A/N Ok, so I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with this, and why there are all these... weird... lines, but hopefully it is just a technology issue that will resolve itself. If it doesn't, I will try to pursue the problem and fix it. But if you would actually really like to read this, I suggest going to read it on my Wattpad, NatsuLovesLucy11 (pen name Hikari Sorayume) The title is the same so if you are actually interest in reading it, it should be a piece of cake to find (I only have that story uploaded) thank you, and have a nice day/afternoon/morning/night ^_^

The darkness swirled around him in a slow beckoning motion. It called to him. It insulted him. It planted seeds of doubt in his mind. With the tide pushing in, enveloping his body in a suffocatingly heavy blanket, he found himself drifting off and joining in with the darkness that had come to manifest within his soul.

"And even if everything I've believed in so far were a lie, I find I wouldn't mind at all,"

That was it. It was all over. Gray, that freaking idiot! The book, the book which held so much horror, had fallen into the hands of an idiot! Natsu lay on the cold ground, shaking heavily and staring with wide eyes at the ripped shreds that once used to be a book. He had failed him. He had failed Igneel, the dragon he had spent seven years looking for. He had failed him. Natsu felt like crying.

With his eyes watered up from anger and frustration, he turned to the ice mage who had caused him to fail the task Igneel had asked of him. Pushing himself up off the ground, he decided to let the black haired male know exactly how much he had screwed up, although he didn't quite know the extent of his stupidity himself.

"Gray, you retarded bastard! Igneel specifically told me not to destroy the book, so I'm sure there must have been a good reason not to!"

The man being yelled out slowly put down his fist – which he had held up in order to use his magic to destroy the book – and looked straight at Natsu with cold dead eyes that held a strange gleam of sick victory.

"And my dad told me to kill him. If the best way to kill someone isn't to get rid of the very thing connecting their soul to the world, then I don't know what is."

This reply made Natsu angry. He couldn't see the same logic that Gray held in his words, couldn't see how Gray could think things could be so simple and his actions go without consequence. Couldn't see how the book could have been so easy to destroy… everything just seemed like it was too easy for him, too simple. It put him off. If that thing had been like the final boss in a video game, there must've been some kind of hidden trick it possessed – like regeneration or some seriously ridiculous badass power up effect. He couldn't get the feeling out of his head that something major was going to happen. The feeling caused his whole body to shake and his lips to quiver with fearful anticipation. His father had seemed so worried… even if to others he had not appeared so. By ripping up that book… What had he done? What indistinguishable beast was to be unleashed?

"You were too reckless you idiot! Anything could happen!" the pink haired dragon slayer yelled at his companion, his voice laced with anger and confusion. "Just because you think that'll kill it, it doesn't mean it will!" His new sense of anticipation and adrenaline helped him to think just the slightest bit clearly, allowing him to see a piece of logic that had not fit in with Gray's method of attack. "Besides, didn't that book have some kind of enchantment placed on it so that it couldn't be opened? That means that even if-"

Natsu paused mid-sentence, – mid speech? - And fell to his knees; his hand rising to clutch at his hair as his teeth gritted in pain.

"What… is this?" Natsu felt a barrage of memories rolling across his mind like photos flashing on a screen. From within his brain he could feel the memories unlocking themselves like they had all been locked out and shut behind steel bars. For a moment it felt like a huge mental block had been lifted from his mind, like a seal had been placed there to keep him from remembering. It was almost like the books seal had broken when it had been torn apart and had torn apart a seal in his mind with it….

Hey… What?

The seal had been lifted

Then everything went black. And with it, a portion of his soul.

When he awoke, his vision was tainted with a crimson hue. Besides that, he found everything to be foggy and blurred, and that he wasn't in direct control of his body. He knew his eyes were closed, could feel his hair touching his closed eyelids. For all his effort, he could not open them. And yet he could still faintly see the faces of his beaten and hope deprived friends through a blurry crimson haze. He tried calling them, to instil them with the hope he was so used to providing them with, whether intentionally or not. He wanted to lift them up, to tell them "It's fine! You've got me! I'll beat the hell out of them for messing with our guild!" But however much he screamed for them, the only person who heard him was himself. He reached a hand for them, but could not touch them. He tried to catch their scents, so that he might catch a smidge off reassurance – only to find that for the first time in life his nose betrayed him, and he could smell completely nothing. Their familiar scents he was so used to being surrounded by were gone. He couldn't even smell for any fear that they harboured within them. What had happened to him?

"If this melody on the verge of breaking can spin out just one true note…"

"Even if everything I've believed in so far is a lie, I find I wouldn't mind at all."

Gray's POV

I slammed my fist into my palm, steadfast in my decision of handling the situation. I ignored the cries of the hot headed fire mage whose voice blended into background noise like a steady hum. I kept my intense gaze focused on the book before me, staring at it with a passionate hatred that ran deeper than time. I hated that book. I hated the demon whose soul dwelled within it. But most of all, I hated the man who had created E.N.D in the first place. I loathed him. I detested him. I despised him. And after ridding the world of his horrible demon, I would set out for his blood. If I defeated him, Zeref, what would become of all his demons? Would they also be defeated in their creator's death? That would be the ideal outcome. But if that were to happen… Would not it be a grey world? If the nirvana incident taught me anything then it would have been that the world needs to have an even balance of good and evil… But what even is good and evil? How can we distinguish ourselves to be on either side? Before I can grow to doubt myself anymore… first I must fulfill my father's wishes and destroy this horrid book… for my father… for my family…. For the guild… This… Demon… Will… PERISH!

Consumed with rage, my magic swirled around me in the form of glittering ice shards, dropping the temperature around me to a freezing degree. As my power built up inside me, I released my magic in the form of an ice lance, piercing the demon book and tearing it to shreds even as it lay innocently on the floor. In the middle of a fierce battle, as cries of rage and pain rang around me, all I could feel was pure, undying hatred for the black hired wizard, who had caused so much pain and suffering for all of those in my guild.

Natsu forgotten for the moment, I made a silent pledge.

"Zeref will die by my hands."

Zeref. He had created Deliora, the demon who destroyed Gray's village and murdered his friends, family and mentor. He had created the R-system, of which Erza was enslaved to build. He had created lullaby, and Eclipse, and all the demons of Tartarus. He had created E.N.D. Why had he named his demon E.N.D? Was it a joke? Was he saying, "Here is a demon that will end you"? No. That was not the case. But whether it was just a simple coincidence that the demons initials – for he too, as most of the demons from the books of Zeref did, has a full name – added up to E.N.D, or the fact that he had in fact been created to 'end' someone, albeit the creator himself, went unsure by the 'father' or 'master creator'. All he had wanted in life was to see his younger brothers smile again, and he had brought that about, hadn't he?

Hadn't he?

Lush green fields spread before a certain man. Great long fields filled with life and light. Yet in the centre of it all, was a dark and blackened circle. From within this circle, everything on the outside was clear and inviting. Viewing on the outside was a different story. Life and light clashed with death and disease, as this circle held a never-ending life stealing man. Wherever he wondered he took the lives of the places he took with him – it was his curse, to do as much. He left behind him a trail of death and sorrow. Whatever land he treaded upon fell victim to the curse that had befallen him. Animals and plants a like fell at his feet, dead. He would leave the place of his visit broken. And it was something he couldn't put a stop to – no matter how hard he tried to hold back the dark magic that erupted from within him.

This is where he was now – stuck on the top of a cliff, looking down into the deep water below him. If it had even been possible, he would have jumped off the cliff to kill himself. That was another part of the curse. He had become immortal, as if every life he took was used to extend his own. For him it was a sad life – but he had one hope. For that hope he had waited four hundred years, believing that once they were reunited that he would finally be able to pass on. Alas, he was disappointed again, for the person he had hoped would end his life was not yet strong enough. But if he had already waited so long, what was a couple more years? As long as he stayed in the same spot he could hardly hurt any more than he already had.

His relief was shortly lived, for any animal who scurried across his path or any bird who flew above his head was caught in his shroud of magic – which was quick to drain them of their life force.

Tears now flowed freely from the man's face. His short black hair cascaded gently across his face as he stared into the now night sky, the stars only serving to remind him of a certain spirt mage… or three.

So what if he had destroyed a book? It was but a book after all. It wasn't even the real deal, a mere illusion of the first. A fake. Granted, it still held power, and what amazing power it held. The destruction of this book was but a minor drawback – a tiny fluke that went uncalculated by Mard Geer. For the time being, he had been temporarily unleashed. It wasn't permanent, nor was the full extent of his powers apparent. Yes, this was but a small delay. And yet, what an unfortunate and yet somehow extremely fortunate unveiling this had become. For now that Mard Geer knew the current identity of the great powerful demon of Lord Zeref, it would be a simple task to return him to him. He wished to be destroyed yes? A simple fling of his wrist should be enough to control this empty shell of a man – (demon?) He may have been troublesome before, but now he was but a delusional mind stuck inside a body which proactively seeked destruction. A demon which would willingly oblige to Mard Geer's instructions to crush his dear companions.

Who would have thought that the pink haired brat who had seemed so persistent and righteous towards his belief would have been the almighty demon created to end his creators' life? Mard Geer certainly would not have thought so. In the demons power deprived state it was clearly apparent that Mard Geer could take him down without barely breaking a sweat. In his full form or even with just a little help from any of his puny little companions however, would have been an entirely different story.

And what a show this had become! A wonderful delight for someone stuck within the throes of boredom. He had wanted a challenge, admittedly, but rather a challenge of wit and skill, not will and heroics. Yes, watching the current dilemma unfold was much more entertaining. The peril his friends showed on the faces was much more appealing compared to what he had originally intended.

Those dragons however, were still a problem. They proved to be a nuisance. How to deal with them? It was at this moment that there was a sudden decrease in magical aura, a great heap of ancient magic that seemed to disappear as if it had never existed in the first place. I guess that answers that question.

Mard Geer allowed himself a jeering smile, as he watched the majestic black dragon rapidly retreat out of his vision. He knew, of course, that the dragon had bypassed him strength, but he also knew the dragon would not fight him. His true fight was not with him, after all, but rather someone else… this of which had been perfectly calculated. His intervention had not been foreseen, though neither had his helpfulness in getting rid of a potential threat, the red dragon… Igneel, the King of the fire dragons.

Mard Geers plans and insight were almost like clairvoyance most of the time, so all these disruptions to what he had laid out was certainly discouraging… however, the main objective had been achieved, meaning they no longer needed to activate Face in order to gain access to E.N.D. This would prove to be very helpful in the future, as Mard Geer had been certain most if not all of the nine demon gates would die in this battle, so this served as a relief.

I guess I'll order a retreat then… I'll get Seilah to use her Macro to "order" E.N.D to follow us… seeing as I am no longer ordering him to cause destruction, this is seemingly the only way to control him… I find it hard to believe such a rampant demon would be able to see sense in acquiring our goals…

Mard Geer took a deep breath, before making contact with Seilah and his guild.

Zeref… We will end you.

(side note: I'm sorry if the switched of the pov's annoyed or confused you. This used to be about four separate chapters)