KEEPING SECRETS CHP. 5- WE GOT THE EMPIRE

Welcome back! This chapter's a bit more light hearted than the last one. Lots of exposition and a few character introductions. Hope you enjoy!

Also, full disclosure, it has been several years since I watched Fairy Tail, and what was cannon and what is head cannon has blurred. I'm pretty sure a lot of Zeref's views on magic and the Magic Council mentioned in this chapter came from Crimson Starbird originally, specifically from her works 'The Scars That Make You Whole' and 'State of Independence'. Highly recommend reading both of those and really anything she's written.

Apologies if I missed any other non-cannon compliant ideas.

"Your Highness, I really must protest. You've only been here a few hours, and you received several third-degree burns. There's no way you are well enough to-" the doctor stared in shock as Natsu undid several of the bandages around his arm, showing normal looking, perfectly healthy skin.

"See doc, I told ya I was fine! I'll be better walking off most of this instead of laying around anyway." He flashed his toothy grin at the balding middle-aged man who was head doctor in the palace infirmary.

"Well... please, Your Majesty. Ensure he comes back the next few days so we can ensure he's continuing to heal properly." The doctor had turned to Zeref now, bowing.

Zeref smiled. "Don't worry about it Dr. Williams. I'll ensure he finds his way back here."

That seemed to be enough to satisfy the nervous doctor for now, and Natsu and Zeref joined Invel in the infirmary's hallway and began to walk towards what looked to be the exit. "Stubbornness runs in the family, I see." Invel said, side eyeing Zeref.

Natsu ignored him as they walked through the double doors and into one of the palace hallways, where the white walls of the infirmary gave way to ancient looking black stone. "Gotta say though Zeref, I was a bit relieved to hear you were actually an emperor after Invel called you 'Your Majesty'. I thought your delusions of grandeur had finally gone to your head and you were making all your minions call you fancy names now." Natsu flashed his toothy grin.

Zeref chuckled. "I'm honestly shocked you know words like 'delusion' and 'grandeur'."

Natsu's smile vanished into a look of offense. "Hey, I'm not as dumb as you think! I know all sorts of words! You were just a bad teacher!"

"Excuse me, Your Highness." Invel interrupted. "I must object to you calling the people of Alvarez your brother's 'minions'." Natsu turned to look at Invel, eyes widening slightly. "Emperor Spriggan, as your brother is known here, united many warring nations and guilds, turning a largely backwater continent into the world's leading superpower. His Majesty's policies have led to advancements in magic, technology, medicine, and many other aspects of our citizens' lives. And everyone has a fair chance to prove themselves, which, coming from a common background, means a lot to me. Especially since many nobles still resent the fact that he chose me, a commoner, to be his chief of staff instead of one of their overly pampered and lazy children, if I may be frank. So, like me, the vast majority of the populace admires the emperor for how he's improved the quality of their lives. We serve willingly, not forced as minions."

Natsu listened to Invel intently, sensing the sincerity behind his words. "I honestly didn't know. But I believe you. Even though I've only remembered that Zeref is my brother for a day now, my brain has been trying hard to reconcile that the nice, soft-spoken kid who I grew up with is the same as the 'pure evil black mage' I've heard all sorts of awful stories about." Natsu turned to Zeref, smile re- appearing. "So, listening to your friend talk about all the good you've done here helps me see that despite what your curse has taken away from you... deep down, you're still the brother I always looked up to back then. That you're still you through it all."

Zeref stared at Natsu wide-eyed, before he sighed deeply, and a somber look formed on his face. "Thank you for those nice words Natsu, but you should know at the end of the day I am still a self-serving person. Just as I resurrected you for my own benefit, I use the loyalty I've gained here in Alvarez for my own purposes." Zeref clenched his head as his eyes flashed red. "I can govern here effectively, but as long as I look at everyone here as a pawn. If you'll excuse me for a moment..." And with that, Zeref warped away.

Natsu clenched his fists. "Does he have to be such a downer? I was just trying to make him feel better! It sounds like he does a lot of good for the people here but then he just goes off and says stuff like that!"

Invel stared at Natsu for a moment before he offered, "I understand your frustration, Your Highness. Even so, let me tell you something that I've realized working under your brother for so long. Whenever His Majesty says someone is his pawn, I believe it his way of showing care for that person without his curse taking effect."

Natsu looked at Invel curiously. "You... really think so?" His questioning tone changed to something more hopeful.

Invel nodded. "I am not sure how much His Majesty realizes this himself, but he can become very attached to his 'pawns', despite his insistence that they are just tools to him."

Natsu swore he could see the stern man's gaze soften ever so slightly before he continued, "You, Your Highness," he nodded at Natsu as he spoke, "are an excellent example. When His Majesty first told me about you, he described you as his 'greatest pawn'. At the time, I thought it was quite callous that he would say such a thing about his own brother, especially having siblings of my own. However, over time, as he shared with me more about his life, especially stories of your childhood, and seeing him look at the picture in his locket, I realized he truly did care for you deeply."

Natsu's eyes widened, and he put his hand to his chin, and nodded.

"So, yes, I believe the word 'pawn' is his coping mechanism for not being able to show love or affection like a normal person."

Natsu smiled and said, "I get it now. Thanks, Invel."

Invel bowed slightly, "You're welcome, Your Highness."

"Haha... you know, you can just call me Natsu."

Natsu was a little surprised at the hint of the smile on Invel's face as he replied, "I appreciate your personal approach, but I must address you formally in matters of state. However, when it comes to personal subjects such as this, I will certainly try to honor your request, Natsu."

They heard a strange sound behind them, and upon turning around, they saw Zeref had returned. Seemingly having caught the end of their conversation, he smiled and said, "That's the absolute best I think you're going to get from Invel, little brother."

Natsu grinned again. "Well, good enough for me!"

Zeref nodded in affirmation. "Back to what we were talking about before, I hope you're not thinking the Alvarez Empire is some kind of perfect utopia. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely proud of the advancements we've made here, but there is always more to be done. New obstacles to overcome. New diseases to be cured. New threats to be neutralized."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Invel said stoically, as he bowed. "Forgive my overenthusiasm. I believe my national pride simply got the better of me."

"No problem, Invel. Just wanted to clarify for Natsu's sake."

The fire dragon slayer, meanwhile, looked out of one of the large windows in the hallway which looked out over the city. Though the sun had set long ago, the city itself was still alight. Streetlights, billboards, and other colorful lights reflected off the windows of the buildings, some stretching far into the sky, but still short of reaching the heights of the palace. How far are we up, I wonder? Natsu turned back to Zeref and Invel and said, with a sense of wonder, "It looks like something out of the future."

"Vistarion is a very old city, but since becoming the capital of the Empire it has experienced massive growth. Once you get down and get to explore the city for yourself, you'll see a nice mixture of new and old architecture." Invel said, hint of pride in his voice again.

"We've been able to progress and expand so quickly in large part due to the promotion of magical research. When I was at the Mildian Magic Academy, magic wasn't just learned- it was studied. We broke down spells and looked at the building blocks that made them up. This is how we first coined the term "etherion" by the way. Then we would take said building blocks and reconfigure them into new spells, sometimes creating new branches of magic altogether." Zeref was smiling as he elaborated, as the group began to walk down the hallway again.

However, the smile seemed to slip from Zeref's face as he continued. "While it's no doubt largely thanks to my curse nearly obliterating Mildian from the face of the Earth, things obviously aren't like that anymore. After the fall of Mildian many people feared the consequences of experimenting with magic. Maybe they were right to. But I do not think what came of it was right. This spawned the beginning of the International Council of Mages, or Magic Council as you know them. They severely limited what magic was accepted and what was taboo. They began to relentlessly persecute people who they didn't see eye to eye with. And thus, we have the sorry stale state of magic in Ishgar today. Plenty of mages but held under the ball and chain of the Magic Council, never allowed to truly grow or realize their magic's ultimate potential."

Zeref's gaze became serious as he continued, "If you don't take anything else away from this Natsu, then hear me at least when I say this- like anything that can be used by human hands, magic is simply a tool. Whether it is light, or dark depends on the user, most of the time."

Natsu scratched his chin. "Some of that definitely went over my head, but I think I get what you're saying. The mage is what makes the magic good or bad, not the magic?" Zeref nodded and smiled. "That does make a lot of sense. The Magic Council was always breathing down our necks in Fairy Tail. I know we blew a lot of stuff up, but we were always trying to help others and do what's right. Half of the time though they made it out like we were worse than some of the dark guilds though! Well, that's how it felt anyway." Natsu paused a moment before he asked, eyebrows raised in realization, "Hey wait, if the Magic Council is so against all that stuff how did you convince them to let you do it- like all the research and experimenting?"

Zeref's smile turned into a smirk. "Oh, they tried to stop me. So, I came up with a simple solution. I got rid of them entirely. That's right, we expelled the Magic Council from the borders of the Empire."

Natsu's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, you just kicked them out? But how? They have a whole army of Rune Knights! Even the Royal Guard back in Fiore isn't as big as they are!"

"Hmph. The Rune Knights might as well be ants compared to our military. Our soldiers, across all divisions, number in the millions." Invel declared, the national pride once again evident in his voice.

"Whoa." Natsu was in awe. "That's huge! I can't even picture what that many soldiers would look like!"

Zeref smiled. "If you'd like, I can show you some of our military infrastructure tomorrow. After we conclude our meeting, that is."

"Meeting?" Natsu asked. "What meeting?"

"When you used your locket to track His Majesty down, you interrupted an important meeting with the Spriggan 12, your brother's elite personal guard and advisors." Invel explained.

Natsu scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile forming on his face. "Oh, hehe... sorry about that."

Zeref sighed. "It's fine. It wasn't that important of a meeting anyway. The Twelve can handle a few tax disputes and grumpy nobles without me."

"Be that as it may, Your Majesty, when you are in the capital, your presence at these meetings is necessary." Invel reminded, his tone firm.

"And they wonder why I disappear into the wilderness so often," Zeref muttered, but still loud enough that Natsu and Invel could hear him. He turned back to his brother, and Zeref said, "I'll introduce you to the Twelve tomorrow, and you can come to the meeting too. You are the prince after all. That is, if you plan on staying here in the Empire with me for the time being."

Natsu smirked. "Hell yeah I'm staying. I still gotta help you find the cure for your curse, remember? But, um, why do you need guards? Or an empire for that matter? Aren't you immortal?"

"I am, but I am also one man. And I may be powerful, but I am still not all-powerful. I can only accomplish so much by myself. Besides, even with the power I wield, I cannot defeat Acnologia. And since he can't kill me, he'd probably spend the rest of eternity using me as his chew toy. Something I'd very much like to avoid."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Natsu's brow furrowed, and his tone took on a more serious timbre as he added, "The plan with Anna- God, I wish it had worked. I feel like I let Dad- Igneel that is- down."

Zeref offered Natsu an encouraging smile. "You haven't let him down, Natsu. We, being the other dragons, Anna, and I, discussed this at great length. We knew them falling in battle was a possibility. But the plan has not failed as long as you, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue still live. You five are among the last humans trained by dragons and thus stand the best chance of defeating Acnologia. I'm sure the second-generation dragon slayers can provide valuable support as well."

Natsu smirked. "Yeah, you're right. We won't disappoint."

Zeref offered his own smirk. "Never thought you would."

Invel cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, this is it."

"Oh," Zeref turned and looked at a set of double doors to his left. "I hoped you'd choose to stay Natsu, so I took the liberty of having a room prepared for you." Zeref opened both of the doors, revealing a large suite.

"Wow..." Natsu said as he took the room in. Unlike black stone the majority of the palace seemed to be built from, this room's walls were an aged but well-maintained white plaster, with several spots of deep brown wooden paneling. This extended into the ceiling, wooden beams supporting the unconventional and uneven arches. On the back wall was a massive fireplace, and to its right a large window overlooking the city. Closer to the door along the right wall was a large double bed with a hand carved wooden bed frame. On the other side of the bed was a doorway leading to what he assumed was a bathroom. On the left wall, a large bay window offers a different view of the city. In front of said window was a massive Lacrima -vision viewer on a wooden entertainment center, with several high-tech looking accessories hooked into it. Natsu assumed these were likely the latest in movie playing or gaming technology. In front of the Lacrima- vision and entertainment center was a large, comfortable looking, black leather couch. Directly to the couch's right was a rectangular column, and on the other side of it was a large wooden dresser and a matching desk. Several windows lined the ceiling, giving the room a homey and old-world feel.

"This is awesome!" Natsu exclaimed, and happily made himself at home on the couch. "So comfy..."

Invel smiled. "I'm glad you find it to your liking. This all was prepared fairly last minute, so if there's anything more you'd like or want changed, let me know and I will inform the staff."

"Oh, uh, thanks! This is... really all mine though? Seems like a lot."

Invel bowed. "You are the prince. Thus, you are entitled to the best we have to offer."

Natsu flashed a grin at Invel, but the look in his eyes was serious. "Well, I'm not gonna take it for granted. You told me how hard Zeref worked to make the Empire what it is. I'm gonna show everyone here I'm someone they can rely on too!"

Invel nodded his head in approval. "I'm glad you feel that way, Natsu."

"If you're content I think I'll turn in for the night. I'm right down the hall if you need anything, Natsu." Zeref said.

Natsu flashed his last grin of the day. "Thanks, Zeref. Love you brother, good night!"

Zeref's eyes soften as he nods and turns to leave. "Goodnight, Natsu."

It didn't take Natsu long to fall asleep. He guessed learning about all his lost memories, the fact that his brother was the black wizard, and then almost burning himself to death, among other things, really would take a lot out of a person.

His dreams that night started off as the peaceful days in the village with Zeref as a kid. They ran through the village, dodging obstacles and other villagers. Eventually the two made their way to the forest surrounding the town and decided to play hide and seek. Natsu rounded a tree, sure his big brother was hiding behind it. "Found you!" He yelled.

Zeref smiled and laughed, but his smile vanished as a new voice called out- "Natsu, who are you talking to?"

Natsu's eyes widened at the familiar voice and turned to find himself face to face with Lucy, her head tilted in confusion. Behind her were the other members of his team from Fairy Tail- Gray, Happy, Erza, Wendy, and Carla, whose eyes were all glued on him as well.

"Guys!" Natsu greeted them enthusiastically, noting his voice had dropped several octaves, indicating he was back to his current age. "You won't believe it; I found my brother! He's behind this tre-"

However, as he turned back around, Zeref was gone.

Lucy touched him gently on his shoulder. "You alright Natsu?"

"You don't have a brother, silly." Happy said. His voice kept its usual optimistic tone, but simultaneously sounded sinister- very un-Happy-like- to Natsu.

"Come on, flame brain. Let's go." Gray said as he began to walk towards the edge of the forest.

He began to follow his friends absentmindedly until he heard another familiar voice cry out in pain. Zeref! Natsu took off in the direction of his brother's voice, ignoring his friends' protests. He found Zeref, now grown, under a large tree, sobbing. His hands were covered red with blood.

"Natsu, help me!" He cried, reaching for his brother. Natsu grabbed Zeref's hand.

"Natsu… what?" Lucy's confused voice caused Natsu to turn around and find her, Wendy, Happy, and Carla staring at him with wide eyes. "What are-"

"Let him go, Natsu." Gray's voice was deathly serious and the look he gave Natsu matched his voice. "He's a monster. He can't be saved."

Natsu grit his teeth. "Gray, you don't understand. Zeref is my brother! He's suffering! He needs help!"

"Blood doesn't make you family. Fairy Tail is your family, Natsu." Erza's voice came next as she glared at Natsu, more malevolent. "Are you going to abandon us?"

"What? No, I'd never!" Natsu declared. "Listen to me, guys, please-"

"You'd take my brother from me?! After all I've been through?!" Zeref's voice was manic now, eyes burning red and a ball of death magic in his hand. The other Fairy Tail mages readied themselves for battle, summoning their individual magic powers to defend against Zeref.

"Guys, stop, please!" Natsu attempted to get everyone's attention, to no avail. As his brother's and his friends' magic was about to collide, he threw himself in the middle, incinerating all of the incoming magic attacks.

However, before the smoke cleared, there was a very loud noise and Natsu shot out of bed, eyes wide, only to see his older brother standing at the foot of his bed, holding an air horn and looking uncharacteristically silly with a large pair of earmuffs on.

"Rise and shine, Natsu!" he said, also very uncharacteristically cheery, with a (very punchable, Natsu thought) grin on his face.

Natsu groaned. That was an awful dream. I hadn't even thought how the guild would take Zeref and me being brothers… Whatever, that's future Natsu's problem. Attempting to put the unpleasant dream out of his head, he scowled at Zeref. "You know, you shouldn't sound so cheery saying stuff like 'rise and shine' and all that. You're the black mage. It's just not right!"

Zeref didn't seem fazed by Natsu's grouchy attitude. "You've always been a heavy sleeper. I was never great waking you up when we were kids either. That was Dad's thing." Zeref put a hand to his chin for a moment, before he smiled again and said, "I'll see if I can find you a good alarm lacrima."

Natsu smiled back. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

"So, unless you'd like to come to breakfast in that hospital gown, check your dresser. Invel had some clothes brought up. You kinda torched... whatever it was you were wearing. I'd say clothes but they looked more like rags-"

"Blahblahblah don't wanna hear anything about my clothes til you lose the dress, bro." Natsu interrupted as he grabbed some clothes and went to his bathroom.

Zeref's face fell. "I told you, it's a toga." He stated matter of factly.

"I'd make up a fancy word for it too if I was too embarrassed to admit I was wearing a dress." he said through the door.

Zeref groaned as Natsu stepped out of the bathroom. The clothes Invel had found were simple, a sleeveless black t-shirt and matching combat pants and boots. "Hmmmm." Natsu said, as he stretched, taking the feel of his new clothes in. "I was always a shorts and sandals guy. But these are comfy too. If Invel picked these out, he knows his stuff. I bet he could find you something a million times better than that dress. Now come on! Let's go eat!" Natsu walked happily out of the room as Zeref sulked out behind him, wondering how many more times Natsu would tease his clothing choices.

He eventually decided he didn't want to know before he stepped ahead of his brother and helped direct him to the dining room. As he opened yet another set of double doors, Natsu's mouth fell open in shock as he took in the lavish dining room, a massive table filled with all sorts of breakfast foods- bacon, eggs, sausage, oatmeal, pancakes, and much more. At the sides of the table there were several maids, butlers, and chefs, who stood at attention. "Good morning, Your Majesty. Please enjoy." They said in unison and bowed before leaving.

"Wow, this is incredible!" Natsu exclaimed, mouth literally watering as he attempted to pick what he was going to eat first.

Zeref smiled as he watched Natsu fill his plate. "I didn't think your appetite had diminished."

Natsu sat next to Zeref's seat at the head of the table and began to dig into the pile of food he had collected. "Not at all!" He managed to get out between bites.

Zeref joined him with a more modest plate a few moments later. "We usually have a few more join us." As if on cue, Invel walked in.

"Good morning, Your Majesty, Your- Natsu." he corrected himself. "I'd ask if the food was to your liking but..." he gestured at Natsu gorging on his massive pile of food. "You weren't kidding about his appetite, Your Majesty. I'm happy the kitchen took my request seriously."

"I am too." Zeref said. His first plate already consumed, Natsu began to make his rounds around the table again, when the doors opened again. A skinny, hunched back old man with tanned skin and a long mustache stepped inside and bowed before Zeref.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. Is everything alright? We were all worried when you left the meeting so suddenly yesterday."

"Good morning, Yajeel. Yes, everything is fine, thank you. The source of the interruption has joined us for breakfast."

At that, Natsu slammed his refilled plate down on the table, in front of his chair, which startled Yajeel. As he regained his composure, he looked at the young man next to the emperor and smiled. "Hello, young man. Who might you be? I don't believe we've met."

Natsu stopped eagerly eyeing his food to greet the old man. "Oh, I'm Natsu." He pointed at Zeref. "I'm his brother."

Yajeel's eyes widened and he bowed. "Please forgive my rudeness, Prince Natsu."

"Oh, there's no need to apologize. And just call me Natsu." Natsu waved his hands back and forth, before he started on his second plate.

Yajeel smiled before he continued, "My name is Yajeel Ramal. I was once a member of the Spriggan 12 and am now serving your brother as an advisor."

"Yajeel was once the king of a smaller nation that we conquered. While we obviously didn't care for one another at first, over the years he became more and more active in our government before joining the Twelve. His advice has proved indispensable. I'd consider him one of my most trusted advisors." Zeref further explained.

Natsu grinned at Yajeel again. "Thanks for helping my brother out, Yajeel."

Yajeel smiled as he sat down with his own plate to eat. "Of course. I hope you and my grandson can become friends."

The doors opened again, and another old man walked through. His appearance was quite different from Yajeel's, however. He stood straight and tall, and while he walked with a staff, Natsu noted from the way he carried himself it was for looks, not support. He wore white and purple robes and had a long gray beard and matching long gray hair.

The new man bowed as he addressed Zeref, "Welcome back, Your Majesty. I hope your trip was successful." As he looked up, his eyes widened as he saw Natsu. "Your Majesty, is this-?"

Zeref smiled and nodded. "Yes, August. This is my younger brother, Natsu. And, as you may have guessed, the source of our disturbance in the meeting yesterday."

August turned to Natsu and bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Prince Natsu. I am August, commander of your brother's guard, the Spriggan 12."

Natsu smiled and once again said, "Nice to meet you too, August. Just call me Natsu if you don't mind." I'm gonna have to say this to everyone here, aren't I? Natsu lamented to himself.

"August is my oldest ally," Zeref explained as the person in question gathered his breakfast. "I found him abandoned only a little way from Magnolia when he was a small boy."

That caught Natsu's attention. "You're from Magnolia? That's where I live! Or, uh, lived. My guild, Fairy Tail, had their guildhall there!"

As August sat down, he smiled and nodded. "Oh yes, I am very familiar with Fairy Tail. I kept up with your guild's exploits for many years. I was sorry to hear about them disbanding."

Natsu smirked. "Well, it's only temporary! Once I help Zeref throw his curse to the curb, he and I are gonna get the whole guild back together!"

August lifted his eyebrows in surprise and looked at his emperor, whose face was slightly red with embarrassment.

"Hehe" a chuckle from the other side of Zeref echoed across the table. Invel smirked and looked directly at Natsu. "I believe August would love to assist you with your quest Natsu, if I may be so bold. He seems to have always had a soft spot for your guild."

August's eyes widened and he stuttered in shock for a moment. However, he quickly recomposed himself, and said, "Well, I would be happy to, if His Majesty requested it."

Natsu beamed at him. "Well, I'd love to have you along! The more the merrier!" Something about his scent is familiar, but I can't quite place it. But it's a nice familiar. He must be a good guy!

August smiled back. His Majesty's brother is so kind. He's just as I remember from his memories...

"I... didn't agree to any of this." Zeref muttered.

Everyone ignored Zeref's griping as they continued to eat.

"Ah, Your Majesty, I almost forgot. I bumped into Larcade in the hallway. He requested to join us for bre-"

Natsu was startled as Zeref cut August off with a, seemingly out of nowhere, deftly serious, "Absolutely not."

August nodded. "Excuse me for just a moment then. I'll make sure Larcade is informed."

Natsu thought he eyed a hint of satisfaction in August's face as he stood up to leave. "So... is this Larcade guy really smelly? Or ugly? You really don't seem to want him around."

Zeref sighed. "Larcade is... complicated. He can be a lot to handle. I thought it would be better to just wait for you to meet him in the meeting with the other Twelve."

August returned to the table, and as he sat down, he addressed Natsu, "So, Natsu, I must admit, I've been quite busy lately and haven't been able to keep up with your guild's accomplishments since your return from your seven-year sleep on Tenrou Island. Would you care to share some stories from your adventures?"

Natsu's eyes lit up. "I'd love to!" He proceeded to give August an animated retelling of his guild's victory at the x791 Grand Magic Games, their battle with the time traveling dragons, the confrontation with Tartaros and the following arrival of Acnologia and the five dragons allied with humanity, and finally of his months with Happy in the wilderness before being reunited with Zeref. August listened intently, only interrupting sporadically to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Zeref, Invel, and Yajeel listened along in silence, all smiling at Natsu's enthusiasm. None of them could remember a time where the old, darkened chambers of the palace felt so bright.

So, the most difficult part of this chapter to write was Natsu's dream. Originally it was really apocalyptic and horrifying but it felt very out of place with this otherwise, in my opinion, "happy smiles" chapter. So, I replaced it with something more joyful… only think it was TOO silly and lighthearted. So, here's something in the middle… with some heavy-handed symbolism and foreshadowing :P. Hope it wasn't too out of place and everyone enjoyed the chapter regardless! See you next time!