

“And what would that thing be, Natsu?” Igneel asked.

“She said all magic comes from love. But how could Dragonslayer magic, which was made to kill, come from love? It doesn’t make any sense.” Natsu said, plopping onto the grass and watching the clouds go by.

“Well, that would require a history lesson on the Dragon King Festival-” Natsu’s eyes lit up like a flame, a gigantic grin plastered across his face.

“Was it a human festival, Igneel? Did the humans light up lots of fireworks and dance and eat lots of food and-”

“Natsu, Natsu, calm down. All your questions are going to give me a headache! I think there’s a forest fire somewhere you can eat.” Natsu ran off in search of the non-existent fire, leaving Igneel to his thoughts of the event that those on Ishgar called the Dragon King Festival. He hoped that if Natsu should run into someone, it wouldn’t be Acnologia, the man who bathed Alakatasia in the blood of man and dragon alike and the one responsible for more than a few of Igneel’s scars. How Anna fell for such a man was a question Igneel always had at the back of his mind and knowing her, it’d likely remain unsolved.

If there was one thing Gajeel hated more than anything else, it was being interrupted during a good meal. And right now, his meal of choice - a part of a drake’s hoard - was the cause of him running at breakneck speeds through a forest while holding onto a golden apple. He jumped over tree roots and ducked under branches, trying his damndest to shake off his pursuer. So caught up in preserving his life that he failed to notice the man he bumped into. The man in question was tall with a wild mess of dark blue hair and a variety of bright blue tattoos on his face.

“Hey kid, give me that apple.” He said, a grin on his face. Gajeel did as he was asked, having a feeling that disobeying this man would result in a fate far worse than the one that awaited him with the drake. The stranger took the apple, readied himself into a thrower’s position, and chunked it at the drake.

CRACK!

The drake’s skull caved into where the apple was thrown, a smug smirk on the man’s face. Gajeel was so shocked - though who wouldn’t be - he didn’t notice Natsu barrel into him.

“What the hell, Salamander?! Ya blind or somethin’?!” Gajeel snapped. Natsu only giggled at his friend’s irritation and Gajeel quickly got up, chasing after Natsu as the fire Dragonslayer disappeared into the woods, the stranger all but forgotten by the two children. 

Well, that was strange, Acnologia thought as he went about his day. The two children were certainly strange, even if he was willing to look past the fact that they had the scent of Dragonslayers and one of them had Igneel’s scent on him. Even then, the pinkette was rather strange with his scent not having any human traces to it. Perhaps the boy was Igneel’s child? No, that didn’t seem likely. The black-haired boy was rather strange too, with all those piercings! Who in their right mind would let a child have so many piercings?! Probably the dragon training the child.

But Acnologia had other things to worry about, like his meet-up with Anna. Well, it was more so him wanting to know what had her so busy! She always seemed a little tired and when he’d ask her what she’d been doing in her spare time, she’d say she was tutoring some children who wished to be mages. But Acnologia knew full well the only families who could afford tutoring were nobles, and Anna’s face turned a little green when the mere mention of being with nobility was brought up, Irene and Jericho being the exceptions, so that couldn’t be the case! Maybe some kid in a village was born with strong magic, and Anna being the kind soul she is, decided to tutor them? Well, Acnologia soon got his answer when a boy with light blond hair ran past him, eyes puffy from crying.

“I’M NOT APOLOGIZING TO THAT MEANIE-FACE ROGUE AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!” A little girl with blue hair ran behind him before grabbing his shirt.

“Sting! You’ve gotta apologize to Rogue or Ms. Anna’s gonna be upset!” The girl whined. Wait, were these the kids Anna was tutoring? Why was she tutoring Dragonslayers? And why were children who couldn’t be older than 6 or 7 learning Dragonslayer magic?!

“Nuh-uh! I’m not apologizing to that jerkwad for scaring me like that.” Sting said, still upset. The little girl tugged on the boy’s sleeve, eyes getting watery. 

“W-well, I’ll be sad if you don’t apologize to Rogue. Cuz then he won’t wanna play with us anymore.” The girl sadly said, looking to be on the brink of tears, which surprised the blond. Crocodile tears, a tactic that Acnologia was familiar with. Hyde, despite being the elder of the Lockser siblings, would often use such a strategy to great effect as a distraction, and nine times out of ten it worked like a charm.

“Fine! I’ll apologize to him, but only so you don’t cry.” Seemed like the blue-haired kid was either good at pulling people’s heartstrings or she was a bleeding heart. As if on cue, Anna appeared, a little boy - Ryos, Acnologia assumed; that was the kid’s name, right? - following behind her.

“Sting! Wendy! You two had me so worried!” She knelt to hug them before pinching Sting’s nose.

“You’re so reckless, Sting! Did you ever think of what would happen if you were badly hurt? And don’t say Wendy will heal you. You know her magic isn’t strong enough for serious injuries.” Sting looked down, rather ashamed of his actions. 

“I-I’m sorry for running off, Ms. Anna.”

“You’ve got someone else to say sorry to, kid.” Acnologia said throwing one of his extra scary glares in for good measure. Sting immediately started apologizing to the black-haired kid, who accepted the apology. Anna glanced up for a moment before returning to the children.

“Alright you three, your parents are at the clearing. Don’t cause them too much trouble!” The three children left, excited to see their parents, leaving Acnologia and Anna to each other. There was a sort of awkward tension in the air. Acnologia, not one for pretty words nor any conversational pleasantries, broke the tension with all the bluntness of a dull dragon’s claw. 

“So, how’d you end up playing nanny to some little dragonslayers?” Acnologia asked. Come hell or high water, he was getting to the bottom of this.

“Someone had to teach them about the human world, and I was already involved somewhat.”

“How were you involved?” Acnologia was getting worried, his pulse quickening and fingers thrumming on the side of his thigh. What if Anna had been forced into this? No, don't be foolish. No one under the sun would think to harm her. She’s your wife, after all.

“I’ve said too much.” Anna turned on her heel and began to walk away, only for Acnologia to grab her, concern all too clear in those crystal blue eyes of his.

“Please, Anna. Tell me what’s going on. If there’s something wrong, then I’ll help you. You remember our promise, don’t you?” She nodded.

“Then tell me, Anna.” She hesitated for a moment before speaking. That wasn’t good.

“I made a deal with Zeref. If I helped him, then he’d find a way to stop your blackouts. Please, I don’t want what happened with Hyde to happen again.” Acnologia pulled Anna in close as tears started to fall from her eyes.

“Anna, I’ve gotten my instincts under control. I haven’t blacked out since what happened back then.”

“But what if you do?! What if I’m the one you kill?! I couldn’t bear to think of the guilt you’d feel from that! You need to stop thinking you’re invincible, Acnologia! You may not have a human’s body anymore, but that doesn’t mean you’re flawless!” Anna’s words were interrupted by various sobs, big, wet tears coming from her eyes that rolled down her cheeks and stained her dress. Dammit, Anna crying was one of Acnologia’s few weaknesses.

“Is there anything I can do then, Anna? I don’t want you to bear this burden alone.” He wiped away a few of her tears.

“Actually, there is something you can do. There’s a part of this plan that involves sending the children to the future, so I want you to take care of the children when that time comes.” The two sat down and got to talking about the 5 children: Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue. From magic to personality - turns out Sting was afraid of the dark, Rogue really liked frogs, and Wendy liked cleaning - just about everything was covered. Well, except for a concern Acnologia had regarding Natsu.

“Is Natsu human? I met him earlier today and his scent didn’t have anything human to it.” Anna’s face had a quick bit of discomfort before returning to its normal expression.

“No. He’s one of Zeref’s demons, but his demonic instincts are suppressed, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, which one of his demons is Natsu?” Acnologia asked, trying to hide his worry. Zeref’s demons were always a bit of an issue for the Dragon King, mainly because their mental stability was usually on the same level as their creator’s.

Please don’t be E.N.D please don’t be E.N.D please don’t be E.N.D please don’t be E.N.D

“He’s E.N.D-”

“Son of a dragon!” Acnologia yelled, his hair puffing up a little from frustration. Anna chuckled a bit at her husband’s outburst, though he soon regained his composure. Anna was all too quick to assure him that Natsu was nothing like the rumors said and was one of the kindest people you'd ever meet, but was a bit of a hothead and tended to set things on fire - accidentally of course - and while he loved to fight, he’d never dream of killing someone. That seemed to dissipate whatever tension Acnologia had and a sliver of a smile came to his lips. 

“Thank you for this, Anna.” He knew her ulterior motive in this little adoption plan of hers: a way to stop his blackouts, a way to stop him from drowning in a sea of blood-bathed instinct. After what happened back then, Anna had been desperately working to find a way to stop his blackouts. The two talked for a time before night began to fall and Anna’s eyes drifted to the stars like they always did. Then they tried spotting the different constellations, Anna providing bits of trivia for each one.

“Why can’t Taurus be like what humans think of his constellation? If I catch him oogling at your chest one more time -”

“You can’t go threatening my spirits like that. The Celestial Spirit King has a way of knowing things.” 

“Tell Stache-Face that if he doesn’t like me talking about the Zodiac like that, then he can come and tell me himself!” Anna couldn’t help but laugh at Acnologia’s age-old nickname for the Celestial Spirit King. The two continued their banter for a time until they both left, needing their sleep. 

But like the sun sets, stars fade.

Chapter Text

300 years later…

Acnologia supposed one of the perks to quasi-immortality was that you had all the time in the world to, well, see the world. He drifted from place to place, never staying anywhere long enough for the people there to get familiar with him. While companionship would be nice, staying with the same people would get dull in most cases.

And nothing was a quicker road to insanity than boredom. 

And there would be nothing worse than someone with all the power Acnologia had going insane. Well, he supposed a worse thing could be the fate worse than death Zeref had resigned himself to when he played fuck around and find out with the forces of life and death.

But right now Acnologia found himself flying over ocean, ocean, and more ocean. Nothing but a big expanse of dark inky blue to make a man or in this case, dragon, bored out of his mind. Could he have dived into the water and taken a look beneath the waves? Yes, but after a few incidents involving touchy squids and what he swore to the gods was the Kraken he wasn’t taking chances.

So, he simply glided along the air currents and kept an eye out for anywhere to land. Despite it being night, Acnologia could see rather well. 

Another perk to being formerly human, he supposed. 

It was courtesy of this sight that he saw an island, its most notable feature is a giant tree in the middle of it. He figured it was as good a place as any to rest and while it was of a decent size, he doubted there would be anywhere to hide his dragon form from the elements. Just to be sure, he circled above the island a good few times and didn’t notice any possible cave formations. Settling down on a part of the island near a building of some sort, he reverted to his human form and walked near the building, listening for anything to indicate danger.

He came to the entrance, knocking on the door.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I’m looking for a place to stay for the night and-” The door was immediately pulled open by a little girl that ushered him inside, closing the door as quickly and quietly as she could.

“Mister, are you a strong mage?” The girl asked. She was a small little thing, with raggedy blonde hair and a patchwork dress. Unsurprisingly, the girl didn’t have any shoes. She looked to her side as if there was someone there, but all Acnologia sensed was an abnormal density of ethernano.

“Zera, don’t say stuff like that!” The girl said in a scolding tone, balling her hands into fists. It was almost cute if not for the fact that the girl was actually talking to a fully sentient illusion. The illusion seemed the same age as her caster, with tidy brown hair tucked into pigtails and wearing some sort of uniform.

Yep, he was definitely staying on this island now. Leaving a young child with immense magic power in near isolation was a disaster waiting to happen. Even if it was ‘weaker’ magic like illusion magic, Acnologia still wasn’t going to take any chances. 

“I am strong, but what do you need that strength for?” Acnologia pulled out a nearby chair and sat down in it. The blonde girl did the same, looking up at him. Where were this child’s parents? There should be at least one adult on this island and yet he had only met these two. Not only that, but he didn’t sense any signs of others here. 

“A seven months ago, everyone on this island was killed by the Blue Skull guild. Now there are zombies in the town. Could you please get rid of them?” The girl pleaded. Her voice seemed full of desperation, likely desperate to live a peaceful life. Acnologia wasn’t exactly the most empathetic person, but even he wasn’t so stonehearted as to let this kid fend for herself on an island with the undead in large quantities and only illusion magic to defend herself. 

He got up, pushing the chair back under the table where he found it. The girls looked at him, one curious and the other hopeful. 

“Mister, you’ll be okay, right?” The blonde girl murmured. Acnologia gave a small grin, hand on the doorknob.

“Yes. I’ve dealt with things far worse than the undead.” Acnologia opened the door, looking out at the inky blue night with pinpricks of white and the crescent moon hanging over the world. Grass gently swayed in the breeze, crickets softly chirping. Before he walked out, the illusion girl gave him a stern look, or as stern as a six-year-old could muster.

“You better come back, Mr. Tats!” She ordered with crossed arms and a pouty lip, eyebrows arched down. 

“Who said I was going to leave?” Acnologia walked out of the building, closing the door behind him. It would be best to find this town and its undead residents from the air, so Acnologia found a clearing large enough to let him change into his dragon form. The feeling of bone and skin shifting and growing was one he had grown quite comfortable with over the years.

It was a reminder that he was neither human nor dragon, despite the titles he’s been given concerning the latter over the years; he was an in-between of the two beings. He borrowed from both sides' strengths and suffered their weaknesses alike.

Perhaps it was the emotional connection needed for magic - something exclusive to humans - that let him hold on to his humanity, and to an extent, sanity, for as long as he had. 

And it was because of that humanity, though Acnologia wasn’t sure if that would be the right word for it, that he landed near a decrepit town overrun with the undead intent on putting them back in their graves. 

The stench of death was thick and hung through the air like a miasma. The groans of the undead could be heard from the outskirts of the town, or what was left of it. It was clear that whoever these ‘Blue Skull’ people were, they intended on killing not just these people, but any record of their existence. He walked further into the town, not taking much note of its decay. It was the usual: rotting foundations and wood, piles of rubble that were once houses or buildings, vines and moss growing all over it. There were smaller things too, like torn fabrics or ruined objects likely carried by the now-dead in their attempt to escape.

It seemed that no matter the era, humans had an inclination towards destruction.

Just to make this quick, Acnologia decided to make himself known with a bit of yelling, namely informing the undead of their imminent demise. Just to spice things up, he decided to go with something other than a roar attack, though that was also to mitigate damage. Dozens of magic circles formed in the air, creating arrows of pure ethernano that fired down on the unsuspecting horde.

Seemed that somehow these undead had become infused with Bane particles - a corruption caused by mass revival? - and the Bane particles reacting with the pure ethernano caused the zombies to explode! Even the stronger ones didn’t last, joining their brethren in a grim explosion of guts and bones.

But it seemed among the throes of the masses, a select few undead seemed to be of a different stock than your typical zombie or ghoul. You didn’t see them much nowadays, but the few that were seen had humans running at the mere sight of them; a type of undead whose tether to the living world was a seething rage for having been wronged at the time of their death: a revenant. There was once a time when Acnologia feared revenants, the key word being once . But that time had long since passed, and Acnologia tore the revenants apart with no difficulty.

“You… monster.” A revenant hissed at him as he tore the thing to shreds, bones snapping and skin and cloth ripping.

“Pot calling the kettle.” Acnologia scoffed, making sure to burn the corpse to prevent any bane particles from spreading. The process was rather simple for him: charging the air with more ethernano than the bane particles could erase, which ultimately caused the bane particles to dissipate to a non-harmful level. Most mages couldn’t even dream of doing such a thing, and yet here Acnologia was doing that dreamless thing. Then again, it hadn’t been the first time he did something deemed impossible. His own magic, which was really reverse engineering of dragonslayer magic, was a testament to that.

With all the dead dealt with, Acnologia made his way back to the building the two girls called home. The ground beneath his feet was soft, grass gently swaying in the breeze as crickets softly chirped. It was calming, especially with the undead now put back to rest. 

He came up to the door, its wood holding dents in it from various visitors. Most of those visitors were likely among the dead. Strangely, he didn’t see any children among them. Great, that meant dealing with an island full of pixies. They weren’t harmful, but gods above they could be annoying.

To say the very least, Mavis was nervous. She was really worried about that man, even though he seemed a little scary. But just because he looked a little scary (all that blue and black gave Mavis some bad memories) she was still worried about him!

“Don’t worry about that guy! He said he’s dealt with things lots worse than zombies!” Zera scolded, trying to comfort Mavis in her own rough way. Zera was always blunt, not liking pretty words. But it seemed like anything else that was pretty she loved lots and lots! Did that mean Mavis was pretty too? 

No! She could worry about that later! Right now, she needed to calm down. And what better way to calm down than with a book? Mavis rushed to one of the shelves, pulling down a book from the second shortest shelf. Mavis was pretty short, which sucked because all the awesome books she hadn’t read yet were on taller shelves and she could only reach so many with herself and a stool. The book in her hands was The Fairy Queen , her favorite book. Granted, Mavis loved all the library’s books, but this one held a special place in her heart. She walked back to the table, getting up on one of the chairs.

It was just as she was about to start the first page that she heard knocking on the door. Mr. Tats (Mavis would be sure to ask his name when she could) was back! It couldn’t be any of the zombies because they stuck around the ruins of the town and were too dumb to knock. She opened the door, finding Mr. Tats was indeed there. 

Mavis hugged him, or at least she tried to. She got about as far as his leg, latching onto it for dear life.

“I’m not going to leave! You don’t need to death grip my leg!” Mr. Tats exclaimed, pulling her off. He held her by the collar of her dress, Mavis reaching for him with outstretched arms. She wanted to make sure he was there, that he wasn’t a dream and all this wasn’t a dream either. Even though she loved spending time with Zera, Mavis wouldn’t mind some more company. The books could only help so much and she wanted to meet more people .

People who cared about her like Mom and Dad did, people who were kind and nice to her. Even though Mr. Yeeself - Zera’s dad - gave Mavis food and shelter and bits of clothing, he wasn’t very nice to her. When she thought about it, no one in Red Lizard was very nice to her.

But Zera was being nice to her, and maybe Mr. Tats would be too. 

“What’s your name? I’ve been calling you ‘Mr. Tats’ in my head but that’s only because Zera called you that and that can’t be your real name and if I don’t call you by your name then you’ll think I’m rude and you won’t be nice to me because rude people aren’t supposed to be treated nicely-”

“Acnologia. My name’s Acnologia. And yours?” Acnologia (that was a really cool name!) was calm in his response, not fussing or yelling at Mavis for rambling. The adults at the guild would usually shoo Mavis away or yell at her to ‘Shut it!’ when she rambled, so Mavis was a little surprised at his reaction to her.

But now for her to answer his question.

“I’m Mavis Vermillion! Could you put me down, please?” She was put down on one of the stools, sitting down on it so she wouldn’t fall off. Now Mavis needed to have Acnologia do something really important: a pinkie promise! Mavis never got the opportunity to play with kids her age - too busy working - but something Zera told her was that pinkie promises were a really big deal and that keeping them was really, really important. They were really important to Mavis too, as one of the nursery rhymes her parents taught her was about pinky promises. It wasn’t a Tenrou rhyme, as her parents weren’t from the island.

“Acnologia, can you make a pinkie promise with me?” Mavis asked, holding out her hand with the pinkie out. Acnologia mirrored the motion, his pinkie next to hers. His was a lot bigger, though adults tended to be bigger than kids.

She looked at him, her green eyes focused on his blue ones. 

“You have to be nice to me and Zera. That means taking care of us and teaching us things we want to know. Oh! And protecting us too.”

“Is magic one of the things you want to know?” Acnologia suggested. Mavis’ eyes lit up at that, her lips parting into a giant, goofy grin.

“Yeah! Do you agree to the pinkie promise?” 

“Yes.” Acnologia wrapped his pinky around hers, waiting for Mavis to release. She would, but first, she needed to say the rhyme so Acnologia could know how big a deal pinkie promises were.

“You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.” Mavis declared as seriously as she could, which was hard since she didn't have a scary voice and she didn't look scary. She let go of his pinkie, her grin returning at full force.

“Mavis, why’d you have to say such a creepy thing for a pinkie promise?” Zera commented mouth turned up slightly in concern.

“Because promises are super important! I have to make it sound super serious so he doesn’t back out!” Mavis pointed out, stretching her arms out to show how big a deal the promise was. Zera laughed, saying Mavis was goofy as always.

Mavis giggled, happy that the zombies were gone and that Acnologia (she’d never get over how cool that name was) was going to look after her and Zera.

Chapter Text

By sheer, complete, and utter accident, a cargo ship had crashed onto Tenrou island a few days after Acnologia had landed there. But Acnologia wasn’t about to question a good thing, as that would solve several issues: clothes, bed materials, and whatever would be needed for potential renovations or additions to the library. So, the first thing he did upon finding the ship was to go back to the library (he had spent the previous night dealing with pixies) and tell the girls of his discovery.

Unsurprisingly, Mavis was already up with her head in a book. By the look of it, it seemed to be a book on making food. Zera was fast asleep, limbs splayed out on a nearby couch. Mavis was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t notice him, her attention only on the reading of words and the flipping of pages. Acnologia walked behind the couch, leaning over to pinch Zera’s nose.

“OW! Wha’ wazzat for?” Zera exclaimed while rubbing her nose. The girl shot him an accusatory glare as she hopped off the couch to avoid a potential pinch.

“A cargo ship crashed on the shore. There are no survivors, so that means everything in there is ours for the taking.” Acnologia explained. This was a golden opportunity and Acnologia figured that if he was teaching them, this would be their first lesson: when life gives you a golden opportunity, you take and squeeze out everything you can from it. Zera’s eyes immediately lit up, likely thinking of whatever a six-year-old considered treasure. Mavis closed her book and put it down, immediately running to the door.

Acnologia sighed, chasing after her with Zera following after him. It seemed the moment you mentioned something of curiosity, Mavis would be running off in search of that thing. Then again, she was a child. 

It made him wonder what caring for those little dragonslayers would be like once he got to meet them properly.

Acnologia guided the two girls to the ship, Mavis bursting at the seams with excitement as she took in the sight of the ship lying on the beach, a couple of its masts broken and sails torn. She looked to the ship and then to Acnologia, repeating that several times.

“Could we turn the ship into a house?” Mavis asked, voice full of wonder and excitement. In the brief time Acnologia had been here, he knew Mavis to be the more imaginative of the two girls. While Zera focused on what was, Mavis was much more occupied with what could be

“We already have the library! What do we need a second home for?!” Zera huffed, much to Mavis’ disappointment. Even still, she looked to Acnologia for his thoughts on the matter. He was the adult in this situation and adults often got the final say in matters such as these. It was much larger than the library, which could cover things such as bedrooms for the three of them, a kitchen area, and even a possible training room. The only issue would be repairs and possibly insulation if the winters on Tenrou weren’t exactly kind.

“It offers more space and could be used as temporary housing if something were to happen to the library. It’s a sound decision, though we should try renovating it after salvaging whatever we can from it.” Acnologia added, seeing Zera pinch her brow in frustration and sigh. Mavis, ever excited for a new adventure, bounded off in the direction of the ship. But before she could set a foot on board, he grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder.

“Until we have proper first aid supplies, you’re not walking around that ship barefoot.” While Acnologia wasn’t a doctor anymore, he knew even minor wounds could prove disastrous if the proper medical supplies weren’t around. As such, that was his first priority in looting this ship along with some shoes for Mavis.

“How come you can?” Mavis pouted, trying to pull on some of his hair in an act of spite.

“My skin’s tougher than yours.” And he wasn’t lying about that. One of the stranger side effects of dragonization was that his body was less human in certain aspects, namely durability. Acnologia had never really questioned a good thing like that, though he supposed it made sense with all the other body changes that came from dragonslayer magic: enhanced senses, temperature sensitivity, being able to consume ethernano instead of absorbing it, etc. 

“Cuz of magic?” Zera quipped, poking around the rooms.

“Yes. Zera, stay where I can see you.” Acnologia would have grabbed Zera too, but there were the chance spirits could have started to manifest in the ship and Acnologia would need at least one hand free to fight those things off. So, he decided to let her roam about because she seemed the more sensible of the two… and that she was the one wearing shoes.

Through the dimly lit halls, with only the light of windows to guide them, the trio made their way to the medical bay. It was spacious, though most medical bays were. A good few of the cots were broken and several shattered bottles decorated the floor with their remains. Acnologia put Mavis on one of the few cots still intact and started looking around for any salvageable medical supplies and books on medical procedures. It had been a long time since he had claimed and thrown away the title of ‘Doctor’, so his knowledge beyond the basics was rusty at best. 

Zera had managed to find a couple of crates they could put things in and even helped him in finding anything of value in the place.

“Anything made of glass goes on top, the books and fabric go on the bottom - books first, fabric second - and make sure any tools are put in a container,” Acnologia instructed, Zera observing him as she copied what he did. He wasn’t sure as to how an illusion could interact with the world, but those were questions for a later time.

After that was settled, they moved on to find some shoes. That took a good few hours which may or may not have included Acnologia destroying a few antiques due to their containers having spiders and him doing very thorough searches of the crates so there wasn’t anything inappropriate the girls would come across. Not only had they found shoes, but they also found some decent clothes of various sizes to accommodate the girls as they grew. There were even some winter clothes which were especially good for Acnologia, as being a dragonslayer made winter a freezing hell for him.

Once Mavis had a pair of sandals on, she started looking around the ship for anything of interest and helping pack things into whatever undamaged boxes were on the ship. It was during this process that she found a crate of books, all of them dedicated to magic. The books covered beginning, intermediate, and advanced material on anything and everything related to magic.

“Acno! Acno! Can we bring these back to the library? Pretty please?” Mavis bounced on the balls of her feet as she held a copy of ‘Magic Theory for Beginners’ close to her chest. He did intend on teaching Mavis, and while Acnologia wasn’t a by-the-book type of person when it came to magic, that was because his magic had been with him for so long. For a novice like Mavis, it was best for her to have some sort of instructions to get the basics sorted out.

“Of course.” Acnologia looked out one of the ship’s windows, noting the setting sun. It would be best to head back to the library and continue salvaging the next day, so he took the crates in the room and piled them up, letting Mavis carry her book. He and the two girls walked out of the ship on a platform that somehow survived the ship’s crashing. Seagulls softly cawed in the distance, the soft sand shifting underneath Acnologia’s feet. That sand gave way to dirt, and eventually stone. With Zera’s help, Acnologia found a storage room to place the clothes and medicine in. Maybe with the proper materials, it could be turned into a mock medical bay, but that was a project for later.

Mavis went to bed in a lavender nightgown, with Zera having opted for a set of maple pajamas. Acnologia simply removed his cloak and crashed on the couch, soon falling asleep.

Red splashed against Acnologia’s skin, the slayer finally coming back to his senses. It was not an enemy that he had sliced through, it was not the blood of a dragon that stained his skin.

His eyes met ones of dark grey, looking to see wild dark blue curls with white tips. It was hair akin to the choppy waves of a storming sea.

“Hyde… Oh gods, HYDE-”

Hyde Lockser, one of his oldest companions, one of his oldest friends was going to die because of him.

“Don’t worry, Acno. You weren’t yourself. I know Jekyll’s gonna be a mess - he’s always been a crybaby - but tell him I don’t hold any ill will against you for this.” Hyde, despite his pain, grinned and embraced Acnologia. The scent of iron weighed down on Acnologia like some sort of shackle,

“Thank you, for everything. But most importantly, thank you for being there for Jekyll all this time.” And so, Hyde drew his last breath.

Acnologia shot awake, hand on his chest as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. It seemed like no matter where he went or how long it had been, his past followed him like a vengeful wraith. He needed some fresh air, some stars, a walk, anything to get his mind off of that memory. He got up from the couch, stretching slightly as some of his bones popped. The stones were cool beneath his feet as he walked through the library, running his fingers across the countless books lining the shelves and mumbled the titles under his breath as he tried to still the hammering of his heart. He’d make sure to have any magic-related books on lower shelves so that Mavis could reach them.

Speaking of which, he found the girl wandering the library with a lantern in hand. She looked up at him, waiting to say something but Acnologia beat her to it.

“Trouble sleeping?” He asked. She nodded. Mavis was quiet, which was unusual. She was usually a chatterbox, asking Acnologia as many questions as she could. She messed with the hem of her nightgown before taking in a breath, seeming to draw up some sort of courage.

“I… had a nightmare. It was about when Blue Skull attacked. W-why did they kill everyone? I get them going after members of Red Lizard, but they didn’t stop! They wanted everyone dead!” Mavis’ voice trembled as she spoke, the little girl trying to hold back her tears. She took a few steps close to Acnologia, unsure of whether to get closer. Perhaps… she was scared? 

Not of him, but… of something else. 

Oh.

Her ragged clothes, the lack of issue with not wearing shoes, it dawned on Acnologia then. He also came to the realization that Red Lizard was lucky he didn’t know Mavis before the island got wiped out.

“You can come closer, Mavis. I won’t hurt you, I never will.” He made his voice calm to try and comfort her. She stepped closer and then ran at him, the lantern still in hand. Small creaks came from the hinges of the handle as it swayed in her hand.

“Because that would break our promise.” She stated, hugging him or at least trying to. He crouched down, letting her wrap her arms around his neck and put down the lantern. She let out choked sobs as she held onto him for dear life. He put a hand on her head, surprising the girl. She jumped slightly at the touch, causing Acnologia to put his hand away from her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not scared. It’s just… strange to have someone comfort me.” Mavis mumbled. She let go, picking up the lantern she had set down. 

“Did you have a nightmare too?” She asked, looking him straight in the eyes. 

“Yes, though it’s not your place to worry for me. A child should never worry about an adult. If I get sick or hurt, then it’s a matter I can tend to.”

“But what if you get really sad? Like the kind of sadness that drags you down and you can’t get out?” Mavis had unknowingly described depression, which made Acnologia a bit concerned as to how the girl knew of that.

“Have you seen someone with that kind of sadness?” He asked, trying to approach the topic as calmly as possible. He hoped that sadness wasn’t tied into the other things he had picked up about Mavis. If it was… the poor girl knew tragedy long before Blue Skull descended on the island.

“Mhm. Mom and Dad were really sad because of all the debts Mr. Yeeself put on them. One day, they left and said they were going on an adventure to the top of the Tenrou Tree because there was treasure there, but I guess there wasn’t any treasure there cuz they didn’t come back.” She hugged him, burying her head in his shoulders. He could put the pieces together easily enough: a pair of adults drowned in despair going to a high place, putting under the guise of an ‘adventure’ and leaving the child to pick up the pieces.

“I won’t go on any ‘adventures’ like those.” He reassured. Gently as he could, as if handling a flower made of glass, he picked her up with one hand carrying Mavis and the other carrying the lantern. As it swayed, the light from its little flame splashed across the books and stone. They came to Mavis’ room, Acnologia softly turning the door knob and walking in. There wasn’t much, just a bed and bookshelf with a drawer for clothes. 

He set her down on the bed, turning off the lantern. His tattoos glowed faintly in the dark and he heard Mavis faintly giggle.

“Does the ink for your tattoos come from fireflies?” Mavis asked, touching one of the tattoos as she giggled at the thought. Acnologia softly smiled, glad that Mavis’ sadness had started to dissipate. 

“It’s a strange side-effect of having as much magic as I do.” Even before he became a dragonslayer, Acnologia had much higher magic than most did. His tattoos were a permanent reminder of that, akin to a brand upon a criminal’s skin. At times, they made him feel that way, but that anguish was long past him. The people of this time were much more accepting of mages, even calling on them to solve issues those lacking magic could not and treating it as a normal thing.

“Well, it’s a really cool side-effect! I hope I get some cool marking when I get really strong magic!” Mavis chirped, her eyes widening in wonder as she kept looking at his tattoos. It was quite strange how Mavis seemed to bounce back from the aftermath of a nightmare like that. She had seen things no child should have and yet she persevere, holding her head high. But a child should never bear the burden of an adult, nor should they be the victim of an adult’s folly. 

Acnologia wasn’t the best, but he’d try to give Mavis as good a life as he could. His hands were stained with the blood of countless humans and dragons, yet those were the same hands which loved and lost, which buried both friends and a lover. But those same hands could guide the child before him, sculpt her a new life from the fragments of her former one.

He couldn’t replace her parents, but if she came to see him in such a light then he wouldn’t mind it.

“Alright, but get to bed now. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Mavis buried herself underneath the covers of her bed, closing her eyes. Acnologia got up, leaving the room and shutting the door, the lock making a soft click as he turned it. He exhaled, a soft breath escaping his lips. He added onto his mental list of things pertaining to Mavis: ‘Help with trauma of neglect/abuse and survivor of a genocide’.

Magic was a reflection of the soul, which was most closely linked to the mind. If the mind was unstable then the magic would be as well, and those two unstable things were possibly the worst combination for an illusion mage, going double for one with Mavis’ potential. The girl had already manifested a fully sentient illusion, albeit subconsciously, leaving Acnologia with more questions than answers on the girl’s potential.

He’d tend to those questions later, walking back to the couch he slept on. Zera had decided to go for a hammock, saying that she was too small to be hogging the couch all to herself.

The first thing Acnologia woke up to was not chirping birds or Mavis and Zera bickering over how to prepare breakfast, but the soft turning of book pages. That meant Mavis was up and Zera was likely still asleep. Acnologia stretched, yawning slightly as he did so. Knowing Mavis, she was reading to prepare herself for whatever they would be doing today, and today would be dedicated to two things: the boat and magic.

As if anticipating those two things, Mavis had two books on the table: ‘Magic Theory for Beginners’ and ‘A Novice Guide to Ship Repair’. Despite her tendency for daydreaming, Mavis could be rather observant when she wanted. 

“Which one are we gonna do first?” She asked, eyes going from him back to the book.

“Well, I’ll move the ship first and then we can get started on your magic lessons.” She gave him a curious glance, before tilting her head in confusion. It was understandable, as while the girl knew he was a mage she didn’t know he could turn into a dragon. He briefly wondered what her reaction would be to such a thing. Would it be wonder, excitement, or fear? While humans as a collective were easy to predict, a single human could be hard to figure out, but that uncertainty made them a source of intrigue.

Well, he’d figure her reaction once they got to the part of moving the ship. 

“Wake up Zera and tell her to get ready. After that, go find me by the ship.” Acnologia instructed, leaving Mavis to handle things. He left the house waiting outside the forest for the two to get ready. The sky was clear and a light breeze drifted through the air, the perfect weather for the day’s plans. 

The duo emerged from the house, taking a little while because of Zera who was by no means a morning person. Acnologia turned on his heel, leading the way for his two students. The forest held its usual chatter of birds and rodents, even the occasional reptile. It wasn’t anything of note, the only thing noticed being the texture of the ground shifting from dirt to sand. The trio looked at the ship, Acnologia stepping forward.

“Girls, stand back a bit.” He saw Zera give him a skeptical glance, but ultimately stepped back. Mavis did too, though with much more enthusiasm. She bounced on the balls of her feet, muttering about what kind of ‘super duper cool spell’ Acnologia was going to perform.

And if the squeal of excitement was anything to go by, she loved his dragon form.

“OHMYGODSYOURESOCOOL!” Mavis squealed, mixing her words together from just how excited she was over this. 

Gently as he could with his claws - which wasn’t very gentle, mind you - Acnologia grabbed the sides of the ship’s hull, lifting himself into the air with the beat of his wings. Mavis had ducked behind a tree, taking Zera with her. With the boat in his claws, Acnologia flew over to the remains of the town and set it down. The wood creaked as he let it go, the ship titling slightly. He turned back to his human form, landing on the deck. A few ropes loosely hung from a mast, likely once used to fasten and loosen sails. He grabbed it, swinging down with relative ease. Why he had not gotten sick was a simple question with a simple answer: this may be a ship, but it was no longer a means of transportation. The ship was still as a corpse, void of any life it may have once had just like the remains of a town it sat in the center of.  

The two girls soon met with him by the ship, exhausted from their through the woods. But despite that exhaustion, Mavis ran up to him wide-eyed as she looked in front and behind him to see if any of his dragon form remained.

“When were you gonna tell us you were a dragon?!” Mavis demanded, sounding like she found out a surprise party was thrown for her.

Acnologia sighed, wondering how to explain his status to her. Were dragonslayers even a thing in this era? Or had they faded to myth and legend like dragons themselves?

“Well, I’m not exactly a dragon but I’m not human anymore but something in between the two.” That was a good, and likely best, way to start. 

“Then what are you?” She asked, voice still excited. It had been a long time since someone didn’t regard him with fear or reverence, sometimes disgust on rare occasions. Instead, this girl looked at him with wonder and excitement, big eyes and often an even bigger grin.

“I’m a dragonslayer. And that transformation of mine is the fate awaiting anyone who tries to learn such a magic.” Acnologia tried to make that last part sound menacing, but it seemed to only excite Mavis even more. He sighed, realizing that a child would view magic that caused you to turn into a dragon as something cool, not frightening or off-putting in the slightest.

“Can you teach me? You said you would teach me magic!” 

Yet again, Acnologia sighed. While the result was certainly awe-inspiring, the path there was painful and nearly tore his sanity to shreds, emphasis on nearly. He probably should have mentioned the painful part, but he didn’t want to scare her.

“I think it’s a tad too brutal a magic for you. How about illusion magic instead?” He suggested, hoping to get her off the path of learning dragonslayer magic. Thankfully, it worked as Acnologia now found Mavis asking him every question she could about illusion magic. He answered them all to the best of his ability, with Zera occasionally snickering at Acnologia being pelted with questions at every conceivable direction.

After the questions were answered, they got to the first lesson.

The two found themselves sitting opposite from each other near a water fountain in what was likely once the town’s plaza.

“Illusion magic is all about visualization, so you need a clear image of what you want make. As such, start off with something simple. A small object or animal, or a plant would do.” 

“How about a plant?” Mavis asked. Acnologia nodded, and Mavis closed her eyes as she tried to think of something to visualize. She held her hand out, likely giving whatever she would visualize a place to rest. Ethernano drew itself to her palm, slowly stitching itself into what Mavis was trying to make. 

The girl opened her eyes when the illusion fully manifested, a lily with 7 pink petals. She beamed as she took in her creation, lips parting to form a small smile.

Zera walked over, having been playing with the small stones that fell off the water fountain.

“Is that- of course you’d make that flower, Mavis.” Zera sighed, but her voice spoke only of fondness.

“And just what kind of flower is that, Mavis?” Acnologia asked, noting a slight squeal of excitement come from the girl when Acnologia asked her.

“It’s a fairy lily!” She squealed.

Of course Mavis would make that kind of flower, the girl loved anything related to the fae.

Their lessons continued throughout the day, with Mavis making all sorts of flowers. While it was uncommon for people to have a secondary magic, Acnologia felt that if Mavis were to take on another art, then nature magic would suit her quite well. At the end of the day, Acnologia walked back to the library holding a sleepy Mavis with Zera walking alongside him. 

“You know about me, don’t you?” Zera asked, keeping her voice quiet in case Mavis wasn’t fully asleep. Acnologia simply made an ‘mhm’ noise in agreement.

Chapter Text

“And the rush will take you away

Like you’re caught in the undertow

And you will drown in the wake

Of the things you lost to the winds of Notos”

— Notos, The Oh Hellos

It was only a few weeks after finding the ship - the three of them had been busy moving the books from the school library to the guild library - that Acnologia realized they wouldn’t have the proper supplies or knowledge to repair the ship to its former glory, or at least as much glory a ship could have outside the sea. So while Mavis was busying herself with lessons on magic and other things, Acnologia decided to salvage what things he could that would fetch a fair price. Among the various items in the bag were various jewelry, some mirrors with shattered glass that he could likely pawn off to a blacksmith, and even some gems. While his inner dragon whispered sweet nothings into his ear about keeping the gems, he quickly shot that down. This wasn’t about him, it was about Mavis and Zera.

He never felt an inclination towards hoarding in all the time since his dragonization, so why would it pop up now? He brushed that thought to the side, looking into the bag of trinkets he would sell to scrounge up some money to have this ship fixed. It wasn’t the largest amount of valuables, but humans tended to place immense value in the smallest of things. A single locket could be a cherished object of a family, a chunk of ore turned into metal that would make a blade sung of in legend for years to come. He supposed dragons and humans were alike in that odd quality.

And the girls would find it quite odd if he were to up and vanish, so he made sure to inform them of his temporary departure. Surprisingly, Mavis did not greet this news with sadness but joy, a dreamy look taking her face as she likely thought of all the things Acnologia would see. She then darted off into one of the rooms, returning with a pen and journal.

“I want you to write down everything you see on the mainland! Could you maybe bring back some souvenirs?” She asked, quieting herself in the second half. 

“Of course, and don’t you worry Zera, I won't leave you out.” 

“You better not!” shouted Zera from somewhere within the library. Mavis giggled, hugging Acnologia. As he left the library, he heard Mavis shout “Morzoki-Sein favor you!” and he stopped for a moment, startled at hearing the name of the god of storms and winter, a god mainly worshipped in Bosco, be spoken by Mavis. It had been some time since he heard that name, though it had been some time since he had visited that country. 

Maybe, when the girls were strong enough, he could bring them there. Mavis would lose her mind over the artifacts and ruins and Zera would likely fall head-over-heels for the scenery. But those adventures could come later, as now they needed to finish the adventure of finding a fully-functioning boat in the midst of island ruins.

Taking a path down to one of the few structures undamaged by Blue Skull in their effort to wipe out the island, about 20 feet from the library, was the house he and the girls called home. It wasn’t the largest thing, but he didn’t quite care for that. The wood had been worn with time, a few windchimes hanging outside made from broken pottery and shell fragments that gently swayed in the breeze. He opened the door, walking through the house until he came to his room. A simple bed and desk with some journals and pens scattered about along with a couple of grimoires - layman’s terms, spellbooks - laying on the nightstand. The spells in there were far too advanced for Mavis, but only because they were written in Mildian, a script that was long forgotten.

Looks like a book on Mildian to Old Fioran would be an additional cost to his travels.

Opening the closet, he grabbed some clothes that would be more fitting for a public venture than his usual garb. His necklace of dragon’s fang fragments stayed on his neck, the ragged cloak replaced with a black dagda shawl bearing a dark green wave-like pattern on the hem. A simple white tunic with halfway sleeves garbed his torso and his pants consisted of a pair of grey harem trousers. As was usual, he wore no shoes. Grabbing a journal, pen, and leather messenger bag in which he stuffed the bag of trinkets, he headed out with one goal in mind: find some shipwrights peacefully or kidnap them.

Ennis Lachlan had seen his fair share of oddities, as all shipwrights had. But this… this took the cake and the baker’s family. He had been minding his own business when, gods almighty , a dragon was swimming in the harbor of Hargeon. 

And then the dragon turned into a man.

Had someone screwed around with his whiskey?

Said man-dragon then perused the harbor, looking to sell some odd trinkets and gems like it was an ordinary thing to turn from a dragon to a man and then start selling things from who knew where.

Ennis simply got back to tending to the supplies of his ship: rope, sailcloth, hammers, wood, nails, rope, sailcloth, hammers, wood, nails, rope, sailcloth, hammers, wood, nails…

“Shipwright, I’ve a request for you.” 

Never in Ennis’ life had a voice made his bones nearly jump from his skin. Damned dragon-man. He turned to face the guy. Long blue hair that looked like it hadn’t seen a hairbrush in eons, a smorgasbord of bright blue tats, and a low voice with a hint of mirth to it all rolled up into one frightening package.

“Well, for gods’ sakes get on with it already!” Ennis flippantly demanded, throwing a hand up in the air. Dragon-man or not, Ennis was upfront and cut right to the point with his clients. He saw the man write something in a journal, a couple of ‘hmms’ coming from him.

“There’s a ship on Tenrou I’d like repaired. Oh, and the name’s Acnologia.” He stated nonchalantly, still writing in that journal. 

“Fine. We’ll discuss fees after the repairs are done. I’m Ennis Lachlan, head of the Lachlan Shipwrights. The rest of them are on the ship.” Ennis stated, packing supplies back into their crates. He walked up the gangplank, carrying the supply crates in his arms. He was of a hefty build, with strong arms and a broad chest. Dark green hair, akin to seaweed, was tied back in a tight bun with a few slippery curls out of its grasp. He put the crates down on the deck, hearing a thud much louder than that of the crates.

“IT’S BEEN 300 YEARS AND I’M STILL MOTION SICK!” Acnologia groaned out, sprawled out on the deck like a drunkard who just blacked out. The man clawed his way to the railing of the ship before hurling whatever he had for breakfast. 

“I’ve got some medicine below deck.” Ennis offered, not wanting the paint of his ship to be tainted by vomit. It was already hard enough to keep a ship clean with the damn seagulls. Maybe he could reduce the price of repairs if Acnologia offered to get rid of them.

“Medicine won’t help this. Healing magic might help lessen the effects of it.” Acnologia informed him, looking like death warmed over. Healing magic? Ennis wasn’t familiar with magic, but he knew healing magic to be one of those magics lost to the ages, lost magic he believed it to be called.

“No one practices that anymore.” He heard a grumble and ‘For gods’ sake’ from Acnologia. He didn’t pay it much mind, instead focusing on tending to the ship. He checked the ropes and sails, knocked on the masts, and checked to see that none of them were askew. Lastly, he checked the sea and winds. Both seemed fair, but the sea was a fickle thing.

Clasping hands in prayer, Ennis looked to the horizon.

“Morzoki-Sein, favor us.”

The waves beat at the ship, akin to the drums of a festival. But the reason was for something none would celebrate, as who would find levity in the mindless wrath of a sea serpent? Amongst a crew of panicked shipwrights with some scrabbling for the few cannons on the ship, their passenger grinned as he took the serpent’s wrath as an invitation to entertainment. 

Well, if you could consider fighting for its thrill and an almost euphoric high of adrenaline entertainment.

The shipwright with the dark green hair - Acnologia couldn’t quite remember his name (Enis, Ian?) - ran to the ropes of the sails, intent on pulling them back to keep them from ripping. He shoved the journal and pen in the man’s hand, throwing him a wolfish grin.

“Give me a few minutes and that serpent will be dealt with.” He assured, throwing himself off the boat and taking in a gulp of air before he hit the water. The waves were strong, trying to bat and toss him.

He would transform, but that would just take the fun out of this. 

Akin to the winds, he learned the currents’ dance and joined them in their brutish celebration. Passing from one to the next, he found the one they were all celebrating: a sea serpent. Many would confuse it for a sea dragon, but not him. He lived in the era of dragons, killed them with his own hands, saw how they looked inside and out.

And this thing? It would be the utmost shame to call it a dragon. Best to kill it before someone could make that mistake. 

He climbed up the writhing mass of scales and fins, fingers morphed to claws as he dug through the scales and ascended, arriving at the beast’s head. Whiskers adorned the snout of a writhing head. He grabbed them, cramming as many into his fists as he could before shifting his feet to claws to gain some purchase on the skull.

A horrid screech that equated to a death rattle echoed through the air with a loud CRACK! as Acnologia ripped the top jaw of the thing clean off. As the beast started to fall, Acnologia jumped without an ounce of fear. Why fear the air when you had wings?

Now a dragon, he circled above the now-dead serpent and the ship. The crew gathered outside on the deck, looking at him slack-jawed.

“I think Morzoki-Sein’s favor is the least of our concerns.” Ennis said, staring skyward with a blanched face and slack jaw. Acnologia simply grinned as he settled in the water, putting the serpent between his jaws. The ship sailed next to him, keeping a wide berth. 

When they arrived at the coast of Tenrou, Acnologia noticed another ship. That ship’s presence had the shipwrights scared stiff. Acnologia put the serpent on the beach before turning back to his human form to know what had them acting like that.

“That’s the flag of the dark guild Charon’s Lantern. They’re a treasure-hunting guild.” Ennis stated, eyes glued to the flag. Acnologia’s heart skipped a beat, taking a sharp inhale. The waters were still, so the boat didn’t rock or move. That let Acnologia jump off the bow, the wood splintering beneath his feet as he took off and landed on one of the sails. He grabbed one of the ropes and slid down, coating his hands in scales to avoid burning them. Landing on deck, he stomped a hole into the galley, ripping up some of the planks before jumping into the hole. 

As he raced through the halls of the ship’s belly, he stayed alert for any noises that could tell him where Mavis was. 

“STAY AWAY FROM HER!” 

That was Zera. Oh, gods no! He wasn’t going to let some meager pirates threaten his students . He got closer to the sounds - was that one of them crying?! - and threw the door open, the thing flying off its hinges. The look on Acnologia’s face was one that made even the fiercest dragons cower and beg the gods above for mercy.

But those who saw such a countenance - lips pulled back in a snarl to reveal teeth too sharp to be human and cold eyes sharp as daggers - would know that mercy had fled long, long ago.

“Do you know what they say about dragons?” He asked, voice deathly calm as he walked up to the man. The pirate flinched slightly before a nervous laugh flew from his lips.

“They’re dead! People don’t say shit about things that are dead!” The man chuckled, grabbing a gun from one of the nearby tables. He was going to do that to a child… and for what? It didn’t matter, as that man would learn to stay far away from this island. 

“But do you know why they’re dead?” 

In an instant, the pirate’s head was driven through the floor, Acnologia keeping a firm hand on the man’s head. Their faces were mere inches apart, a savage grin on Acnologia’s face.

“I killed them. My hands are stained with the blood of man and dragon alike. And you made the mistake of coming here. Tell your crew to leave unless they want to add to the stains on my hands.” 

He let up, allowing the man to scurry away like the rat he was. A soft clinking of chains could be heard as a pair of thuds soon followed. He felt something, no, someone bump against him. He looked down to see Mavis close to tears, Zera close behind her.

“I was so scared! I t-thought they were gonna hur’ me a-an’ Zera! I tried making illusions t-to scare them but…” Mavis took in a big gulp of air, forcing back a sob. “Why am I so weak?! I-I jus’ wanna keep the things and people I care about safe, but I couldn’t even defeat that guy.”

Acnologia scooped her up in his arms, wiping one of the few tears from her face.

“Mavis, you are a child. Children aren’t supposed to be strong; that’s the job of adults. So let me do my job so you can have time to be a child.” He consoled Mavis wrapping her arms around his neck. It was going to take a while to undo the damage done to her if it could even be undone. He looked down to see Zera, her eyes puffy from crying and… oh gods was that a gun in her hand?!

“I was gonna shoot the guy before he hurt Mavis.” Zera stated quietly, looking at the pistol still in her hand.

“Put the gun away. We’re safe.” 

Zera put it back on the table where she found it, looking at Ennis.

“I should leave.” Ennis forced out, slowly tiptoeing out of the room.

“I’ll show you where the boat is.” Acnologia walked out of the room, still holding Mavis. Zera followed behind with Ennis taking up the rear. The group came out to find pirates loitering on the beach, not bearing any treasure in crates or boxes. 

And wouldn’t you know it, the rat that scurried away was telling everyone to get the hell out of there. The moment they saw Acnologia, some of them started laughing.

Oh? Did they want to laugh? He’d give them something (read: himself) to laugh about. 

He handed Mavis to Ennis before walking down the gangplank, a slight grin on his face. 

And now the pirates found themselves facing a dragon.

“I’d suggest you start running.”

And run they did, screaming various profanities all the way back to their ship.

“Acnologia, sir?” Ennis asked with all the hesitance of a cornered rabbit.

Acnologia turned back to his human form, walking over to the other man.

“What is it?”

Ennis took in a breath before looking at the man. “I’m going to give you a 100% discount. Getting rid of a sea monster and scaring members of Charon’s Lantern shitless as if it’s nothing…” Ennis couldn’t find the words to express his gratitude.

“That’s a real bad business practice.” Zera deadpanned. Ennis made a shocked noise, looking at the child. Strange, though maybe Mavis had a spike in magic ability. It was a mage’s equivalent to hysteric strength, so perhaps with that surge came an increase in Zera’s presence as an illusion. But there were more rats scurrying on the island, so he’d tend to those.

“I haven’t dealt with all of that guild yet. While I’m doing that, figure out a lower discount. You’ll have your due diligence paid whether you want it or not.”

Mavis rubbed her eyes, making sure there weren’t any tears left.

But she was left with a lot of questions, many of them focusing on Acnologia. He said he killed both dragons and men, so was he a bad guy? But he was nice to her and Zera, and bad guys weren’t nice. Though Zera’s dad was mean to her yet nice to Zera.

But that side only came out when Mavis was in danger, so maybe he only became a monster when he needed to protect something. And in that moment, she was who he needed to protect.

And while she did desire the companionship to cause such protection, the last thing Mavis wanted was to be a burden. It was being a burden that caused her parents to go away (no, they cared for her and couldn’t stand their failure) and that caused Zera to nearly die (but she was alive and that was what mattered, right?).

And today, it was being a burden that nearly got her hurt, or worse, killed . 

She’d get stronger so that those she loved wouldn’t worry about her.

It was with silent footsteps that Acnologia walked to the library, sniffing the air for the scent of those rats. Oops, he meant remaining members of that guild (he didn’t bother with remembering their name). His ears caught wind of them first and followed the noise, finding them camped outside the library. Ever silently, he walked up to one of them, grabbing the man by the shoulder.

“Hello.” 

The man tried to run out of Acnologia’s grasp, but the King wasn’t in a good mood on account of… ya know, Mavis almost getting tortured. A loud crack was heard, Acnologia likely having broken either the clavicle, some of the shoulder blades, or both!

“Ladies, gentlemen, and those of neither category! Let’s play a game of keep-away. You keep yourselves away from me and get to your ship as fast as possible. I’ll even give you a headstart!” A wolfish grin overtook his face as he said that. But like the one on the ship, they started laughing and joking.

Even the one with the broken bones.

He wasn’t in the mood for laughing, their chuckles and hoops and howls grating his ears.

It was so irritating that he might kill a man.

There was another loud crack.

Oops.

The one with broken bones now had his head twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Was that funny?” He asked, tone oozing with malice.

They fled like bats out of hell, screaming all the way. He burnt the body of the dead one, ignoring the gods-awful smell. He went after them, steps still silent despite running. He was at the top, a king among kings, so this would prove to be more a game of hide-and-seek than anything to him.

And those rats were smart in fleeing to their nest, the ship already sailing out by the time Acnologia got there. Ennis looked like he was about ready to faint, Mavis was deep in thought about something, and Zera was using yelling profanities at the departing ship that would make a sailor blush.

Acnologia walked up to Ennis, hoping the man had come up with a more reasonable discount.

“The discount?”

“75 percent.” Ennis stated, shaking in his boots. Was that guild really so much a threat?

He forgot that what he deemed threatening and what the average person deemed threatening were concepts far from each other.

“And the price?”

“100,000 Jewel.” Ennis croaked out, looking at Acnologia with all the fear of a rabbit before a wolf. He rifled around in his pockets before pulling out a wallet - a modern money pouch - and giving the man enough money to equal 100,000. It was strange how humans liked making some things smaller and smaller while also making some things bigger and bigger.

“Well, lemme see the ship."

It was night, the only sounds aside from those of nature being the hammering of nails and wood among all the other noises that accompanied the remodeling of a ship. Damages to the library were minimal, but there was certainly a sort of damage lingering over Mavis. She had seen a glimpse of how monstrous Acnologia could be and that stirred questions within the girl.

Currently, Mavis was sitting on the steps staring at the stars. Acnologia walked up to meet her, his steps quiet but not silent. He sat down next to her, the girl giving him a puzzled look.

“Acnologia, are you a bad guy?”

So that was where the puzzled look came from. He supposed today’s events might cause her to ask such questions. But such a question was a complex one, painted in every shade of gray there was. 

“That’s a question you’ll need to answer yourself, Mavis.” And his answer was not out of malice, but because that was the nature of such a question.

Mavis’ brow knit together in thought, her chin resting on her hand. Her eyes closed, trying to figure out the answer. 

After a bit, her eyes opened.

“You’re a good guy! You’ve just done bad things in the past but that doesn’t make you bad! You were about to do a bad guy thing, but that was only because me and Zera were in danger.” She declared, trying to wrap her arms around his torso.

He hesitated to hug her for a moment. She knew his hands were stained in the blood of countless, but she didn’t see him for the blood. She saw him for the person who looked after her and Zera.

It was refreshing to not have someone see him as a bloodthirsty monster for once.

He hugged her back, using those same hands drowned ocean-deep in blood to return love.

Chapter Text

“Indeed, she had the air of shaking the dust of the hat shop off her feet.”

—Sophie Hatter (pg 7), Howl’s Moving Castle

December 12, x685

A tap of a pen against the wood of a desk, a sigh from Mavis’ lips, and the flipping of pages. Those sounds, among others, were what could be heard in the library as the girl, now 13, attempted to decipher a grimoire. Specifically, it was one of the four grimoires owned by Acnologia with this one joining another in being from the long-lost country of Mildia. Another one was from the country of Dragnof with the last being from another lost country called Fafnir. Ever since that day with the pirates, Mavis vowed to get stronger in whatever ways she could, and with knowledge being one of the greatest forms of power, she hit the books like they owed her a mountain of Jewel.

But now she was getting tempted to actually hit the book with how frustrating it was trying to translate it. Even though Acnologia offered her some help (it didn’t surprise her he knew a dead language) she denied it in order to challenge herself. But it seemed this challenge was a bit too big for the little mage, so she closed the grimoire and decided to focus on something else.

What to do, what to do? She cleaned the library yesterday, all her clothes were in perfect condition, and any animal friends she had made were tucked away in hibernation. She walked around the library, looking at the spines of books to give her inspiration for what to do for the day. Her boots thudded softly against the stone floor as she wandered about. Yes, for once in Mavis’ life she was wearing shoes. They were a pair of dark brown leather boots made with winter in mind but were surprisingly light on her feet. Something Acnologia was very insistent about was her wearing shoes in the winter, as even the small island of Tenrou couldn’t completely escape winter’s grasp.

Maybe she could go outside for a walk. Yes, that seemed like a good idea. Maybe she could even help Zera reorganize the ship a little bit or even go for a bit of climbing, though her clothes weren’t best suited to the latter. A light brown sweater vest on top of a creme blouse with a knee-length pleated blue skirt with x-shaped patterning on the hem was her attire for the day along with a pair of dark blue leggings. They were clothes you’d expect of a librarian or researcher - Mavis fancied herself as an unofficial occupant of both fields - and not a girl who explored the wilderness out of boredom. But Mavis was all three of those things and many more. She’d deal with that headache of a grimoire later, instead focusing her energy on the much more exciting prospect of an adventure.

Just as she left the building, she realized there was something she needed to do.

I have to drop some flowers off at the shrine. I’ll see if anything growing in the garden will do.

It wasn’t exactly a shrine she’d be dropping the flowers off at, but the girl had taken to calling it such. It was in a grim homage to those killed by Blue Skull in what she and Acnologia had dubbed ‘The Genocide of Tenrou’. There was no other word to call it. Slaughter was often used in reference to animals, mass murder felt too detached from it, and culling had a strange religious connotation to it.

But what happened wasn’t in the name of the gods. It was in the name of Blue Skull and their lust for power, so great it was incapable of discriminating from those of Red Lizard and the non-mage denizens of Tenrou. Whether guilty or innocent, they all fell. All except for Mavis and Zera.

If she were to run into Blue Skull, she wasn’t quite sure what she’d do. But she knew that she wouldn’t let them go unscathed.

Yuri stretched as he got off the ship, glad to finally be on Tenrou. From the lack of ports to the overall wild feeling of the place, there likely wasn’t a soul on the island to keep him from nabbing that sweet, sweet Tenrou Orb. 

“Warrod! Precht! I’ll cover the west! You two can pick whatever directions you want!” 

“I’m coming with you.” He heard a tired voice say, turning to see the shipwright Ennis get off. Courtesy of the colder weather, Ennis was dressed in a black peacoat with curly green hair held in a low bun. Why would the shipwright come with him though? There weren’t any traces of people here. No buildings, bridges, not a sign that humans ever inhabited Tenrou. And it couldn’t be for using the resources of the island either. Precht, cautious as ever, had checked the ship and found there wasn’t any equipment for such activities. 

Did that mean there were people on this island?!

Well, there was only one way to find out. And that was through one rather grumpy shipwright.

“Well, lead the way!” Yuri offered, Ennis accepting with a tired ‘mhm’. Precht and Warrod set off to explore the east of the island and possibly find the orb, though Yuri’s desire on any hunt was to find the treasure first. Was that near obsession with the flash and spectacle of treasure hunting behind a good few of Yuuri’s scars?

Yes, but in his defense, he thought the scars made him look tough and cool, the sort of guy all the ladies would fawn over. 

But this time, for the sake of their limited budget, Yuuri would be cautious. Not too cautious, but cautious enough to keep himself from getting seriously hurt. Looking one last time at the beach, Yuri turned on his heel to follow Ennis. There wasn’t much of note as they passed through with the exception of a few old houses - what was left of them, anyways - and occasional claw marks in the ground. They were much bigger than claw marks Yuri had typically seen, putting those of a wyvern’s or direwolf’s to shame. Just what lived on this island?

Yuri wasn’t going to let his mind wander like that. Panic and stress were two of the greatest foes to treasure hunters. So, he decided to strike up a conversation with Ennis.

“Who are you going to talk with?” Yuuri wanted to know just who he’d be dealing with. Ennis didn’t seem like the type to attract bad company if his crew was anything to go by, though Yuuri wasn’t going to put all his eggs in one basket on that assumption. 

“An acquaintance of mine. A dark guild’s been mucking up trade routes recently and he’d send them packing in the wink of an eye.” 

An entire dark guild?! Yuri struggled with every fiber of his being to not retort. Who the hell was this guy they’d be talking with?! Was this guy some sort of monster? Well, only one way to find out.

So, taking a deep breath, he descended into the cave with Ennis.

A long sigh came from Acnologia as he sank into the water of the hot spring. Truly, the best thing on this island was these underground hot springs. He found them on a whim, poking around the Tenrou Tree only to find a passage that led him underground and to these absolute treasures. Well, treasures for him at least. Being a dragonslayer made him much more sensitive to temperature, which turned winter into a freezing hell that could only be converted into purgatory with decent layering and a variety of sources of warmth. Argentus liked making snide commentary about Acnologia’s inability to handle the cold, though that man had grown up in the tundras of Ishvan, one of the northern provinces of Bosco that bordered with Seven.

Amidst the sounds of the cave, he heard a pair of footsteps. And with it, two scents. The first was familiar: seawater, a couple of odd spices, and various scents from tools. That was Ennis’ scent. The other one was strange: the air before a thunderstorm, old stone, and the faintest trace of copper and gold.

Acnologia got out, quickly grabbing and putting on his clothes. His attire consisted of a thick white tunic, black pants shoved into leather shoes with fur lining - it wasn’t the end times; Acnologia just had the sense to not walk around shoeless in winter - and a dark blue overcoat with grey fur at the collar, cuffs, and trim. 

Walking up the old steps - maybe he could commission the stonemason on Ennis’ crew to fix them? - he was greeted by Ennis and the one with the unfamiliar scent. The latter was a human in their late teens or possibly early 20s with messy blond hair and a leather jacket.

“What do you have for me this time, Ennis?” Acnologia asked, getting straight to the point. It had to be big if Ennis came instead of one of his shipwrights, the former almost always buried in a pile of paperwork.

“A dark guild mucking up my supply routes. And they’re a big one too.” The sigh and droop of Ennis’ eyebrows were quite telling that this guild was much more than a thorn in his side. More like someone threw him into the whole bramble thicket.

“Well, who is it? I scared Charon’s Lantern shitless, so it can’t be them.” 

“It’s Blue Skull.” Ennis said with all the gravity of someone saying that The Plague had returned. A vicious grin played on Acnologia’s face, the thought of tearing those mages apart got him all sorts of giddy. Ennis pressed himself flush against the wall as Acnologia barreled out of the tunnel, taking the steps two at a time.

“I’ll get the girls!” Acnologia raced out of there like a bat out of hell, ready to tell Mavis the good news. She’d get closure (hopefully) and this would be the perfect excuse to kill those rotten fuckers. And Mavis would get a bit of combat practice in too! Blue Skull should watch their backs, though that wouldn’t do them much good.

Just like a beast, Acnologia found his heart about ready to leap from his chest in anticipation of a good hunt.

Mavis put down the bouquet, the flowers consisting of lily, sage, and forget-me-nots. She’d never forget that day, even if the god of memory - was there such a god? - decreed it would be the memory be wiped from her mind. That day also made her question what she was taught about the gods. On Sundays when she had to go to church (read: get a break from work), they always spoke of the gods in a benevolent light.

But if the gods were such kind and caring beings, why were there gods of war? Why gods of famine and plague? 

And why did they let Blue Skull do what they did?

Mavis shook her head, banishing the thoughts. She needed to finish up around the shrine - it was really the remains of the cathedral - and say a few prayers. She looked up at the statue of the supposed guardian of Tenrou, a giant wolf spirit. The cathedral used to have a painting of that same wolf on its ceiling, but like many things on Tenrou, it was laid to waste by Blue Skull.

“May your spirit find rest on the boughs of the Tenrou Tree, dancing eternally in the starry sky of night. And may Morzoki-Sein look upon you favorably, guiding your soul to the shores of the afterlife.” Mavis finished the prayer, walking out of the ruins. Going through the ruins, she noted the usual sounds: birds chirping, the soft whooo of the breeze, and…

“...these ruins freak you out a bit, Precht?” One voice asked, a tad uneasy.

“We’ve been in plenty of ruins before, Warrod.” Another, probably Precht, countered.

“I know, but something just feels different about these ones.” Warrod’s voice seemed to get more panicky.

Mavis darted between the ruins, a mischievous grin on her face. She could prank them! While illusion magic would be more effective, she was still working on getting the sounds her illusions made right. Zera refused to let her live down when she caused a chicken illusion to say ‘Yippee Ki-Yay, mothercluckers’ when it was just supposed to cluck. Acnologia nearly died of laughter that day. Her grin was replaced by a slight cringe as she recalled the memory.

Walking on her tiptoes - walking on tippy toes made her a lot quieter - she sneaked up behind them and…

“BOO!”

Warrod let out a squeal somewhere between a pig and a deflating helium balloon while Precht took a defensive stance. Mavis giggled at the site, proud of her work.

“Really, Mavis? The first thing you do upon seeing two strangers is scare them?” Zera groaned, walking up to her. Zera was dressed in a creme sweater, orange vest, and brown pants with brown boots. Her hair, as usual, was tucked into two neat pigtails with red bows.

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Zera!” Mavis countered, still cheery from her successful prank. 

“Yeah. Usually, you’d greet someone first.” Warrod commented, voice a bit shaky. Mavis thought about it for a bit, concluding that even if she did go the more polite route then they still would have been scared, which she then proceeded to inform the two men of.

Just when the two were about to ask her something, probably to the tune of ‘How old are you?’, they were interrupted by a loud yell of ‘MAVIS!’. She turned to see Acnologia running towards her before coming to a stop.

“What is it?!” Mavis inquired enthusiastically, hands held together to her chest as she waited to hear the news, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“We’ve got a good reason to get rid of Blue Skull!” Mavis jumped, hugging Acnologia out of sheer joy. They spun around for a little before Acnologia set her back down.

“Gods almighty how is he so fast?!” 

“He tore a sea serpent’s jaw off with his bare fucking hands!” Ennis retorted to the voice Mavis didn’t know, that unfamiliar voice belonging to a blonde in a leather jacket. He gave her a wave while catching his breath.

“*wheeze* The name’s Yuri *inhale* Dreyar and your dad is batshit crazy!” Yuri gasped out, sounding not too off from a dying fish. He was barely able to stand, hands on his knees to keep him upright. 

“Don’t call him that! Acno’s perfectly sane!” Mavis huffed out, walking over to give Yuri the stink eye.

“Bleh!” She stuck her tongue out, pulling the lower lid of her eye down.

“Gross! Didn’t your dad teach you any manners?!”

“Like you have room to talk! Going around and calling people ‘batshit crazy’!” Mavis countered, wagging a finger in disapproval with a pout. 

“I’m not getting scolded by a 9-year-old!” Yuri jabbed a finger in her direction, giving her an accusatory glare. 

“I’m thirteen! Get your facts straight!” Sure she was a bit short, but that didn’t mean diddly squat when it came to age. Maybe it was her face?

Just as Yuri was about to say something, Acnologia knocked him upside the head.

“Fädukompf.” He grumbled as Yuri fell face-first onto the ground. Acnologia picked him up like a sack of potatoes and hefted the younger man over his shoulders.

“Mavis, Zera. Pack your things.” Acnologia headed off to do just that, still carrying Yuri on his shoulder. Precht, without a word, walked up to Acnologia and grabbed Yuri.

“Sorry about that. He can be a bit of an idiot at times.” Precht apologized, sounding like this had happened before. Not this exact situation, but similar instances of Yuri not being the brightest lacrima in the box. Mavis walked up to them, offering Precht a smile.

“No problem! It was actually kind of fun to talk with him, even if it seemed like a pair of little kids squabbling.” Mavis wanted that to be a reassurance to Precht, but with his lacking in the expressiveness department, she wasn’t too sure if that was the case. Not letting those thoughts fester, Mavis ran off to pack her things.

“Come on, Zera!” She called, voice brimming with excitement.

“What’s got you so giddy?!”

Mavis turned on her heel, facing her best friend.

“Because…” She hugged Zera, gripping the back of her clothes, “This is the start of our adventure, our fairy tale .”

Chapter Text

“Pray for me, I'll run until I begin to understand

What holy men really mean

When they speak of sin”

— Pray, The Amazing Devil

Despite being born on an island, Mavis had never gone out to sea. Well, until now. She took in everything the sea had to offer: the scent of ocean spray, gulls letting out soft cries above them, and the smooth wood of the railing with occasional roughness to it. The breeze gently brushed past her face, like a tender caress to wish her well on her journey. Everything seemed so peaceful and idyllic… but then Acnologia throwing up over the hull of the ship had to ruin it.

She forgot that one of the side-effects of Dragonslayer magic was that the users had enhanced senses, which led to motion sickness. The stronger the slayer, the stronger the senses. And according to Acnologia, he was the strongest slayer Ishgar had to offer. She wondered if one of the grimoires had healing spells or at least spells that would ease motion sickness. Maybe the Mildian ones since that civilization seemed to specialize in the analysis of magic. Or maybe the one from Dragnof, since that was where Dragonslayer magic originated from.

She then remembered that she hadn’t even gotten through a fifth of the Mildian grimoire and what she did manage to translate didn’t mention anything she would need. A slightly uneasy smile came over her lips as that damned grimoire came to torment her again, even if it wasn’t there. Well, she could save that for after their adventure was over.

“Oi! Don’t go puking all over Ennis’ hull!” Yuri yelled, running over to scold Acnologia. But there was little Yuri could do when it came to Acnologia’s motion sickness, as that wasn’t some bad habit that could be fixed.

“Bite my scaly ass, Yeager!” Acnologia growled out, flipping off Yuri. 

“Language!” Zera yelled, trying to cover Mavis’ ears. Unknown to her, Mavis had heard much worse from the members of Red Lizard. She was used to that kind of crass language at the age of six, so it didn’t really phase her.

“It’s Yuri! Yuri Dreyar!” 

Zera, not wanting to deal with an argument, walked over and grabbed Yuri by the ear before chewing him out like he was a piece of really bad jerky. Zera was always no-nonsense and grounded, keeping Mavis, who was typically ‘head in the clouds’, from drifting off. And that no-nonsense attitude was shining through as she kept berating Yuri, but Acnologia wasn’t safe from it either as she pointed out how he should have transformed if he wanted to avoid motion sickness. But before Zera could get carried away, Mavis stepped in to rein her friend in.

“I think they get it, Zera. C’mon, we’ve got a whole ship to explore!” Mavis dragged Zera off in the direction of the nearest interesting thing, trying to cheer her up. Zera gave a shrug and a slight sliver of a smile, one of the corners of her lips curled slightly. It was one of those relaxed smiles, like the kind you would have getting into bed after a long day. The two poked around the ship, Mavis asking every question she could about things she didn’t know. An unfamiliar word? Define it! What does that machine or that thing do? She’d ask around and figure it out!

This ship was a treasure trove of potential knowledge and Mavis going to collect it all down to the last particle of gold! And Zera would be her partner in crime, well if the collection of knowledge was a crime. But it felt awesome having all this knowledge around her to gain, so it still had that adrenaline-pumping feeling a person would get if they completed a heist (probably)!

So with a giggle, Mavis ran off to explore the ship with Zera in tow.

It took a bit, but Acnologia got used to the motion sickness. If he could block out the pain of several untreated wounds then he could block out the pain of motion sickness. Really, they were pretty much the same thing except he didn’t have any adrenaline in his system for motion sickness.

He started slow, pushing himself up with one hand and then using the other to grab the railing. Good so far, now to just get on his knees and take the hand on the galley and move it to the top of the railing. Soon, both hands were on the railing and then moved to his elbows there as well. There was a slight shake in one of his legs but he just ignored it.

“Feelin’ better, Acnologia?” Yu… Yu-something called. He remembered the blonde’s name Dreyar, though that was an easy name to remember. It was a name with history, and while not as prominent as those like Heartfilia, Fullbuster, or Fernandez, it still held importance. Acnologia managed a small wave as Yuri came to rest by him, elbows and back propped up against the railing. A grin played on the blonde’s lips as he took in the scenery, turning his head to face the Dragonslayer.

“I’ve gone from Hell to Purgatory if you must ask.” Acnologia forced out, nausea returning with a vengeance. His hands shifted to claws that gripped onto the railing, the sound of splintering wood beneath his claws as he tried not to throw up again. Yuri backed away, visibly shocked with eyes like saucers and jaw open like a fish.

“W-what are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” Yuri’s voice trembled, an uneasy smile on his face.

“A dragonslayer who has met their fate: becoming the very thing you were meant to kill. I can take on parts of my dragon form, though it’s rare for me to assume its entirety.”

“How come?”

Acnologia looked to where Mavis and Zera once were, the girls now likely exploring every inch of the ship. While Acnologia had tried to remain human in the years after Anna’s death, it was hard to say that he was in fact human. He knew he wasn’t, but he wasn’t quite a dragon either. He was forever a resident to the border between human and nonhuman, neither form quite fitting to that idea. But he understood what it was to be human, as he was once that. And while his grasp of the concept wasn’t perfect, Acnologia could use it in tandem with his interactions with humans to teach the girls how to be human.

“I can’t teach my students of human matters in a nonhuman form. And it’s more convenient.” That second statement had a good deal of truth to it as well, especially in the wintry months where those beloved hot springs were like a safe haven to him. And magic was much easier to display in his human form, along with showing the two any essential matters beyond literacy and basic arithmetic. Looking for books that would soon turn into reorganizing the library, chopping wood, cooking - Zera took to that one like a natural; maybe she had an aptitude for fire-based magic - basic martial arts, first aid, and pretty much any other thing the girls needed to know were easier for him to teach in his human form.

“Makes sense.” Yuri gave a shrug, looking to the sea. Acnologia looked there too, just to see what sort of trouble might be brewing beneath the waters. He saw two shapes beneath starting to emerge: a pair of dolphins and his students on said dolphins.

“Yuri, throw me overboard.” Acnologia commanded, voice grave and serious. He knew dolphins were anything but friendly and he was not letting his students near those things. Yuri gave him a skeptical glance, but did as was asked. 

Acnologia dove beneath the water, looking for an opportunity, an opening… But there wasn’t. Mavis and Zera were smiling, Mavis giggling as she rode the dolphin. He had overreacted, anticipated an attack that was never going to come in the first place. Even in times of peace, he still was on the lookout for danger, for anything that could harm those he cared for.

Why couldn’t he just let go, treat shadows as shadows and not enemies lying in wait?

It had been over 300 years, so why had his wounds not healed? Why had his scars not faded?

Or, perhaps, he had simply not taken time to tend to them properly. As he got back to the ship, those thoughts stayed with him. Even as he struggled in walking aboard the galley, the motion sickness couldn’t counter the thoughts that slowly built, worming their ways deeper into his psyche.

They touched on memories he tried to move on from, but for the faintest moment, he swore he felt that slick sensation of blood on his hands. He ignored it, looking for Ennis. If he couldn’t find the shipwright, then he would busy himself with something else, something, anything more than the storm building in his head. The boards of the stairs creaked beneath his feet, the noise an odd mix of high yet low. When he fell, due to the motion sickness finally catching up with him, he hit the floor with a thud. He started to drag himself along the floor of the ship, his skin not catching on any splinters. He felt the roughness of the wood, but that roughness did not harm him as it would a human.

He just needed to get to his journal and write down his thoughts to make it all stop. His girls were getting to go to the mainland for the first time and he wasn’t going to let some paltry delusions ruin this for them. He had dealt with opponents much worse than this, he could best these damned thoughts… that plagued him for 300 years. 300 years of being the only one left of his friends, 300 years of isolation… was it even 300 years exactly? He didn’t know, and he couldn’t gather the strength to care.

Why was this a battle he felt as if he was losing? Because his opponent had no form for him to tear to pieces, to rip and shred until they were dead and gone? He managed to get to the chair by his desk, sitting in it with slumped shoulders and dead eyes, like a man with no reason to carry on.

But he did, two reasons in fact. And their names were Mavis and Zera, two girls growing by the day. Two girls who faced a horrid tragedy and lived on, smiling and laughing like that horrid monster known as Blue Skull was just some villain trapped in the pages of a storybook.

But Blue Skull was real, the damage they had done was real. It was in the ruins on Tenrou, the nights where Acnologia would find Mavis up late from a nightmare burying herself in a book to forget those memories, the way Zera would give a quick look at any pillars as if they were about to fall on her. 

Acnologia looked at his hands. How many had his hands killed, how many died because of him? But inversely, how many times had those hands embraced Anna, mended Mavis’ wounds whenever such things appeared, and were used to protect what he cherished? These were hands both loved and feared, those views only granted by the power he possessed. And yet again, these hands would be seen in such ways.

To Blue Skull, he would be the calamitous dragon that would tear them to shreds and leave nothing of them but ashes.

To Mavis and Zera, he would be the hero that would at long last purge the source of their nightmares.

Duality, such a familiar concept to one such as him. Love and scorn, life and death, human and inhuman. Living on that edge for as long as he had prepared him for both sides. Perhaps that preparedness was what led to his ill reaction. No, it was what led to that reaction. In that situation, he saw both the safety and danger in it.

And like a fool, he jumped to what could go wrong instead of what was going right.

For now, he’d focus on what would go right with the little trip. Blue Skull would be defeated, Ennis’ trade routes would be cleared up, Hargeon would have one less thing to worry about, and his girls would be able to live in a world without the cause of their tragedy.

There was little that could go wrong.

Why?

Because there was a dragon on this ship, a dragon with a hoard he’d do anything to protect.

And that dragon was him.

If there was one thing Acnologia underestimated about Mavis, it was how fast the girl was. And her strange magnetism towards books with how quickly she found a bookshop in Hargeon, oohing and aahing over all the titles. In particular, she was fascinated with a book on Boscovian folklore.

“Acnologia! Just in time! Those books on advanced magic theory you requested just came in!” A portly middle-aged woman by the name of Dahna hefted three books on the counter, fishing her checkbook out of her pocket. She spied Mavis and Zera looking at the various books, Zera more focused on an adventure novel.

“Thank you Dahna, but I’ve more pressing matters to attend to. Besides, those are Mavis’ Mariliu presents and the girl’s right here in the store.” Acnologia whispered the last bit. Dahna, with an understanding nod, put the books back under the counter. 

“How long will it take?” Dahna asked, looking for books ordered by other customers.

“Should take two weeks at most.” Acnologia looked to see - thank the gods - his girls were still in his range of sight, Mavis taking a few books on the book of Boscovian folklore. Acnologia walked over to the two, nabbing the book.

“Acno!” Mavis whined, jumping up to try and get it. He tittered at her attempts, a slight smirk to his face.

“You can have this after we deal with Blue Skull. Besides, those grimoires aren’t going to translate themselves.” He put the book back where it came from, knowing not to mess with Dahna’s method of organization. Mavis switched to a sweet smile, running ahead of the three out of the shop. Acnologia and Zera were quick to follow, meeting back up with the three treasure hunters. Yuri was trying to flirt his way into information, though Precht and Warrod were tag-teaming on ruining any chances of Yuri acquiring any info.

“H-Hey, Acnologia! You wouldn’t happen to know any shady spots in to-” Yuri was cut off as Precht smacked him on the head. Warrod offered an apology with a sheepish grin, Acnologia accepting it. It was far from the worst Acnologia had thrown his way, but they didn’t know that.

They could try asking around town, but given the dark guild’s less than stellar reputation, it was best not to directly name the guild they wished for information on. It was decided that they’d split into two groups, one consisting of Mavis, Acnologia, and Precht while the other would consist of Zera, Warrod, and Yuri. 

After several incidents, mainly caused by Precht and his complete lacking of tact, they found a lead. Namely, it was the kid Precht had scared by cutting down that tree that turned out to have rot in it.

“I don’t know lots about dark guilds, but there’s this one bar where a lot of shady adults hang around. You’ll probably find info there.” Three took the kid’s advice and found the shady bar in question. As soon as they found it, Acnologia’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the gods-awful stench coming from there. It smelled like cheap booze, like the kind that would make you swear off drinking, and old piss. No wonder shady types hung around the place.

The three went in, Acnologia looking at every person for potential signs of danger. Mavis copied this, Precht throwing occasional glances. The three got to the bar, Acnologia sitting down.

“This place ain’t for kids. Go take yer brat somewhere else.” The barkeep offhanded, proceeding to ask for drinks. The bar-goers joined in, throwing all sorts of jeers Mavis’ way. Mavis had the mind not to pay them any attention, Precht looking irritated at the whole thing. 

“We’re not here for drinks, but for information. Specifically, the guild Blue Skull.” Mavis stated, trying to look the bartender dead in the eyes, but her height didn’t allow for that. Well, if push came to shove, Mavis wouldn’t need her height to be intimidating.

“Don’t know about no wizard guilds.” The bartender replied, and Mavis was quick to point out the other did know something about Blue Skull, given he could point out it was a wizard guild. Turns out it was because the guy was an information gatherer for Blue Skull and the other bar-goers were in on it too. They got up quickly, intent on surrounding the two. 

One grabbed Mavis, holding a broken bottle to her throat while Precht slashed at the rest with a chain whip. With folks like these, threats wouldn’t work or even holding the bartender hostage. Acnologia slashed at the arm of the one holding Mavis, the scent of iron hitting his nostrils. He let out a grunt of pain, still holding onto the girl.

Thankfully, that pain was the distraction Mavis needed to cast a light spell right in the bastard’s face. He dropped her, Mavis running out of harm’s way. 

“Are you alright, Mavis?” He threw another swing at one of the bargoers, making sure to hit a nonlethal area. Even still, the guy acted like Acnologia cut his arm off! What a yellow-bellied coward.

“If I could survive the genocide of Tenrou, then a bar fight’s no big deal Acno!” She made a dash towards the bartender, stopping to her feet and putting her hands out. 

“O guardian of sky and star, the Guard Dog of Sirius; Beast of Tenrou, I summon thee!” Mavis put her all into the incantation, even though such a thing wasn’t necessary for her anymore. Zera smirked at her friend’s creation while Acnologia was a bit too busy chasing down runaways to appreciate his student’s work that said cowards were running away from.

“You’re not getting away from me!” He pinned down a good few of them, a downright savage grin showing teeth far too sharp to belong to a human. The ones he pinned down were knocked out, the rest trying to book it.

Precht disarmed a few, his chain flying through the air as it slashed at their attacker’s legs. Warrod put his bulk to use and restrained a few of the scrawnier ones. Yuri fought dirty, kicking every crotch he could. It was a cacophony of groans, screams, curses, and cowards begging for mercy like it was going out of style.

Too bad they were dealing with a man like Acnologia, someone who knew of mercy but wasn’t too keen on giving it out to the rat bastards that were a part of Blue Skull.

After all the rats were rounded up and the inside was barricaded to prevent escape, Mavis called off the illusion. 

“How’d I do?” Mavis was nearly bouncing on her heels as she waited for Acnologia’s response.

“That was incredible, Mavis! That sort of spell would take years for most to master!” 

“But it only took me six months!” Mavis crowed, a smug smile on her lips. Zera looked ready to deliver some deadpan comment but ultimately refrained. The bartender’s jaw was so open the thing might as well have fallen off.

Acnologia walked over, sitting down on one of the barstools. His elbows were propped up against the wood of the bar, various nicks and blemishes telling a story that this bar had seen fairer days. He looked at the barkeep, those blue eyes cold like ice.

“A bottle of mead, sir. My tastes are a tad old-fashioned.”

“W-we don’t sell mead.” The bartender reeked of fear, eyes pinned on the Dragonslayer. Acnologia wasn’t one to play with his food, but this one had information they needed. 

“Some beer, then.” The man reached down, looking for the beverage. As he came back up, Acnologia smelled blood and steel before there was a flash of silver. Scales covering his hand, he broke the dagger’s blade like it was a twig. 

“What are you?” The man’s voice quivered, that scent of fear rolling off of him yet again.

“A Dragonslayer, though some have mistaken me for the creatures that I’ve killed.” A dark smirk met the man’s gasping face, the handle of the blade dropping out of his grasp. He fumbled for a bottle of beer, handing it to the monster on the other side of the bar.

“Now, tell me everything you know about Blue Skull. And don’t hold back, or I might stop holding back myself.”

He could smell the tracest amount of fear from Yuri. Good, fear could keep you alive in the face of monsters.

“Acnologia, how about I take the girls back to the inn? I wouldn’t want them to see if things went ugly.” Maybe it was Yuri wanting to get out of the situation, doing it out of the kindness of his heart, or both. Whatever the motive was, Acnologia didn’t quite care. Not having the girls here would make it easier to wring information out of this maggot.

“Mavis, Zera, go back to the inn with Yuri. I’ll get the information we need from the barkeep before the night’s over.”

The girls followed suit, walking out of the bar with Yuri. Precht and Warrod seemed to take the hint, leaving the bar with just Acnologia. He heard the bargoers scramble for weaponry, the bartender grabbing a spare knife.

Acnologia didn’t go for the blade, but went for something still easy to break.

“M-My arm! You! You—”

The barkeep’s face was pressed right against the wood of the bar, probably get a splinter in the eye between all his squirming and the shoddy state of the thing.

“Monster? Freak? Be original, would you? Now tell me everything about Blue Skull or it won’t just be your arm I’ll break.”

Chapter Text

“Yeah, fairies wear boots and you gotta believe me

Yeah, I saw it, I saw it, I tell you no lies

Yeah, fairies wear boots and you gotta believe me

I saw it, I saw it with my own two eyes”

— Fairies Wear Boots, Black Sabbath

“What are you?” The barkeep’s voice was quiet, yet Yuri could hear that fear in it all too clearly. His own heart felt like it was trying to rip itself from Yuri’s chest.

“A Dragonslayer, though some have mistaken me for the creatures that I’ve killed.” 

With strength like Acnologia’s - he broke that blade in two like a fucking toothpick! - fears were starting to pile up. Fears from childhood tales of a man turned monster, the kind of monster stories say is dead not because he actually died but as a small bit of hope. A small bit of hope that the monster was dead and wouldn’t come back. 

“Now, tell me everything you know about Blue Skull. And don’t hold back, or I might stop holding back myself.”

Yuri was cunning, yes, but cunning only got you so much. And right now, he had the distinct feeling it’d be best to get out of here before things took a turn for the worst.

“Acnologia, how about I take the girls back to the inn? I wouldn’t want them to see if things went ugly.” And because Yuri was scared for his life. He hoped the tremors from his heart didn’t wrinkle his shirt.

“Mavis, Zera, go back to the inn with Yuri. I’ll get the information we need from the barkeep before the night’s over.” 

It wasn’t just him and the girls that bolted out of there, but Precht and Warrod too. Yuri kept running, his feet hitting the pavement of Hargeon with all the force of a freshly fired cannonball. He took in sharp breaths, eyes darting to every shadow they could witness. When placed in a dangerous situation, people often chose either fight or flight. And with how Yuri didn’t hesitate to choose flight, he wouldn’t be surprised if a few feathers started growing.

They had checked out three rooms: one for the girls, one for Acnologia, and one for him, Precht, and Warrod.

The blonde crashed onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling as if it held the answers to what he just witnessed. 

The black dragon who rides on wings of despair, the black dragon of the apocalypse, the one whose name meant ‘death’ on the battlefield…

All those titles, likely more, were ones bore by Acnologia. He had met and conversed with him like it was nothing, though Yuri was much more occupied with the idea of that sweet, sweet Tenrou Orb. But with him around, Yuri’s chances of getting the thing were slim to none and slim just fled the country.

Yuri let out a sigh, racking his brain at what to do. Well, there was jackshit he could do in this situation given the monster that was probably tearing up the bar and whoever was in there. Well, the one silver lining there was that corpses couldn’t talk and that would make getting the Orb easier. Ya know, snitches get stitches and all that. 

But what he could do was shower, change into a pair of pajamas (read: just his boxers), and go to sleep. Compared to some of the other hotels he had stayed at, this one seemed pretty decent. No roaches, rats, spiders, and the cloth of the sheets didn’t feel like sandpaper. Okay, maybe his standards were a bit low, but being a treasure hunter brought you to all sorts of places and not all of those were pleasant.

First was the bath. Thankfully, the bathroom wasn’t bad. Though after the incident involving a pig in a toilet, Yuri’s hopes weren’t exactly the highest when it came to bathrooms. There was a small bottle of shampoo and a towel for washing sitting by the bathtub. 

Once the tub filled with water, Yuri got out of his clothes and dipped into the bath. He dunked his head in the water, getting it nice and wet. After that, he squeezed a bit of shampoo about the size of a coin into his palm. Lavender scented? Well, combined with the warm water of the tub, Yuri’s stress was starting to melt like butter in a pot.

He got to scrubbing his hair, humming some song as he scrubbed his scalp free of any dirt or potential bugs. After he deemed he had done a thorough enough job, he got to washing his body. A scrub here, a dub there, and cleaning the hell out of his feet. There was a play that said hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn but Yuri was more inclined to believe hell hath no fury like foot fungus. Once everything was nice and clean, he stepped out and let the tub drain as he dried his hair with a towel. It wasn’t completely dry, but the perks of having short hair meant short drying time!

Now came the pajamas, which were just a pair of boxers. After that, teeth were brushed and Yuri headed to bed. The sheets were cool and soft, a more than welcome comfort. He could hear some shuffling noises, likely Warrod or Precht getting ready for a shower.

In the morning, he’d have a few questions for Acnologia.

Or maybe not. Yuri wasn’t exactly the bravest.

Mavis hummed as she dried her hair, using a bit of heat magic to help speed things up. It turned out with her illusions focusing on fooling sight, light and energy-based magics were easier for her to learn than other types. And heat magic was rather versatile, much more than fire magic was. It made Mavis wonder why fire was more common than heat magic when it came to what folks learned.

Zera was sitting on the bed, fidgeting with one of her bows. There was a look on her face that Mavis couldn’t quite place. A slight frown, scrunched-up eyebrows, and eyes looking at the ribbon like she had a grudge against it.

“What’s wrong, Zera?” Mavis placed a hand on Zera’s shoulder, the other girl turning to face her.

“I think Yuri knows more about Acno than we do." Zera gripped the ribbon slightly, brows furrowed. Maybe Zera was just overthinking things! But when Acnologia mentioned he was a Dragonslayer, Yuri seemed a lot more on edge. Yuri was a treasure hunter without any magical abilities, so him knowing about Dragonslayers enough to have that sort of reaction was definitely odd. 

"Now you're the one overthinking things." Zera had a playful smirk on her lips, elbowing Mavis. The other stuck her tongue out, making a ‘bleh!’ noise.

“How’d you know?”

“You had your overthinking face on.” Zera gave her a small flick on the forehead, a small smile on her lips as Mavis pouted in response. For an illusion mage, she seemed really easy to read. Well, she and Zera could ask Yuri in the morning what he knew.

For now, all she had to worry about was sleeping.

Yuri was an early riser, always was and would likely continue to be. Warrod’s snoring gave sawing logs a run for their money and Precht was as silent as death. Yuri was somewhere in between, not total silence but not loud either.

Quiet, that’s how he was in the mornings. A groan here, a grunt there, but nothing out of the ordinary. And if Yuri wanted to confront Acnologia about if he really was the real deal, he’d have to keep quiet. The sky still looked dark from outside the window, the kind of dark just before dawn with a bit of light blue and teeny bits of yellow below that.

The dragon’s den was just three rooms down the left of Mavis and Zera’s, an ordinary door with an ordinary knob. He knocked on the door, calling the other man’s name.

“Acnologia? You in there?” He said it loud enough for the other to hear but not loud enough to wake up anyone else. The doorknob clicked open, Acnologia’s hair was just as messy as it was in the day and his tattoos giving off a faint glow. He could ask about the glowing tats later.

“Bit too early for breakfast, isn’t it, Yuri?” He asked, a brow raised in skepticism. His voice now had this gravelly quality to it, making his lacking in the human department even more apparent. 

“Yeah, but I’ve got a few questions about…” Yuri made a general gesture towards Acnologia. The other made a shrug, motioning with his hand to let Yuri into his room. Yuri followed, sitting down on the right side of the bed while Acnologia made himself comfortable on the left.

Yuri cleared his throat and took a breath.

“How old are you?”

“I lost count of the exact number, but I’m in my 300s.” Acnologia stated it with all the nonchalant one would expect of such a topic, but what he brought to it wasn’t just something you casually stated. Well, at least to a human like Yuri.

“Were you ever a human in the first place?” He saw both of this man’s forms, dragon and human. But which one came first? The man or the dragon? Yuri might get himself in trouble for asking all this, poking his nose in business that wasn’t his. But the treasure hunting busness was just that: digging around where someone told you not to.

“Yes, I was human. But my magic comes at a price and you saw it at the docks.” He put emphasis on ‘was’ and Yuri exhaled a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. So Acnologia wasn’t only a monster, but he had accepted it. 

“Last question: Did you live up to your magic’s name?” If he said yes, then that would confirm just about all of Yuri’s fears regarding the man-shaped monster sitting on the other side of the bed. 

“Yes, countless times. If there are any other slayers alive nowadays, I wonder if they could distinguish my scent from dragon’s blood.” He said it calmly, though there was nothing calming in that statement. Yuri took a breath again, but he doubted it would steady his heart. While there was no present danger, that didn’t mean there wasn’t latent danger. 

Yuri got up, wondering if his nerves would allow him to stomach breakfast. He didn’t hear Acnologia get up, didn’t know the other man was going to follow him until he saw him pass the blonde.

“You smell rather stressed. Are you from Dragnof?”

“S-Sorta. I grew up in a village bordering Dragnof and Bosco. I heard a lot of stories about you growing up.”

“Did any of them try to make me out as a hero?”

“No.” Why would he ask that? 

“Good. I don’t want people making me out to be something I’m not.” 

Yuri felt a chill go up his spine, rushing down to get breakfast.

A bit after breakfast, the group left for Magnolia. According to Acnologia, that was where Blue Skull was located. Well, with someone - something? - like Acnologia, nothing could go wrong…

Could it?

Chapter Text

“Lady Maria, I'm a robin. Will I ever curl up and become an egg? Lady Maria? Lady Maria, say something, anything!”

— Enlarged Head (Enemy), Bloodborne

“Aren’t we at Magnolia yet?”

“It’s still a three-day walk there.” Yuri Dreyar was many things, but even in the short time she had spent with the treasure hunters, she learned that ‘patient’ wasn’t one of them. While Yuri briefly complained about them not being there yet, Warrod had gotten started on setting up camp. 

“Whaaat?! Sleeping on the ground?!” Zera sounded appalled at the very idea. But there wasn’t any reason to be! Mavis and Zera had slept outside plenty of times before without a single thing happening to them. 

“It sounds like fun to me, Zera!” 

“This isn’t Tenrou Island, ya know! There could be weird bugs or poisonous snakes!” Zera had grown, but she still worried for Mavis. It was almost like having a big sister. 

“Oh, those things don’t bother me!” For one, it was winter. That meant most reptiles wouldn’t be out as frequently and with the night bringing lower temperatures, which would further decrease that frequency. However, they were in an area closer to the coast. That meant the humidity brought in by coastal proximity could make the temperature hotter than it actually was. Mavis should have asked for a field guide on Fiore so that she could better know the flora and fauna. Well, even if that was the case, a certain Dragonslayer would keep them safe. 

And Mavis had grown stronger over the years, so she could help in some way! And as everyone went off to do something to set up camp - Warrod went to track down some edible plants, Yuri went to find firewood, Precht and Acnologia went hunting, and Zera went to catch fish - her current way of helping was staying at the camp and standing guard. 

Precht had seen a lot of things, but he never expected to see a man crush a deer’s skull with his bare hands. Or whatever Acnologia was. Was he a man? A dragon? One cursed to be the other? He didn’t know but it wasn’t his business. Currently, Acnologia was smearing the brain matter and other bits on a tree, wiping his hands clean of his most recent kill.

“Prick, help me skin this thing, would ya?” Yet again, he got Precht’s name wrong. And again, he corrected Acnologia before helping him skin the deer. They weren’t using the fur for anything, so that could be buried along with non-edible parts. Meat was cut from the bone, including shoulder straps, leg meat, neck meat, hams, and ribs. They could salt it later after tonight’s meal, though it would be best to wash off in any nearby bodies of water to get rid of the scent of blood.

There was a small amount of fear lingering within Precht as they made their way back. Was that the limit of Acnologia’s strength or was there more and he was simply holding back? It shouldn’t have been Precht’s business, but he needed to know this for the sake of himself, Yuri, and Warrod. As such, it was his business.

“Do you ever have times where you struggle holding back, Acnologia?” He only noticed the visual cues of Acnologia stopping, not able to pick up on any auditorial cues. The other turned his head, tattoos glowing a soft blue in the darkness of night. 

“Unless you give me a reason, Precht , I won’t hurt your group of treasure hunters. Is that a sufficient answer?” He started walking again, the crunching of leaves and grass letting the other be heard. Precht was silent the whole way back, that fear now having turned to unease. Even still, it was an awful feeling. The mind often focused on emotions like unease, and that kind of focus wasn’t the kind you would want to have.

Especially with a stranger who could easily kill you. But for whatever reason, he didn’t.

Precht thought of other things, like how to prepare the deer for eating and preserving the meat. Did they have salt to cure it? If not, what would they do with the non-eaten parts?

He busied himself with those thoughts, all the while keeping an eye on the environment around him. 

“Ahahaha!” Mavis listened to Yuri and Warrod’s back-and-forth as they talked of their adventure, swapping the blame of who moved that statue like a game of Hot Potato. Precht was much more straight to the point with his addition to the story, with Yuri and Warrod soon taking the spotlight back.

“Treasure hunting must be dangerous.” Traps, boulders that could fill a room, giant plant monsters, and much more! How could such an occupation be anything but dangerous?

“Sure is! But there’s plenty of rewards for the risks!” Well, it was called treasure hunting for a reason. And any hunt had a reward or goal of some kind. Mavis could call her explorations of Tenrou’s ruins ‘hunts’ as she was often looking for something. That something could be anything, like flowers for the church. 

“And the Tenrou Orb is an S-Class gem! With that in hand, we could live in luxury on the reward!” And there it was, the reason for their journey in the first place. They both wanted the Tenrou Orb but for different reasons.

“What you’re saying is that we’re only allies until we get the Orb; is that the point you’re trying to get across?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Yuri was quick, not batting an eye before responding.

“Well, let’s think about that after we get our hands on the Tenrou Orb.” Call it foolish optimism, but there was something about these three that gave Mavis the feeling there was more to this alliance than just the Orb.

“Young Miss, you’ve lived your whole life on the island, right? I don’t think you should be so willing to trust people–”

“I know I can trust you all! One look in your eyes and I can tell!” 

There were a lot of things that went into trusting a person. Knowledge, personal experiences… But one of the most important ones was going with the gut feeling of ‘I will trust this person’. She asked for Acnologia’s help and something told her to get him to stay. And even though she was mean to Mavis, Zera—

“Come to think of it, where’s Zera? Maybe she’s moody because she didn’t catch any fish.” Mavis got up, telling the adults where she was going. To an extent, she could handle herself.

Even still, it didn’t hurt to ask for help.

Zera stared down at the lake, uncaught fish swimming without a care in the world. She couldn’t even catch a fish. She lived on an island for gods’ sakes! Acnologia or one of those treasure hunters would pick up her slack and find a much better catch. As usual, someone else would make up for where she lagged behind.

She couldn’t protect Mavis from those pirates, she couldn’t protect her from those members of Blue Skull. She couldn’t protect Mavis .

And she was a total jerk to her when they were little too! So why, why, why—

“Zera! There you are!” While all those bad thoughts hadn’t gone away completely, Mavis being there made them smaller. If they were a loud clattering of pans before, now they were like clacking spoons.

“Mavis…” She couldn’t hide the sorrow in her voice. Even illusion magic couldn’t hide it.

“What’s the matter? Were you worried because you couldn’t catch any fish?” 

Oh, if it was only that simple. But how could she tell Mavis all that was going on? It was all too much and too little all at the same time and Zera couldn’t find the perfect words to get it out.

“I’m just… a little tired.” 

“Well, this is our first time leaving the island.” Mavis seemed much more relaxed about this whole thing. Then again, she thought magic that would eventually turn you into a dragon - without any say in if you wanted to be a dragon, mind you - was cool. Sometimes she envied how easily Mavis could roll with the punches, letting a sense of wonder overtake fear when it was appropriate. 

Fireflies buzzed about the place, lazy as they drifted over the water. They caught your eye and yet were unaware of you. Or maybe they were and just had other things to pay attention to. They were so flashy and pretty… But they could stop glowing in an instant.

“Mavis… If you weren’t there, I would have died.” That was a lie, but it was also true in some senes. So it was a half-truth.

She couldn’t tell Mavis that just yet, but there was something she could tell Mavis.

She grabbed her friend’s hand, looking her right in the eyes. She wouldn’t run from this, she wouldn’t be afraid of saying this.

“That’s when I decided I’d be the one to protect you this time, Mavis!” But time and time again she failed. The zombies, the pirates, Blue Skull in that bar…

“But every time push comes to shove, all I do is cower and hide!” Her voice cracked a tad, a pressure building up behind her eyes. She would not cry in front of—

Mavis rested on Zera’s shoulder, her face soft and calm. 

“All you have to do is be with me.” 

But Zera had been doing that all this time and it wasn’t enough to protect Mavis. She wanted more than to simply be at her side, just an idle presence. Being idle meant doing nothing and doing nothing meant Mavis might get hurt.

“I can’t limit it to that! I’d never forgive myself!” Zera’s voice was solid, unwavering. After what Mavis had done for her, she needed to do something to return the favor. Something that would give her strength. Physically, she was weak and Mavis was a bonafide genius so that left only one option.

“I’m going to ask Acnologia to teach me magic.” But she didn’t just want any kind of magic. She wanted the kind of magic that could protect Mavis from Blue Skull, pirates, and whatever else there was! Sure, she was later than Mavis on learning magic but she’d bust her butt training to make up for it.

She got up, ready to head back to the camp… too bad she tripped.

And fell into the pond. Strangely, the water was a tad warm for winter, with the fireflies buzzing about and the clear night sky, Zera stopped for a moment. It was almost enchanting with how quiet it was, like a bubble closed off from the rest of the world just for her and Mavis.

Speaking of the other girl, she dove right into the water without a care in the world for what might be in there. She must have figured that if Zera hadn’t freaked out, then the water was fine. Of course, Mavis took to swimming around in it. 

“Surprise!” Then she splashed her with water. Little prankster! 

“Mavis, look! Fairies!”

“Where?!”

Zera hugged her from behind, a soft smile on her lips. The fireflies danced above the water, like little stars brought down from the heavens for just the two of them.

“In your heart.” Many stories told of fairies granting wishes. And where else would wishes come from if not the heart? So maybe fairies - if they did exist - were a person’s wish brought to life through pure will. Fairies were not good or bad, they didn’t play by the rules of humans. So if a wish were to be granted, no matter good or bad, if someone wished hard enough then maybe a fairy would come along and grant it.

“What’s your wish, Zera?” Mavis’ voice was barely more than a whisper, but Zera heard it clearly.

“If I say it out loud, then my wish won’t come true.”

“That’s only for birthday wishes!” Mavis retorted, still wanting to hear her friend’s wish. But shouldn’t it be obvious what her wish was? 

“Who are you? The expert on wish rules or something?” Zera shot back, giggling a little. It felt like they were back on Tenrou Island, just them and the quiet of nature. The two of them got out of the water, putting their clothes back on. Mavis led the way back, finding most of the group asleep except for Acnologia. His tattoos glowed faintly against the firelight, regarding the two girls and their state. He was looking up at the sky, eyes focused on the stars. He heard the girls walking towards the camp, shifting his attention towards them.

“Mavis, make sure to dry your hair before going to bed tonight.” Mavis went to her bag, Acnologia patting on the ground next to him for Zera to come over.

“Something on your mind?” His voice was a whisper, yet Zera could clearly hear him. She didn’t know what tipped him off

“Can we talk about it after Mavis goes to sleep?”

Acnologia gave a nod, getting back to what Zera assumed was stargazing. It was an odd habit of his, though there were plenty of things that were odd about him. He was (supposedly) in his 300s, could take the form of a dragon, could read several dead languages but wasn’t a scholar, he knew how to heal but wasn’t a doctor, and even though he had basically saved Mavis and Zera, he never considered himself a hero.

Zera decided to join him, trying to see any constellations. Well, if she knew any. So she tried playing connect-the-dots with the stars. That was what constellations were, right? Just a fancy game of connect-the-dots.

“So, what is it you need to talk about?” Acnologia still kept looking at the stars, but his attention was on her.

“Teach me magic. Not just any kind, but the kind that’ll let me protect Mavis. I’m tired of standing on the sidelines and doing nothing!”

“A person’s magic is a reflection of who they are. That’s why some magics go well with one person and others can’t practice it for the life of them. And magic doesn’t depend on morality either, as what’s right and wrong is always changing. So the kind of magic you’ll get will reflect your desires.”

Wow… She shouldn’t have been surprised that Acnologia knew magic like that. So no matter what magic she had, it would still be something that could let her protect Mavis? She smiled a little bit, finding Acnologia still stargazing.

“How come you like stargazing so much?”

“It’s a habit I picked up from Anna.” There was a sort of sorrow in his voice, though Zera had come to expect that. From how Acnologia talked of her, of how her death haunted him, she seemed just as important to him as Mavis did to Zera. 

She never asked how Anna died, as how she died made no difference in how it affected him. If it was so scarring that Acnologia woke up in cold sweats about it centuries later, it was best not to ask.

“Look, Mongolia’s come into view!”

“Whoa!”

“We’re here!”

“So this is where Blue Skull is.”

“We beat them black and blue and then we get the Orb back!”

“But first we need to gather information.”

As the group walked closer, Mavis brought up the topic of Kardia Cathedral. She heard it was the prize jewel of the town. Zera had heard it was really huge. Precht had heard it was one of the great three cathedrals of Fiore, dedicated to the angel Michael.

“If you want to see huge, go visit the mountains in Bosco! Or the castle ruins in Dragnof!” Acnologia shot back, to which Zera asked him about visiting the first and he said he’d freeze his scales off. 

“H-Hey! Over there!” Yuri’s voice took on a nervous tone.

And when Mavis saw their destination, she felt not just nervousness. Her heart threatened to claw its way out of her chest, eyes darting from building to debris to ruin to building. There was also a twinge of… familiarity. She knew ruins, had used them for playing hide-and-seek, had left a bouquet of sage and forget-me-nots at the ruins of a church. 

The stench of smoke, the horrid light of flames, the screams of civilians, the shouts of guild members…

As her eyes darted, trying to find something anything that wasn’t ruins, they settled upon,

“Blue Skull’s dragon…” Her voice sounded drained of all life, its blood replaced with fear. And it was right on top of Kardia Cathedral, as if some cruel statement made to Blue Skull’s power. 

“We need you somewhere safe till you can calm down.” Mavis found herself being pulled by Zera, not quite able to to pinpoint her expression other than anger. Not anger at Mavis, but for her. 

“There’s no scent of death here, at least.” No scent of death meant that this place was only like Tenrou in looks. Acnologia’s hands had shifted to claws and scales of black. Right, they had the Dragon King himself with them. They stood a chance.

It wouldn’t be like last time.

They kept walking, an empty town with ruins. No place looked safe, every building having holes of some kind in them or rubble where buildings used to be. 

“Are you travelers?” They were approached by an elder, with Mavis wondering why they were still there. If a place was as unsafe as Magnolia, the elders, children, and sickly shouldn’t be here. They were more liabilities than anything and could be used as hostages.

“There’s nothing in this town for you. You all should move along.”

“You see, this town is our actual destination.” Yuri’s voice sounded a tad on edge, but still tried to come across as welcoming. She saw Yuri’s eyes dart to the dragon skeleton a few times but quickly back to the elder.

“Elder, what is this town?” Precht seemed much more calm, eyes focused only on the elder. 

“It’s a dying town.” The elder’s voice made it sound like they weren’t talking about a town, but rather a spouse or family member. But Mavis supposed a person could get just as attached to a town as they could a person, knowing alleys and shortcuts like inside jokes.

“A dying town…?”

“No, this town’s already dead. Ever since Blue Skull came here—”

BOOM!

There was a hole in their chest, the cause perched on a rooftop cackling at the lot of them. One had their staff pointed at Mavis, talking about how she was their target. Acnologia muttered something about ‘missing one’. Right on one of their chests was a tattoo of a blue skull.

“Blue Skull!”

They dropped from the building, one pointing his wand down. Yuri grabbed Mavis, managing to dodge out of the blast zone.

“Those creeps…” The fear was gone from Yuri’s voice, replaced with anger. He was another of those few who showed anger for Mavis, Precht and Warrod seemed equally angry. 

“I can’t believe anybody could kill someone like it’s nothing. They killed my Dad… They killed everyone!”

The treasure hunters got up, rushing at the three members. 

But Acnologia got to them first. Or one of them anyway, pinned them to the ground. Pretty sure the one he went after was the one who called dibs on shooting Mavis. Yuri threw a lacrima bomb, Precht’s chain flew through the air, and Warrod just punched them. Mavis ran to Zera.

She couldn’t do much, but she could at least keep her friend safe.

“They’re not so tough! Is this all that wizards can do?!” Yuri’s voice lost its fear, a cocky grin now on his face.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Yuri. We’re in the rats’ nest and we’ve just harmed some of their kin.” Acnologia was serious, eyes darting towards any point of entry or exit. His hands still didn’t look human.

And sure enough, with a cacophony of yelling and footsteps, the rest of the Blue Skull was there. But this was Mavis’ time to shine, getting a running start off the ground. Zera gave her a small grin, confident.

“I summon thee… Sirius soldiers!” At her command, what seemed like an army of soldiers appeared. Tenrou did have a standing military, despite its small size. What happened with Blue Skull back then proved why such a thing was necessary.

The Blue Skull members were scared stiff, shouting in shock at how many ‘troops’ there were.

“I want to speak to your Master. Would you calt them for me?” Mavis kept her voice level, shoulders up, and chest in front. She couldn’t afford any perceived sign of weakness, no matter how small.

Not when they were so close.

“No need. What’s al this ruckus about?” The crowd of wizards parted to show a man with a skull tattooed on his face and eyes covered with goggles. Mavis felt a small spark of anger, but dismissed it. She needed a cool head and a restful heart to make this work.

“Seven years ago, you stole a gem from Tenrou Island. I’ve come to take it back.” 

The master of Blue Skull was silent for a moment, the message clear:

“Are you saying you won’t return it?”

“What will happen if I don’t?”

“I’ll send these troops—”

“ ‘These troops’? “

Her heart skipped a beat, a prayer in her head he hadn’t seen through her spell.

“Kill them.”

He dispelled her illusions with a wave of his hand, Mavis’ stomach pooling with dread— no, fear. It was the kind of fear that wormed itself into every nook and cranny of her mind, made her heart want to rip itself from her chest.

Mavis was so stricken with fear she didn’t move until Zera was grabbing her hand, running in the other direction towards a full retreat. Acnologia hefted both girls over his shoulder, still somehow managing to hurt a few members of Blue Skull on their way out. 

When one mage tried to hit him with a spell, he simply turned around and ate it before resuming his retreat. She saw Warrod carrying Yuri and Precht, Yuri knocked out and Precht with a head wound.

It had all gone so wrong.

It wasn’t until they were out of Magnolia that she allowed herself to cry. Even then, she felt like she shouldn’t be as Acnologia tended to Yuri and Precht’s wounds.

“Didn’t know you were a doctor.” Warrod off-handed, sorting through their supplies.

“A former occupation. I got back into it because of Zera and Mavis.” Acnologia helped Precht back up, informing him of his damages. Well, that was some good she did.

But it wasn’t enough.

“I’ll… go get some water.” Boiled water was good for cleaning wounds, right? She didn’t bother hiding how she felt in her voice, all the emotions too much to deal with. There were too many of them, spilling over like a broken dam.

She neared the lake’s edge, a million thoughts racing through her head. As she looked at her reflection, her thoughts became louder. She should have anticipated the enemies’ forces to be bigger, shouldn’t have gotten their hopes up.

It seemed whenever Mavis was around, Acnologia held back. But why? It would have been more advantageous for him to rip and tear through the lot of Blue Skull so they could get the Orb and get out.

Did he think a bit of bloodshed would upset her that much?

Why?! Why was she too weak?!

SPLASH!

She was interrupted by hearing a splash from the lake, finding the source to be a man with black hair… who was also naked.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were bathing here!”

“Leave the forest! Now.” 

He put his clothes on, black robes with a white sash.

“It’s a bad habit of mine. I should be the one to go.”

The man started walking, only to stand still. She felt a change in the air, not unlike how the air felt when dead still roamed Tenrou.

“Mavis!”

In the blink of an eye, the forest withered and Acnologia was in front of her. Both hands were covered in scales, claws replacing fingertips. Neither of them was affected by whatever was afflicting the other man. 

“So you’ve taken a student, Acnologia?”

“That’s none of your business, Zeref.” 

Zeref…

“As in the Black Wizard Zeref? What did you do to be put under Ahnkseram’s curse?” If her knowledge on that curse was correct, then that was Zeref’s affliction. He showed care for her by wanting her to leave the forest and in return for him caring about her life, the forest’s life was taken.

“How did you know that?” Zeref looked shocked that anyone would know of that curse, but Mavis knew a lot of things she ought not to.

“I’ve only heard of it in books, but it’s also known as the Curse of Contradiction, right? The more you care for life, the more life you take. Conversely, the less you care for life, the less life you take.” Well, it was more so that his body emitted death energy and its intensity was determined in proportion to his care for the life around him, but that was the gist of it. Zeref looked surprised or maybe… had she upset him? She was so stupid! He was cursed by a god; of course it was a sensitive subject for him!

“It’s alright. You’re the first person to guess my curse. I suppose you’d be familiar with such things given you live with him.” Zeref gestured at Acnologia, who merely sighed. Mavis tilted her head, confused. Acnologia never said he had been cursed in any way.

“He’s talking about dragonization, Mavis. It’s technically a side-affect of Dragonslayer magic, but it feels a lot more like a curse.” A mild look of discomfort - a little shiver, furrowed brows - came across him, but disappeared as soon as it came.

“Is it lonely having that curse?” A curse like that one seemed unbearable to Mavis. The idea that the more a person loved, the more they lost was a terrifying idea to her. The idea of losing Acnologia or Zera to it - the ones she loved most - sent a chill down her spine.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. But don’t look so sad about my predicament.” He paused for a moment, as if picking his next words carefully. Not just carefully, but with the utmost care.

“This conversation is possibly the first time I’ve enjoyed myself in a while. Thank you for that, Mavis. But please go now.” He took in a breath, as if steeling himself.

“If I battle the fear that my power may hurt you, it will come to pass. I don’t wish to hurt you, or anyone for that matter.” He started to walk away, trying to distance himself from Mavis.

“You mustn’t. You must all stay away from me!” But a group of animals - rather, Mavis’ illusions - begged to differ. He seemed surprised that the animals were either getting near him or were still alive.

“You can touch them if you wish. They’re my illusions after all.”

Acnologia demonstrated, touching one of the animals.

“See? They’re not even scared of me.” He remarked, hand phasing through one of the illusions. She could see a small smile on Zeref’s face. 

“Just what’s your reason for keeping me here? Especially you, Acnologia.”

“As much as I hate to admit this—”

“We need your help! If you’re a powerful mage, then you must know a lot about magic and thus… Could you teach my friends magic? There are a lot of people we need to fight!”

“Then why not throw Acnologia at the problem and let him rip it to shreds?” It was a valid question given Acnologia’s reputation.

“Because Mavis has seen more than enough bloodshed in her life. Let me handle this chat, Mavis.”

“But you might get hurt!”

She heard a laugh come from Zeref, wondering what was so funny.

“Me? Hurt him?! As if! Whatever magic you throw at him, he’ll just eat it! Even my curse isn’t immune to his appetite.” 

“Maybe. It tastes like shit.” Acnologia deadpanned, though Mavis took the hint it was her time to leave the conversation.

“But you taught her, didn’t you?” Zeref presented a good point except for one thing: Acnologia was entirely self-taught. He was born with an unordinary amount of magic in him and while his methods to deal with his magic may have worked for him, Mavis learned the majority of hers from a bit of his tutoring and a lot of books on magic.

“She was already using magic at the time I found her.”

“How did you know?”

“Because of Zera. But I’m not sure if she’s entirely Mavis’ creation or not.”

“How so?”

Acnologia took a deep breath, listening more keenly than he had been before. He couldn’t let Mavis hear this.

“Even for you, that’s quite the outlandish idea. Well, she should still be able to use magic if that’s the case. What of the others?”

“The closest one to using magic is Yuri, though that’s with all the lacrima he has on him. Other than that, none of them use magic.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be that different from the lectures I held at the college. You can handle any collateral damage from spells gone awry.”

“Fine, but if any of the magic tastes like shit I’m blaming you.”

Chapter Text

“Was our meeting by chance or fate?

Is it despair or hope that awaits us?”

— Elizabeth Liones, Seven Deadly Sins Chapter 1

That stranger dressed in black stood about 10 feet away from Yuri and the rest of them. Well, except for Acnologia for some reason. Something about a curse, Acnologia described it like getting an eternal case of strep throat… but with magic.

And it killed people.

Yuri wasn’t going to bother asking why Acnologia could be around the man with no problem. At this point, Yuri stopped questioning when it came to Acnologia. That man - dragon? dragonslayer? whatever - was a walking pile of mysteries. Just when Yuri thought he had something figured out with him, he’d do something like this and have Yuri banging his head against a wall.

Or a tree.

Or a rock.

Precht was even more on guard than usual and Warrod, the laid-back jokester , was on edge. Well, maybe that had something to do with Blue Skull. Or rather, the beating they got at the damned guild’s hands. Precht lost his eye , Yuri somehow lived getting a blast of magic to the chest, and… gods, poor Mavis. Even before then, he could tell just being in Magnolia had her on edge. Bad memories? 

Any person would be on edge being in Magnolia. Well, how Magnolia currently was anyway. It was probably a real nice town when Blue Skull wasn’t hanging around the place like flies around a corpse. 

When he thought of it, Acnologia had mentioned that for him, this venture was a good excuse to get rid of Blue Skull. And Mavis had gotten giddy at the mention of that…

Then there were the ruins on Tenrou. They weren’t old , as Yuri knew what old ruins looked like. He had grown up climbing old pillars or sneaking into castles to find what treasure his kid self thought there would be. Treasure hunting just made him more familiar with ruins, as it was old places that housed the best treasure that hadn’t been bought by some snooty old fart that just had to wave enough money and they’d have the treasure without an ounce of work.

Jewels and gold were great, but the greatest treasure was the tales you told to get to it. It was the bonds made to get to the gold and get out alive. It was in looking back on old adventures and laughing at your past self for pulling such an obvious trap or jabbing at a friend for grabbing the decoy instead of the real thing.

He stuck with Warrod and Precht for a few reasons, but if he had to name one, then… It was because he could always count on them to cover for him. Warrod had barreled out of Magnolia with him and Precht in tow, knowing that battle was lost.

Dammit!

He could have lost both of them! They would have died all to pursue that damn Orb all because Blue Skull were a bunch of cutthroat bastards that made their hold on power more important than the lives of others! They shot that geezer like hunting game and laughed as they died.

They laughed as Yuri took a spell to the chest, they laughed as Precht lost his eye…

They laughed as Warrod rushed out and wondered if his friends would make it.

Even if Yuri didn’t fully know Mavis, Zera, and Acnologia’s history with that guild, he didn’t need to. That guild had tried taking something precious from him, or someone . Two someones, actually. Maybe even three; Mavis had grown on him in their short time together, she was almost like a little sister.

And that meant Zera was getting lumped in too, the girl might as well have been joined at the hip with Mavis.

And naturally, that meant Acnologia would be lumped into this.

Then again, Acnologia did get giddy at the idea of murdering them.

Looks like he had more than two reasons to learn magic.

He didn’t find much point in taking the Tenrou Orb if he was the only one who got the glory. While Yuri had a love for treasure, he wasn’t some selfish bastard that hogged the glory all to himself.

“Let’s get to it! How long do we have?”

“Six months. All you have to do to ‘pass’ is land a hit on me.” Ok, ok; Acnologia wasn’t asking for outright mastery from them when it came to magic, but just enough to land a hit on him.

A small voice whispered in Yuri’s ear that it was impossible. But Yuri thought seeing a dragon was impossible and yet Acnologia could turn into a dragon like it was second nature. 

Besides, being a treasure hunter meant working with high risk for high reward. So he was more than used to stakes like these.

He’d nab two treasures once this was all said and done: the Tenrou Orb and beating the everloving hell out of Blue Skull.

Little did he know that he’d find a treasure far greater than those two.

It had become a habit of Zeref’s to simply observe others. He couldn’t interact with them because of this blasted curse, but he could observe from a distance. He likened it to birdwatching, but instead of a sense of love for those he observed, he tried to hold merely apathy and curiosity.

And Acnologia was quite the curious man to watch in how he interacted with the others. With Mavis and Zera, he was acting almost like a parent to them. And while not ideal, he went over all of their mistakes in brutal detail.

Have you ever seen a grown man be brought to near tears because his kick’s strength was compared to the force of a drunk wet noodle?

Zeref has. And the only thing that kept him from pitying Yuri was the curse. Well, that and the sheer determination the blond had. Well, Zeref supposed the right word would be ‘ambition’ rather than determination.

Even with Precht’s missing eye, Acnologia didn’t treat him any differently from the other treasure hunters or the girls. He was blunt and straight to the point in where they messed up, not caring for pretty words or gentle advice.

As for Zeref, he fell back on his habits of when he used to hold lectures. When it came to something like magic, especially with most of this group being complete beginners, patience and kindness was key.

But Zeref knew what Acnologia was doing. He was riling them up, but there was a good reason to it. Probably.

To be honest, whenever the Dragon King got involved, any ounce of predictability there may have been was thrown out of the window in favor of chaos. But if Zeref were to hazard a guess, he would say that it was some attempt to help them filter out distractions or to keep a cool head in battle. For the weak, that was to keep them from angering an opponent that may be too strong for them. And for the strong, it was to keep themselves from getting carried away.

A sign of someone having great strength was restraint. And contrary to Acnologia’s reputation, he knew how to hold back. Perhaps, if Zeref could die, that sort of thing would make him afraid. In that scenario, Acnologia would be able to kill him at any time and it would have given him an underlying feeling of fear.

The one thing he had over Acnologia was the Curse of Contradiction. And even then, it was only the immortality that he had over him. Acnologia could simply eat the miasma emitted by the curse. Granted, it tasted horrible according to the dragonslayer but that immunity just further cemented how inhuman Acnologia was. He looked and sounded like a human, but he wasn’t.

Like Zeref, but it was so much easier for Acnologia to pretend to be human.

But he couldn’t fall into envy, as that emotion was borne from caring for his own life. Or was it? Envy, from what he could gather, was an emotion rooted in wanting to destroy what good another person had. But Zeref felt no desire to destroy what Acnologia had.

Yes, both of them were cursed. But Acnologia’s curse seemed so much more bearable than the hell of Ahnkseram’s curse.

Zeref turned his attention to Precht, noting the other man’s demeanor. He was calm and precise, putting his focus on one thing: what Zeref could guess was his weapon of choice. It seemed to be a blade attached to a chain, wielded in a manner similar to a whip. He made small adjustments to his stature or how much force he put behind a strike, relying much more on his right. It was by no means a traditional weapon, but Precht seemed an expert at it. 

Precht missed a strike, silent as he withdrew his weapon and readied to strike again.

Zeref wasn’t a combative man, but he did once study battle tactics out of boredom. It was much more entertaining to study than trying study ways to die (again), but it seemed like the time it would take for him to withdraw his weapon and launch it again could prove dangerous. Magic could help with that, especially if Precht’s magic manifested itself in a manner similar to his weapon.

He walked over, not too close for Precht to interact with the curse’s miasma but close enough to get a better look at what Precht was doing. 

“What is it?” Precht looked at him, still bringing back his weapon. He couldn’t tell much about how the other felt with his obscured mouth and lost eye.

“Your temperament would make it easiest to learn magic. Additionally, using a magic similar to your weapon would help cut the drawbacks of using the actual thing.” Precht’s attention was now on the mage, the odd weapon now back in his sleeve. Precht seemed to mull over the pros and cons that Zeref had presented before coming to a decision.

“Could using magic make up for any errors I may make due to my missing eye?” Again, Precht’s temperament seemed to serve him well by asking the most important question. Even if Zeref wanted to, he couldn’t use healing magic on Precht. And it wasn’t due to the curse; Zeref had never learned it. Enchantments were also out of the question, as Zeref had long given up learning on them.

“Yes.” Zeref simply replied. Magic was much more than a fancy power-up or a ball of fire to chuck at some unfortunate soul. It was an extension of the self, an embodiment of one’s will. And given that Zeref created his magic, it was something he knew rather well. He suspected Acnologia had done the same.

There were no dragons that could eat just magic, after all.

But that wasn’t Zeref’s business.

“Well, the best way to build up internal ethernano to channel into magic is…”

“Meditation? Of course what I’m doing is meditation!” Yuri was currently doing some squats. He couldn’t focus sitting still, another reason why he liked treasure hunting. It was all action and moving, the most sitting he had to do being accepting requests or buying but even those could be done standing up. 

His breaths and movements gave him something to focus on and meditation was all about focus if their cursed wizard teacher’s explanation was anything to go by. Zera seemed to be doing something similar, finding a thing to focus on instead of just sitting around and doing jack.

The brunette was staring intensely at the campfire, trying to put all her focus on it. Well, whatever worked for her.

The rest of them were going for a more traditional approach, with Acnologia seeming to not do much but sit back and observe them. Well, it wasn’t Acnologia that needed the training nor the black-robed wizard. It was the rest of the group that needed this.

Yuri swapped from squats to pushups, counting the number in his head. He wasn’t sure if it was the exercise high talking or something else, but Yuri could have sworn he felt something under his skin. Not in a bad way, but like something that had always been there was starting to show itself. Yuri kept at it, wanting to draw whatever it was to the surface. It was like seeing the glint of gold and being handed the world’s best shovel.

When his arms started getting tired, he swapped to another exercise. And then another. Eventually, Warrod had to wrestle him into taking a break. He struggled in the other man’s grasp, trying to worm and wriggle his way out. But it was hard with Warrod’s bulky frame, like being grappled by a tree.

Eventually, the high from exercising gave way to exhaustion. Yuri collapsed by the fire after Warrod let him go. For the faintest moment, Yuri could have sworn the air smelled like it was about to rain. But looking at the sky, it was clear with barely a cloud to be seen.

Yuri would worry about that, but he was exhausted. He closed his eyes, listening to the crackling of the fire.

Zera forced herself to stare at the flames. There was an ever-faint flicker of fear in her heart, those flames a reminder of back then. Even if they weren’t the same flames, their bad run in Magnolia kept having her mind circle back to them.

Zera hadn’t given much thought to what magic she’d want to have, just something strong. Magic was a reflection of the wielder, so she wondered what sort of magic would suit a person like her.

But if she could choose, she supposed it would have to be fire. Fire could help by cooking or lighting a way in the dark. Yes, it could hurt too, but that was only if the wrong people used it. And Zera… wasn’t that. If she was going to have that power, she wanted to use it to help!

She kept looking at the fire as if it might hold the answer. 

“Zera, you smell stressed. Get some sleep.” Zera was so focused on the flames, she jumped at Acnologia’s voice.

And the flames flickered blue for a moment.

Blue flames… She had read in one of Mavis’ books that those were the color of will o’ wisp flames, spirits that acted as guides to the lost if you treated them well. Some even said they were guides to the afterlife.

Creepy.

Yeah, either Zera’s magic was fire or the tiredness was getting to her. Either way, it was best to get some sleep. She tucked herself beneath the sheets of her sleeping bag.

“Good night, Acnologia.”

“Good night, Zera.”

She fell into a dreamless slumber, not a flame or spark in the sight of her mind’s eye. As such, she slept through the night with ease.

Mavis knew her greatest strengths were in her illusions and strategy. But with the encounter from Blue Skull, she was doubting her strengths in both of those. They had rushed into enemy territory without doing any reconnaissance and she had put all her eggs in one basket, that ‘basket’ being Acnologia. She had assumed his ruthlessness would make this easy, that he could even just use simple intimidation tactics.

But he wasn’t going into this alone. He was going into this with her, Zera, Yuri, Warrod, and Precht. The treasure hunters likely wouldn’t impact Acnologia’s behavior much, well… what Mavis knew of his behavior.

But when it came to her and Zera… he always seemed to hold back. When logic dictated that the taking of life was the best course of action but her or Zera was there, emotion dictated that he hold back. He didn’t want them to see more than they had already seen in their lives.

Even after all these years, it was strange having someone treat Mavis as… a child. And not in a demeaning way, but in the way a child is supposed to be treated by an adult. And that meant keeping Mavis from seeing things she wasn’t supposed to.

But she had seen a lot worse than someone get killed. 

On the other hand, adults were supposed to keep children from seeing things they weren’t supposed to.

She shook her head, deciding to focus on her illusions. And illusions were all about misdirection, keeping people from seeing what they were supposed to see. But it was also something that relied on knowing your audience. And Mavis’ ‘audience’ was Blue Skull.

Hmm… Just how would the Master of Blue Skull feel about the guild he seemed to pride himself on went up in smoke? Smoke…

That was it!

Mavis brought some fake fire to her fingertips, a smirk on her face. She’d give Blue Skull a taste of their own medicine. She wouldn’t actually burn anything, but there was a sort of warmth in her chest at the idea of duping Blue Skull’s master and seeing the despair on his face.

It was a despair Mavis was all too well acquainted with, after all.

And one that she’d make Blue Skull know too.

Yuri was the opportunist, Precht was the one with his head on his shoulders, and Warrod… Warrod was always the one they could lean on. He handled the heavy lifting, looking after the equipment, and bailing them out of trouble when it was too much for any of them to handle.

Back in Magnolia, his first instinct was grabbing Yuri and Precht. They were hurt the most, Yuri having taken a blast of magic to the chest and Precht having lost his eye . But now he had more than just Yuri and Precht to look out for: Mavis and Zera, a couple of kids.

And, yes, they were Acnologia’s kids but they were a pair of kids dragged into this whole thing and Warrod couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. Scratch that, he felt a lot guilty. And while Warrod hadn’t known the guy for long, Warrod knew Acnologia would go through Hell and back for those two girls.

“Something troubling you, Warrod?” Said the black-robed wizard. Warrod nearly jumped upon hearing him. For someone who claimed to live in isolation, he was damn good at hiding his presence. 

Warrod looked at the sky, noting the trees. They were strong, sturdy. There was a nest of birds in one of them, sheltered by the branches. Something as big as that tree protecting those birds. Warrod was always looking out for Yuri and Precht.

If Warrod could have any say in what his magic would be, he wanted it to be like those trees. 

“Just… thinking about my magic. If I can help it, I want to keep them all safe. It’s what I’ve always done for Yuri and Precht and… I couldn’t protect them back in Magnolia. This time, I’ll make sure they won’t get hurt.”

It was just a few days shy of that six month deadline that… they did it! 

Mavis had called Acnologia over for some help with an illusion spell only to reveal two Mavises.

“Which of us is the real one?” Both asked in sync, even the flow of ethernano matching up. Even their scents were similar! That meant Acnologia had to focus on the two Mavises, making it where he could barely notice the faint scent of ozone…

And the kick that came with it.

Acnologia just managed to block Yuri’s kick, the arm he raised now entangled in one of Precht’s chains and a vine from Warrod restraining his leg.

Zera had a finger pointed at him, blue flame dancing on the tip.

There was a prideful grin on Acnologia’s face, teeth fully showing and what almost sounded like a purr .

“All of you pass.”

The other Mavis disappeared, the illusion mage walking up to Acnologia with a smile.

“Does this mean we get to kick Blue Skull’s ass now?”

Everyone, except for Acnologia and Zera, looked shocked to hear Mavis swear.

“She’s heard a lot worse than ‘ass’ from me.” Acnologia deadpanned.

Off to the side, away from the little group, Zeref felt a sort of contentment upon seeing their growth. He quickly cleared himself from the area before the effects of his curse could run their course. And so, three adventurers, two girls, and a dragonslayer made their way back to Magnolia to properly retrieve the Tenrou Orb and kick Blue Skull’s ass.

Chapter Text

"War isn't murder

Good men don't die

Children don't starve

All women survive"

— War Isn't Murder, Jesse Welles

The biggest debate of this whole plan, of taking down Blue Skull, wasn’t who would do what. That was decided rather easily. Yuri and Warrod were to retrieve the Orb, Acnologia and Precht were to deal with any grunts outside, and Mavis…

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Acnologia’s voice was calm, the pair of them sitting on the bed. Or the bedframe that remained in the old room anyways. The surrounding room of the abandoned home had a faint smell of dust, the wood well worn and warped in several areas from water damage. Her hair had been neatly tucked into a braid, Mavis idly toying with the pale purple ribbon tied at the end. Those green eyes furrowed, lips drawn in a firm line as she nodded.

“I’m not as weak as I was back then, you know.” There was a slight strain in her voice, hands briefly squeezing around the ribbon. Her shoulders bunched up slightly. She was right in that sense, not that Mavis was ever weak when it came to magic.

“I’m not asking about magical or physical strength. Do you have the will to see this to the end?” She bit her lip, fists balling up.

“I do! I’m not letting that monster of a guild master beat me! Not after everything he did!” A small sob, almost mistakeable for a hiccup, came from her. He put his hand on her head, a gentle reassurance. A slight sigh came from him when she put her hands on his arm, tiny hands just barely wrapping around his lower arm. He pulled her in close, head buried in his chest as her back hunched before the first sob ripped itself from her throat. It was what you might expect from a widow at a funeral or a parent burying their child. Not a thirteen year old girl. Most certainly not one trying to overthrow a dark guild.

While she wasn’t the girl he met that night on Tenrou, she was still a child.

He simply rubbed circles into her back with his thumbs as the sobs grew louder, some full and some halfway. Her chest heaved, tears and snot staining his shirt. Zera perched on the bed frame, placing a hand on her back.

Both were silent save for his breaths, all the noise in the room produced by Mavis. Her chest heaved, small fists grabbing onto his cloak. He let some of the fabric drape over her, like that thin fabric would shield her from all the wretched things in the world. Well, except for himself. Though she never saw him as wretched.

And he’d never see her that way either.

He heard mutters from her, well mutters to the average person but he could hear her quite clearly. Names, places, little routines, daily life on that island. Writing math equations into the wall of a stable, finding abandoned books on the side of the road, listening to bar gossip at the Red Lizard guild hall, and so much more.

So much ripped away from Mavis’ life with only ashes to mourn.

“I… I hate them! I hate all of them! Every single one of them! None of them deserved to die! Mothers, children, babies- they all died! They didn’t even die peacefully!”

“Mylingar are the souls of dead babies and children who died violently? And revenants are adults who were wrongly killed?” Mavis looked up from the book, tilting her head. Her hair had grown a bit, but was pulled into a ponytail like it always was when she was reading.

“Yes. Mylingar are still dangerous though.”

“Even though they just want to rest?”

“It’s how they go about it that makes them dangerous. They often kill the ones trying to bring them to rest.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at the book. He skimmed over the contents, noting the illustration on the right page. A woman was depicted carried a myling, the flesh starting to peel off her bones as she walked closer to a graveyard, an open grave with a blank tombstone. Desire in and of itself was not a dangerous thing, not in most cases. But how one enacted on that desire could turn dangerous, even apocalyptic.

A doctor just wanting to save patients could become a monster.

“Acno, if I became one, would you be able to bury me?” She was only ten. Ten and she was already thinking of what her death would mean for him. His chest hitched a bit, heart feeling like it had been squeezed.

“Of course, Mavis.”

She turned the page to another creature, simply listening as she read.

“It’s not fair! They get to get away with every evil thing they’ve done and laugh about it!” She looked up, grabbing the hem of his cloak. “They kill and they laugh, they steal and they laugh! They won’t be laughing anymore after this!”

Zera paled at that, shaking Mavis’ shoulder. “Mavis, we just need the Orb. Besides, killing them isn’t gonna bring anyone back.” Acnologia nodded, petting Mavis’ hair.

“She’s right, you know.”

Mavis took in a breath. Then out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out.

“Sorry. Just got a bit emotional.” She got off the bedframe, hand going to her face as she wiped her tears. She walked out the room, though not before smiling at the two.

“Goodnight, Zera, Acno.” She said it calmly, though Acnologia could still hear a faint wobble in her voice. Uncertainty? Lingering anger? As she left, Zera immediately moved to follow.

“I’m gonna sleep with her tonight, ‘kay?”

She left before Acnologia could even get a response out. He sighed, getting up as the bed frame creaked from the release of his weight. Well, then the damn thing cracked. A lesser man would have felt insecure about such a thing, but after over three hundred years stuck on this hunk of rock he almost snickered at the sight. That superstitious part of his brain tried to say it was a bad omen, but Acnologia quickly shot that spiral down.

He wasn’t human, yes, but he still needed some degree of sleep.

He checked the other rooms of the abandoned house, the scent damp with the wafting of… incense? Either someone on this team was secretly rich or rather superstitious. His tattoos glowed in the darkness of the house, the only other light being that of the moon. He followed that scent, his feet keeping to the least warped panels of the floorboards. Old habits died hard, including managing to be silent despite his intimidating stature. The floorboards weren’t splintered to hell and back, instead well worn.

He ignored that stench of animal feces, ignored the almost mildewy scent that dug into every corner of the house.

But he didn’t ignore the scent of rot. Fresh rot. Recently killed rot.

Different rots had different scents and this one had that kind associated with meat. He followed it, the scent of the incense growing stronger. The ground changed from wood to grass, cold wind hitting his face and the dirt muddy from an earlier rain. Petrichor, while not as noticeable as the rot and incense, was added to the scents. But his focus was on the rot.

Just.

The.

Rot.

He got closer, it growing stronger. There was a slight… salivation in his mouth. The dragon they’d tried to pair him with back then, that one was a scavenger. Had to be dragged flapping and screeching from some carrion, they said. It was apparently a very antisocial creature.

Why not pair the medic with the oversized vulture? What could go wrong?

Well, everything that happened after was a perfect example of what went wrong. Not that he blamed the creature as it died.

It just stank so much, he wanted to puke. That dragon with the unhinged jaw and milky pupils and breath that smelled like death had gone and died in a pile of rotten veal in a bog.

The dragon-

The source of the rot was a pit. Stepping closer, it was a pit full of… people. He couldn’t see all of them but of the ones he could, their corpses were eyeless and skin like jerky or leather. Well, both were dried meat but one was simply dried with the intent for human consumption. He wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, knees bending as he crouched over the pit.

He could incinerate them. A good blast of ethernano and that pit would be nothing but ashes.

But if some Blue Skull maggots decided to poke around near here, such a noise would be practically a scream to come and slaughter them all.

His guts twisted at the idea of having to bury Mavis. Well, he’d have to bury her eventually. But he’d prefer she be buried as an adult rather than as a child. Let her grow up, go to some fancy academy if she desired, get married, have kids. Let her die old and gray and happy with not a single thing tethering her to the mortal world.

He saw one of the corpses… move. Heard the bones creak and the skin splinter as it grasped at the sky.

Oh joy.

The maggots didn’t even give them last rites.

Of course they wouldn’t. Too focused on reveling in their destruction like a dog in its’ own shit.

He marched back to the house, the scent of rot still in the air. He knew Precht ought to have a match. What he didn’t expect coming back to that old place was Yuri doing squats by a tree. He could smell a faint bit of ozone from the man, who then fell flat on his ass.

“Acnologia! Warn a guy next time!” He chided, striding over. His voice was more hushed, perhaps having the good sense to stay quiet at night.

“There’s a burial pit a bit from here. You have a match?”

Yuri visibly stiffened, then fished a matchbox out from his pocket.

“S-sure! Lead the way!” His voice was that false happy, the kind a person put on in an uncomfortable situation. Right, a burial pit would be uncomfortable for most. They were something Acnologia had just… gotten used to.

Acnologia made sure his footsteps made noise, a slight awkwardness to his gait. Yuri’s steps were quiet, as expected of a treasure hunter. That scent of rot came in on a sudden breeze, hitting both in the face.

Groans of the dead permeated from the pit, a yelp coming from Yuri that sounded like his toe had just been stepped on.

“By Ahnkseram, they’re… alive? Undead? YOU’RE SUPPOSED-” For his outburst, Yuri was given a swift elbow to the chest. Acnologia sighed.

“You know funeral rites?” Acnologia asked.

“I’m not a priest! Nor the son of one!” Yuri shoved the matchbox at Acnologia, a mutter under his breath. While they lacked in salt, a good enough flame could char even bone. Really, it was as simple as infusing a bit of his ethernano into the flame and letting the fire burn.

The match struck, the much more pleasing scent of flame becoming the focus. He let a bit of his ethernano bleed into the flame, now more blue than red. He tossed it into the pit, the little flame, disappearing amongst the dead.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Seven matches now ablaze, the flames feasting on the dead below. It started off slow, like the initial pile-in at a buffet. A scent much worse than rot – burning flesh – slowly added itself. The corpses that could move started to shriek as their flesh cooked, sounding somewhere between scratching on glass and an out of tune cello. Acnologia had heard much worse.

But judging by the sound of Yuri puking, this was the first time he has seen such a thing.

“Lucky enough for your hometown not to be hit by a plague?” Yuri looked up, a few tears rolling down his cheeks as he wiped his mouth off with a handkerchief stored in his jacket.

“That’s… what they do to the dead in towns hit by plague?”

“I’ll take that as a no. Plagues kill quickly and diseases linger in the body post-mortem, so not only is there not time for a proper burial but there’s also the issue of minimizing the spread of disease. So, bodies will be piled up in a pit outside of town and burnt together.” He spoke of it all very clinically, almost detached. He’d seen this over and over again.

He had a quintet of slayers to look after at some point, whenever the Heartfilias could be bothered with opening the Eclipse Gate. And they would need a sane caretaker. Well, about as sane as Acnologia could be. So that meant interacting with people, drifting from town to town.

Occasionally, those were drifts into plague-ridden places.

But these corpses weren’t caused by plague. Their deaths were controlled, intentional.

Murder.

A pit of murdered dead. And undead spawned from murder were much harder trying to shove into the afterlife than those whose deaths were made by other circumstance.

Magnolia was practically a dead town when they had arrived there, all ruins and rubble with abandoned houses and people who were only alive in the sense they still had a pulse and blood flowing in their body.

And yet that cathedral with that skeleton - it wasn't a dragon, Acnologia knew what dragons looked like - was so well-kept and… the sheer opulence disgusted him. He wasn't particularly religious, but he felt some sort of blasphemy had to be committed by that display. A bunch of maggots having the gall to see themselves worthy of worship, of being the next big boogeyman.

The sounds of the corpses were now more like pained moans, rotted vocal cords trying to squeeze out one last sound of life. Some seemed to almost form words, but whatever they tried to say was lost in the mindless wailing and roars of the flame. Yuri buckled to his knees, the stench of bile added as he puked onto the grass.

Right, most people weren't used to the scent of the dead. Much less burning corpses. He tried to remember a time where he or his stomach was upset at the scent of the dead, but it was… hard. Even before becoming a Dragonslayer, he was accustomed to death as it came with being a medic. Sometimes patients died and nothing could be done. All one could do was stare at that body, bring it to the local church if it hadn't been blown to smithereens, have a priest give last rites, bury the body, and give it some small marker to indicate just who had died.

This pit was full of dozens of names that would never have a marker, funerals - proper ones - that would never be held, last rites that would never be administered, goodbyes from the living never given.

"They're monsters." Yuri muttered under his breath, a faint bit of bile clinging to his lips as he stood back up. He wiped his lips, brows furrowing as he looked at the pit. Yuri turned on his heel, starting to walk away.

"I'm gonna head back to the house. Could you…" He vaguely gestured to the pit with his hand, lips curled back and nose wrinkled with disgust.

"Yes, Yuri." He let out a light scoff as he saw Yuri book it back through the woods, clearly glad to be rid of the sight of the pit. But Acnologia merely sat, merely stayed watching the flames lick and devour the bodies. The shrieks, the moans, the grasping hands that flailed about trying to climb from the pit, the crunching of bones as the writhing bodies crushed each other in that futile struggle.

Even the dead seemed to struggle just as much as the living.

He threw a ball of energy into the pit, fueling the flames even more.

This would be a long night. Well, he had gone without sleep for longer.

Morning came with the chirping of birds and the last few groans of the pit. Hands still reached out in futile attempts to grab at the walls of earth but were met with failure after failure. Acnologia got up, a groan escaping his lips as he stretched every limb and part of his body that could be stretched. Arms, legs, torso, hands even his jaw which unhinged itself for a bit but quickly corrected itself.

He made his way back to the house, well if it could even be called that. It was ramshackle, moss clinging to roof tiles and the wood framing worn down. The stone darkened only due to the canopy of the forest. As he walked through the halls, his gait was awkward as he tried to make sure his feet made some degree of noise. He followed Yuri’s scent, petrichor and old stone with a faint bit of gold.

The man was out cold on his sleeping mat, Warrod and Precht too.

And Mavis was curled up among them like a little cat, her hair cradling her body like tender and loving arms. He sat down, unable to help the smile that broke his lips. His head gave an involuntary nod, taking the cue from his body to rest as he lay on some of the blankets.

They smelled a bit sweet, so it was definitely Mavis that left them out for him.

By the time he was up, Acnologia was greeted to the sound of Zera and Yuri bickering over something or other.

“And you can kiss my ass, daffodil!” Oh joy, Zera was now swearing first thing in the… oh for the love of the gods he slept into the afternoon. That orange-yellow light of the late afternoon spilled its way through what remained of the glass panes of the house.

“And what are you two arguing about?” He yawned, jaw deciding in all its finite and bony wisdom to unhinge itself again. He ignored the look from Yuri as he fixed his jaw back into place.

“Mavis went and altered the plan!” Zera huffed, throwing her hands up in the air. “We can’t just go and play hero like that!” She made an irritated grunt, then a groan.

“Zera, I’m going to need you to elaborate.”

“Mavis wants to save the Orb and Magnolia! And the Three Stooges agreed to it! And I said we should wait until you’re up to finalize it! Well, now you’re up!” Zera was still huffing like a kettle, now gesturong to him. He sighed again, pinching his nose. He walked off, deciding it would be better to talk with Mavis on the details of the plan than a fuming Zera who… that girl did not just drop a curse at Yuri from Mildian. Well, it was actually the phrase for ‘jittery weaver’ or one of the many fancy ways to call someone an idiot, moron, or just plain stupid.

She must have learned it from either a textbook or from Acnologia. He heard her footsteps beat across the floor. Then she caught up with him, but that anger was gone. In its place was hunched up shoulders, scrunched up eyes, and a bitten, wobbly lip.

“You think she can’t handle it?”

“Mavis wants to create an illusion to distract Geoffrey - the master of Blue Skull - and capture him. Of course, I’m gonna go along with her. But… what if she freezes up again like in Magnolia? She’s gonna die if that happens.”

He could more than understand her concern. Mavis was a prodigy with illusion magic, even having some nature magic under her belt. And she was much stronger than when they first walked into Magnolia.

But she and Zera were still children.

They were children having to put terrible adults in their place, sniveling maggots that had the nerve to act like the toughest things on the continent. Really, to call them some force of evil or a band of monsters was pathetic. They weren’t monsters, they were cowards who preyed on those who couldn’t stand up against them just for kicks.

Sure, Acnologia could easily get rid of them like flies but there was a key difference.

He was doing this for his girls, his students—

Oh who was he kidding anymore? Certainly not himself.

They weren’t just his students; they were his kids.

“I’ll go help Mavis finalize the details on her big old plan. You go and apologize for cursing at Yuri in a language he doesn’t even know.”

“Bite me.” She huffed, though her tone held no malice and her shoulders were relaxed as she bapped him on his shoulder. He merely scoffed at that, walking around a bit more to find Mavis perched on a desk with a journal up to her nose and muttering away to herself. She was so off in her own little world she didn’t even notice him as he walked closer to her.

“Hello, Earthland to Mavis?”

He was surprised at the—

Oh gods, she squeaked! Like a mouse! That quirk of hers never got old.

“Pfft- were you reading up on how to turn into a mouse?” He teased, snickering at her little huff.

“No! I was just going over what I had written down for my plan before talking with you.”

“May I see?”

She handed him the notebook, his eyes going to the title: Mavis’ Plan to Beat Geoffrey and Also Save Magnolia. He looked through it, the plan only a few pages long and neatly written. She even had written out what she planned to say to Geoffrey, the little strategist.

“So the first step is making a fake Magnolia illusion magic that will appear as if on fire. Then Warrod will convince Geoffrey that we’ve already taken Magnolia for ourselves, Precht and Yuri will steal the Orb back and… Oh Mavis, you shouldn’t have!”

Written in one of the bullet points in big capital letters was “ACNO GETS TO BEAT UP THE BLUE SKULL MAGES” with a smiley face scribbled next to it. Of course there were the bits about capturing Geoffrey. Cast an illusion spell on a cage that would close itself on Geoffrey the moment he entered via a magic circle.

Then there was the part that must have put Zera in a fit. Just like all the other bullet points, this one was written in Mavis’ neat handwriting but a few spots on the paper were darker than the surrounding material as if something had been spilled.

“save everyone” was what was written.

For all her knowledge, all her extensive vocabulary, calm mind and strategic wit…

Mavis was still a child.

Of course a child would want to save everyone. It wasn’t a bad thing at all to want.

“How about we change this point to ‘save the ones we can’?” He suggested, voice low and calm as he leaned against the drawer. She took a breath, then nodded.

“I think Zera can agree with that.” Mavis smiled, a light to her eyes almost like hope. Of course she was hopeful about this. He found it impressive, her ability to hold onto hope and her ability to dream.

He wondered, for the briefest moment, if he would dream again.