The Burn of Beginning | E.N.D.

11: The Chaos of Tomorrow

"Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone."

-Here I Go Again, WhiteSnake

The voice inside him whispered maliciously, constantly, even though the boy was unconscious. It's soft yet devious tone wrapped him in tendrils of despair. He fought, but relented, fighting, and then relenting, over and over. He couldn't decide whether or not to awaken from this deathly sleep or remain in the world of the unconsciousness so as not to see reality. 

He couldn't decide...

~

Lucy was the first one to wake up, looking at her surroundings frantically. It looked as if a war had taken place there. She got to her feet slowly, extremely thankful that her celestial spirits had protected her from most of the blast. She managed to escape with only a few bruises. Lucy sighed, worried. This was not what she had expected to happen upon finding Natsu and Zeref. Lucy had hoped things would be better than this. But what else had she expected? What she had been searching for was a demon and an immortal dark mage. She shook her head, clearing her mind of all these thoughts. 

Where were Natsu and Zeref? She was careful not to trip or step in holes as she walked forward, searching for the two. The ground had been ripped apart, chunks of dirt and grass scattered around. Trees had fallen, the cave they once held refuge in, a mess of rocks and stone dust. She ran over there. The sky was still dark, clouds hiding the blue above. 

"Natsu!" She coughed, "Zeref!! Where are you?" 

No answer. 

A little ways away, Zeref stirred. His vision was blurred, ears ringing. He simply stayed where he was, waiting for the world to clear. His body ached. Zeref groaned as he attempted to sit up. Just doing that left him dizzy and out of breath. Through his foggy vision he saw Lucy, poking around the destroyed cave, looking for signs of life.

"Lucy..." He called out hoarsely. The dark mage wasn't used to feeling so weak, "Lucy!" he said louder. This time she heard him, turning in his direction. The celestial mage ran over to him, about to help him to his feet.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. Seeing the distressed look on her face, he continued, "I don't want you getting hurt."

Zeref had never output that much magic before. He could feel the panic, his dark energy still churning quietly within him. The dark mage had never lost consciousness because of his own curse. This was a first. And hopefully it was the last time it would happen. Sure, his magic had caused some of this destruction, maybe helping the real cause. But this... this was not just him. It had been Natsu's magic that did this. It was Natsu's magic that had done most of this. Zeref began to tremble.

He was more powerful than Zeref. 

"Zeref... We need to find Natsu." Lucy looked at him worriedly, "The longer we wait, the worse it may be."

The black mage closed his eyes to avoid glaring at her. He knew they needed to find Natsu. He probably hadn't been thrown too far from the blast, but then again, the eye of the storm had begun within him. 

Natsu awoke with a start. The first thing he noticed was the scent of ash, ash that was swept up by the wind and drifted in the air. Natsu felt numb, his fingertips tingling for some odd reason. He couldn't shake the feeling that something huge had happened, something he had forgotten. For example, where exactly was he? The last thing he remembered was as he was about to go for a swim. What happened? His memory had gaps, it was black from that point on. He focused, trying to remember anything else. Flashes of flames, of heat came back to him. But it wasn't enough to piece together what had occurred.