The guild doors opened and the dragon slayers walked in, the demons walked meekly behind them.

The members were polite, but they weren't rowdy or loud, they were cautious watching the new members with weary looks. Acnologia pretended he didn't notice and continued on, "Gray your clothes," he sighed.

"GRAY!" Ur yelled.

"Sorry," Gray yelled back looking for his pants.

"Stripper," Natsu teased.

"Flame freak!" Gray yelled back, "you disappeared for a few months and that's the first thing you say to me!?"

"Yep," Natsu smiled.

"Why you!" Gray cried.

Just like that, a fight ensued, Acnologia smiled.

"You wanted that to happen," Erik laughed.

"It was to quiet, I don't like this guild quiet," Acnologia scoffed heading towards the bar.

Jackal and Seilah were watching the fight with great intrigue. When the rest of the guild joined in they watched in awe.

"This is how it is usually," Mira smiled from the bar.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Seilah nudged Jackal.

"You interacted with multiple humans, greet her," she ordered.

"Uh, hi," Jackal said waving, "am I doing this right," he asked Se1lah.

"How should I know, it's not like I used to greet my victims!" Seilah answered calmly,

"You should know you always seemed to understand human interaction," Jackal hissed.

"Not these types of interactions!" Seilah responded, her voice rising slightly.

Mira laughed, "yes, you did it right."

She and Seilah kept eye contact for a few seconds until Seilah broke eye contact and looked towards the fight once more.

"WATCH OUT!" a voice cried.

Jackal turned just in time to be hit face first with a table. He went flying much to Seilah's horror.

"Jackal are you alright!?" she cried.

"Who threw that!?" Jackal yelled jumping to his feet.

"Sorry," a member cried from the background among the chaos.

"I find it best to sit behind a pole, that happens quite frequently," Lucy said from a table.

"Blondie," Jackal greeted looking away.

"Jackal," Lucy smiled, "welcome to Fairy Tail."

On cue, Natsu crashed into the pole next to Lucy.

"Hey Luce," Natsu greeted.

"Hi Natsu," Lucy greeted.

"Ha, I got you!" Sting cried.

"NOT ON MY LIFE!" Natsu roared in happiness lunging for Sting.

Jackal looked for Seilah and found her at a table reading. He was about to make his way over when he noticed that a blue-haired girl had sat down next to her; Levy. She began recommending books to change Seilah's anti-human book rage. Jackal just stood there by the bar among the chaos rather awkwardly.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day?" Bickslow laughed from above, he was standing on his dolls.

"What else am I gonna do?" Jackal scoffed, his tail twitched slightly, he was annoyed that he had let this human sneak up on him so easily.

"Get in the fight, you know you want to," Bickslow said jumping down next to Jackal.

"My curses make anyone I touch explode, fighting for fun is a terrible idea for me," Jackal smiled.

"Man that must be kinds lonely, can't touch anyone," Bickslow said leaning backward on the wall.

"It's never been too lonely, I've never really needed to have contact with anyone," Jackal said deflecting a flying chair.

"Yeah well, I'm sure we could work something out to help you with that magic of yours," Bickslow said taking his mask off and looking towards the chaos.

"Curses, I have curses, not magic," Jackal sighed.

"Potato, potata, tomato, tomata, Natsu, Sting, they're basically the same thing.

"Bickslow?" Lisanna called over the madness.

"Sorry, that's my other baby calling, I've gotta go, probably cause some chaos, tease Elfman and Ever, the norms, see you later kitty!" Bickslow laughed putting his mask back on and jumping onto his dolls.

"Farewell... KITTY!?" Jackal yelled after the soul mage small explosions popping from his fingers.

That night Seilah and Jackal prepared to sleep down on the first floor of the guildhall while the dragon slayers settled back into the top floor. Blankets and other various bed items had been lent to them.

"What is this?" Jackal asked holding up a pillow.

"... I'm not sure," Seilah pondered studying the item.

"It's a pillow," Gajeel explained as he walked by them, "you put them under your head and then you sleep."

"Interesting," Seilah said snatching the pillow.

"H-Hey!" Jackal said reaching for it.

"It's soft and rather fluffy," Seilah said pulling the pillow close.

"That's mine get your own," Jackal hissed.

"I like this one, you take that one," Seilah said calmly sitting down.

Jackal growled as he grabbed the other pillow and fluffed it. Seilah reached down and picked up a blanket, "It's kinda like your nest isn't it?" she smiled.

"Meh, my nest had more fabric," Jackal answered.

"Nest?" Wendy asked as she walked in now wearing pajamas, "did you not have beds in Tartaros?"

"What's a bed?" Seilah asked.

"It's the soft thing you sleep on...I take it you never had one," Wendy supposed.

"Jackal had a nest," Seilah said.

"The ground was hard!" Jackal defended building a mountain of blankets around him.

"Where did you sleep?" Wendy asked.

"With Kyoka in Hell's core, but we only slept once a year, demons don't need to much sleep," Seilah smiled.

"Speak for yourself," Jackal yawned stretching. His ears twitched as he did so and he fell back in his tangle of sheets and pillows. He fell asleep instantly, Seilah rolled her eyes and began to read a book that Levy had lent her.

"Uncle's the last one to go to sleep, that's around midnight so I suppose that's when the lights go out," Laxus explained.

"So, that I should stop reading by then," Seilah supposed.

"That would be appreciated, we get enough light in this place with Uncle and Sting going all bio-luminescent on us," Gajeel sighed.

"Understood," Seilah nodded.

Erik woke up that night because Jackal had started snoring. He groggily got to his feet and looked down to the first floor. Jackal was in a tangle of blankets snoring nearly as loud as Natsu was. Seilah, however, was still awake.

"Hey Seilah," Erik whispered from the second story, the demon looked up her eyes wide and alert. "What part of sleep at twelve did you not get?" Erik yawned.

"I did sleep at twelve, I slept for an hour, but a well-rested demon is a gluttonous demon," Seilah answered softly.

"I don't think your brother got the memo."

Seilah looked over to Jackal and smiled, "Jackal isn't afraid of ignoring Kyoka's teachings."

"Are you?" Erika asked.

"I respected Kyoka... one could even say I cared for her, I always wanted to make her proud of me."

Erik sighed and massaged his forehead, that wasn't what he had been asking but he might as well continue down this path, "And Jackal?"

"I suppose he wanted to be happy, Mard Geer always made that promise to him, he would say that we were close to achieving happiness... close to fulfilling our purpose, Jackal would always be more rambunctious afterword."

"Well I recommend you get some sleep, heaven knows you can't get any during the day this guild's so noisy. Nice chit-chat, goodnight," Erik yawned stretching and returning to bed. Seilah sat a moment in the dark before looking back to the pillow. Slowly she slipped under the covers and fell asleep.

(A Few Hours Later)

It was the afternoon; there had been ten fights, three fires, two frostbite victims, and three energy surges (Curtesy of Natsu, Gray, Lyon, and Laxus). Jackal and Seilah were rather amazed by it all.

Seilah had begun looking at the job board in doing so she scared Nab away from his usual post. A few minutes later Jackal joined her.

"That one looks promising," Jackal said gesturing with his head at a slip.

"It wants a demolition expert," Seilah said.

"Perfect," Jackal smiled.

"The reward is too small, we need something... like this," she said pulling a sheet off the board.

"What, that sounds so boring!?" Jackal scoffed.

"The rewards five times the reward of yours and all we have to do is retrieve a book, who knows maybe there'll be something for you to fight," she smiled.

Jackal growled but agreed to it.

(A Few More Hours Later)

"Sooooo far away," Jackal complained as he walked alongside Seilah.

"We're getting closer," Seilah reassured him.

"I wish we could take the main path instead of taking the detours."

"And risk forming a vengeful angry mob?"

"... Fine."

They were walking through a forest and although he'd never admit it, Jackal was enjoying himself; he'd never gotten a chance to enjoy the world like this.

"It should be just through these woods," Seilah smiled looking at the map.

"So what some guy heard about a book and wants us to go find it?" Jackal asked ducking under a tree branch.

"Yes, it's a book titled Keta," Seilah nodded.

"And I'm guessing he can't just buy it at his local book store?"

Seilah gave him a look that made his hair stand on end.

"Well, I'm sorry for asking!" Jackal defended.

They arrived at the old library, it was a building that had been ravaged by time, ivy grew up its walls, birds sang in its rafters and bugs were crawling around the stone floor. The books were not salvageable, water damage, bugs, and various other natural destruction had destroyed most of them, but still the demons looked.

Jackal yawned as he checked the cover of what must have been the thousandth book.

"Anything?" Seilah called.

"Trust me, when I find it I'll tell ya," Jackal retorted.

There was a small pop; Jackal looked down at his feet wondering what had just happened. It happened again, this time he saw a little flash of light right next to his shows. He knelt down and realized what was going on; ants had begun to touch his foot, his curse power was making them explode. He sighed and moved his foot allowing the ants to continue on their trail. He picked the next book out of the shelf and looked at it, and then suddenly a flashback came.

Jackal was a... a child? His tail flicked excitedly as he leaned over the yard chair to watch the ants march by.

"They are fascinating aren't they?" a voice asked.

Little Jackal turned and gave a toothy smile, "yeah, they just follow each other, like an army!" he yipped.

Zeref sat there watching Jackal, his face held no emotion; "they are mere pawns working for their queen."

"Hey Zeref," Jackal asked turning around and looking to the dark wizard.

"Yes, Jackal?" Zeref asked.

"What happened to Teketa? Why'd did he have to go?" Jackal whined.

"I thought he was strong enough, strong enough to end this... but he wasn't."

"Will he come back?" Jackal asked hopefully.

"No, I erased his memories, the only thing he knows is to want for my destruction, and hopefully he'll be successful next time."

"So... so he doesn't remember me?"

"No."

"And he wants to kill you?"

"Yes."

Jackal was silent his ears hung low, "are you gonna make me forget you too?"

Zeref looked surprised, "hopefully, how else are you going to kill me?"

"But... but I don't want to kill you!" Jackal cried hugging himself.

"Calm down, you won't remember me when the time comes, hopefully, you won't hesitate," Zeref soothed.

"Master, master look!" young Mard Geer laughed running out of the house.

"Yes, what is it?" Zeref asked simply.

"Little lullaby learned a new song!" Mard laughed holding up his beloved potted plant. Lullaby let out three long notes and did a happy dance in its pot.

"I'm so proud!" Mard Geer laughed hugging the plant.

Zeref had to stop himself from smiling.

"Burn, burn, burn, burn," there was chanting behind Jackal. Jackal turned and saw Young Kyoka incinerating ants with a magnifying glass.

"Hey, Kyoka, what 'chya doing?" Jackal asked.

"I'm burning them, watching their little mindless bodies contort in agony is such a spectacle," Kyoka smiled.

"Okay," Jackal squeaked sitting back down.

"Come back here," little Seilah ran out of the cottage, book in hand, laughing as she chasing a mini Deliora that looked more like a demonized dog. The small dog stopped in front of Jackal and growled playfully.

"I'll get you this time!" Jackal laughed beginning to chase Deliora around the patio furniture.

Zeref sighed and massaged his nose, "having a young Natsu, that was easy, but no you just had to make life more of a living hell for yourself, well done me."

Jackal was back in current time his eyes widened in shock... he had been a... a KID! And Seilah, Mard Geer, Kyoka, Lullaby, Deliora, they were there too. That man... he must have been Zeref, but Jackal didn't remember having a childhood, let alone spending it with everyone... had Ezel and Tempester been there too? What about Keyes? Who was Teketa and why had he been so upset... what did Zeref mean by what he said, what did Natsu have to do with anything... did Zeref raise all his demons? Was Natsu a- no that was impossible, right?

"Found anything?" Seilah asked.

Jackal's mouth was dry, "no," he rasped.

"It's here somewhere," Seilah sighed.

"Yeah..." Jackal nodded pondering what had just happened to him.

(Some Time Later)

It was hours until they finally found the book.

"Okay I just checked downstairs, nothing," Jackal said turning the corner. Seilah was still engrossed with the book that she held. This one looked untouched by age; its blue cover was clean and crisp. On the cover were large black letters; Keta.

"You found it," Jackal laughed looking over Seilah's shoulder.

Seilah appeared to have not heard him; she gently ran her hand along the front of the book.

"Hey Seilah, are you alright?" Jackal asked.

Seilah looked to her comrade, Jackal's eyes widened when he saw tears in her eyes.

"Oh gosh, what's wrong, what do you need, water, food, exercise? Are you feeling claustrophobic? Did a bug crawl on you? Did someone hurt you? Do I need to get someone? When's the last time you breathed? Are you too hot? Speak to me Seilah," Jackal cried visibly freaking out.

"We can't give this book up Jackal," Seilah whispered.

Jackal stopped his antics momentarily, "What do you mean?"

"This... this is one of Zeref's books," Seilah said fondly.

Jackal stood there frozen.

"Who knows what a human could do with this, I won't let it get hurt," Seilah said hugging the book.

"Seilah. Are. You. Mad!?" Jackal cried, "that thing could hold a horrible thing that would rip us apart without hesitation!? You do realize that Zeref made books that have only primal instincts; have you ever heard of Deliora?!"

"But what if they're like us, we could teach them how to live, we could make a family," Seilah said fondly.

"Or we could all die," Jackal said sarcastically.

"They could be a little sibling, my little sister," Seilah smiled.

"H-Hold on, how do you know it's gonna be a girl!?" Jackal objected.

"Oh, do you want a little brother?" Seilah teased.

"Don't say it like that!" Jackal massaged his head, "okay, so what are we gonna do? Just waltz into Fairy Tail and present this new demon?"

"No, we shouldn't awaken them now, right now this world hates our kind, so the best thing we can do is... wait," Seilah said.

"Okay, what about the reward!?" Jackal whined.

"Don't worry, I can take care of that," Seilah smiled.

"That smile scares me."

"Kyoka taught me a little bit about demonization."

"Which is important why?"

"I require your blood."

"... how did I know this was gonna be bad?"

(A Few Minutes Later)

"So what's the plan?" Jackal asked as he wrapped his cut hand.

"I will demonize something harmless, like this," Seilah said holding up a caterpillar.

"Why?"

"I will then lifelink it to a book, anyone will do, we'll write Keta on the front, give it to our client and ta-da, problem solved," Seilah said proudly.

"You sure you can do all that?"

"Of course," Seilah nodded. With that, she took the vial of jackal's blood and poured it over the caterpillar. "Innocent life, feel the power of the demons course through you, with your new name I make thee one of us and tie you to our creator Zeref, I make thee, Ceta!" Seilah chanted. The caterpillar convulsed once and then accepted the blood of the demon. It turned black and spiked protruded from its body. "There," Seilah said proudly.

"Yep, now you've ruined caterpillars for me," Jackal sighed looking at the small creature.

"Now, let's give this human the demon he wants," Seilah smiled.

(Hours Later)

Seilah and Jackal both wore hooded garments to hide from the villagers. Seilah knocked on the door of their client. A young woman opened the door.

"Yes?" she asked.

"We're here because of your job request, we've retrieved the book," Seilah answered.

The woman's gaze became filled with hunger and interest.

"Yes, my husband and I made the request, we had heard rumors of a book that would bestow good fortune on our house and requested that it be found," the woman said.

"Nice cover story, if I didn't know what a book of Zeref looked like I would have bought it," Jackal chuckled.

The woman took a defensive stance, "If you know then why come here?"

"We don't care what you do with the book, we merely want our reward," Seilah answered.

"You're sure," the woman asked.

"Just be warned, the demons of Zeref are not as awe-inspiring as one may think," Jackal chuckled.

"What would you know," the woman said curtly giving Seilah the money and taking the book.

"You'd be surprised," Jackal laughed.

"Who is it?" a masculine voice called out.

"Our job had been completed," the woman called back. She slammed the door on the two without another word. The demons walked away.

"I want to see the look on their face when they see it's a caterpillar," Seilah chuckled.

"Meh, I don't like the idea of humans meddling with demon's business," Jackal growled.

"It's alright, they have a harmless demon and we have the real deal, no harm done," Seilah smiled.

"What are we gonna do with the 'real deal'?"

"Bring it to the guild, ask Acnologia to watch over it... There'll be more."

"You sound certain," Jackal moaned.

"This is it, Jackal... I know what our purpose is!" Seilah cried startling Jackal.

"And what would that be?" Jackal asked.

"We'll search the globe, we'll find every demon from the books of Zeref and we'll care for them, we'll raise them to understand life. We can go somewhere secluded, like the mountains, just like you want. We'll make a family, a real one this time, no one will care about Zeref, or guilds, or the council, or anything! It'll just be us demons... that's our purpose," Seilah said her hand drifting to the bag that held the book.

"Good idea, one problem," Jackal said.

Seilah looked at him preparing herself for the harsh words to come.

"I need something that will stop me from blowing up everyone I touch," Jackal sighed.

Seilah looked up surprised.

"I mean it sounds great and all but all it takes is one person bumping into me! I can't live that life unless I can touch someone and not make them go boom!" Jackal scoffed.

Seilah smiled, "Okay, we'll stop your curse power, and then we'll make plans."

"Deal," Jackal smiled, "I'd shake your hand right now but for your sake, I think it's best we not."

Seilah laughed.

They walked on a few miles and stopped at the top of a hill taking in the view. Mountains framed the back, lush greenery spread out before them; a small trail broke through the trees and led to the mountains.

"One day," Jackal smiled, Seilah looked to him, the demon seemed immersed in a daydream, "One day we'll take that trail to the mountains, we'll build a house... no, we'll build a town, we'll raise the demons in a mountain pass."

Seilah smiled as the dream built within Jackal's mind.

"We'll be far away from anyone and everyone, it'll be our kind learning how to live," Jackal smiled.

"Like a big family," Seilah finished.

"Yeah, I think it might work," Jackal chuckled.

"We could travel the world; keep treasures that we find, build precious memories."

"We could help thousands of our kind, raise them, teach them how to dream, how to love, how to be the family that we all long for."

"... It'll be beautiful."

"We'll build a world that's full of love, a world that doesn't push us away, a world in which, we can be free."

Seilah nodded and looked up to Jackal, "We'll do it."

"Yes," Jackal looked down fondly at Seilah, "We will."

There was a moment of silence.

"When did you get so soft?" Seilah asked suddenly.

"REALLY!?"