This one… the reveals are real guys. I'm sure some of you saw this coming, though.

As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!


"Zeref!" Natsu yelled for his brother as he flung the front doors of the castle open. Behind him, two guards groaned on the front step as they tried to get to their feet. "Zeref!"

Two maids scurried out of the entryway as a tall, black skinned demon with a back as straight and stiff as his collar entered with a deep frown. "Excuse me, sir, but I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Your guards couldn't stop me, so don't think you'll fair better," Natsu warned.

The butler straightened even more and glared at Natsu down his nose. "Sir, it is highly inappropriate-"

"ZEREF!"

"I may not have your keen hearing, Natsu, but there is no need to shout quite so loudly." Natsu turned and found his brother descending the stairs from the second floor, a white robe wrapped around him that made his black skin and eyes appear even darker in comparison. "Honestly, did you have to assault my guards?"

"They wouldn't let me in," Natsu said. "So I got them out of my way."

The butler sniffed loudly and turned towards Zeref. "Sir, please allow me to-"

"There is no need," Zeref said as he waved his butler away. "My brother can come and go as he pleases, of course. You do not have to call for the private guard."

The other demon huffed and then left after one more nasty glare Natsu's way.

Zeref gave Natsu a small smile as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "It's nice to see you, broth-"

"Did you vote to send me back home?"

Zeref raised a brow at him. "Is that really how you say hello nowadays? Did your father teach you no manners whatsoever? I know our mother didn't care about such things, but I expected more from the dragon king."

"Did you vote to send me back home?" Natsu asked again through clenched teeth.

Zeref's smile vanished and he sighed. "In my defense, I was not aware we were speaking of you at the meeting until the votes had been cast."

"So you did," Natsu accused.

"Natsu, this is about so much more than just taking a dragon hybrid away from his mate.

"Just?!"

"This is the fate of the realms we are talking about," the king continued, ignoring his brother's interruption.

"I am here to talk about my mate. I don't give a flying Exceed about the damn realms."

"Precisely." Zeref gestured down the hall and then began to lead the way to his study. Natsu had no choice but to follow. While he didn't care about an audience, he wanted to continue the conversation, so he allowed Zeref to lock them away in his office before he spoke again. "My contract was broken without my knowledge or consent. Aren't there laws against that kind of thing?"

"There are, but this was a special case."

"And why did you assume it wasn't me?" Natsu asked, changing gears.

"Leo only said it was a hybrid who had entered a year long contract with the Heartfillia heir and bonded to her. While I have not spoken with you in some time, I did not think you would want to leave your nest unoccupied that long, so I assumed it was one of the others."

Natsu scoffed and began to pace. "I don't have to worry about the others taking anything, so I can take contracts as long as I want." He glared at his brother once more. "Why didn't you change your mind once you found out it was me?"

"We had already completed the vote and the meeting. Plus, it would have been a majority vote to break the contract either way." Zeref sighed. "And honestly, if I had known it was you from the start, I more than likely would have still voted to send you back. It would have been more difficult," he rushed to add when Natsu swung around angrily, "but I would have still made the choice to bring you back."

"This is absurd!" Natsu flung his arms in the air. "I have been around Lucy with the knowledge she's my mate for a while and I still haven't completed the ritual. Obviously, I know what I'm doing and I understand the consequences if I were to follow through, but I haven't, so just put me back! I had everything under control!"

"Did you?" Zeref asked, his scrutinizing eyes never leaving Natsu's face.

Natsu growled. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"You know what."

Zeref moved to sit at his desk, giving Natsu a chance to collect himself. "You've always been a poor liar, Natsu."

"Then don't act like you don't know I'm lying." Natsu went back to pacing. "I was struggling, sure, but I was figuring it out. I knew I couldn't bond with her- I would have found a way to cope with the instinct if I'd just been given enough time."

"We couldn't risk you failing," Zeref said. "We had to separate you two."

"So you just assumed I would fail? All of you! Everyone just assumed I would mess up, so you yanked me back here without even talking to me about anything!"

"Natsu, the mating bond is strong in dragons-"

"Don't act like you know anything about dragons and their bonds to their mates. You don't even know how the ritual is completed!" Natsu yelled. "Lucy can't fly. Lucy can't pierce scales with her teeth. There isn't even a way for her to complete the ritual, and her lifespan wouldn't be affected unless she did!"

"In case you were not aware, Grandeeney came to speak with us, too." Zeref leaned back and crossed his legs. "She believed it was possible for you to find a way to use your magic to complete the ritual. She explained how incentivised a bonded dragon can be when his dragon is denied the opportunity to bond to his mate. That, combined with what the angel king and leader of the Zodiac had to say, made it hard for us to vote any other way."

"That's just great!" Natsu barked out a humorless laugh. "Everyone who's supposed to be my friend got together behind my back and conspired to rip me away from the person who means the most to me in all the realms. Great!"

"Natsu…" Zeref got to his feet and made his way around his desk. "I didn't make this decision to hurt you." He put his hands on Natsu's shoulders to stop his pacing. "Be honest with me, please. Do you really think you would have been able to stay in the human realm with Ms. Heartfilia and keep yourself from bonding with her? Can you say with one hundred percent certainty that you would have maintained an appropriate distance?"

Natsu's glare slowly softened and he eventually hung his head to hide his tears. "I was determined to succeed. I wanted to stay with Lucy," he whispered in a choked voice.

"I know, little brother." Zeref pulled Natsu close and hugged him. "I know. I hate that you got pulled into this prophecy nonsense. From what I understand, it should have been impossible for you to be summoned in the first place."

"It was probably because of the stupid prophecy," Natsu mumbled against Zeref's shoulder. "Some stupid nonsense about two and one making a couple. That part couldn't come true if I didn't show up in her world."

Zeref nodded and then release Natsu, smiling as he pretended not to see Natsu's tears. "Well, I've never been a fan of prophecies, personally. They're often too vague to figure out and generally pointless, even if they're right. What will be will be, no matter who's warned ahead of time."

The demon stepped back and folded his hands inside the sleeves of his robe. "Is there anything I can do, Natsu? Anything at all to help you?"

Natsu's lips quivered a little as he looked his brother in the eye. "Send me back to her. Just for a little while, so I can say goodbye."

"I can't do that," Zeref said apologetically. "She has already had her memory wiped of everything to do with you, not to mention the other kings have banned you from returning to the human realm until she has met the required natural end of her life."

Natsu looked hopeful for the first time since he'd arrived. "You didn't agree to ban me from her world?"

"Of course not," Zeref said with a small smile. "I trusted that you could behave yourself if you were summoned for a contract with another human. And the way they took you was bordering on barbaric. The least they could have done, for your sake, was allow you to say goodbye to her before bringing you back home."

Natsu struggled to breathe as pain washed through him once more. "I miss her, Zeref. I just saw her a few hours ago, and it already feels like it's been too long." The tears finally fell as Natsu sat heavily on the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs. "She's just so wonderful, and being around her…" He stared off into space as the tears began to fall in earnest.

"I just want to go back and see her. I don't even care if I got to interact with her. I just want to see her again. See her smile. Hear her laugh. Smell her scent." He squeezed his eyes shut as he wrapped his arms around his legs even tighter. "I miss her so much."

"I know, little brother." Zeref squatted down and ran his hand across Natsu's back. "While I have not experienced that kind of love before, I have witnessed what that kind of loss can do to a person." He squeezed Natsu's shoulder and then hummed a little. "How about you go spend some time in my private realm? Get away from the boring red of ours and spend a little time on your own. Take all the time you need to grieve over there, and while you're away, I'll see what I can do about changing the other kings' minds about your banishment. What do you say?"

Natsu looked up, his face already red from crying, and stared at his brother in disbelief. "You'd really do that?"

"Of course," Zeref said with a reassuring smile. "You are my brother after all. It's only natural for me to want to use my power to help you out when I can, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Natsu rubbed his nose against his sleeve. "You won't get in trouble with the other kings, will you?"

"The worst they can do is say no. Don't worry about me, Natsu." Zeref helped his brother to his feet and pulled him toward a dais on the other side of the room. "You just go and take some time for yourself. The castle is stocked with food and I have plenty of staff over there maintaining the property. If you want anything, just ask. They will see to it that every one of your needs are met. Well, any that they are able to meet at any rate." Zeref's smile grew sad. "They can't send you back to your mate, but they can work wonders to accomplish anything else."

Natsu gave his brother another quick hug before taking the step up and turning around. "Are you sure you're okay with me staying there?"

"Of course," the demon said with a smile. "My home is your home, Natsu. We're the only family we have left. Who else will be there for us if we're not? If you need me for anything, just let the staff know and they will contact me. The same goes for when you want to come home. Getting back can be tricky since you can only enter or leave through this portal, but I will get you back as soon as I hear that you want to." Zeref pulled back and lifted his hands, which were already glowing with black energy. "I love you, little brother."

"Love you, too, Zeref. Thanks." Natsu smiled and then he was gone.

When the portal had closed, Zeref allowed his hands to fall and he let out a long breath.

"That was a touching performance."

Zeref didn't even turn as he stared at the spot where Natsu had disappeared. "You know, I had some doubt when you said you could hide in the same room as him, but it seems you were right. He didn't even suspect that anyone else was here."

Midnight came to stand next to him with a bored expression. "It helps that his mind is completely occupied by thoughts of that human." He glanced over. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Not many in the demon world do, since it's only rumored that my mother birthed him."

"Seems your staff will all know soon enough."

"My staff know better than to share personal information about me." Zeref gave the other demon a small smile. "Next time I tell you I have something handled, perhaps you will believe me, hm?"

"Speaking of 'handling' something, where is my father?"

Zeref folded his hands once more within his sleeves. "He is being suitably punished for lying to me. Had he informed me he was using your abilities to perform the tasks I assigned him with Natsu, I would have been more forgiving." He squinted at the other demon out of the corner of his eye. "Try to keep that in mind now that you have taken his place, will you?

Midnight nodded and then moved across the room again with a yawn. "Yes, sir." He crossed his legs and floated in the air, his shadows swirling faintly beneath him. "So what's next?"

"We need to allow the angels time to drop their guard. Without the presence of Natsu, they will surely send the extra angels back home and lower Ms. Heartfilia's magical footprint back to what it was. Once enough time has passed, we will be able to retrieve her with minimal effort."

"What if Natsu comes back before then?"

"I have enchanted my realm to run slower than our time here and in the human realm. Trust me," Zeref said with a sinister smile and dark, flashing eyes. "We'll have plenty of time."