dear_mun | Mun's been getting back into the canon and... he showed up.

Sixth!

[ ....He was the Fifth, Mavis. ]

[He'll just look confused for a minute before just grinning.]

I have no idea what you're talking about, cutie~!

[Especially since that title was more like a game of Hot Potatoe with Makarov.]

..Gildarts? Wow, Natsu and I were just talking about you the other day..! [ heee, whoda thunk? ]

Heheh. Speak of the devil, eh? How have you two been managing? Still keeping Natsu in line, I hope?

Something like that yeah! Although with Natsu, he can be something of a handful- Erza's around to help though, and then there are the rest. He's not as reckless as he used to be, thankfully.

Natsu? Less reckless? Damn, I owe Makarov a small fortune.

[Just have a knowing grin, Lucy.]

Well he's still a LITTLE reckless, just - some things he thinks on first, that's all.

[ w.. what, what, what's that grin all about? ]

... what?

That's more thinking than he ever used to.

[Have one of Gildarts' patented trollfaces.]

I've always joked about betting to see which of our ladies could tame him, and when you joined the guild, Makarov took me up on it. It would seem we've got yet another dragonslayer in the guild.

[Wink wink, nudge nudge.]

[ Heeehee, you silly. Lucy giggles lightly, only to choke at his next statement, flustered. ]

W..tame him? It isn't like that..! [ Except it is and no one believes you when you say otherwise, Lucy! ]

And why would Master Makarov take you up on such a bet when *I* joined and not anytime before?

[Gildarts just laughs.]

Makarov has a gift in seeing the potential in people. It doesn't hurt that a person's magic more often than not mirrors their personality. The armor Erza wears is much like the emotional shield she uses to keep people at arm's length so she doesn't get hurt again. Natsu's fire mirrors his own brash and wild personality.

And then there's you. Celestial Spirit Mages are rare because of the scarcity of the keys, yes. ...But it also takes a special kind of person to be a good Spirit Mage. It's all about bringing people together, and drawing out the best in everyone. That's what Makarov saw in you.

It's no coincidence that you joined the guild, and just about instantly Gray and Natsu's fighting starts to even out, Erza lets down her guard for the first time in years, and everyone seems to be feeling so much better about themselves...

E-eh? [ Well actually she had thought that most of that was coincidence. Some of it wasn't of course. ]

Gildarts... come on, you're going to make me blush...! [ Going to? She's already blushing quite a bit right now. ]

Oh, and Lucy?

[Have a pat on the head.]

Thanks for looking out for Cana. She's really grown 'cause of you.

Hee, the thanks aren't necessary, Gildarts. Cana's a dear friend, just like everyone else in Fairy Tail. I'm glad to have been able to support her when she needed it.

[He sighs, running a hand through his hair.]

I... just wish I had known sooner... Heh... I've been a crappy dad, huh?

That's not really your fault though - Cana wasn't clear about things to you either. [ They were both at fault. ] Besides, the important thing is that she made up for it.

[He just sighs and looks down at his prosthetic arm.]

Even if she had wanted to, I didn't exactly give her a chance...

You were on Tenroujima, weren't you?

[Gildarts instantly tenses. Tenroujima was the last thing he remembers, and you weren't one of the S Class candidates. Which raises the question... just how the hell does this guy know about Tenroujima?]

What if I was?

Only that I would prefer to know you are from Fairy Tail, instead of Grimoire Heart.

[ Meaning, he's from neither of those guilds. ]

I'm not excited about the idea that they might appear here, someday.

[Gildarts rolls his left shoulder shifting his cape just enough so that what's visible of his brand beneath his bandages can be seen.]

Gildarts Clive, one of Fairy Tail's S Rank mages.

[He narrows his eyes a bit.]

What do you care about Grimoire Heart? We beat them on Tenroujima, we'll beat 'em here if they showed up.

I see. [ That's not nearly as impressive to him as being told that he fought Acnologia and lived to tell the tale - twice - would be. ]

I care about the possibility of more conflict, and that they wouldn't have learned their lesson. I know their type. Humans like them have plagued this world for centuries, making it possible for people like me to exist. Finding out that their guild never recovered from the events on Tenroujima was welcome news.

[Yeah, well, he's not exactly the bragging type. Especially when he lost an arm, leg, and... well... something else that he's not telling.]

Yeah. People have always been selfish, power hungry, and thrive on the suffering of others. But for every black-hearted, power hungry jerk like that, there are two people willing to put their lives on the line to protect others.

That's why Fairy Tail was founded, and why we're respected by the people of Fiore, and feared by cowards like Grimoire Heart. I don't know who you are, or what you're talking about, but you have just as much choice as any other person.

Future events leave little room for optimism. You can only watch history repeat itself so many times before you begin to lose hope that a new era will allow human nature to finally change. It was only seven years later that I learned that the royal family of Fiore was hypocritically using my magic while condemning me, and that someone in the future foolishly believed he could defeat, if not control Acnologia.

[ Choice... Now he is starting to sound like Mavis. ]

I chose to live away from a world that rejected me. Precht... No, 'Hades' denied me even that. He had to pay.

[You're really giving him a bad vibe, y'know.]

I don't pretend to know what's really going on in the world, but when was the last time you saw three Dragon Slayers united under a single banner? Even Zeref's legacy has been beaten back at every turn by a single guild. Lullaby, Deliora, even the so-called "Tower of Heaven."

The times are changing. History is only repeated when people refuse to look at the mistakes of the past. Relics of the past like us? Yeah, our time is ending. But we've had our time in the sun. This next generation is unlike anything we've ever seen. Yeah, Hades needed to be stopped. He was stuck in the past, clinging to the darkness of a time long past. But with his defeat... you are presented with a new choice.

Are you going to repeat the mistakes Hades made? Or are you going to see what the next generation has to offer?

The Tower of Heaven was a fool's errand. They wanted to resurrect someone who was never dead to begin with. [ Yes, he's heard all about that in another game. Even Ultear's involvement in it was equally ironic. All of those people died for nothing. ] I only wish I could apologize to those who were involved in it, but I know that it wouldn't mean anything if I did.

I wish my time could end. I've wanted nothing more for the last four centuries, but the only one capable of doing that isn't strong enough, yet.

[ Zeref sighs. He wishes it was that easy. That was the bad thing about immortality; it gives a perspective that is next to impossible for anyone who isn't immortal to relate to. ]

I've been disappointed one too many times before. Hades is dead. If it weren't me that killed him, it would have been Acnologia, or perhaps even Tartarus once E.N.D. or Marde Guille found out what it was he was trying to use me to create.

[ If that isn't a hint as to who he is, Zeref doesn't know what is. ]

[It was the talk of the Tower of Heaven that tipped him off. As far as he knows, only the people that were there, Makarov, himself, and the council knew about the event. Coupled with this talk about Tenroujima... well, he hasn't quite put a name to the face yet, but he's got his suspicions. As such, he's just going to shift his stance slightly and activate Crash, just in case.]

I don't know your deal is, but it's clear you know too much about Zeref than some random mage should. And it sounds to me like you placed a bit too much faith in a beast like Acnologia.

[He lifts his artificial arm.]

He may have taken a bite out of me, but if the "Dragon of the Apocalypse" can't even finish off some old fart like me - especially when I come back for a rematch - I'd say you were barking up the wrong tree.

That said, I can't approve of anyone just throwing their lives away. Life is too precious, regardless of length.

I should know about Zeref. [ He doesn't elaborate, for now. His eyes fall upon the artificial arm, and Zeref's expression softens a bit. He fought Acnologia? Twice? Either this guy really is the real deal, or Acnologia's getting sloppy these days. ]

That is exactly why I felt Hades needed to die. That lesson is one I learned far too late. The kind of power I'm known for didn't come without a steep price. I have to live with that every single day.

[ His eyes close, and he sighs. He can feel that magic radiating off of Gildarts. It's impressive, certainly, even Zeref will admit that. ]

Somehow, I don't feel Mavis will agree with me, even if she of all people should have known how that was going to end.

[There's a long pause after he mentions Mavis. He relaxes a bit, though he's not turning off Crash.]

...what guild are you in?

I'm not in any guild.

You should consider joining one. If you knew Mavis, you should know how she'd feel.

[He turns off Crash for a moment, extending his right arm.]

Fairy Tail is always recruiting, you know.

[ Zeref sighs, turning his head away for a moment. ]

That is a very bad idea. The Council would likely declare Fairy Tail a Dark Guild on the spot. It's bad enough that it was confirmed that the guild was hiding me on Tenroujima, even if it was done by Mavis instead of the current guild master.

[ Whom he hasn't met. ]

It's nothing personal.

Didn't stop Mystogun. After the Tower of Heaven incident, he would've been arrested on the spot. Didn't stop Lucy from leaving her past behind her to see the future. Didn't stop Erza from rising above her past to see a brighter future.

Just take up a new name, choose to live life to the fullest, and then the legendary black mage Zeref truly will be dead. The past only shackles us when we allow it to.

It is not that simple. The way my magic works... it would be far too dangerous to be living so close to anybody. I don't even live with my own demons.

[Have the look of a disappointed father.]

You really believe that? Yeah, magic may be a part of who we are, but it isn't what defines us. There's ways around it. Man up and find it.

I've had this type of magic for centuries. If there were a way around it besides the obvious, I would know about it.

And just how long have you been looking for a way around it before you decided death was the only way out?

Centuries.

But you gave up.

Ever hear "where there's a will, there's a way"?

That's easy to say for someone who has the benefit of not living forever. Immortality grants a certain perspective that is unrelatable to someone who knows that, eventually, they'll die.

The only thing I'm seeing is a lack of perspective. Those of us who fear death? We have to live every day like its our last. We have to live in the moment, cherish each interaction as if it were our last. We live with no regrets.

That's what living really is. Just because time holds no meaning for you, doesn't mean you'll live forever. Everything comes to an end eventually. If I died today, my only regret would be not knowing I had a daughter as amazing as mine until just recently. Everything else I can look back on with pride.

How about you? When someone or something takes you out, or time itself ends, can you look back and call this "living"?

Mun's been getting back into the canon and... he showed up.

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