A/N: I was inspired by CA: Civil War and Blamedorange's (on Tumblr) Kagura and Jellal art. It's SO amazing. Y'all should check it out.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Her hands scrabble to feel a pulse in her brother's limp arm. They were here for the signing of the Eisenwald Accords. There was going to be peace. Peace and the oversight of the Fairies was the goal of the Accords.
Not an explosion and the death of innocents.
Innocents like her brother.
Kagura begins to shake as a feral howl claws its way out of her throat to be released into the open air, mingling with the scream of the sirens.
Hours later, still in shock, Kagura sits frozen on the bench outside Crocus's now demolished government building. The explosion had ripped through the supports of the lower levels, as well as the conference room where all the delegates had gathered. Thirty-seven people have been killed, she hears numbly, and countless others injured. Around her finger, she absently twists the ring her brother had worn ever since the death of their father years ago. Now it is hers. The renewed stab of anguish at the thought of her dead brother nearly left Kagura gasping for breath.
"Your Highness."
Behind her, a woman clears her throat. Kagura twists in place to look back at her. The Scarlet Widow, Titania Erza, formerly of ERA, now a member of the Fairies stands there looking apologetic. For what, Kagura does not know. In her hand, she holds a report stamped with the Fairy mark.
The chill that runs down Kagura's spine is not one of fear.
Instead, a predatory thrum spikes through her body.
Perhaps it is time for the Black Panther to finally reemerge from myth.
His name is Jellal Fernandes. Titania is tight-lipped about the information she can share, (perhaps out of former loyalty to him? a source informed Kagura that Erza and Jellal had once been…an item), but she tells the now Queen that he had once been a compatriot and close friend of Gray Fullbuster, superhero name of Captain America. There was no way the Captain would turn on his best friend. Not even if it meant turning over a suspected bomber.
When Fernandes is spotted trying to escape Clover, she knows it's time.
The suit, made of black leather strengthened with vibranium, has been passed from one King to the next, from Princesses and Princes since the beginning of time.
It fits Kagura like a glove, molding to her body as if made to do so. She doesn't doubt that's true. She only knows a little of the myth of the Black Panther, having preferred to run off and play swords as a child, but Simon had loved the story. He would recite it as often as Kagura would sit and listen to him.
As she looks at herself in the mirror, settling the mask over her face and her mass of hair, she regrets. She regrets not telling her brother how much she loved him. She regrets not being a better Princess and heir.
But mostly…she just regrets.
The claws of the suit spring out as she flexes her fingers. Now, there is no time for regrets.
There is only vengeance.
In the end, she doesn't even get that. She had been played like the fool she was and nearly murdered an innocent man. Well, with the blood of dozens on his hands, there is no way the former Winter Soldier could ever be considered innocent, but in her brother's death, he is not culpable.
The man behind it all, a man named Brain, is right there. It would be child's play to end his life in payment for Simon's. Something stops her, though. After running on rage and vengeance and adrenaline for days, she is suddenly so very tired. Killing Brain would not bring Simon back. Killing Brain might make her feel better for a short time but at what cost?
She pulls the claws in. Brain's life is not worth Simon's nor is it worth her sanity.
When Gray Fullbuster comes to her to ask for protection for Jellal and the rest of the scattered Fairies, she gives it. Not without hesitation but she gives it all the same.
Kagura is a Queen, after all. Vengeance does not suit her.