Zera

Zera (ゼーラ, Zēra) was a young girl who was the daughter of Zeeself, the Guild Master of Red Lizard. She died in X679 during Blue Skull's raid on Tenrou Island but was used as Mavis Vermilion's illusionary friend until X686.

"Say... do you still believe in fairies? Then I'll believe in you."
 * —Zera to Mavis Vermilion in "Law".

Appearance

 * Voice Actor: Jeannie Tirado (English), Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

Appearance
Zera is a young girl in her early teens. She has brown hair that she keeps tied up in twintails and a set of bangs that hang in unkempt waves over her forehead.

When she was younger, Zera donned an outfit similar to a school uniform; she wore a collared shirt and tie, a blazer, a pleated skirt, stockings and fancy boots. Around her shoulders, Zera carried a light colored satchel, decorated with a bow.

After living on Tenrou Island alone with Mavis for seven years, Zera sports a short orange dress with a halter neck and lace worn over dark tights. On her arms, Zera wears long sleeves that wrap around just below her shoulders and flare down into large, embroidered cuffs. On her feet, she wears long, light brown boots with dark bows.


 * Hair Color: Brown
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Olive
 * Age: 6 (X679; Deceased), 13 (X686, Illusion)
 * Birthday: X673
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Zera was a bratty young girl who was claimed by her father to be very bright for her age. She had a mean streak to her personality, not being past putting down others by calling her classmates stupid and stating that Mavis was a gross germ; however, she was also seen to be aware of her actions towards others, and was willing to make up with and befriend Mavis.

Following her entire guild's demise, Zera began living only with Mavis Vermilion for seven years, something which, over time, led her to develop a rather shy personality, as she became scared of speaking with people due to her lack of expertise in different social environments. However, around Mavis, she is shown to still be bubbly though also firm, seemingly being the more serious of the two.

Family

 * Zeeself (Father; Deceased)

Magic
Fire Magic (火の魔法, Hi no Mahō): After having learned it from Zeref, Zera has shown the capacity to create small fireballs.

Telepathy (テレパシー, Terepashī): Zera has shown herself to be skillful with this Magic, using it to communicate with Fairy Tail members scattered across Fiore.

Past
One day on Tenrou Island, Zera, having finished school, returned home to her father at the Red Lizard guild hall, being praised when she claimed that school is boring because everyone is more stupid than her. Happy with his daughter, Zeeself offered her a pair of new shoes; however, Zera rejected the offer when she realized that the shoes are actually guild cleaner Mavis Vermilion's, as she believed the boots will have germs.

Later that night, Red Lizard was attacked by another guild called Blue Skull, and, being caught up in the fighting, Zera became trapped under the rubble of a fallen building. In pain, Zera is found by Mavis, who pulled her free and tried to get her to run from their attackers. Zera however didn't want to run, as she didn't want to leave her father, guild, and belongings behind, though Mavis convinced her to leave them by saying that they will be in her heart. As the two headed into a nearby forest, Zera exhaustively recalled how she was always mean to Mavis though Mavis told her that that doesn't matter at the present time. Smiling at Mavis' kindness, Zera asked if they could be friends; shortly after, she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Seven years later after growing together with Mavis, Zera found her friend sitting on a tree, singing to herself and reminded Mavis about cleaning the library together. Noticing Mavis not wearing shoes again, Zera chided her friend but later guiltily asked Mavis if she's still upset over her past bullying, receiving a jokingly hurt reply from her friend, who told Zera that it's all in the past and they're friends now before the two complimented each other. Later inside the library, Zera sensed someone coming and immediately hid behind a large bookshelf in panic just after Mavis wondered if there are people on Tenrou Island, explaining that she hadn't been talking to other people for the past seven years much to Mavis' chagrin; the latter decided to confront them herself. As Zera remained hidden, she witnessed a meeting between her friend and Yuri Dreyar, a treasure hunter who seeks the Tenrou Jade on the island with his fellow teammates. Later, Zera cheered for her friend who easily figured out Yuri's attempted lie. When Mavis accepted to play Yuri's game of truth with a promise of meeting fairies if she wins, Zera called her an idiot. During the free tryouts of the game of truth, Zera expressed doubts of Mavis' chances of winning the game. After the game of truth started with Yuri activating his Judgement Field, a surprised Zera saw Mavis' fierce and determined look to win the game in one round.

Zera quietly commended Mavis' slick tactics during the game of truth when she attempted to win by cutting off Yuri mid-sentence. After the game, Yuri's partners Warrod and Precht arrived, causing Zera discomfort due to the presence of more new people. Constantly hiding, Zera, along with Mavis and Yuri, followed Precht and Warrod to the location of the Tenrou Jade only to discover that it had been taken. As Mavis began telling everyone her theory about what happened to the Tenrou Jade during the attack on Red Lizard, Zera became annoyed at her for running off at the mouth and asking the treasure hunters to take her with them on their quest.

Later that night at Mavis and Zera's house, Mavis exposed Zera to Yuri while packing for the trip and introduced her to the young man. Although initially reluctant, Zera is convinced by Mavis to accompany her on their journey to find the Tenrou Jade on the grounds that it will allow them both to see the world. After awkwardly thanking Yuri for letting her accompany them and getting annoyed at his questions about personal information, Zera cracked a smile as Mavis enthusiastically announced the beginning of their adventure.

Disembarking at Hargeon Town, Zera noticed that there were too many people around, and then, when Mavis showed her a fisherman, she commented on his abilities to catch fish. When Mavis decided to go and collect information along with Precht, Zera told her to wait, but instead Mavis told her to wait at the inn, only adding more to her annoyance. As she stayed behind with Yuri and Warrod, watching the other two take off, she warned Mavis to be careful because Precht gave her the creeps.

After the two returned, the group's next destination became Magnolia. During their journey towards Magnolia, the group decided to camp in the woods for the night, despite Zera's protests about the forest's dangers. However, she easily shrugged it off and went to the lake to catch some fish. Later at night, Zera was sitting near the clearing all by herself, when Mavis appeared to check on her. She confessed to her friend that she had not been away from home before and was still not used to being around other people. She also admitted that, because of Mavis saving her life during the incident on Tenrou Island, Zera had sworn to protect Mavis, but she was too scared of the outside world to keep her promise. Despite Mavis consoling her that being there for her was enough, Zera insisted that she had to get stronger, and then asked Mavis to teach her Magic, so that she would take down all their opponents and manage to protect her friend.

Shortly after, she accidentally tripped and fell into the lake. She then undressed, and urged Mavis to join her inside the water. She ignored Mavis' worries about the Treasure Hunters potentially finding them in that state, and soon the other girl joined her. The two played around in the water for a while, and then Zera pointed towards some fairies. When Mavis asked her where they were, Zera hugged her and replied that they were in their hearts, to which Mavis agreed. Some time later the group found Magnolia, and Zera thought that this was where the guild that stole the Tenrou Jade was located. She then talked with Mavis about wanting to visit Kardia Cathedral, before finding it in front of her own eyes, under Blue Skull's skeletal Dragon.

An old man approached the group and warned them that there was nothing to stay in that city for, before being murdered in front of the group, who could only stare in shock. Zera then noticed three Blue Skull Mages celebrating their victory. The Mages immediately attack the group, and Zera looked at them in disgust, wondering how they could kill so easily, and also remembering her deceased family back home. Mavis then tried to deceive her enemies with her Illusion Magic, in order to scare them into giving her the Tenrou Jade, but the Blue Skull Master saw right through the illusions, much to Zera's despair, and ordered his Mages to hunt down the group. Zera then grabbed Mavis by the arm and quickly made a run for it, along with the rest of the group.

Back to the forest, Zera and Mavis gathered around an injured Yuri to tend to his wounds. Mavis then left Zera to get some water, despite Zera's worries for her. When Mavis returned from the forest with a friend, Zera shyly hid behind a tree. That man taught Zera and the rest of the group Magic, which the former used to utilize some sort of Fire Magic, which she used to train along with Mavis, having flames appear on her hands.

The group then decided to return to Magnolia and free the town from Blue Skull, despite Yuri's protests. After going in the town for a second time, Zera thanked Mavis for helping her convince the others save the town, as it was her idea to begin with, and was glad that she was sharing the same views with Mavis. According to Mavis' plan, the group manages to capture Blue Skull's Master, and when he asks then how they managed to learn all those tricks, Zera told them that they were taught by the Black Wizard himself. The Master then pleads with Mavis and Zera to not touch the Tenrou Jade, as when touched, it will mean the town's end.

Zera then rushed with Mavis to stop the others from activating the Jade. However, as they arrived, Yuri was already holding it. Mavis pleaded with him to drop it, but he had been corrupted by it and refused. Zera then angrily told him that he doesn't understand. The Jade then illuminated and blew everyone away as Zera said that it had gone out of control. As everyone came to their senses after being knocked back, Zera alerted everyone that Yuri is missing. Mavis theorized that Yuri is controlling the Dragon bones that are now rampaging the town, causing Zera to state that the town was likely to be destroyed at that rate. Zera then stood back as Mavis attempted to get Yuri back.

As Zera approached Precht inquiring of Mavis' whereabouts, he remained silent, which compelled her to leaving in haste. Later, after finding Mavis clinging onto the Dragon bones, Zera found herself clinging on as well while trying to warn Mavis of using the Black Magic she learned from Zeref. After reminding Mavis of her promise to never use the spell in its incomplete state due to its variable result, Zera questioned Mavis' motives as to why she is going above and beyond to help them. Subsequent to Mavis' heart-felt response, Zera continued to climb up the Dragon bones and offered her support to Mavis, telling her that they will all go find the fairies together. After Mavis completed casting her spell, Zera cheerfully exclaimed that Mavis saved both Yuri and the city. However, she was alarmed to have found an unconscious Mavis in the spell's wake.

A few days later, after Yuri awakened and Mavis was healed, the two talked and Yuri made it his dream to protect and always believe in Mavis from now on. Yuri said he needed to talk to Mavis about Zera and asked if she's nearby. Zera came out from behind a rock she'd been hiding behind and Mavis told her with a smile that she needed to stop hiding and start getting used to being around Yuri and the others. Yuri then interrupted and revealed to Mavis that he, along with Precht and Warrod and anyone, cannot see or hear Zera, and that he believed that she was an illusion that Mavis created for herself.

Zera confirmed Yuri's beliefs, admitting to Mavis that she died during the Blue Skull's Raid and had been a creation of Mavis' Magic ever since that day. In disbelief, Mavis tried to argue the fact, though Zera showed that she was already starting to fade away now that Mavis had become aware of her non-existence. Mavis began to break down, but Zera comforted her, promising Mavis that they will always be together in her heart. Mavis ultimately accepted the fact that Zera wasn't real, allowing Yuri to see her; Zera entrusted Yuri with the job of looking after Mavis before disappearing completely.

Canon

 * Lessons with the Black Wizard

Notes & Trivia

 * Zera's character was made to be in contrast of Mavis (i.e Mavis has short, thin eyebrows and a pale appearance, Zera has thick, black eyebrows).
 * Hiro Mashima said he imagined Zera's character to be reminiscent of Éponine from Les Misérables, whereas she was at first, a bully turned into a nice person.