09x284 - Memoirs

[bunniefuu]

It's, uh...

It's almost unthinkable.

Yes. These ideas... You wrote

this treatise yourself?

Yes.

[OLD TEACHER A]

I see.

The work is quite impressive,

but I cannot condone

the content.

It's not appropriate for a child

to discuss matters

such as these.

[OLD TEACHER C]

Your age notwithstanding,

magic pertaining

to life and death

is dangerous and

forbidden territory.

You must not delve

further into it.

It would surely be looked

upon as an act of hubris.

[OLD TEACHER A]

Mh-hm.

Such thinking would

risk drawing the ire

of the god of life

and death, Ankhselam.

Thus, we will not allow you

to continue pursuing this magic.

[OLD TEACHER A]

Well, Zeref, is that clear?

Yes, sir.

All I want is to understand

why people live.

And why it is we die.

There has to be a reason.

A dream?

[ZEREF]

Must've been a dream.

[ZEREF] Can't remember

the last time I had one.

Natsu.

It's been ages since my

younger brother was with us.

At the time he was taken,

his life was just beginning.

I could never understand

why he had to die.

And so... that became

my life's mission.

There's still much

work to be done.

But if we find a way to amass

the . billion units

of magic power needed,

the Revive System

will become reality.

It's unbelievable.

[TEACHER D] The theoretical

magic is flawless.

The Revive System...

could bring back the dead?

In the academy's history, we've

never witnessed such a mind.

[OLD TEACHER A grumbles]

[OLD TEACHER A] How many times

must I repeat myself, Zeref?

The type of magic that you're

exploring is strictly forbidden.

Have you not

considered the toll?

The sheer number of lives

that must be sacrificed

for your design to work?

Life and death are both

bound by nature.

And they fall under the rules

of gods, not mere mortals.

[ZEREF]

Consider life.

There exists an element of

human choice in its creation,

does there not?

So, then, why should death

be fully exempt from that?

[OLD TEACHER A]

Uh!

Ankhselam, I beseech you to

have mercy on this boy's soul!

[grumbles]

[OLD TEACHER A]

Zeref.

Yes, sir?

Are you ignoring my commands?

I told you to stop working

on this Eclipse Project.

[ZEREF] But the design

is almost complete.

And I figured out how to

avoid the ethical dilemma.

A door that takes us

through time. Backwards.

But why return to the past?

Well, I...

It's all part of a recurring

focus of your work.

I can only assume

your ultimate goal

is to bring your late

brother back to life?

Despite our repeated

warnings over the years,

you remain obsessed with

the dangerous idea

of reviving the dead.

And because of this, the board

has decided to expel you.

[gasps]

[OLD TEACHER A]

This was not an easy decision.

We all had such high

hopes for you.

Not now! Please, sir!

Your brother is

never coming back!

And nothing you can

do will change that!

[gasps]

[OLD TEACHER A]

Huh?

What's happening?

Teacher... Help me.

[OLD TEACHER A]

Oh, no!

This must be the

wrath of Ankhselam!

[chokes]

[gasps]

[ZEREF screams]

[ZEREF]

Before I knew it,

the lives of every teacher

and student at the academy

had been snuffed out.

[gasps]

[ZEREF] I had indeed drawn

the wrath of Ankhselam.

This curse is one

of contradiction.

The deeper my

concern for life...

...the more I'm

surrounded by death.

[ZEREF]

Please forgive me.

[ZEREF]

The only way to suppress it

is to have no concern for life.

[ZEREF] This curse also

stopped my process of aging,

dooming me to live forever.

[ZEREF] After the school,

I was plagued by conflict.

Unfathomable guilt for

taking so many lives.

Yet, the fact that I could

continue my studies forever

pleased me greatly.

And in turn,

that joy disgusted me.

After wandering through that

existential labyrinth for years,

I came to a conclusion.

My death will bring

all this to an end.

[ZEREF] So I began to undertake

the most taboo magic of all.

That which creates life.

I brought into existence

demons that could k*ll me.

Known today as Demons

of the Books of Zeref.

Because they were made of ether,

the building blocks of magic,

I originally called

them "Etherious."

If only those demons

were powerful enough

to finish me off.

[ZEREF] Eventually,

I created my magnum opus

that could bring

all this to an end.

In fact, I called it E.N.D.

Etherious Natsu Dragneel.

[ZEREF] But this was not

some object or tool

to be used as a means to an end.

He was human from the

beginning, flesh and blood.

I had cared for my beloved

brother's body all those years.

Waiting for this day.

At last.

My brother's returned as

the ultimate Etherious.

[ZEREF] My deepest desires

have both been made flesh.

Nastu, do you remember me?

I am your older brother, Zeref.

[ZEREF]

Etherious Natsu Dragneel.

I'm sure you'd like to know how

you were paired with Igneel,

as well as my

connection to Mavis.

But those tales will

be told later.

At the moment, there's

a very important man

that I need to meet with.

[ZEREF]

Can I even call him a man?

[ZEREF] It's rather

surprising that you agreed

to have this discussion.

I can assume this is

how you normally look?

How's your arm healing up?

[ZEREF]

Well, Acnologia?

Black Wizard.

What is it you want?

[ZEREF]

You crave destruction.

Yet you hardly indulge yourself.

If you so desired,

you could use your power

to bring the entire

world to its knees.

But for some reason you haven't.

Whether it's a

matter of principle

or ambition is unclear.

[ACNOLOGIA]

The same could be said of you.

[ZEREF]

To be quite honest,

my indecision is what has

kept me out of the fray.

Should I side with humans

and do battle with you?

Or would the opposite

better suit my needs?

But I've come to the conclusion

that the question

itself is flawed.

After weighing my interests,

I am on neither side.

Both you and mankind

should be wiped out.

What do you think?

You have been waiting for a

serious challenge, correct?

I am the one who will

bring that to you.

The world will bear witness.

A human, a dragon,

and an immortal...

...will constitute

this final battle.

[chuckles]

[bell tolls]

[LUCY] In my opinion, Magnolia

is the jewel of eastern Fiore.

But it shone much brighter

when the Fairy Tail guild

hall was part of the skyline.

Strange to think

it's been a year

since we've walked

these streets.

Does this bring back

some memories or what?

Hey, look! They fixed up

Kardia Cathedral!

[LUCY] The members

we'd been able to find

were all in favor of getting

the guild back together.

It's so good to see

everything's back to normal.

The town's always

been resilient.

Yeah.

[LUCY]

After the fight with Avatar,

our group needed to

split up for a while,

but we agreed to reconvene

here in Magnolia.

[ERZA]

I won't be long,

but I need to report

back to Jellal first.

[GRAY]

Hey, Gajeel.

Could you not tell

the council about us?

Keep it hush-hush.

They wouldn't approve

of us shacking up!

[GRAY] Gimme a break!

I mean me and Erza's mission!

Shack up?

We need to report back as well,

but we'll meet you

there A.S.A.P.

Kinda thought workin' for the

council was my true calling.

That is supposed to

be a joke, right?

[GAJEEL] I bet ol' wood

face'll be sad to see me go.

Now, that one's

definitely a joke!

I should arrest you for that!

No crime in being funny!

[BOTH chuckle]

[LUCY] It's a shame,

but I seriously doubt

we're gonna get any

information about Zeref

from those Avatar members.

They worshipped him, but they

didn't actually know him.

[WENDY]

Hm?

Is something wrong?

You look sad.

Aren't you glad to be back here?

Uh-huh, of course I am!

I just kinda got lost in

my memories for a second.

[LUCY]

Yeah.

So many memories were

made in this town.

Some are sad...

Some are happy...

Most of them still

make me smile.

I formed them with

my Fairy Tail family.

I was afraid after what

happened last year,

those memories would

be all we had left.

Master, are you outta your mind?

What's wrong with you?

[JET] I can't believe you

wouldn't talk to us first!

[DROY] How will we put

food on the table?

[FAIRY TAIL A]

Yeah, we need money!

[FAIRY TAIL B]

Tell us you're joking!

I am disbanding

the Fairy Tail guild.

Which means, from this point on,

you must forge your

own way forward.

That's final.

I just can't accept

this, Master!

You gotta realize that you're

messin' with our lives here!

[FAIRY TAIL C]

If you wanna quit so bad,

why don't you just

leave by yourself?

[FAIRY TAIL D]

Yeah!

A real man never quits!

Fairy Tail ain't goin' away!

[MAKAROV] I've made my decision,

and Fairy Tail is no more!

Hear me?

You are never to speak its name

again! Leave it in the past!

Tch.

[gasps]

[LUCY] Makarov was gone before

the shock could wear off.

We were all in a daze.

Eventually, everyone did have to

start forging their own paths,

as he'd said.

Just like that,

Fairy Tail was over.

We were left clutching

those memories we'd shared.

Come on, Lucy,

we're just about there.

Yeah, we're practically

at the old guild hall.

I know.

But honestly, I'm kinda too

scared to get any closer.

[NATSU]

Why? 'Cause the building's gone?

That's the least important

part of the guild.

It's what's inside

us that counts.

We all feel the

same way about it.

But everyone else?

I mean, it was exciting when

you showed up out of nowhere

and talked about

reviving the guild.

So I let myself

get fired up, too.

And right away, I sent

out messages to everybody

that had been in the guild.

At least, those I could find.

No word from me

for an entire year...

Then suddenly, I ask them

to drop everything,

come to Magnolia,

and rebuild Fairy Tail.

Maybe they've done

exactly what master said

and started making their

own way through life.

Maybe they've moved on.

Are we the only ones

who feel this way?

What if they have

put it in the past?

What if they've forgotten

about it altogether?

I...

I know my memory's

not that great,

but it's only been a year.

[NATSU]

Cana?

[WENDY]

You're here!

[CANA]

Hm?

What's up?

It's so good to see

you guys again!

Wendy, I think you've grown

a bit since last time!

[WENDY]

No. Not really.

And you're just as

bouncy as always, Lucy!

Cana.

[CANA] Not gonna lie,

with all that happened,

this has been an

eye-opening year for me.

I decided I'd try to

track down my old man,

so I was gonna take a trip.

Can hardly believe I got your

letter. What a lucky break!

I imagine everyone

else feels the same.

[LUCY gasps]

The guild's family.

I've been a member ever

since I was a little kid.

So when Makarov decided to

break it up all of a sudden,

I was pretty lost.

I had no idea how I was

gonna make a living

or who I could turn to.

In a weird way, it helped put

things into perspective.

[CANA] The whole situation was

such a shock to all of us.

It seemed like nobody had

the stones to reach out.

Or I should say, nobody

but you, Lucy. Good call.

[gasps]

[NATSU chuckles]

[CANA]

So come on!

Everyone's waiting!

Yeah?

[gasps]

Lookin' good, Lucy! You are

rockin' that long hair!

[DROY, JET] It's so

awesome to see you guys!

When I got your letter,

it made me really happy!

Oui.

Heard Natsu caused a

scene at the capital!

Hey, Wendy. We missed you

and Carla around here!

[WAKABA] Lookin' like a

scrapper there, Happy!

Certainly took you long enough.

Back in Magnolia.

It feels good.

[LUCY]

Warren.

You like the portable

communication lacrima I built?

[LUCY]

Nab.

He read your Sorcerer Weekly

articles! And so did I!

[LUCY]

Reedus. Max.

Oui, oui.

Here in the flesh!

[LUCY]

Alzack, Bisca, and lil' Asca!

[ERZA] Still such a beautiful

and happy family.

[LUCY]

Jet! Droy!

[BOTH] Team Shadow Gear

is together again!

I had to leave the council

for that to happen!

[ALL] You were working

for the Magic Council?!

[LUCY]

Macao, Wakaba, and Romeo!

Gonna have to lock you

guys up for bein' chumps.

[LUCY]

Laki!

Diggin' the new hairstyle.

[LUCY]

Vijeeter!

I'm guessing that's some

kind of reunion dance?

[LUCY]

Kinana!

She actually

learned some magic!

[ELFMAN] I wasn't gonna

miss this for the world!

[gasps]

[LUCY]

Lisanna! Elfman!

A reunion fit for a real man!

[MIRAJANE]

Lucy.

Mira, it's you.

[giggles]

Welcome back home.

I am home.

[LUCY] It felt so natural

for us to be together again,

like a real family.

I was so happy, but

the tears wouldn't stop.

I missed you all.

[LUCY]

Mira!

Uh.

Guess what I found!

A little ragged, but who cares?

[NATSU]

Our guild is back in action!

Fairy Tail still rules!

[LUCY] The Fairy Tail reunion

kicks off in Magnolia.

But so does the hard work

we'll need to put in

to build the guild up

to our former glory!

Although, we're all worried that

no one has heard from master

since that fateful day.

The first order of business

is to rebuild our

wrecked guild hall.

Then one day, as we start

to get back on our feet,

a man bearing the

Fairy Tail emblem

shows up with a message for us.

Next Time: "The Seventh

Guild Master."

The secret door will

soon be opened.