He remembered it like it was yesterday, the taste of her still on his tongue.
Sometimes he wishes he had drank his fill, instead of letting her live.
Like now.
"I don't believe it," Zeref roared, "How, how, is she still alive?"
Natsu watched as his brother paced in front of the large orb that showed the image of the Princess of the Celestial Plains. Almost a year after her 'death', and there she was. Clad in gold armour and flourishing in the heat of battle.
"I watched you. I saw you drain her dry!" His brother wailed on, raking his fingers through his dark hair, "We decimated her city, turned her people to ash. How is she still alive?"
Natsu did not respond. Zeref's followers had rushed to them with the news of her appearance in the battle that was currently taking place at one of their further most territories. To say his brother was angry was putting it lightly. No, Zeref wasn't angry. He was furious. And it was only a certain amount of time before his fury was sure to be directed at Natsu.
This was his fault after all.
Her reappearance didn't come as a surprise to him, however. He'd heard rumours among the faeries. Whispers. But he'd failed to report any of them to his brother, latching on instead to the vain hope that his mercy had allowed for the Princess to make it out of her burning city alive.
Since that day, he'd often catechised himself for his foolishness. Sparing her meant nothing. In showing her mercy he'd only left her to die by the flames, he'd realised soon after. And if the flames hadn't gotten to her, she would have been crushed as the building crumbled. If not the building, then Zeref's soldiers would have killed her when she tried to flee the city. If not the soldiers, then blood loss from her wound that had no one left to attend to it. His mercy was no mercy at all, and the act failed to offer him the small sense of redemption he'd hoped it would.
And then he'd heard the rumours.
It didn't take long for word of the Celestial Plains fall to spread, and while the country mourned the death of Queen Layla, the citizens of Fiore had refused to believe the Princess was dead. They refused to believe such a light had been extinguished. It was then that scouts returned from the city.
Scouts that had failed to find the Princesses body.
Every city under the rule of King Makarov had been stirred at the news. They waited and waited for the Princess to walk through their streets with a troupe of survivors and join the alliance of Fairy Tail, seeking revenge for her homeland.
But she never came.
Instead, strange rumours circulated the land of constellations falling from the night sky, and angels walking the horizon carrying bundles of light. None of it could be proven though, and talk of the Princess had died down to mere murmurs.
And now, she'd returned.
Alive, unhurt, and full of life from what Natsu could see from the image that danced across the orb. He stepped closer to it, watching her fight. She was graceful, agile, fierce. She barely resembled the girl he'd left bleeding in the burning tower.
"Lord Zeref, what does it truly matter?" One of the messengers spoke up boldly, "She can barely call herself a Princess now her city lies ruins."
Natsu turned his head as Zeref came to a standstill. His brother glared at the man who had spoken, his magic beginning to swirl around him as his anger rose. The messenger cowered in fear.
"It doesn't matter what she calls herself!" Zeref screamed, "She is still Lucy Heartfilia, the daughter of Layla and descendent of the Celestial Plains. It matters not that her city is in ruins, what she is gives her power. And her power could cost us this war!"
Zeref's black robes fluttered around him as his power increased. The other messengers fled the room, and the man who had spoken fell to his knees. True, he had been foolish to voice his ignorance, but Natsu couldn't just let his brother kill him just because he was annoyed.
Natsu walked over to the man and punched him hard in the face. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious. At least, Natsu hoped he was. He wasn't good when it came to mortals limits.
His act had drew his brother's attention. Natsu prepared for his brothers dark magic to be redirected to him, but instead Zeref let go of the magic and sighed.
"This battle is important," He spoke as he turned to face the orb that still showed the Princess fighting. Natsu came to his brother's side just as she cut down another of their soldiers. "We cannot lose. If we lose territory, the faeries will think us weak. They will think that the war is changing tides."
Zeref gestured towards the orb, the image fading as he turned to face him. His gaze was firm when he looked at Natsu, with no trace of the brotherly affection that donned his features in his lighter moods.
"We cannot let them have that hope." He finished, and Natsu nodded, understanding what his brother wanted even before he asked it.
"You want me to go, to kill her. Properly this time." He said.
"I don't blame you for this, Natsu." His brother replied, "I should have let you drain her in peace. But fail twice, and you may wish I'd let you stay dead."
