Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters

A/U: Natsu is the Prince of Fairy Tail Hills. With his father missing he needs to take the throne. Lucy is a peasant girl living on a farm. Not long after her 17th birthday she is forced to stay with Zeref who has plans to use her against the Fairy Tail royalty. Can Lucy break free from the darkness she was pulled into? And most of all why was she chosen?

A/N: So. In the anime Lucy is seen as the 'princess' having come from such a wealthy family, I decided to switch it around.


The sun was slowly losing its pull over Earthland as the world sunk into darkness. Light faded slowly as a charcoal took its rightful place near the full moon. The ground was blanketed by dried leaves, crunching under the feet of a hooded man. He looked out at the water, bidding the sun a grateful farewell. A delightful feeling filled him as he felt the magical presence of someone behind him. The man turned to see a certain blonde haired girl standing next to a hallow tree. The branches of the trees were mere skeletons. The ground was brittle and lifeless. The withered grass bent over backwards in protest but there was no sign it would revive anytime soon.

"Why did you call me here?"

Her voice was hushed and she looked nervous. The young girl could only see the outline of his jaw as he clenched it, there was a foreboding dwelling in her stomach and a malicious smile spread across his face. He had been waiting for this day, the only thing he could think of, was how he could get this girl to do his bidding, his material and sources were always correct. He could use many things, which could be the strongest to hold over her?

"Lucy Heartfilia" She shuddered at the sound of her name as it rolled of off his tongue. He took delight in her displeasure. "I have a proposal for you."

Lucy's eyes widened, what could this powerful mage want from her? It was true that she had gotten stronger slowly, but for someone of her station it wasn't very common, if at all to be a mage. Nobles and Royalty were often the only ones who managed to get the education and right amount of practice to be able to use magic and unfortunately for someone like her it was harder. She had heard stories about her family. Her grandmother was once a noble, it was how the magical blood managed to skip a generation and go to her. She was a weak person though, she couldn't understand how a person like her could help this man.

"W-What?"

Hades stood back in the shadows watching the exchange. He had a smug smile planted on his face. The utterly naïve and innocent girl seemed to be in some kind of shock, she didn't have proper manners when talking to his Lord, it annoyed him more than he let show. His jaw dropped slightly when his Lord removed his hood and looked deeply into the girls' eyes. Did he deem her that worthy of his time? Feeling resentment and more anger his arrogant smirk retreated as did the angered mage.

Lucy watched as the man revealed himself. She gasped pulling a hand up to her face. She had seen many posters of this man. The Fail Tail guards were looking for him. He was a criminal! He was a murderer! He was the infamous Lord Zeref, the dark mage. She felt panic rise in her as she backed away from him and against a barren tree. His eyes burnt into her. He raised an eyebrow and a low callous laugh sent a tremble through her. 'What did this mean?' He clicked his fingers and watched as two hooded figures emerged from the darkness, they were dragging a person along with them. She could see the girl had blonde hair, it was wavy and a she had a rose in it.

Lucy's eyes widened, "MICHELLE!" She yelled attempting to rush to her aid. Zeref put up a hand halting her at once. She glared at the man fiercely. The Lord had an amused smirk, it seemed her fear had gone and he finally began to see the defiance shining bright and dominantly. It sent another wave of mirth through him. Finally he had gotten a proper reaction from her. Lucy's eyes tore away from the Lord and examined her little sister, she seemed to be unconscious. The Lord Zeref waltzed toward Lucy and gripped her chin pulling it close to his face.

"You will be mine, or I will end your pathetic sisters' life right now…" His voice dripping of cruelty, even if he had said it stoically, the threat would still feel serious. Something in his eyes told her that he was not to be messed with, nor was he one to throw around empty threats. Lucy looked at her sister as she moaned groggily.

"Okay, okay… Just… I don't want her to remember any of this…" Lucy pleaded.

Zeref looked at the pure worry filling in the girls chocolate eyes. He pondered the thought and after a moment nodded. He flicked a hand at his men who followed the girls' plea. Lucy let out a large sigh she hadn't realized she'd been holding onto and then looked at her new 'owners' look of victory. It had seemed rather easy to get what she wanted. Zeref pushed the girl back watching coldly as she fell back onto the lifeless ground surrounded by dead leaves. Lucy was a light, she had something inside of her that would be dangerous to him. Looking desperately in the direction her sister had been taken she wanted nothing more than to run to her aid.

"You're leaving here, I'll give you 3 days to bid farewells,"

The man pulled the hood back over his head and disappeared in the darkness. Lucy rubbed the balls of her palms, she only had a few days to say goodbye? Swallowing hard and pulling herself off the ground and walked in the direction toward her village. She felt tears threatening to fall and despite her best effort to still them, the fell without warning. She had to leave her home and she had to go with this strange and scary man. She had family, and a strange feeling told her that he would hold them over her head for the rest of her life. She was never going to be free from him and she would forever alone. What terrified her most, was the unknown, and she had no idea what he wanted with her.


Carla sat in her room in the castle, her silver hair cascading down her back. She had a sharp look, glaring with pursed her lips looking into a bowl of what looked like water. She dipped her index finger in it and swirled it around. For some reason, the fates began showing her a sun and in the very center of it was darkness strong enough to cover the world. She jumped and felt terror rise in her as the darkness in the light exploded sucking in everything and all into its destructive path. She let out a loud cry as she pulled her finger out of the water watching as it went from black to normal colored water. She felt something shift inside of her.

Carla jumped from her seat and looked into the bewildered eyes of her Queen. Who looked startled, "My goodness Carla," she shuddered, "dare I ask what you saw?"

"Your Highness, the fates… The fates speak of an incredible… evil on its way…" The oracle looked at the water like it was a foreign object. Something she had never expected to see. The young Carla was only new to this business after her mother had passed on. She had taken up the role. She swallowed hard and then tried to blocking it out.

Queen Grandine watched the girl who began shivering, She had taken on a big role. What had startled her most was the fact that she had asked something about her son. She had asked if there was a possibility her Natsu would find happiness with his fiancé. She watched as the girl sat down unable to stand for much longer due to her shock.

"I… I'm sorry…" The small girl whispered.

"Carla, go rest for now…"

Rising from her seat eh Queen left first. She had to check on her daughter and son. They were in the middle of their studies, but Ntasu had a way of sneaking off and going straight for his hands on training instead of his written. It was rather frustrating trying to get him to sit in one place. She turned the hall and heard a rather loud explosion. Sighing and shaking her head she started toward the fire and where the help happened to be running from. Upon her arrival she raised her hand and blue wind spread to the fire extinguishing it quickly.

Grandine placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at her son, waiting for his explanation. He had been rather unstable lately, since the King had gone missing 7 months ago things had slowly started to get worse and not having a King sitting on the throne weighed heavily on the people. She needed Natsu to assume the position. She had a feeling that this was what the caused the explosion.

"MOTHER!" The boy bellowed as he pointed to his sister who happened to be in tears,

"Tell Wendy that she has no idea what she's talking about! She's lying! Father is not dead! He's coming back and he's going to take the throne again!"

Grandine's heart felt like it had stopped. She looked between the two as Wendy stood and ran into her arms. Natsu would never hurt the girl but their squabbles and disagreements about Igneels disappearance weighed heavily on them both. The older woman sighed and placed a hand on her daughters head as she cried into her arms. Neither of them wanted to believe that he was gone. Grandine couldn't find the right words to console them both. Her one and only love had left and someone needed to be on the throne. They all knew this.

"Natsu…" She said as she stroked Wendy's head comfortingly, "Igneel… He isn't here, it's been too long that the nation is without a King…"

Natsu's nostrils flared, she could see the damage of these words already and waited for him to throw another tantrum. She closed her eyes and waited for the impending rage. As her eyes closed she missed a certain white haired girl rush into the room and wrap her arms around the Prince. Confused, she opened her eyes and saw none other than Lisanna calming her son down. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Carla sat in her room in the castle, her silver hair cascading down her back. She had a sharp look as she pursed her lips looking into a bowl of what looked like water. She dipped a finger in it and swirled it around. For some reason, the fates began showing her the arrival of someone new.

"Natsu" she whispered.

He closed his eyes and then looked down at his fiancé. She was the only one who stood by his side. She was the only one who let him believe that his father was still out there. She was the only one.


Lucy had basically sold her soul to this man. She believed that her sacrifice was worth it. She kissed her sister's forehead and forced a small smile. Three days had passed too quickly. Her father had been harder to convince, but she explained that she had to leave, that she needed to take a chance and find herself. She needed to find solid ground to build her life and find where she belonged. He had insisted that she was making a mistake and after three heated arguments he had conceded, finishing with,

"I swear to you Lucy, if you leave, I disown you and you will no longer have the right to call yourself a Heartfilia!"

The words echoed through her mind, on constant repeat. Leaving Michelle was the hardest part in this. She would keep in contact with her somehow, even if she had to send one of her spirits to get an update every now and then. She looked at her sisters tear filled eyes and felt her own filling slowly. They had to be strong, she hated herself for this. Their mother had passed away when they were both young and now it was almost as if she had to abandon little Michelle too.

"Papa doesn't mean it Lu!" Michelle insisted, "He'll come around, please, just stay!"

Lucy shook her head and a sad smile formed on her face, "I need to do this Michelle," she said looking at her, she hated lying to her sister, to her family, but this had to happen. She kissed her on the forehead once more and the pulled away. She needed to leave now, she had to go otherwise it would just make this harder. She pulled up her small bag and then turned her back on her sister. She headed toward the empty path that led out of her village.

Lucy had walked along the path with tears streaming down her face, there was a pain in her heart that she couldn't place. She didn't want to leave, but the threat to her family was more important, and more than that, she couldn't fight this mage. Lost in her sorrow she hadn't been aware of the darkness surrounding her. She stopped when she heard his voice, his sinister chuckling. She swallowed hard and wiped her eyes. She couldn't been seen like this, even if it was too late, she needed to save face.

"Poor little Lucy." He said emerging in front of her in a cloud of smoke. He had his evil smirk on his face and in two steps was standing behind her. He snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her against him. She stiffened tensely at the contact and swallowed hard. She tried her hardest to hide her fear but her trembling seemed to give it away. He wasn't dull enough to miss it either cause he laughed a little more as soon as he touched her.

"Let's go home…" He whispered into her ear. The words sent a shiver up her spine, and not a good one at that. It seemed that everything about him was suffocatingly toxic. She blinked profusely when their surroundings shimmered and slowly disappeared. She looked around and saw that they appeared in a stone room with a giant throne sitting in front of her.

The arm wrapped around her was removed and she was quickly dropped to her knees coughing and spluttering as something strange felt as if it were crushing her ribs and the air she breathed grazed at her windpipe.

"What.." she coughed a few times, "What the hell!" She coughed more, "w-was.. that?" She demanded

The voice laughed and she saw Zeref quickly take his place on the throne laughing a little, "That my dear, was the effects of shadow travel" He laughed. "Did I forget to tell you to hold your breath?" He laughed callously and then clicked his fingers to see a shadow appear in front of him kneeling on the ground,

"You called my Lord?" The hoarse voice croaked.

"Show our new guest her room." He ordered.

The man turned and stalked toward her. Lucy's eyes widened and she fell back on her backside. She tried to move back fear inside of her forced her still. The man wrapped a hand around her arm and dragged her to her feet. She felt the pain in his grasp and did her best to rip it away from him. She managed to and glared at him, "I can walk fine by myself!" She challenged.

The man stopped and sent her a hard glare that made her reassess her chiding as he raised his hand and sent it barrelling toward her face. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. After a few seconds she opened her eyes slightly to see that Zeref was holding the guys hand and shuddering in fear, pain filled his eyes slowly as he let out an ear piercing scream. Lucy flinched and even as the sight was terrifying, she watched as blood began running down the guys face, in a few seconds he was crumpled on the floor, lifeless. Lucy looked up at the Lord of this place in shock, he protected her?

He clicked his fingers again and a new guy appeared, Zeref narrowed his eyes at him and sneered maliciously,

"Take her to her room, and if you lay one hand on her you will die a more painful death than him," he said as he kicked the dead body next to his foot, "no one is to harm this girl." He growled.

The man nodded and then turned to Lucy imploring her to follow. Lucy looked at Zeref and then back at the man before following him. She rubbed her arm and then looked down as a bruise had started to form already. She paced slowly behind the man and when they were out of the room she heard him click his fingers and order the corpse to be disposed of and taken away from his sight, mentioning something about 'filthy men' and 'his mage' it was all a little shocking that someone had everything he wanted with the click of his fingers. Was this what it was like to be noble or have power? If so, she didn't want anything to do with it. There was one question running through her mind constantly, why her?

After what felt like an hour they had finally reached what looked like a dungeon. She shuddered as the stench of rotting bodies filled her nose. The door opened and she was pushed into a cell. She turned around to look at the man who had a viciousness swirling in his black eyes. He slammed the door in her face and looked through a small semi-circle that had bars in it.

"Don't think you can use magic to escape princess, if that pathetic excuse for a King can't do it, don't fool yourself into thinking you can either."

King? There was a King here? She looked at the man who had already disappeared laughing down the hall. She banged on the door out of her own frustration. Everything was too messed up and for some reason it all had to do with her. She was getting caught up in her emotions as she sunk to the floor banging the door. Her tears rolled down her face freely. Her peasant's attire was getting dirty from the musky water. She closed her eyes and shaking her head. She wanted to be at home, in her small modern house telling her sister folk lore and stories of olde.

She felt a soft hand land on her shoulder, it different to all the others that she had felt since being here, it was a calloused hand but comforting. Lucy turned around to see a man with amber colored eyes and a soft sympathetic smile. Her eyes widened as she felt a comforting heat surround her. She wrapped her hands around the man and cried into his arms. He felt frail and weak, but his arms still held her tightly as she cried.

Zeref sat on his throne tapping his fingers impatiently on the arm chair as Hades walked in, he bowed deeply and kneeled in front of him, "Sir," he said looking up to him briefly before lowering his eyes back down to the ground, "Are you sure it's alright putting the Spirit mage in that cell with that man? He's been nothing but violent with anyone else…"

Zeref looked at the bug in front of him. This man had served him loyally and even resurrected him from his pensive and timid self, but he was questioning his motives? It was despicable. He waved a hand nonchalantly, all the other men they had put in there were spies, trying to get the man to talk. They had searched long and hard for this girl and she would be an asset to his cause. That old man could see through his plans. He scoffed and shook his head,

"Using her is going according to plan" He said dismissively.

Once her crying had stopped and her breathing had soothed she wiped her bleary eyes and thanked the man who forced a weak smile. She examined the man slowly, he was covered in scars and his clothing was ripped and unrecognizable. She pursed her lips and then turned to see if she had her luggage with her. She let out a triumphant shout when she had found it and rummaged through her things. She pulled out a root and then handed it toward him.

"It's not much, but it is a root from a tree back at our farm that is both filling and hydrating" she said smiling. The man looked at it tentatively and sniffed at it before taking it and finishing it in one bite. So she was right. This man was being starved. She felt something in her heart ache for him. She couldn't help him much besides doing that. She moved toward him cautiously and pulled her legs up to her chest placing her chin on her knees.

"Thank you…" she whispered softly. Her voice seemed to echo against the walls though, so her gratitude was heard. The man turned to her and nodded, she couldn't make out too much of the man, but something about him made her feel safe. The silence between them stretched and the heavy air was suffocating her,

"I don't even know why I'm here," she murmured.

The man looked at the poor little girl, she seemed in between the ages of his children. Something about her told him that even though she was a peasant she knew things she shouldn't and yet she was still incredibly naïve,

"Tell my child," his voice rumbled comfortingly, "what is it that brought this upon yourself?"

Lucy looked up at the man, his deep voice reminded her of one of the men in the village. She used to go to him and hear the stories, his voice was the type she could listen to all day long. It was soft, yet respectable and demanded a certain amount of respect but also gave respect. She thought of the events. The things that Zeref had told her, his visits to her in her dreams and his ultimatum, how did she end up here?

"The dark mage…" She started looking up at the ceiling. The story filling her mind, "It started after my 17th summer…" She shuddered remembering the night vividly.

"In my dreams I heard a voice, laughing, it told me that a well-known man would come for me… It said that I would have to go to him in 7 days… It showed me the place and how to get there and I… I thought it was just a dream… But every night I had the same dream, it told me different things, said that if I didn't go that they would hurt my family… That the underworld could drag my mother there… On the 7th night it had told me that my family and my village had all been drinking contaminated water and if I didn't go to that place on that night, they would all die…"

Lucy shuddered as she remembered the dream, "When I got to the place the man said that I had to go with him and that was when he removed his hood and revealed his face… Lord Zeref…" She closed her eyes trying to rid herself of the darkness that shone brightly in that mans' eyes. "He brought my sister out and said that I would risk her life if I didn't… That I had three days to inform everyone I was leaving and then on the second night I had a dream of where I needed to head and on the third day I was brought here by a cloud of darkness…" She whimpered a little and shook her head trying to rid herself of the thoughts and memories that lingered there.

The older man watched the young girl in slight amazement. It seemed that she had sacrificed herself in order to save the fates of the others, a trait that he hadn't known many peasants to have, that is to say, that he didn't know many peasants. He pressed his lips into a thin line and calculated carefully the reasons as to why they were put in the same cell. He knew how the mind of evil men worked and he understood why she was here. He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her blonde hair a little.

"I'm sorry for the unfortunate hand fate has dealt to you,"

Lucy looked up at the man and frowned. His eloquent words and the way he spoke seemed to be of a higher class than her. The pieces slowly came together when she remember that the man who put her here said something about a King. The closest and largest Kingdom by here was Fairy Tail Hills. She looked at the man with wide eyes, those eyes. She knew those eyes! She gasped and moved away from him before bowing deeply. What disturbed her most was the fact that a King, A KING, had been taken and placed in a cell here.

"Your majesty!" She said looking down at the ground and closing her eyes. She had cried on his shoulder and she had spoken so freely with him. Lucy felt mortified. The man let out a low chuckle and shook his head waving her off,

"Fear not, I am no King in this place, nor am I King of Fairy Hills no longer," he said looking at the door. His son should have taken the throne and everything should be somewhat peaceful. He hoped that his wife was feeling alright. Lucy shook her head though. She swallowed hard and then looked at the ground fiddling with a piece of fabric from her dress.

"The last news that we had received, week before last, was that the Prince had still not been crowned."

The man raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "That stubborn child," he cursed, "Pray, what is your name?" He said looking at her with mild curiosity.

Lucy bowed her head again… "L-Lucy… Lucy Heartfil-" she stopped and remembered her fathers words and slight grief filled her, "Just Lucy now…"

Igneel raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Why just Lucy?"

"My father…" she said feeling her emotions fall from her eyes, "In order to leave peacefully, I deceived my family into thinking I was going on a journey and refused to be engaged, my father said if I leave I no longer have a maiden name"

The old man placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him in shock, he smiled warmly at her and she suddenly felt a little safe, despite the cell they were in. "Your name is yours and yours alone, no one may strip you of that unless you allow it," the wise man mused.

A comfortable silence passed through them as they both sat next to each other. She looked around and saw chains connected to the wall. The stone that created their room was covered in mold and stained. There was a copper like shine to the floor and small pools of darkened, toxic water. The wooden door that had the little home in it seemed to be where the only light came from. There were bones littered around them and Lucy attempted to put them out of her mind. Lucy shivered to herself and silently prayed to whoever was listening to keep her family safe.

Igneel watched over the child with careful eyes. She had no business being in a place like this, yet here she was. He watched as her eyes closed slowly and her breathing slowed. He was glad that she could get a little rest instead of being awake in this pit. He placed a hand on her head and whispered a silent incantation as a slow blue light let his hand and entered the child from his hand to her head. His body felt weak after the small incantation he placed on her and he too closed his eyes and drifted off into the darkness of his dreams.