Tribulation

Epilogue

The silence shuttered throughout the air with the intensity of a raging storm. The world became blanketed in what could be described not, but perhaps as a moment where time stopped. It was as if the primordial beings themselves faltered for an eternity in the length of a second, and the world was left to the mercy of a single being.

The clouds stormed in this moment, enveloping the earth in the darkness the being himself felt in his own heart. Lightning flashed across the desolate tundra of humanity, bringing flashes of hope in what seemed like black-pit the world had become, bringing sanctuary in the seconds that past in a plain where time itself stilled.

Every soul in existence was frozen, a single moment in time where nothing could occur, everything prevented, and life reinstated in the most miraculous of ways.

In the center of such organized chaos, stood a man shrouded in the darkness of his cloak and hair, hidden from the world in all but this time span, unwilling to reveal himself to those unworthy.

Long ago, he had hoped for death, wished upon it with all his might, as to repent for the acts he committed, for the pain he brought the world upon the unleashing of his power. He had even created beings, trapped until released in order to finally kill him when the time was right.

But, he had failed.

In this time, none of his creations had been strong enough to complete his desperately sought demise, and only when a creature of such magnitude had been created he had sheltered himself in his world of endless time. For as time did not pass where he resided, the layer of reality that was bent to his will alone. From there he watched as humanity destroyed and rebuilt itself, and watched as his creations grew up with the pride only a father could feel.

But, that was until it started to leak.

His power – as endless as it was – did not have the strength to continuously support his self-sustaining world. Eventually it needed seconds of reprieve, gained from the ghosts of proximity humanity offered him.

This thought had disturbed him, knowing he could still harm those in his obsolete world, and wandered to where a life force was engraved in the air as much as the living creatures he could no longer be around.

He had forgotten the ways of the world, but he had retained the memory of those he created to surpass him, to kill him in the way no other being could. Clutching these whispers of hope, that these creations of his would find him, he lived a life in a never-ending timespan of a single moment.

He didn’t know how many centuries had passed in his world with the stillness of consciousness engraved with absolute emptiness until a presence engulfed his being like a flame been flicked on in the beauty of those whom had never seen light.

He had been so excited when this occurred, hoping it might have been time for his demise. But, alas he realized it was not, as his strongest creation had not grown powerful enough yet. Resentment clouded his being, angry for the time he had spent waiting knowing none could cure the wish of death he so hoped for.

Immortality was a burden he so wished to abandon, but couldn’t do it himself. Terrible curse it was, forcing him to live a life not wanting to be lived.

And so, once again in the presence of life forces, his power flared, and stole whatever life it could from those around him. He had almost stolen the life of his prized creation, and for reasons he didn’t understand, it hadn’t worked. Not that he was disappointed. It only proved that one day his demise would be brought by the innocent being in front of him, and he knew that even in this limbo of a reality he lived in there was no escape.

So, excited and angry at the world all the same, he became involved in it once more.

More time passed, and eventually he decided it was time to reveal himself to his prized creation, if only to speed up the process of the death he longed for like nothing other in this world. He had brought his creation, for only a few mortal moments into his time-stilled world, confronting him.

He had explained that there was only one way to kill him, hinted at everything he could without revealing everything, because a risk of doing so might just jeopardize everything he had been waiting for, and he may end up back on square one. He also surmised that a few more weeks – even years – of waiting were worth it if what he wished for finally came to pass.

And it was much sooner than that to his utmost content. He watched, like a ghost over the plain of battle taking place. Such mortal strife’s usually bothered him, but not this – this was exhilarating, knowing that he was this close to the eternal rest he had wished for too long.

But, then, the pieces fell apart just as the preparations had been complete.

He had watched in horror as his prized creation fell into the depths of endless sleep he himself had wished for, and an utter rage consumed him like no other. This was not the way it was supposed to occur, this was not the way it was supposed to end!

A bitterness filled his heart, as finally he allowed himself to fully materialize in the mortal world, ready to unleash all he had to turn back time in an attempt that no matter what happened – he would die.

That’s why as he stared at the three corpses that lied on the blood-stricken ground, he laughed.

No one would ever know the secret involving the war with Tartarus.

No one would ever know the secret detailing the Battle of E.N.D.

No one would know, because he was Zeref and when he wanted something, it always came to consummation.

Even if it involved rearranging the events of the past, present and future.