All Things E.N.D.

Author name: Diagon Alley (1/1)

Category: Adventure

Keywords: E.N.D., Lucy

Spoilers: Through Chapter 452

Rating: PG – A little bit violent

Summary: E.N.D. reflects on his time with Lucy. E.N.D./Lucy One-Shot.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Hiro Mashima.

Author's Note and Things to Know:Not Beta'd…Sorry if there are mistakes.

I've been wanting to do an E.N.D. story for a while, and I've seen a couple where E.N.D. is awake already. This caught me so I wanted to do my own take.

He couldn't remember his first life. He knew it had happened, Zeref had never hidden that from him, but it always seemed unreal. It made him wonder how he was then.

His second life he remembered very clearly. Being reborn as a demon, meant his body was stronger and faster than when he was a human, and for a while he had a hard time controlling it.

His brother, by the nature of his curse was a wanderer. He would be in the floating halls on Plutogrim one day then gone the next. It always left Natsu, lonely.

So using his wings of this Etherious form, he would fly down to villages that Plutogrim would pass by to be around people, instead of the empty halls of the castle.

But he was no longer human, and they feared him because of it. It didn't help that they were at war with the Dragons of the world. So few of the humans could do magic, so the fear was so ingrained it was instinctual.

They saw a giant creature walking, they screamed and ran. They saw a dragon approach, they screamed and ran. They saw him, they screamed and ran. Most of the time.

A few without magic and a more with magic would turn and attack. He could deal with the ones without magic, the ones with magic were tougher, and he had been so young.

As he grew, he learned to slip down onto the surface far away from any village or town's borders, before walking into town as a traveler.

Nobody questioned him as long as he was in his human form. Apparently having wings, horns, a tail, and markings was too much for anyone to take. He learned that there more of his kind scattered around the world. Demons, they called them. Abominations from the evil mage Zeref.

He couldn't lie. That had stung. Just because they weren't born like a human didn't mean they didn't have feelings.

So he started to search for his brethren. All the while his brother stayed away, but the more he found, the more he started to hate. It was easy too. How could you not hate people who did such terrible things to each other and to other's out of fear.

Disgusting worthless creatures who couldn't get past their own basis instincts. Eventually he stopped using his human form altogether. Why should he after all? Why should he hide who he was when it was humans that had the problem?

He started to bring more and more of his own to Plutogrim. Seilah, he found in the southern tip of the continent. Bound, beaten, and gagged so she could issue not orders. Keyes had been entombed alive in the eastern sea board. So many of his kind hurt and trapped just because of human's fear. So he brought them to his home, made it their home, and protected them, hoarded them away from humans for their own safety.

Truth was it was for him too. For years he had been alone on Plutogrim, with barely a sight of his brother. Now it was full of life, of those of his own kind, who knew his pain.

After one particularly long stint of being absent his brother returned looking rather pleased with himself, he had met a human that he liked.

His brother, who forced himself into solitude, liked someone. And that feeling showed, in his demeanor and his eyes. It made E.N.D. sick to think of.

"You've built quite a place, Natsu." His brother had said.

"E.N.D. I won't be tied to the humans." He bit back, hating his brother for his affection of another. His brother ignored him his comment.

"You could call his the bookshelf of Zeref." He laughed at his own thought. E.N.D. scowled, fire trickling down his spine to his tail then off. The curse of contradictions left his brother's mind scattered. It wouldn't matter what he said, the line of thought Zeref was on was all he could do for the moment.

They all had their own curses to bare after all.

"Do I have a book, like the rest?" E.N.D. asked after a while. This question made Zeref pause.

"Yes. Though yours is different. You have a body that was at one point fully human, so you can never be fully shelved, like the rest." Zeref had finally replied.

In between that visit and the next, E.N.D. gave this town of demons a name and a symbol. They were the Guild Tartaros, they were the Gate to Hell. How fitting for the home of a bunch of demons, and if the humans could have Guilds he sure has hell would have one too.

Mard Geer had insisted he be the Guild Master. That was fine, he was there to keep them and protect them anyways.

And he did. The fight he had with the Fire Dragon King, Igneel had taken days and neither of them had won. It left both licking their wounds and crawling back to their homes, much to his annoyance.

By the time he saw his brother again, another human war was ending. Guild regulations for humans were also starting to get stricter. So he started to take the guilds that they threw away under his protection.

Humans were good for gathering information and supplies at least. He and his demons were strong, and it hadn't taken long for them to make a name for themselves as a Dark Guild. E.N.D. enjoyed that title, Dark Guild, a guild outside of human law. Taking over the lesser Dark Guilds was at least entertaining.

His brother seemed to be of a similar mindset. He spoke of playing a battle game on a different continent, of taking over guilds and the best route to do so, but something had changed again. Whatever, or whomever, had tied Zeref to his feelings again was lost or gone, all that was left was the need for solitude.

So his brother fled Tartaros again, it wasn't a surprise to E.N.D. that he went but those in the Guild didn't understand. All of them, and him to some extent were made to kill Zeref. His deepest wish was to die. They themselves were immortal too, once Hell's Core was fully activated.

It was just over a half a century before he set foot off of Plutogrim for something other than destruction. If he was honest with himself it was because he was bored, and tired. Mard had started a faction within the Guild to seek out Zeref to destroy him and since he was much better with words than E.N.D. was most of the guild was clamoring for it, even if he wasn't.

So as Plutogrim flew over a mountain set well away from the nearest town he could see, he dropped off the cube in to the wood area below. Mard and the rest would have a hard time tracking him if he stayed under cover. He really just needed time alone. After a century of being alone, and a couple more surrounded with other Etherious, he was allowed a walk-a-bout. Hell his brother did all the time.

Of course his walk-a-bout couldn't go as he wanted. Not even five minutes in the woods and he finds a sniveling child; one that was very clearly not where they were supposed to be.

She was hunched down into a small ball. Blonde hair neatly pulled to the side, dressed in what was probably considered a pretty dress that was covered in dirt. Her eyes were shut closed as she cried, lost in her own world she did seem to notice him as he crossed her path.

With a low snarl, E.N.D. walked past the crying girl. While he had killed thousands of humans during his long, long life; killing children had never been his thing. Maybe her crying would draw another predator to her, maybe a bear would eat her.

So he walked on and the crying stopped. That was almost enough to make him turn and see why, but he marched on. Nope. Not going to turn.

He could hear her steps as she followed behind him. He would stop, the patter of her feet would stop. He would start again, she would start again. His tail twitched back and forth in irritation. Just what would possess a child to follow a demon through the forest was beyond him. Finally unable to ignore the girl any longer her turned around.

"Why are you following me?" He snarled.

"Because you are the only one here." She spoke very well for as young as she looked. There was ageless intelligence in her eyes.

"Where are your parents?" He ground out, he could hear his own contempt in the question.

"At home," her lip trembled but she continued on, "I was playing but I got lost. I don't know where I am?" She sniffled, her doe brown eyes looking at him imploringly; begging him without saying it to take her home.

He let out a sound of disgust. He had chosen these woods for his escape because the nearest home was miles away; even then the closes building was a large mansion. One that was large enough to house its own servants so there was little traffic. Based on the quality of dress the girl was wearing, she was probably the little lady of the house. He wondered idly if anyone had even noticed their little princess's disappearance.

Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice her approach, until she had already taken clawed finger into her small hand. He was tempted to rip his hand away, but the strange fear kept him still. He was sure that if he pulled his hand away he would cut her.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" He finally asked, speaking out before he had even thought about the question.

"Why would I be scared of you?" She looked honestly perplexed by the thought. E.N.D. let out a small growl, while using his tail to lift her up to eye level. He shifted his body to show off his full wing span and his fangs.

This, however, only made her giggle. This small child dared to laugh at him; dared to let out giggles of excitement at E.N.D. the King of Demons, Master of the Gate of Hell, Tartaros.

"Because I look…..different from humans." He stated between gritted teeth.

"But lots of my friends look different. Aquarius has a tail, Cancer has more arms…" She stated proudly holding out a golden key with one of her hands.

E.N.D. eyed the key suspiciously. The probability of a small child having a Gate Key, a Zodiac Key at that, was pretty low. But he could feel it at this close distance, the hum of magic radiating off the small object. There was no way this child could use this Key. It was inconceivable. Celestial Magic was becoming rarer and rarer as the centuries turned on; eventually he was sure that it would become a Lost Magic like so many others.

"You are telling me, YOU can summon a celestial spirit." He stated exasperated with the child. The one human that doesn't run screaming at the sight of him was incorrigible.

"I can't summon her here," She said with an eye roll, "I need water to do that, but Aquarius gets mad when I summon her out of the fish bowl or the bath tub."

"How old are you?" He asked face close to hers.

"Four!" She answered tucking away the key then holding up the same number of fingers with her hand as to confirm the statement.

He frowned at her, before setting her down with his tail. For a four year to be able to summon a Zodiac Spirit meant her magic was immense, with some training she could be a threat.

Once she was situated on the ground, she peered up at him, before looking completely shocked. As if she remembered something important all of a sudden.

"Oh! Name is Lucy, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She stated primly, before curtsying.

"I'm sorry I didn't say so before. Capricorn says that becoming a proper lady starts with a proper introduction." She added sheepishly.

E.N.D. just stared at the girl.

"I like your horns, they are bigger than Capricorns. I don't get to see him much. He stays with Momma."

Finally, he could take no more and for the first time in almost three centuries he started to laugh. Not a soft chuckle or evil snigger, but a full blown bent over, clutching your stomach because it hurts, laugh.

He couldn't take it anymore; this human was so different than any other he could remember. And it wasn't helping that she had stomped her foot, puffed out her cheeks, and glared at him for laughing. This child, Lucy, was too much.

"It's not funny," another stamp of her foot as she pouted at him.

"Well then Princess, let's get you home, yea." He found himself saying. Why he didn't even know. For one of himself, who had hated humans for most of his extended life, to find this small blonde child interesting, well it was almost insane.

But once he was free of her, things would normal again. If he kept walking she would just follow anyways.

Based on where he had dropped near the mountain to the mansion. He was estimating a six mile walk. That alone made the fact he found the girl even more surprising. As he walked, she talked. A lot.

She told him about the Spirits and her Mother and Father, but never anyone her own age. She talked about her father's business and her mother's magic training with her. She talked about the servants in the mansion. He could tell she loved them all, even while she complained about the cook feeding her broccoli she was smiling.

As the day wore on her could see her fatigue, so he hoisted up to his shoulders and continued on. This only seemed to spurn on her talking, expect now it was question after question about him.

"What's your name?"

"E.N.D." He replied

"E.N.D. is not a name." She stated imperially. He had replied it was his name, but that had only turned into a 'is is not' fight. Eventually he gave in with an exasperated sigh.

"Natsu. You can call me Natsu." That apparently delighted her as she squealed from her shoulder perch, and they continued on.

"Lucy, why were playing alone in the forest?" He asked finally. It had been bugging him as she talked, never talking about other children.

"Momma and Papa are very busy. They have a large company and many res…resp..res," She paused trying to say the word.

"Responsibilities." He supplied for her.

"Yes, responsibilities, so I have to be a good girl and play by myself sometimes." She finished. E.N.D. frowned, the whole sentence sounded rather rehearsed. Did her parents not understand how precious their child was? He could feel that common feeling of disgust build up in his stomach.

"Momma, Papa, and I play when they can. And I can summon Aquarius even though all she does is yell at me, so I'm not alone." She stated. He didn't miss the wording though, 'so I'm not alone', not 'so I'm not lonely'. He understood that pain. It was one he was very used to. Before he had sought out other Etherious it was just him on Plutogrim, alone save for short distant visits from his brother. After he had started the guild, he was alone as they moved around him, doing as they please. His heart ached for Lucy. This tiny human that from what he could tell only knew how to love others, was left to wallow in loneliness. He better than anyone knew how easy it was to turn loneliness into hate; no matter how far gone he was, he did not want her to know that.

And that was how E.N.D. started to feel again.

For months he stayed in that forest watching Lucy. After he had taken her home, he retreated into the shadows. Staying just out of sight, to see how her parents would react to her coming home. He had watched her mother scooped her into her arms, scolding her, while checking her over at the same time.

For a few days, her mother and father hovered close by as she played outside, but that pasted, becoming less and less frequent. He could see them bustle from one place to another in the manor, saying kind words to giving soothing touches but giving her more time.

Oh there was love and affection there, Lucy's mother clearly doted on the girl, but there was always something pulling her away. Lucy clearly knew this as well. She never cried if her parents were pulled from her. She never whined or argued. She would just smile until they were out of sight.

On two occasions he witnessed her summoning the Water Bearer, Aquarius out of the large fountain in her gardens. Lucy had not been exaggerating about the amount the mermaid yelled at her at all.

She became his tether. His treasure. The more he watched, the more possessive that feeling became. All he wanted to do was steal her way. Hide her in his own castle, and keep her happy.

She was constantly reading. Her face would light up with excitement or dread based on what she was reading. He could see mouthing the words and sometimes he could hear her humming as she read.

The library on Plutogrim was extensive, books covering every wall, while stained glass allowed sun in from above. She would love that room. In his mind he could see her there reading and humming as he napped in the colored sun light.

But taking her to Tartaros was something he would never do. Too many of his kind would kill on sight, even if he claimed her under his protection. Mard Geer in particular would torture her if he thought E.N.D. would hate it.

If only he had found her when he had been young, before he had sought out more Etherious, if he had found then, they could have been together in his castle in the sky. How different would his life had been with her by his side for eternity. This small child was his hope, and he would protect that hope.

The days he treasured the most though, were the ones when she would wonder into the woods. He didn't show himself to her every time, but more often than not he did.

She would squeal and giggle. Then she would talk and tell about all the things she enjoyed since the last time he saw her. She never flinched or fled from him. On a few occasions she had entered the woods toting a book along. He took those occasions to let his dreams become reality. Letting her read her stories out loud as he basked in the sun filtered through the trees. It was in those moments that he knew what peace meant.

So of course they couldn't last.

A little over a year of hovering in the woods around when Mard Geer showed up, if had just been a simple confrontation between him and the other Etherious it would have been fine. The sun had been shining and Lucy had been playing in the garden when the Etherious had shown up.

He had appeared in his contained human form, and had gone straight for Lucy. He had bent low and spoken in hushed tones to the girl, who thought nothing of it. She smiled and answered whatever questions the curse wielder asked.

Rage that he had not known since he had left Plutogrim, filled him. Mard knew where he was. He knew what he had been doing. There was no question that this was a threat.

But before he could react Lucy's mother did. The flash of gold and surge of magic was so intense and strong it made his hair stand up. It was no wonder Lucy had as much magic as she did if her mother held this insurmountable well of power.

From the flash Capricorn surged forward knocking Mard back and away from Lucy. Cancer was not far behind scooping up Lucy and pulling her behind her mother.

"Leave. Now." Her mother's voice had the same fluttering of an empress that Lucy did. Her mother's narrowed eyes were dark as she faced off with Mard Geer.

"Not until Master E.N.D. comes home and that human," his voice cut with hate at the word, "has him under her control." And with a wave of his hand the thorn curse activated shooting out hitting both of the spirits barely missing Lucy.

He could see Layla's teeth grit as her spirits were forced back to the celestial realm, as another shot of thorns leap out at the two women. She was his hope and he would protect her.

With a power push of his wings he shot towards Lucy, he snatched her into his arms wrapping his wings around them as the thorns slammed into him. But he was E.N.D. the most power Demon every created, he was destruction. He felt the flames of his curse flick off him destroying the thorns as they came near.

For her part, Layla did not seem surprised to see him. In fact she barely spared him a glance as she watched Mard Geer sneer back at her.

"Take her and run." She commanded pulling out a black key. So he did. What did he care about Lucy's mother? All he wanted was for Lucy to be safe. He fled flying faster than he thought possible through the woods away from the mansion towards Mount Hakabe on the border of the estates land.

He could hear the roars and shouts of the fight, but getting Lucy away was all that mattered. She was too pure, too precious to be caught up in his world of hell. He glanced down to the girl tucked in his arms. She was unconscious but otherwise unharmed. The shock of the sudden fight had probably been too much. All the better. The less she would remember of this the better.

They were halfway around the mountain, well out of the Kozern territory when Mard Geer caught up with them. Layla was not far behind riding what appeared to be a dragon.

It was everything in power to dodge as the dragon's breath attack decimated the area around them. He had never seen that particular dragon before but he knew it by its breath.

Draco the Dragon of the Stars, only he could breathe pure magic of the stars. E.N.D. looked around for Mard only to see he had also dodged the attack, but at least his attention was back on Lucy's mother and not Lucy.

Layla shifted down off the dragon's back, her dress was torn and her hair loose around her. She was covered in soot and cuts but looked as graceful as she did every day.

Draco roared into the sky, an angry beckoning roar. If it had been 300 years ago he would have feared more dragons coming to his call, but now they were gone from Earthland. Only Arcnologia survived.

But something did answer his call. It wasn't some tangible just a heavy feeling in the area, as if something was there waiting just out of reach to see what would happen next. Mard Geer must have sensed it as well, since he struck out against the Dragon in full force.

E.N.D. took the opportunity to hide out of sight with Lucy. He could hear the battle raging on as he watched over the child who had changed his life. Who had given him hope when he had none.

Mard Geer would always chase her, as long as he was alive Mard Geer would pursue her and him. E.N.D. growled lightly. He didn't want to go back. He couldn't go back. Something had shifted inside of him, he no longer held the same views he did before. The only way she would be safe would be if he was gone.

And the answer struck him like lighting. The sky quaked above from, opening a portal to Celestial World. He could feel the Dragon Spirit leaving and another taking his place. He could see a giant man descending from the sky as a shooting star. But none of that mattered.

For her he would do anything. He would burn the world, or save it. He would steal every treasure or live as a popper. For her he would sleep.

He gathered his magic as he had done thousands of time before, but this time he imagined a book. Lucy enjoyed those old books, even though she didn't always understand them. The look and feel of the old worn covers was something she enjoyed. So he pictured that. Something simple, just the part of him he wanted to leave behind on the front.

And with the snap of his fingers, his magic surged as the sealing process started, and time stood still. He could see Mard in his Etherious form fighting the Celestial Spirit King. He could see Layla standing firm to watch the battle, tears streaming down her face, as she clutched a broken black key. And he could see himself, the magic ripping his Etherious form from his human body. He could see as his own body began to shrink as more and more magic was sucked into the form of a book.

And he could see Lucy. Laying there peacefully besides him. For her he could sleep.

With the last ghosts of a smile, he did just that.

When he woke he was into his third life.

When he start to get flicker of thoughts it was as if he was swimming through a haze, groggy from a deep sleep, but the truth was much different.

It was so hard to think through another person's thoughts and seeing through another person's eyes.

But the first thing he saw was her. There was no way he wouldn't know her. She was older, but still the same.

The same glowing hope, but now she was a fighter. The magic to remove curses, Galaxia Blade. It had broken his seal, she had broken his seal.

She looked so much like her mother now that she was grown. Though his counterpart hadn't known how she had saved them, he did. Summoning the Celestial Spirit King was no small feat; it took tremendous amounts of magic in addition to a sacrifice.

She had grown into a wonderful woman. How could he not love her, and he wasn't the only one. As they finished fighting, as Igneel passed on, as they clean up from the destruction that was their home, he sorted through his counter parts memories. Natsu loved Lucy as much as he did, he was clumsy about it, never put it in words, but it was there in all of his memories.

That warmth she had once brought to him, she had brought to his other half as well.

But his presence in their mind was not going unnoticed. While Natsu didn't maybe couldn't understand everything that it meant, he understand that the possessiveness he had always felt for the blonde had changed.

It scared his other half, enough that he ran away, leaving only a note for Lucy behind. In the year they were gone he start to merge their consciousness's. A tediously long, but necessary objective, because he knew one thing to be true; Zeref was coming. He had appeared before his other half too many times for that not to be true.

And if he was coming for Natsu, Lucy would be in harm's way, something that was completely unacceptable to him.

So he would whisper to his counterpart as he slept, he had always known how to kill Zeref, but killing his own brother was something he never wanted before.

But for her he do anything, and his counterpart felt the same.

After all they loved her, so let Zeref come. They would win, because she shined with the One Magic, like a blazing trail of fire to them. Lighting the way to victory.

And for her all things would end. Even Zeref.

E.N.D.