Never forget(Dragneel brothers Fairytail fanfic)

Welcome to Iris

Iris was exactly as Zeref remembered it. Busy and boisterous. The market was always drowning in the sea of people. Good to know his memory was still young and fresh. Now, where was he? Ah yes. Describing the market. Not a single empty place could be spotted between the stalls. There was no irritating music, just a busker with a guitar. Sadly, the musician was overpowered by the yelling of the stall owners. The sun was unmerciful as ever; golden fingers shone down upon the market. Beads of sweat glistened on everyone's forehead and many faces turned red due to the sweltering heat. Zeref could relate. Though, years of having immortality seep through his veins was truly the only reason he could cope with today's weather. But Zeref had never been a fan of crowded places especially places where it involved bumping into other indignant mages and receiving rude burps in your ears. The imminent feeling of being crushed by the mass of sweaty bodies was not something he was looking forward to experiencing. He didn't want to get his freshly-pressed clothes dirty.

So that's why he was happy to walk on the edge of the crowd, all while trying to keep his eyes on the recurring vanishing dragon slayer who was no doubt searching for food. Well, Natsu had a whole range of stalls to pick from. Each stall was unique. There were stalls selling sacks of nuts and dried fruit, or meat roasting on roasting skewers. Powdered spices lay in rust red and dusty yellow piles, or spilled bright green from sacks as large as feed bags. Rich and unfamiliar scents cut through the air, so heavy he could taste them in his mouth, like the air inside a fabrication greenhouse.

Lucky for him, he was able to find some rare hidden stalls away from the mob. If I recall, the fridge was empty when we left. His black orbs eyed the displays of vegetables and anything else the owners had the offer.

He knew what he wanted. Fresh vegetables for a hearty evening soup and plenty of turnips, swede, fat carrots and bunches of cilantro. He took up the offer of the bruised eggplant and the black plantains that the other people were too stupid to snap up. And as he made his way up the endless stores, he could feel the weight of the bags on his arms as it threatened to pull him over and leave him stranded like a flipped turtle. But he wasn't going to allow that to happen. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted some bright fruits on the crates. He'll get those too.

Soon, Zeref was stumbling about from the cacophony of new deals being heckled with more bags in his hands.

"Zeref!" Natsu's voice entered the scene.

The black wizard managed to regain his composure before glancing over his shoulder.

"Taste this!" the dragon slayer chirped with excitement, shoving whatever item had caught the boy's interest into Zeref's face. The black's wizard's nose was greeted with the smell of something foreign. He wrinkled his nose at the stench. No way in hell was he going to taste that. The scent reminded him of something decaying.

Either ignoring or not noticing the displeased expression on the other's face, Natsu energetically shook the strange fruit in his fingers once more, urging the black wizard to sample it. Zeref unenthusiastically tipped forward, lips parted slightly as his white teeth sank into the flesh. His poor mouth was filled with bitterness. On the other hand, Natsu was glowing with satisfaction. The moment didn't last long as a wave of relief washed through his body when he saw Natsu bounced back into the sea of people; hopefully returning that fiendish fruit to its rightful seller.

Zeref spat the content of whatever the hell the thing was onto the ground with compulsion, giving it a disdainful glare. Zeref promptly proceeded to squash it under his boots. Feeling very gratified at the sound.

Begone you repugnant thing.

Stomp. Stomp.

Zeref only stopped when he realised he had obtained a few bothered glares and a gaping Natsu standing only a few steps away from. When did he return?

Expressing an 'ahem' the black wizard, unfazed by the attention upon him, motioned to a tavern; giving the boy an unbothered glance.

"Shall we dine there?" was all the Black wizard said, ambling towards the spoken location without seeing if the dragon slayer was following.

Because what he needed more than ever was a whole jug of water to guzzle down.

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Unfortunately, Zeref immediately regretted entering the goddamn building reeking of alcohol and body odour. The bar was nothing special. There were better establishments that were much cleaner. Not here. Food was ordinary. Yet, he was jovial to see Natsu chomping another chicken leg. His half-empty glass of water trembled at the motion. He was still questioning about where Natsu had inherited his never-ending eating manners from. Definitely not from him.

And the noise? Zeref sniffed. Needed fixing. He could barely think without hearing the hundreds of conversations spoken in loud voices, all of them competing with the antiquated pipes that dominated the atmosphere.

Black eyes glared with irritation as a couple of mages that tumbled off the stools, their cheeks tainted pink and eyes dazed. They wobbled left and right; struggling to make their way out of the wooden shack. He really wanted to leave.

His prayers were answers when he regarded the empty-stain plates sparkling in front of him, Zeref peeped up.

"Ready to leave?"

Gold and silver jewels toppled onto the table.

"But there's about to a brawl!" Natsu whined, pointing to a couple of wizards who were clearly going at each other's throats. Zeref shook his head violently. Nope. He wasn't in the mood to defend himself from punches. So, he seized the scruff of Natsu's scarf; tugging the boy forward.

"We are going home!"

"No!!" came the childish whine. The Black wizard didn't need to turn around to know the boy was kicking his feet into the wooden boards. Had his dear little brother always been this childish?  

Another whine escaped the boy's lips. 

He just hoped Natsu wasn't going to whine all the way to the train station.