Hello hello hello again my darlings! It's been awhile, hasn't it? Let me formally apologize. And now that that's over…
ANOTHER FAIRY TAIL FANFIC OMIGAWD IM SO EXCITED I JUST HAVE TO WRITE IT! (How d'ya like me now?)
A little backstory: in case the summary hasn't clued you in to this, the girls are princesses whose bodies are under a spell, though they are free to wander as spirits. Erza is their bodyguard, though she remains trapped with them (both in body and in spirit). The knights, well… I think I'll leave that for later. *IMPORTANT* This story is set in the past, obviously, though I don't have a set time period. If you want one, think knights and dragons, kings and queens. Think Snow White, or Rapunzel. If you've read my other story, The Runaway Wedding Planner, think of that, if a bit different or more formal. I don't like setting an actual time period, as it somewhat limits my ability to take the story where I want.
Disclaimer: this particular FT fanfic is of my own design, though I must give credit to tumblr for the original idea (which I've tweaked and tucked and torn to bits), as well as my design team and editors, Lizzy and Tia. Everything else belongs to Hiro Mashima and his ilk.
Now, on to the story!
Lucy sighed and propped her chin up on her hand. The tournament was today- their tournament, actually. Not that they'd be allowed to participate, of course. Being women, and-
"Luce?" Turning, she saw her blue-haired friend hovering in the doorway. "You alright?"
Shrugging, Lucy turned back to the window. There were servants scurrying around on the ground, hurrying to and fro to set up tents and raise flags, brush horses and prepare armor, roll out barrels of mead and corral the animals, who would later join the bitter liquid on the feasting tables.
Levy walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thinking about tonight?"
Lucy shrugged, not taking her eyes off the hectic preparations below. The stone window was cold, and cut into her elbows.
"You know, I bet this is the one." The happiness in her friend's voice was obviously forced, and tinged with a note of desperation. Whether the desperation was for her prediction to come true or for Lucy to answer was debatable. Although it could be both.
"I can feel it in my bones, Luce, really- this is the one."
Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the window, walking towards the door. "That's what you always say."
"Well, so what? This really could be the one! And it's a full moon, that's good luck!"
"And so was the half-moon when the last tournament was held, and the even number of participants in the one before that, and the brown coloring on the horses in the one before that- there's always something lucky in the tournaments, Levy!" Lucy grabbed hold of the wooden bedpost and swung around to face the blue-haired hopeful, twisting her body around to match the swirling patterns. "No one ever wins, Levy. No one ever defeats all the challenges, you know that."
"No, no we don't!" Levy walked over and grabbed another bedpost, leaning around it to point a stern finger at Lucy. "Now stop all this negative talk, you'll jinx the knights!"
Groaning, Lucy let herself fall back and flop onto the bed. "Don't be so superstitious."
"It's not superstition." The bed bounced as Levy fell beside her. "It's just…" She trailed off, uncertain. Still, Lucy knew what she meant.
"It's just that we need all the help we can get," Lucy summed up. And it was true. They'd been here five years, with no luck.
She looked over at Levy, who was staring at the ceiling and mouthing something silently. Probably a recitation of one of her numerous novels. It was a fortunate thing that Levy could memorize almost any text, or else she would have been driven mad over the years from boredom. Watching Levy made her think of their other sister, Juvia.
Juvia was probably in their father's old study, watching the preparations as well. She'd always been the more solitary sibling, and their father's favorite. She preferred swords to dolls, and their father had taken that to mean she had a sharper mind than her sisters. As such, he'd singled her out as the most competent heir and often taken her into his study to… well, Lucy didn't know. They couldn't ask their father anymore and Juvia had never deemed it necessary to tell them.
Their chamber door swung open suddenly, smashing into the stone wall behind it.
"Miss Smith! Watch what you're doing!"
"Apologies, apologies!"
Two women bustled in, one young and one old. The young one was thin and mousy, with long hair that hid most of her face. Her voice was reedy and nervous, made worse by her apparent asthma. She was the one that had opened the door, and obviously not caught it before it swung forward. Understandable, since the door was pure oak and at least three inches thick. Lucy remembered from her childhood that the door was too heavy for her to handle, and that she'd often lost control of it and been dragged along as it crashed into the wall. After her father had been forced to summon the masons for the third time to fix the cracked wall, an aid had been assigned to her retinue specifically for the purpose of opening doors.
The old one was short, but stout and formidable. Her hair was greying, but her eyes were a sharp brown that seemed to slice through everything, people and lies alike. Lucy also remembered her; she had been the head of the maids, and feared by all the servants, save an important and tough few. As far as Lucy and her sisters could figure out, she still remained in this position. They still didn't know her name, though. Levy suspected everyone was too afraid to call the woman by name, lest she actually appear.
"Come on now, get to it! Open those windows, hurry up!" She ran a finger across the bedpost Levy had been clinging to and clucked. "Look at this dust, disgraceful! Who was the last maid in here?" She snapped at the young girl, Miss Smith, pointing an accusing finger to the bed.
"M-miss Jonsie." The girl wrung her hands and glanced back to the windows she'd been opening.
"Well," the woman harrumphed. "I'll 'ave her head for this, you see if I don't." Nodding resolutely, she busied herself with yanking up the linens Lucy and Levy were currently occupying.
The two women worked quickly and efficiently. Soon, the room was free of dust, the linens were stripped, the furniture polished, and the windows were washed.
They were on the way out, Miss Smith loaded down with cleaning brushes and buckets, when the girl spoke up. "Ma'am, if I may…"
"What? What was that girl, speak up!"
"Uh, ma'am, I was just wondering… well, it's just that-"
"Spit it out, girl, I 'aven't got all day! There's a whole castle yet to clean!"
"Why are we cleaning the princesses' room? It's just… I mean, they're de- not here," she quickly corrected herself.
"Insolent little brat!" The woman knocked the supplies out of the girl's hands and grabbed a handful of her hair, shaking her violently. "You ought to be hanged for that! Do you know what today is? Do you?" She shook her again.
"It's t-the tournament, ma'am!"
"Tha's right, it's the tournament! And d'you know who it's for?"
"The p-princesses!"
"Righ' again!" She threw the girl away from her, who sprawled across the floor and covered her head, cowering. "Every year the King 'olds this tournament for the princesses. And d'you know why?" She didn't wait for an answer, but rather plowed on with her explanation. "Because they ain't dead! They're cursed, but not dead! Taken, kidnapped, by the King of Ravens, and cursed! Locked in the highest tower, trapped in an eternal sleep, guarded by dragons!" She ceased yelling, and jerked her head towards the door. Taking the hint, Miss Smith gathered her strewn supplies as quickly as she could and scrambled towards the door.
The woman watched her struggle through the door with evident disgust. She looked back towards the windows slowly, reaching out to grasp the panes. "Aye, cursed. Cursed until true love's kiss comes to free them." The woman shook her head as she locked the windows. "Poor girls." She walked to the door and pulled it shut behind her, only pausing to survey the room one more time before firmly closing it. "Cursed indeed."
Levy stared at the door forlornly. Her fingers twitched as if she wanted to reach out and stroke the air, which still moved with life.
Sighing, Lucy dragged herself up and strolled back to the window. She propped her chin up on her hand.
For five years their physical bodies had been trapped in a foreign land. And for five years she and her sisters had remained here, in their ancestral home...
As spirits.
And that's it for today darlings! Whatcha think? It's a little out there, this idea, but I think worthwhile. It's really open to creative interpretation, and if there's other authors you know of who've done this same prompt, please let me know so I can go check them out!
Review, review, REVIEW or I fear I'll be kidnapped and put under a spell, just like the girls!
Some things for this chapter:
#1. Like I said this is just a trial run to see if people would be open to and/or interested in this story. It's kind of different, so this is me testing the waters. Shoot me a review if you think I should continue with the story.
#2. This is just an introduction, and kind of a longer version of the summary/ a longer summary explanation. Just to recap, in case you didn't understand anything: The girls were kidnapped when they were 13 (as you'll find out officially later) by the King of Ravens (kudos to anyone who can figure out who that is). They were locked in a castle in the highest tower and put under a sleeping spell, which can only be broken by true love's kiss (yes, I'm totally ripping of Sleeping Beauty here and probably tons of other fairy tales). However, the girls were able to escape their physical bodies as spirits and traveled back to their home, where they remain as ghosts. Despite this, no one can see them, interact with them, communicate with them, etc.
#3. I'm still trying to pin down accents for this, which you might have noticed by the older woman's character and linguistics, but if you want a more accurate mental voice think of Helena Bonham Carter in Les Mis, or the lower class in 16th- 18th century England. The whole, " 'Ello gov'na!" thing, and all that jazz, though a little more toned down.
#4. Like I said, there will be no set time period or place: HOWEVER, I have roughly based this story off of 15th or 16th century England, depending on how I'm feeling. Keep in mind that when I say this is loosely based off this time period, I mean VERY LOOSELY. It probably won't be historically accurate at all except for the torches and jousting.
Characters We've Met So Far:
Lucy Heartfilia- Second Royal Princess of Fiore. Age: 18. Kidnapped by the King of Ravens at 13. Living. Spirit body.
Levy Heartfilia- Third Royal Princess of Fiore. Age: 18. Kidnapped by the King of Ravens at 13. Living. Spirit body.
Juvia Heartfilia- First Royal Princess of Fiore. Age: 18. Kidnapped by the King of Ravens at 13. Living. Spirit body.
King of Fiore- King of Fiore. Father to Lucy, Levy, and Juvia. Living. Physical body.
King of Ravens- King who kidnapped the Fiorian princesses Lucy, Levy, and Juvia. Living. Physical body.
Miss Smith- Servant employed by the Heartfilia family. Living. Physical body.
Head of the Maids- Servant employed by the Heartfilia family. Living. Physical body.