Zeref the Ultimate Guardian [Outdated, being re-written]

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Zeref sighed as he awoke in a pitch-black room.

"You are meant for greater things Zeref," the voice spoke.

"What are you talking about?!" Zeref yelled back. "Who are you?!"

But instead of getting an answer, Zeref was thrown back into reality. Zeref took a deep breath as he stared at his ceiling. It had been at least a week since the attack, but he couldn't get that anonymous, warped voice out of his head. The sudden resurgence of these dreams after the attack made him suspicious. After all, the lookalike was just him from a different timeline. Maybe he had something to do with it.

Zeref's mind spun with questions as he got ready for his classes. He rushed out of his room to find Leah and Wenner waiting for him at the end of the hall.

"You look dead," Leah remarked upon seeing him, hair tousled & bags forming under his eyes.

"I feel dead," Zeref said with a sigh. "I've been having these...dreams."

"Really?" Leah questioned. "What kind?"

Zeref scratched at his head, eyes straining against the light of the hallway. The dream was blurry in his mind's eye, shrouded in darkness, mystery.

He frowned. "I don't know, something about a black room with a disembodied voice telling me I'm meant for greater things.' He says the same thing every time."

"Sounds familiar," Leah glanced at Wenner, "Do you think it's one of those dreams?"

"Probably," Wenner offered quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Zeref asked, "What kind of dream?"

"A black box," Leah told him. She looked at him incredulously as if the information was common knowledge and he was weird for not knowing whatever the hell she was talking about.

"Black...box?" He echoed.

"Everyone ha-has them," Wenner said.

"Really?

"Y-yeah, it's how the avatar of your bloodline t-talks to you. It also connects you t-to your different iterations across the timelines. Though I'm not sure if it's supposed to be that d-dark..."

"Do you..think that you can explain to me how it works?"

"Y-yeah, how much do you want to know?"

Zeref brightened as he berated Wenner with questions, the two of them, Leah and Wenner, headed in the general direction of their classes. Zeref however, had a free period

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Zeref spent his free period studying for one of his math tests when he heard someone going down the hall. He peeked out of his door, and it was the headmaster. His shoes clicked against the polished floor, booming in the eerily quiet hall. Zeref decided to follow him. Turning a corner, the headmaster paused momentarily, straightening his shirt cuffs, and smoothing out his tie. He carded a hand through his hair, then glanced up. Installed at the very end of the hall was a large metal door the width of the corridor and the height of the ceiling. It could only be opened with the fingerprint of trusted personnel.

As he did at the beginning of the year, Zeref crouched behind a corner. He flicked on his wristwatch and enabled "low sound mode", where the device could pick up quiet noises and artificially amplify the decibel level.

The headmaster approached the door. The man standing beside it had an air of professionalism; hair slicked back, hands held formally before him, the expensive watch on his wrist gleaming in the fluorescent light. He would recognize the Headmaster.

Montgomery knocked once on the giant door and said his name. The sound resonated down the hall. From within, a rich voice responded, "come in."

A quick glance to the man and the guard was pressing his thumb to a pad on the door. Something clicked, moving out of place, hissing as it was extracted from within the walls. The door inched open; Montgomery slipped inside. Immediately, he was at attention. His boots clapped together as he snapped to salute.

"Permission to state my case?", the headmaster said inside the room.

"At ease," said a woman. "As you were saying, Headmaster."

At ease?, Zeref questioned in his mind. That must be the commander.

Zeref had seen this commander before. She commanded his section of the galaxy, Milky Way sector A, and her reputation in the military was unparalleled, even in the other sectors. She had dark skin and black hair falling over her shoulder, with a serious look on her face.

"I regret informing you at such a late date; know that I did not intend to delay the matter for so long. I apologize in advance for wasting precious time-"

"You're stalling, Headmaster," the commander interrupted.

"Apologies," he said quickly, "Less than a week ago, on September 25, a unified attack was carried out against the Variah Academy. The ring leader remains unidentified. There were three of them: two middle-aged men and a woman, but one man was...peculiar."

"How so?"

"His powers- he seemed to prey on the energies of the students to fuel his own immortality. He became younger before our very eyes. And even stranger, yet, the man's face was identical to that of one of our top students: Zeref Genor."

The commander's breath hitched. Promptly, she cleared her throat, resuming her questioning, "and the students?"

"A dozen upperclassmen collapsed but there were no fatalities."

"Good- that's good," the commander sighed. "We'll look into it. I expect a more detailed written report in two days. You're dismissed."

Montgomery saluted, and then was presumably about to leave the room, but he seemed to pause at the door. "Do you think-?" he began. The commander cut him off.

"Surely not," her voice was cold, "you are dismissed.