The Dragon Father

. . .

The battle had ended.

The dragons had awakened from their spell and immediately ceased fighting. The fifth and fourth generation dragon slayers; sensing their master's defeat had surrendered.

It took a few hours for everyone to gain their senses, even the seven dragon slayers. Once the dragons slayers did so, they flew straight for their Uncle's scent.

The mages, instead of celebrating, followed the seven dragons who flew to the mountains. The mages scrambled over cliffs and crevices. The injured; everyone, they all ran to follow their champions.

They found the dragons on a cliff. Slowly, their scales melted away until they were nothing but mere flesh and bone once more, their clothes were just as they had been before they transformed. At first, the mages wanted to congratulate them; then they saw what they were looking at.

Acnologia sat on the edge of the cliff, in front of him was a newly dug grave with a familiar wheel of blades sticking out of the dirt; Serena's accessory that had sat on his back.

"Oh no," Mavis breathed.

The mages looked to the dragon slayers who approached slowly.

"Serena," Gajeel breathed. They all looked down and gritted their teeth trying to hold in the pain that struck them all.

"He didn't do it in vain," Sting said suddenly. He looked up, "We won."

Acnologia looked back slowly, his face concealed by his blue bangs, "At what cost?"

"But Uncle, it's over now-" Natsu began.

"AT WHAT COST NATSU!?" Acnologia snapped.

After a few moments of silence, Lyon, Gray, Meredy, and Juvia stepped up.

"Ultear," Meredy answered.

"She gave us that time, the redo of those minutes," Gray gritted.

"And Ur," Lyon choked.

"They both sacrificed themselves," Juvia whimpered.

"And who else?" Acnologia asked looking to the horizon.

"Every guild lost mages," Kagura answered solemnly, "but we sully their name by not celebrating their sacrifice."

And then someone choked loudly. Everyone turned and made way to Seilah who, with help from Shelia and Porlyusica was making her way to Zeref. She was burned in many places and was limping to Zeref, she was holding something.

"Seilah," Zeref said running up and catching her as she collapsed to her knees.

"What's wrong?" Mavis asked her voice full of concern as she knelt down beside them. Larcade walked up, he was crying as well. Young August looked confused but was silent all the same, as if he could sense the pain in the air.

Seilah looked up tears filling her eyes and slowly she showed Zeref what she was holding.

It was a book cover. It was filthy, tattered, and burned, but it was still golden. Zeref took it from Seilah with shaky hands and slowly wiped the grime off of its cover revealing the faded words "Jackal".

Zeref had a sob build in his throat and tears emerged from his eyes. The book was empty, the pages gone, and the demon dead.

"Oh no," Mavis choked covering her mouth with her hands.

Seilah whimpered and then through herself into Zeref's chest.

"FATHER!" she cried into him, "FATHER! HE'S GONE! MY BROTHER IS GONE!"