《p r o l o g u e》

WHENEVER SOMEONE SAYS THE WORD PECULIAR, the first thing that pops into your mind is strange or weird, right? You're not entirely wrong there. Actually, not very wrong at all.

The word 'peculiar' can, typically, mean or be used to describe almost anything. But, it can also be used on a way darker level. Have you ever heard of the Peculiars? My guess is not likely. Of course, almost anyone can write a five-paged essay about the powers of Celestial wizards, Dragon Slayers, or the Knight, but they can't rack their brains enough to remember the Peculiar wizards.

But... I don't blame them. If I could, I would forget about everything Peculiar and never even dream of looking behind my shoulder. In this case, things that are forgotten should always stay forgotten. But that's not quite how fate works, here.

You see, the Peculiars are a line of what is considered to be the most powerful practice of magic that exists. So powerful even, that a single hereditary dose has to be shared among two or more mages, never just one mage. The Peculiar power would be far too overwhelming for just one mage, and the results of something like this could be disastrous, leading to things such as desires for world domination, being driven to insanity, or even death. So, as you can see, the Peculiar magic isn't something that should be messed with. I cannot tell you how many innocent mages have died because they were not able to keep control of all the power.

A lot of the other wizards (including the Magic Council) had claimed this magic practice to be hazardous to humans and wizards/mages alike. No one even knew who started the Line of Peculiars in the first place. Not even the Peculiars themselves had any clue. You never get told beforehand if you're going to be born into a family of Peculiars, it basically just happens. Most people describe it as a curse more than a gift to be carrying the Peculiar magic in their veins.

Maybe it's because of their history. Back when Peculiar magic was still considered a legal practice, the first people who were given the Peculiar magic had no idea how to practice it. They tried almost everything that they had learned from the others, turning frogs into household items or attacking their opponents. But when one young girl named Shiva, a carrier of the Peculiar magic along with her two brothers Sullivan and Cliff, was attempting to practice her magic on one of their hay stuffed dummies, she started screaming as she watched the dummy disintegrate under her own two, purple glowing hands.

When her two brothers finally arrived to help her, they were greeted with a horrific sight. Their younger sister, who used to have white blond hair and beautiful ocean eyes, was now rocking back and forth in a pool of what appeared to be tar, her clothes drenched in blood and her eyes a white hot luminescent yellow.

At the sound of her brothers' footsteps, she whipped her head to face them, and did nothing but stare intently at them. The boys started to feel weary all of a sudden, Sullivan catching glimpse of a lumpy figure in the background, behind Shiva. It only took him a few short seconds to put two and two together. That lump was a dead body of an innocent human that his sister had killed. Cliff was the one to notice the bloody knife clutched in her small hand.

Out of pure terror, they fled the scene and ran back to their house, slamming and locking all the doors behind them. Their parents had been the ones that passed down the Peculiar magic to their children, and, after a few short years, right after they had revealed their Peculiar carrying blood, their parents claimed that they were going on a business trip and never returned. Rumors spread that while they had been on the boat, traveling across the sea, their eyes turned yellow as the sun and they attacked and killed every man on the boat, including each other. Now their sister had done the exact same thing. Only she wasn't finished yet. While Cliff and Sullivan stayed indoors, Shiva had left the training field and had turned herself into a crow, flying up the house until she reached the window to the bathroom that Cliff had forgotten to latch.

With her bird eyes still yellow, she stared intently at the window until it began to crack. Eventually, it shattered. You know how whenever a glass or window breaks, it usually makes a large, well, shattering noise as it hits the floor right? Not in this case. As Shiva broke the glass, she ordered the glass to stay silent as it hit the floor, giving her a deadly gateway into their house, undetected.

Needless to say, she killed Cliff that night, while destroying the entire house in the process. She also ended up dying as well, getting a purple knife through her stomach. You're probably wondering who was on the other end of that knife.

If you read carefully, you would have realized that she only killed one of the two brothers.

Sullivan killed his own sister because he had to kill her before she could kill him. After the whole breakout, he packed up everything he could and ran all the way to the nearest train station to tell the Council everything that happened. Sullivan was a firm believer of the Council, and whenever something wrong happened, he believed that they could fix it with just a flick of a finger. He looked up to them. He wanted to be one of them when he grew up. Which is why he was heartbroken when they made the final and ultimate decision that the practice of Peculiar magic be deemed illegal.

No type of magic should drive someone to the desire to kill, they had said.

But they didn't realize the monster that they had just created. Sullivan wanted to be in the Council when he grew up and if he couldn't practice magic, then what good would he be in the Court of Magic?

Long story short, Sullivan began to develop a strong hate (with a passion) for the Magic Council, and he married a beautiful young woman named Hope. He still practiced the Peculiar magic in his free time, never joining a guild, but killing innocent people off of the streets and wild animals in belief that he was strengthening his magical power.

This went on for a while until one night, Hope woke up to the sound of someone screaming. Placing a hand on her bulging stomach (yes, she is pregnant), she waddled all the way outdoors until she watched her husband summon the all famous Elmo from Sesame Street. Except... This Elmo wasn't cute and happy. Instead of his red fur, he had midnight blue with liquid tar dripping off of the strands. His eyes also matched her husbands, having a burning yellow glow as he killed a homeless man that had been sleeping on a bench.

Now, usually, you would think that she would scream and flee, right? But she didn't. Oh no. Instead, she came up to her husband and brought him back inside, keeping a firm grip on his ear. She forced Sullivan to tell her everything, from his parent's murders to the rush that he felt whenever he plunged something through someone's heart.

This is going to sound strange, so I'll try to keep it clear.

Hope somehow found a way to split the amount of Peculiar pulsing through Sullivan's veins in half, injecting the other half into herself. No one knows how she was able to do this. Some claim that she had multiple things from her past that she never told Sullivan. But them sharing the Peculiar magic seemed to bring the killing sprees to an end. And once Hope gave birth to a pair of twins, they both shared the same amount of Peculiar magic. Your parents began to lose faith in you, but they also began to get worried. You didn't seem to have any Peculiar magic in you. At all.

But then, one day, while you were playing in the park, you rested your palm on the grass and let out a loud shriek as the grass began to die and the dirt began to shrivel up and crack. It spread out until the entire field was dead, and the other children's parents fled the park. You watched with baby tears streaming down you plump cheeks as the trees wilted and died as well.

You called out for your parents, but they were no where to be seen. Suddenly, a figure began to slowly come out of the dead forest, having a calm pace despite what else had happened. As they came closer, you realized that it was a man. He wore a high-collared black robe with golden trim, and a flowing white toga had been draped around his torso. He had short black hair, but his eyes... Were almost the strangest thing about him. The irises were a glowing red, with a black ring running along the pupil. You shivered, for you had stopped crying at the feel of his dark aura wrapping around you the second he appeared.

He stopped mid-stride and merely just stared at you for what seemed like forever. Your glittering e/c eyes never strayed from his as you both played a deadly staring contest game. He was the first to break the silence as he opened his mouth and pierced through the delicate sheet of silence that had been hovering in the air.

"Little Miss Peculiar, you have no clue who you are, do you?" His voice rattled against the still air and the dead trees and cracked dirt groaned in the silence as you stared at him, your newborn brain not being able to comprehend his words or what they meant.

Oh, if only you knew how much power you possess...

He began to advance towards you once more, his red iruses radiating off of your skin, and you let out a small cry in fear. You held up your chubby newborn hand and closed your eyes, letting out a small squeak. Suddenly, you felt the strange sensation of the Peculiar magic coursing through your veins until it grounded around the center of your palm, a small purple symbol engraving itself onto your hand. An icy blast of midnight purple flames shot out from your hand, zooming towards him in an angry fit. With amused eyes, he moved his hand slightly to the right, and your flames were extinguished midair.

A soft chuckle came from deep within his throat as he eyed your small frame. "You're more powerful than I assumed. But the time has not come, we must wait. Until next time, Peculiar..." and with those final words, he swiftly disappeared back into the sea of dead trees almost as quickly as he had appeared. These appearances happened continuously for the next eight years, on the same day, only once a year. He would test your skills on your defense skills, and after the continuous occasions, you began to wait expectantly each year, always forgetting to tell your parents about the strange man who appeared to you as you felt it a silent agreement to keep these meetings secret. Your young brain had figured that since he kept coming back, that just meant that he was intrigued by you and wanted to help you with your powers and get to know you better.

Sadly, your hypothesis was wrong.

On your eigth birthday, you were kidnapped by the malicious sorcerer Zeref. You had been sitting in the same spot as you had eight years ago, digging your fingers into the cracked grass as you watched the ground and the trees wither and die around you once more. You hated seeing the life become sucked out of the nature surrounding you, but you had discovered that it was something that pleased Zeref when he arrived, to be greeted with dead surroundings.

Only this time was different.

While you sat there, patiently waiting, staring into the darkness of the brambles and trees, you suddenly felt extremely light headed. Putting a hand up to your head, you fought to keep your eyes open as dizziness clouded your vision.

What's going on? You questioned, not being able to tell if you spoke it out loud or not. Your pet talking unicorn, Sparrow, had been grazing in the field next to you, and once she saw your confused state, she ran closer to you in a protective stance only to get knocked to the ground, unconscious, as soon as she got within three feet of you.

"S-Sparrow?" Was all you were able to muster out before blackness greeted you coldly.

♡♡♡

You awoke to the sound of clanging metal. Still groggy from the sleeping spell that had been cast upon you, your frame gingerly sat up slowly, cradling your head in your palm against the headache that throbbed against your temples. You weren't quite sure why, but for some reason the Peculiar magic inside of you seemed to be pushing eagerly at the great barricade you had formed long ago in the back of your mind to prevent it from taking over completely.

As you sat up, you felt something strange and cold pierce your rear and your back. Bringing your free hand down to the ground, you felt around as you tried to adjust your eyes to the bright light shining through. The earth felt... cold and hard.

Shaking your head in confusion, your eight year old brain fought to open your eyes all the way, and you were able to successfully survey your surroundings. But, sadly, your situation wasn't what you had been expecting.

Your mouth dropped open slightly, your jaw trembling in fear as you scanned the great big, black bird cage you had been imprisoned in. The cage let off a strange purple glow, and the bars were thicker than a loaf of bread, so close together that it was almost impossible to push your hand through. Tears clouded your vision as you attempted to search for an escape or an exit. Your eyes caught sight of a bird door with a large lock dangling from the outside. You stood up, about ready to run to it, when you tripped over a large mass that had been lying on the ground.

Letting out a cry in pain as your cheek connected with the chilled metal, you looked over and almost cried when you recognized the large white mass lying on the metal base.

"Sparrow!" You shrieked her name, crawling over to her unconscious body, lifting her head up into your lap. You ran a trembling hand through her soft white mane, and stared up at the bars surrounding you, closing you in, locking you away from the world. From yourself.

Fear racked your brain as you felt fresh tears spring into your eyes. This can't be happening, you denied.

"This isn't real," you whispered aloud. "This is just a dream..."

"Oh, but I'm afraid it's not, my Peculiar." An all too familiar voice rang out through the cage and the darkened forest around them. You shivered against the slight breeze that the trees brought through as the cage itself swayed gently from the great tree it was latched onto. Your e/c eyes searched rapidly through the bars for the figure of the one whom you had thought to be your friend.

"Z-Zeref?" You called out. Silence followed, until suddenly he materialized like lightning in front of you, his red irises blazing like a fire. You jumped back in shock, putting your arm out before you defensively. Zeref let out a cruel laugh with closed eyes that sent chills down your spine.

What was he doing here? You wondered. Wasn't he supposed to be your friend?

Confusion filled your already throbbing head as you took in his form. That laugh... didn't sound like the usual, "I'm just joking, buddy!" Laugh. No, it was more of a, "You're trapped here, forever." Laugh.

"W-what's so funny?" You squeaked, attempting to calm your nerves, but your attempts prevailed.

Zeref turned to you as if though he hadn't even realized you were there, and narrowed his piercing irises at you. Just the sight of it made you tremble, as you lowered your head slightly, like a dog being scolded. "Have you seriously not figured it out yet, Y/n?" He questioned.

You didn't answer him. After a moment of silence, he rolled his burning eyes. "Wow, I guess you really are just a stupid brat. So unworthy of your capability."

He began to walk around the cage, hands behind his back, as he hummed slightly to himself. "I suppose you'll need a bed. Perhaps a few twigs will suffice as a pillow!"

You bit your lip to prevent the tears from spilling out of your eyes as you bunched up handfuls of Sparrow's mane. Your confusion had resulted in anger as you continued to watch Zeref talk to himself about your new "home". You couldn't believe that he had kidnapped you, though you never really knew him that well in the first place.

"Why are you doing this?" You cried out. "Why did you kidnap me?"

Zeref turned to you once more and let out a low growl. You shrunk back slightly, but attempted to seem strong. "Stupid fool, don't you know that you have the potential to become one of the greatest sorcereresses in all of Fiore? You're the Peculiar. The Wanderer. The Paradox. You have a full familial dose of the Peculiar magic running through your veins, and I assume you know already that you're supposed to share it with another. But obviously, you are the chosen one, as you seem to be handling it just fine. That's why you're here. You're the chosen one and I plan to keep you here, teaching you how to become rotten to the bone until you come of age."

Your eyes widened as his words sunk in. The chosen one? You shook your head, a lone tear slipping down the side of your cheek.

"B-but I don't want to be evil. I don't want to hurt people." You stuttered out. You had the light inside of you, any bad deed seemed as rotten to you as spoiled milk to a cow.

Zeref stared you straight in the eye, a cracked smile of pure insanity spreading across his chapped lips. The look in his eyes scared you nearly to death as he approached you, each step he took louder than the next. "You don't want to be evil?" He questioned, his voice cracking in the middle.

"I don't want to be evil," he impersonated you, adding extra emphasis to make you sound like a whining toddler. When he was finished, he stomped his foot on the ground, sending the cage into a shaking mini-earthquake. You let out a squeak and clung onto Sparrow as the impact of his anger sent you sliding straight into the metal barring of the cage. You let out a small groan as you collided heavily with the metal, slamming your head against the small opening. Pain erupted at the back of your skull and you squeezed your eyes shut, wishing all of this would just go away so you could wake up back home, cozy in your bed.

"Well, guess what, Rapunzel, you're staying in this cage and you will learn how to become an evil sorceress whether you like it or not. Every disobedience you display will be consequenced. And it won't just be taking away your privileges. It'll be much more... permanent." He warned you, eyeing the unconscious unicorn in your lap. Tears streamed down your face as you held her closer to you, gritting your teeth and shaking in anger.

"You're the worst wizard alive!" You screamed at the top of your lungs, turning your torso enough so you could slam your fists against the buzzing purple metal. It stung for your small hands to hit the heavy barring, but you were desperate to escape from this torture. "Help! Someone! Plea-"

Suddenly, it felt as if though the air had been knocked out of you, and you realized quickly that you couldn't breathe. Eyes wide, you opened your mouth and closed it, but to no avail. Your hands raised to your throat, shaking and you felt your lungs beginning to collapse. You slumped over, tears spilling onto the cold floor.

"S-stop..." You choked out, but your voice barely audible.

You looked up to Zeref with pleading eyes, black dots already clouding your vision as you were on the verge of passing out and he finally dropped his arm, a wicked smile still plastered across his lips as he watched you tremble from the pain. Air rushed into your lungs like a river, and you gasped helpful after helpful of oxygen, hand still tightly around your throat. You let out a small cough and stared up with hate lining your eyes at the evil sorcerer as he returned the stare back down at you.

"Next time you try to yell for help, I won't be so merciful." He snarled. And with that, his form dematerialized into thin air, leaving you, still choking, with an unconscious unicorn and the dead silence of the large, dark cage you were to be imprisoned in for a very, very long time.

(Cage is much bigger and you're a lot younger - and you probably look different - , but just an example of what your situation is.)

♡♡♡

There you have it! Here's the prologue! Next will be the first chapter, also known as your Great Escape. Sorry if Zeref is a little off character, I'm trying my best since I haven't seen the series all the way through. But, as always, don't be afraid to post a comment or two and don't forget to punch that vote button or share this story with your friends!

I love you all!

Danalpswolf🦄