rewatching fairy tail and realizing natsu didnt know how to read the flyer because hes from 400 years in the past and the language has changed nothing is similar anymore 😭😭😭😭😭
I drew the first full-length short comic for this AU. I worked really hard on it and am very pleased with the dialogue, in which I tried to develop the dynamic between Natsu, Lucy, and GLaDOS. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! :D
Summary: As the Spartans invade Attica, an Athenian woman's only responsibility is her household, bearing children, and being invisible.
But Lucy's soul wasn't built for containment, and the walls keep closing in and the stars can't quite reach her. She tries to keep it all in check, tries to do her duties, but when a mysterious mercenary who runs a little too hot and asks her too many questions invades her cage, she has no choice but to ask Athena for forgiveness and the sky for guidance.
With the promise of safety behind her and the rest of the world ahead of her, she can only hope the decisions she makes and the people she trusts are the right ones.
Tags/Warnings: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, brief Lucy/Loke, Ancient Greece, Action/Adventure, eventual smut, slow burn, sort of enemies to friends to lovers, Peloponnesian War, Alternate Universe, graphic depictions of violence, mythology
I recommend reading on AO3 here
Prologue
The city wakes with the sun.
The moment the sky turns serene shades of powder blue and lavender, the streets that never truly settle start to writhe with life. Livestock eagerly call for their feed. Doors start to swing open like welcoming arms. The sacred temples that spread throughout the polis, though always open, light up with activity, eagerly awaiting their devoted pilgrims. People move about like the city's pumping blood. The Regulus household is no different.
"Why don't you and Virgo go to the Agora today?"
Lucy had been pressing dough in the kitchen when Leo appeared in the threshold, partially blocking the sunlight from the courtyard behind him and disrupting her usual routine. The morning had otherwise been peaceful and quaint, with the promise of grand festivities approaching the following day. She hadn't expected her husband to appear and and suggest she shift her focus.
"What?"
Leo steps inside the kitchen and keeps his eyes locked on her. "It's such a nice day, and I overheard my sister mention she wanted some new earrings for the Panathenaea. Why don't you take her?"
Lucy looks over her shoulder through the small window behind her. It was, indeed, a lovely day, with a nice breeze and the sun deciding to spare the people from too much heat, at least for now. But the thought of leaving, with such a busy week ahead, riddled her with anxiety. Her responsibility was the house, not more gold or jewels, and she had more than enough food and wine already. It didn't matter how painfully she wanted to get out.
"I don't think so, not today." She replies sweetly, returning to her kneading as the bracelets on her wrist jingle like bells at her ministrations. "I have too much to do."
She hears her husband approaching, stepping further into the room than he has for a long while.
"Tell me one thing you have left to do." She can hear the mischief. "Just one."
Lucy pauses her work again and blows a stray strand of hair out of her face. She's met with a sly and knowing grin, and she opens her mouth to retaliate. But nothing comes out, because in that moment, she actually can't think of anything she really has left to do, not quickly enough to shut him down.
"I have to finish the bread." Is all she manages. She grips the dough and wags it halfheartedly in the air to prove her point.
"That's not a problem." He argues. "It's only morning. You have the whole day ahead of you. You can leave this afternoon."
One step ahead, as always.
"Go, my bride. It will be good for you both." He tells her. It wasn't a command, never a command, but it wasn't entirely suggestion either.
Lucy can do nothing but give in then, and her lips curl into a giddy smile. She would never admit out loud how badly she really wanted to go, and this felt like a gate being unlatched. "Alright, I'll take her."
Leo studies her for a moment, suddenly recalling the conversation from the day before, when he saw the uneasiness take over her features and wring her muscles taught. He couldn't let his wife feel like that. "Shall I send a guard with you?"
"No." Lucy answered quickly, her eyes meeting his again, wide and twinkling. "We'll be fine. Straight to the Agora and back." She reassures him. They didn't need the protection. She didn't want the supervision.
He crosses his arms, thinking, studying, and admiring how the light from the window behind her illuminated her in gold like Helios was taking her into his godly embrace, and Leo didn't mind the affair. There was flour on her cheek.
"If you're sure."
Lucy chooses to ignore the flicker of relief she feels when he leaves.
"Actually," He returns suddenly, barely out of the room in the first place. "I'll come with you."
She stops.
"Don't worry," He chuckles, "I'll leave you two to your own accord."
"Alright." Lucy replies softly. "Tell Virgo I'll fetch her when I'm ready, please."
Leo nods an affirmative, and the kitchen slowly illuminates once more as his tall figure disappears into the inner courtyard.
As she continues to work, her excitement grows. She always loved being away from the home. The city was always full of life and energy, the Agora especially. She rarely got to go even when she was young and unmarried. She had too many things to attend to, too big of a house to manage, and people usually preferred a General's wife remain unseen on most days. She usually sent somebody else to fetch whatever was needed.
Perhaps she was worried she'd eventually be unable to trust herself out there.
She finishes up in the kitchens as quickly as she can, anticipation palpable.
"There's so many people around!"
As planned, Virgo had bounded into Lucy's room the second her name was called, and had barely given the blonde enough time to finish pinning her peplos at her shoulder before she grabbed her arm and nearly sprinted them back downstairs. Leo had been waiting for them just passed the main door, dressed in an intricately painted chiton that declared his status and power. He looked handsome in the sun, and had given them a polite smile before he began leading the way with his confident stride.
Virgo was right, Lucy noted. There was lots of people around. But it was to be expected on a day like today. The energy in the streets was electric with anticipation for the festival. "You're right, there is."
Arm in arm the girls followed their General down the street: taking in the air, the sunlight, the chatting of strangers and passerby's, the essence of it all.
"I haven't been to the Agora in so long." Virgo huffs, outwardly looked the way Lucy felt. The teenager was beaming ear to ear and showing off her charming dimples.
"Me as well." Lucy responds. Her eyes briefly track to her husband and his broad shoulders and magnetic energy. He moved through the street like he had laid every stone himself, and people made way for him. His impeccable confidence and vitality played a part in his lightning fast climb up the ranks and into his position after all.
"I hope it is as wonderful as you remember." He calls back over his shoulder. "The war hasn't been easy on those who provide for us."
"I'm sure it will be lovely." Lucy calls back to him.
From the street level, she can't see the outer wall. While it still calls to her, teases her with all the lives she could have lived, its far more nagging when she's home, alone, on the upper story. She steels herself to not think about it today. Today has to be a good day. Today, she can stretch her legs and smell the street food and see new faces. Today she is with a cherished friend. Today she decides she doesn't need to think of the plains on the other side.
The Agora reaches the other senses before its in sight: the smells, the voices, the liveliness. It's there as they round the corner, bright and colourful and full of an intensity Lucy can never experience in the confines of her household. She feels Virgo begin to tug at her arm a little more, trying to move faster as if the shaded stalls full of food and goods could get up and run away faster than their legs could carry them.
"Relax Virgo, we have all afternoon." Lucy laughs as they get closer and closer to its official border. Stoas teaming with men line the edges and side streets, and overlooking the marketplace, just on the hill like a loyal guard, stands the Temple of Hephaestus, bright and effervescent.
"Alright." Leo stops and turns to them, handing them a small leather pouch fat with coin. "Be careful and watch out for each other alright?"
"Wait, where are you going?" Virgo chirps curiously at her big brother.
"My job never truly ends, especially at a time like this." He chuckles. "I'll come find you when it's time to go home." He boldly moves to place an affectionate kiss on Lucy's cheek and the impulse she has to recoil at the attention, so blatantly out in the open, grips her tight. He vanishes into the crowd before she can even respond.
"Hmph." Virgo crosses her arms, grumpy. "Never one for specifics, is he."
Lucy laughs with a hint of anxiety, gripping the coin pouch tightly. "I know it's easy for us to forget his position. Every interaction he has the moment he leaves home carries weight. We don't get to know the details."
"But-"
"Come on!" The blonde takes the Virgo's hand quickly. "Lets go get you some new earrings."
The girls start making their way into the crowd, finding shade under the colourful canopies. They stop at almost every merchant, no matter what they were selling. The Agora was about more than shopping for themselves and the household: it was also a limited opportunity for more human interaction, and they had to revel in it when they had the chance.
Lucy lets Virgo lead the way. She moves quick but Lucy has no problem keeping up with her. She keeps quiet but attentive the whole afternoon, her eyes never leaving the young girl for very long. She's there for the environment and the change of scenery anyway, not what the merchants are selling.
Finally, with Virgo's new earrings in hand as well as a small basket of ripe figs, they had managed to make their way around the entire Agora with no sign of Leo by the time they felt they were finished.
"Shall we go up to the temple while we're here?" Lucy suggests, basket in hand.
Virgo is quick to agree with her, so they move through the crowd once more and start heading down the path to the Temple of Hephaestus. The route is busy, which isn't a big surprise, and they move through the maze with ease. Draw little attention.
"My brother really cares for you." Virgo suddenly says after a few moments of quiet, plain and simple like she was just noting the weather.
Lucy's heart squeezes, and there's a abrupt fracture in her walls that she is quick to try to soothe over and mask. She switches her basket of figs from one arm to the other. "Of course he does." She says, "I'm his wife."
Virgo kicks a stone lying in the street. "No, I mean… Actually cares for you."
Lucy can only wait for her to continue. If she's lucky she can steer the teenager into talking about something else entirely. Something that won't punch at her invisible facade too hard.
"I over hear the men, when we host symposia." She finally continues. She kicks the stone again. "If they even bring up their wives at all, they don't always speak very kindly."
"Virgo!" Lucy exclaims and grips her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She stares into her big wide eyes. "You know we are not supposed to be around symposia. Those are for Leo and the men only. What are you thinking?" She panics inside. She tries to remain firm but not angry, though it's hard. She couldn't imagine how Leo's reputation would precede him if some drunkard in fancy robes saw the women of the house even peek their heads through the door.
"Relax." Virgo tries to shake off her grip. "They never see me, I just have really good hearing and hide down the hall."
"Don't do it ever again, do you understand?" Lucy tells her, releasing her arm but not her glare. She has to set an example when she can for such a spitfire. "I know you're curious, and I admire that about you, but you know the rules we have to abide by. There are boundaries we cannot cross."
"I'm just saying." Virgo speaks with a shrug of her shoulders. "When my brother mentions you, he's always very kind, like you built the Acropolis with your bare hands." The stubborn girl goes back to kicking her stone. She seems unfazed by Lucy's intensity. "I won't do it again, okay? I promise."
Lucy pace slows behind Virgo then, mind wandering as they keep making their way to the temple. Why does it not seem to get any closer? It makes her feel itchy. The basket of figs shifts arms once again.
"Your brother was my friend before he was my husband. He is my best friend even now." Is the response she musters up, and it comes from a sincere cavern in her heart. "I am very fortunate that he sees me as that before anything else."
She feels like her breathing is limited, but she pushes on. Virgo doesn't respond. She just keeps kicking the stone like a child, and Lucy can only watch and hope that's the end of it.
"I'm sure Leo will find you a husband who speaks just as kindly about you." Lucy smiles. She senses Virgo's mind is distracted now. "When you're old enough, if that's what you're thinking about."
The teenager lifts her head quickly. "No, that's not what I-"
Lucy doesn't hear the rest of her sentence as she's suddenly enveloped by warmth and the wind is knocked out of her as somebody smacks into her shoulder, nearly sending her tumbling.
"My apologies." A man's voice sounds, but he is gone as quickly as he came as she fumbles to regain her footing after such a haphazard clash.
"Gods…" Lucy grumbles and rubs the shoulder the stranger had so graciously bumped into with little regard. There was a dull ache, but nothing serious, and it was in her best interest not to make a scene about it. He had long since disappeared into the swarm.
"Are you okay Lucy?" Virgo approaches with concern. "I didn't think he hit you that hard."
"I'm alright." The blonde reassures her, brushing her dress and adjusting her hair as if she had really fallen. Nothing could be out of place. "He probably had too much wine and didn't see where he was going."
Virgo steps to her, abandoning the stone she was kicking, and locks her arm with Lucy's once more in support. "Probably. He looked weird anyway."
The journey to the temple continues, but not for much longer before Virgo brings them to a sudden stop again just as they reach the bottom of the steep staircase up to the temple. She stares down at the basket in Lucy's arm, suspiciously emptier than it had been before. "Lucy?"
"Yes?"
"How many figs did you buy today?"
The blonde looks down at the basket too and realizes the teenager is right. The basket was shallow and she had only bought a handful or two, and she was not one to miss small details, including a couple missing figs. Her eyebrows furrow, and her head snaps back down the street where they came. Surely they had fallen out during her stumble, but she couldn't see them on the ground. Perhaps they had been picked up already.
She sighs. Whatever. A few figs is just that for them: a few figs. She's tired now. "You know what, Leo might already been searching for us. We'll go to the temple another time, okay?"
She could see the sun crawling lower across the sky as they made their way back the way they came. Her energy was sapped. Perhaps from the excitement of the day, perhaps from the shoulder check. She didn't know, but her bed was surely calling. Her feet shuffled a little as Virgo pulled her along, eyelids heavy, and they met Leo once more right where they had parted ways hours prior. She doesn't pay attention the on the journey home.
She can't sleep. It's far too loud downstairs.
Her husband, bright eyed and bushy tailed, insisted on having a last minute gathering that evening to ring in the festival the moment they reunited with him. He, therefore, quickly squashed Lucy's plan to have a quick late afternoon nap, and the rest of her day consisted of preparing more wine and food for her husbands symposium with an aching sense of urgency. She had even helped him wash up and make himself even more presentable than he already was, and when the first boisterous guest with a balding head and already reeking of wine meandered through the courtyard, Lucy was quick to move upstairs for the rest of the night.
Despite the exhaustion stroking through her mind and muscles with gooey fingers, sleep evaded her.
The men laughing and cackling below seem louder than she had ever heard. There were far more guests than she was expecting but Leo had assured her that whatever wine and food she had laid out would be enough for the night, although by the sound of it they were speeding through it all without a care in the world. She felt her skin crawl with how uncomfortable she was, and when she heard a particularly joyous laugh from her husband, her bare feet hit the tile.
"God's damn…" She grumbled to herself. Up the stairs and to the terrace she goes. To find peace, some semblance of escape, or a lullaby from the moon.
The stars are out and brighter than ever, gleaming as she looks up at them. A wave of calm washes over her. The noise is father away now, muffled by the extra floor between her and them. It's just her and the shimmering cornucopia in the sky.
She moves with practiced grace to the ledge and leans as much of her upper body weight on it as she can. Every part of her feels painful but the night sky can only dull the pinch in her soul, not the twinging of her muscles and the burning in her eyes. She just wants to sleep. To rest. To be prepared for the festivities she has to commit to.
A deep breath of air, right into her belly, and she raises her head and her eyes land on the wall in the distance. Just like always.
How many guards would be posted on the city's great barricade starting tomorrow? Would her leaders decrease the number of eyes overlooking the plains for the entire week, to honour their great Goddess? Surely even the soldiers were permitted to celebrate her even in times of war. Especially in times of war, when they needed her most.
Would anyone be there to stop a General's wife?
Her curiosities are quickly squashed when she hears a couple unfamiliar voices from the garden below, and without reason, she lowers herself, just a little, as two men she doesn't recognize stumble out of the main house and into the isolated yard below. Probably some pretentious philosophers, or low level politicians, both somebody who is surely more important than she would ever be.
She listens as one keels over and starts throwing the contents — mostly wine — of his stomach up and into a random bush. Her face twists at the wretched sound.
"Oi oi, keep it together." The other slurs, backing away from the line of fire. "Don't get any of that on me."
"I'm trying."
"You don't got that… that cursed disease do you?"
"Relax…" The sickly one heaves, coughing. He stands and wipes his mouth. "Too much wine, not enough bread. Just needed some air." He leans back against the wall, wiping his brow. Lucy leans over the edge a little, just to watch them. Its the balding one from earlier, she finally realizes. "That sickness is just wiping out the poor and all the… extra countrymen that have come in. I'm fine." He reassures his friend.
"But haven't you heard?" The taller, less inebriated one of the two pipes up. "Its gotten to the infantry… it's got to have wiped out at least a couple ships worth of men already. That's what I heard."
"Ah, that's probably bullshit."
"The city has lost thousands I'm certain of it, and they're trying to hide it. Probably. General Regulus might even have it, since he's spending all his time with the hoplites instead."
"Why should I care?"
"It could get ya before you know it. If it wipes out too many of us, those ugly Spartans are sure to get the upper hand eventually. It's pretty bad. You been around the outer city lately?"
"No, why would I go somewhere so wretched?"
Lucy doesn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation and moves in a flash back to the bedroom, fear and despair gnawing at her gut.
Its late by the time the party dies down and Leo finally stumbles up the stairs.
Lucy is still awake, sitting as stiff as a statue, having been waiting for him since she overheard the men in the garden. Trying to remain calm and composed. Trying not to worry too much. Trying. Failing.
"My bride…" Her husband slurs, lighting up at the sight of her there, casual and glowing in his eyes. He moves towards her like he's made of goo.
"Leo." She stands. Her hands are clenched at her sides. She feels a whole lot, yet so little, all at once. An impossible mix that almost leaves her numb. She doesn't feel in control. She always feels in control.
"Why are you still awake?" He asks, completely bypassing her and flopping down onto the pile of woolen blankets. His eyes stay on her, and he reaches out a hand, beckoning her to join him. "C'mere."
"Leo, I'm-" She takes a breath. Surely, she's being dramatic. "Leo, I'm worried."
His hand stays in the air for a few seconds until he realizes she won't come down. His eyebrows wrinkle. "Why? Lucy, I told you yesterday that you have nothing to worry about. You are safe here."
Another deep breath. She feels like a tiny arrow has been shot through her. She musters all the strength she can to understand why he would not be honest. "That's not true. I'm not, we're not, not really." The quaking in her voice seems to sober him up enough to sit up and rest his gaze intently on her. He doesn't speak. He listens.
Lucy tries to relax her fists. Be a lady, not a child.
"I overheard some gentlemen in the garden. I just needed some air." She keeps her voice as steady as possible. Surely this is nothing. "The… the sickness. I didn't know it was as bad as it is."
He's quick to respond. "It's not, I assure you."
"Is it hundreds?" Her demeanor slips, just a little. "Thousands, Leo? That's not some minor illness. That's… That's whole communities. That's civilization."
Its his turn now to catch a steadying breath, and his fingers come up to rub at his temples.
She's too exhausted to concern herself with the fact that she maybe should have waited for morning.
"Lucy." He says. Calm. Controlled. "The ports and the outer polis is overcrowded with everyone coming inside for safety. It will not get to you, I swear —"
"They said soldiers are dead." She interrupts. Sinful of her. "Soldiers are dead. Your soldiers. Our defenses against the Spartans. We can't put all our hope on that wall, something is going to give isn't it?"
"Lucy-"
"I just don't understand why you couldn't tell me honestly how things are actually going-"
"Because if I told you everything, it would suck the life out of you."
The woman frowns. She feels like she's been smacked. "I have a right to know what's happening in my city, to the people."
"I told you people were sick. Thats all you need to know." He's on his feet now, toe to toe with her. He's not angry, no, but a shield is up. "Your job is to maintain our home and our family. That's your responsibility. You don't need to know the details. You don't need to know the risks. Thats my job, to protect my family and my city."
Her eyes are burning. She feels so crushed. She understands her place, she does. So why does this news, about the exact extent of the plague she's only heard of in passing, feel so painful?
Seeing the tears in her eyes, Leo softens. He sighs heavily, takes hold of her shoulders and bends his neck to better meet her gaze. "You worry too much."
"I know." She admits. Does she?
"I can't lose my wife to her worries." He says gently. "I'm sorry if I mislead you, but I promise it was out of concern for you and nothing more. Your heart is so big, it'll weigh you down until you can't carry anything else."
She backs down, reluctantly, and wraps her arms around his solid torso. To try to ground herself more than anything. Maybe he was right; maybe she cared too much, and she wasn't strong enough to carry the weight. The lock to her cage tightens. "I'm sorry."
He happily embraces her and buries his nose in her golden hair with a sigh. "No, I'm sorry." He whispers. "I will be more open about it from now on, I promise. But you will be okay. We will not let the Spartans win because of it. Athens is stronger than that."
She nods into his chest and forces her worries away, her frustration, her disappointment. She felt confused, and like she wasn't truly herself in that moment. She felt like somebody had pushed their hand down through her skull and stirred.
Lucy separates from him. "I know you mean well."
"I swear I do." He tries to pull her back into his space. "Lucy, I swear it."
She chews on her bottom lip for a moment. "I don't need to know everything that goes on out there, with your work, with the war." She wants to. "You're right, I would worry myself to death. But please, Leo, don't hide this from me. I know I will never face a Spartan. I know that you are strong. But such a disease is a real threat I deserve to know about should it ever, and it might, come too close."
Her husband nods in agreement. "You have my word."
She can see the remorse swimming in his eyes and she wishes she had never caused such a scene. She wants to throw herself down the Acropolis for doubting his intentions for even a moment. He wasn't a perfect man, but he really, truly, was an honest one, with a heart made of gold.
"Rest, now." She swallows, and gently pushes him down onto the bed, wood creaking under the weight. "Busy week ahead."
She watches as his body melts and remembers he is still full of wine. He smoothly tugs her down toward him and this time she doesn't resist. Despite the summer warmth he wants her close, always does when he's been drinking, and he's sound asleep in moment. But Lucy can't say the same for herself.
Unfortunately, the Complex is far from a rosy place, given the many ways to die. Natsu and Lucy also lack magic in this world, so they have to trust each other on a whole new level. Luckily, Natsu has incredible reflexes and reaction times, so that often saves them both
Natsu doesn't get motion sickness when moving between portals, so he enjoys them as best he can, since they're not transportation. He also doesn't get nauseated by gravity wells, faith plates, or gels. However, he does get nauseated in elevators or if the panels he's standing on start to shift :D
I need to rant about how over-looked Natsu as a character is undermined.
I don’t enjoy how a majority of the fandom makes Natsu this idiotic oaf. I’m not saying Natsu isn’t an idiot, he is. He’s actually insane, but that’s what makes him so inherently smart. His smartness is not a traditional one. I’ve probably talked about it before but the way Natsu’s ideas, actions, and thoughts always play out (when they’re not jokes) usually ends in him getting what he wants.
Natsu is a sweetheart and he is not scared of anything. Natsu is a foil to Zeref, and it’s evident by the way he gets everything he wants when he wants it (in a traditional sense, he wants to fight he’ll get one) I’m not saying Natsu is the smartest tool in the shed, I’m simply saying Natsu’s ability to communicate and warm the people around him is an ability that takes charisma and charm. I don’t like how that is overlooked or brushed off to make him this dog that doesn’t know left from right.
I love this about his character and I think it reminds me a lot of Zeref. Without meaning to both of them have created communities around each other that treasure them to the moon and back and nobody ever likes to talk about it.
I also do not like how people write off a lot of Natsu’s deeper thoughts into nothing. I think Natsu struggles a lot when it comes to his mental issues, I just think he ignores them.
At some point Natsu has to feel alienated from the people around him. He’s constantly being called this monster that has to choose and his response is always “I’m Natsu” which is incredible funny. I don’t even think anyone could answer it better.
I know a lot of people believe Natsu doesn’t look at his past or his traumas heavily, because to be honest it seems like he doesn’t, but there’s time and time that’s shown that Natsu has guttural physical reactions to things in his body and maybe that’s a separation between his soul and body.
Either way I just want to see that explored more often
I also have something else to talk about, the way Natsu and Zerefs relationship is kind of put off at the end. I’m not sure what makes me feel this way because I understand why Zeref died the way he did. However, I can’t help but feel Natsu holds Zeref closer to him than he lets on.
I know this sounds like it’s just something I’ve made in my head, but having your mind suddenly remember an older brother that took care of you and made sure you had a chance at life is something Natsu would get attached it. In fact that’s Natsu’s entire thing, he beleives Zeref is inherently good, because him and Zeref are incredibly alike.
I know a lot of people don’t characterize Zeref this way, but I find Zeref to be as much of a sweetheart as Natsu. They both wear their heart on their sleeve and that leads to their pain.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this said, but Natsu’s anger and resentment for Zeref at the beginning could’ve absolutely been a consequence of the fact Zeref wanted Natsu to remember and smile at him.
Which is why I get so confused at the disconnect and bluntness of Natsu when Zeref does have to die. We are talking about the same person who cries over any family member that tries to die, in fact loathes when anyone chooses to die
I love Mavis and Zeref I absolutely do, I don’t even hate how Zeref died. However, I find it slightly ridiculous that Zerefs death is not connected to Natsu whatsoever. What pulls my strings even more is the fact that Zeref is reincarnated after. I know people find familial bonds boring, and even less important than the majority of the romantic plots.
But I cannot be the only one who believes Zeref would be incomplete without knowing his brother, and Mavis would be heartbroken to be without her guild.
I understand why Natsu is never shown to have the same bond as a Mavis & Zeref, but that’s Natsu’s entire thing. Natsu is inherently more intrigued by friends and family, Natsu still cries over igneel when he is mentioned or seen.
I think it’s utterly ridiculous to say that Natsu is somewhat un-interested in his brother when he always raised and brought him back from death.
In a hundred years quest there’s an entire segment where he just sees them living happily because deep in his subconscious he thinks his brother is good.
It truly just confuses me on why Natsu as a character is given this one dimensional note, when he is a complex character that strives for emotion and love. I think Natsu is much more connected to Zeref in that regard, as they both see one another as inherently innocent whether they realize it or not.
I just get sad and emotional thinking about what they could’ve been to one another.
