Memoirs of a Fated Past

Chapter 37: For Whose Sake?

"You can't.....Father", I said with tears in my eyes. My declaration made him snap. 

"What are you saying? Are you trying to make me flutter? I would not change my mind either way", Zefyr replied. 

"You can feel it yourself, the feeling which you can't seem to hurt someone close to you. Your blood runs in my veins. Surely you can tell, don't tell me you didn't figure it out from your time travelling experience? Seeing it all over again should have made you understand. The real reason my mother left you, the reason why your brother betrayed you, and the reason why I was able to stay alive all this time. For whose sake do you think all of the people important to you did it? They knew....they always knew that I'm the only one who can help you. Father....please", I was crying, crying because I can't still quite understand why everything has come to this. Despite the lingering pain on my right shoulder, these feelings hurt even more. 

"Pathetic. Are you trying to tell me that all these things I am doing is for nothing!", the Dark Lord Zefyr gritted his teeth. 

We battled out, each going for each other's throats. We can't settle anything of this goes on. Powers versus powers. If this goes on, the mistakes happened before will just continue to get foggy. Nothing will be clear. If I can't stop this, none of us will know the truth. His soul will be swallowed completely by darkness. Everything my mother and his brother did will end up for nothing. The hope that they wanted me to fulfil will never be accomplished. 

Just as both of us were too engrossed in our fight, I saw my mother and Zeref whom I thought was my real father's souls were lingering behind Zefyr. 

"Please Juvia, save his soul", they said. Now I know how I could help him. If he doesn't want to hear the truth, the best way is to show it to him directly. 

"Why don't you look for the answers yourself? Let's travel back in time together. If you saw something that doesn't fit with what I told you, you are free to kill me", I gambled everything to this. I just hope my father will be able to understand what the truth is. My father who was the Dark Lord. My father who killed hundreds of innocent people for his revenge and anger to everyone around him. My existence which was solely to protect the last spark of hope for him. The hope which my mother tried to protect so dearly until her death. I launched myself towards him and shouted: "TIME ETERNAL! OPEN THY GATES OF THE PAST AND SHOW THOU MEMORIES THAT HAS BEEN COVERED FOR SO LONG!", the Dark Lord didn't even had the chance to counter my attack. 

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"Saya!", Ryo shouted out. "Are you alright?" 

"I can manage", Saya shouted back. 

"What's the matter? You can't pass through my barrier?", Aria mocked, she was protected by a wind barrier. 

"Don't avert your eyes when you're fighting!", Fostier attacked Ryo with his sword. He was exhausted by using his magic too much so he stuck to fighting with weapons instead. 

"What's the matter? Can't keep up with too much ice?", Gray looked at Shana with an intent to kill. 

"Gah...hah", Shana was having problems with her breathing. 

"Too much cold will die out fire. Water kills fire. My element has dual effects. You lost this battle", Gray finished. He trapped Shana inside an ice cage. 

"Shana!", Aria shouted out. A splash of water stopped her barrier. "What the!" 

"I'm just in time to help you out", Cerina appeared with a large moving waters surrounding her. 

"The mermaid? I thought Shana killed you!", Aria gritted her teeth with anger. 

"You thought. I was saved by the lake. The lake healed my injuries", Cerina replied. 

"No matter, I control all the air in here", Aria said. 

"You control the air but I control every water you see in here", she said, summoning a wave of the waters. "Be ready Saya, you'll have to stop her", Cerina said. 

"If I could just manage to focus her eyes on me, I will be able to control her soul", Saya replied. 

"NOW!", Cerina signalled. 

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"How are you?", Gray asked Ryo who was panting so hard. He has slash marks all over his body but he'll definitely survive. Fostier on the other hand has only minutes to live. 

"The Dark....Lord", Fostier tried to say. 

"What about the Dark Lord?", Gray went closer. "Hang in there" 

"Help him. You've got...to save his soul....", with that, his breath left his lips. 

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"You really tempt me! I will kill you this instant!", the Dark Lord was about to unleash his energy when the surroundings stopped him. 

"The Queen gave birth to another son?", an old man's voice echoed. I looked at it and the Dark Lord stopped to witness our travel with time. We came back to the time when both he and his brother Zeref were born. 

"This will invoke a catastrophe. There can't be two Kings on the kingdom!", another from the ancients said. 

"What do you suggest we do?", another asked. 

"We must kill one of them" 

"I will not let you harm my sons!", one with the armour snapped with a very low voice. 

"Father", the Dark Lord gasped. So that person was the King of Extalia. 

"But we cannot allow this to happen!" 

"Let them come to the proper age and we'll decide until then", the King said. 

"I remember. Those people were the elders of the Kingdom. My father stopped their killing intent between Zeref and I. I told my father to give the right to kingship to Zeref", the Dark Lord reminisced his own forgotten past. 

The scenery changed to when the Dark Lord Zefyr and my mother just met. He saved her from a beast on the woods. The next one is when he cut all ties with his brother for stealing my mother away from him. The next one is when he and my mom saw each other again and my mother called him by Zeref's name. This must be the time when my mother had me on her womb. 

"I don't love you. I thought you were Zeref. I...why did you do this to me?", my mother was crying when she knew I was inside her. 

"My brother? What...", Zefyr was shocked. His identity for the girl he loved was taken away from him. 

"I don't want to see your face ever again", my mother said as she ran. When she was far away, she cried behind a tree while holding her stomach. "I'm sorry Zefyr. I can't stay with you. I can't let you die", she cried. She caressed her stomach. "This will be our last remnant. My love will always be with you. Juvia, stay strong. You will be the proof of our love for each other" 

"I am not the one who saved you from the beast on the woods", Zeref confessed on the night of their marriage. 

"I know", my mother knew he was not Zefyr and yet she married him. Zefyr cursed beside me from what he was seeing. 

"The child inside you, it's not mine but from Zefyr", Zeref replied. My mother cried. "You already told me that and it's okay. I told you I'll help you take care of her. You really loved my brother all this time", he patted my mother's head. "As I promised, the ancients will never lay their hand to him ever again. He'll definitely survive", he assured. 

'Goodbye, Zefyr. I'm so sorry for doing this", Mom said. 

I can't believe what I am seeing. This was concealed with time all along? Zeryf can't believe this either.