Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic ever (posted online anyway) Is a Fairy Tail AU fanfic that centers on my favorite ship which is gajevy, and inspired on the story/musical/movies of The King and I. I was hoping to post it as a submit for the Gajevy Week in tumblr with the prompt of AU, but I changed a lot in this chapter, also it's probably going to be a long fic, so here it goes.
If you are familiar with the story of the King and I you will notice that I changed (will change) a few things, but hey it's an AU so it doesn't have to go exactly as the story indicates. Rate, comment and I hope you like it
Declaimer: I do NOT OWN Fairy Tail or any of the characters that are part of this story. I DO NOT OWN The King And I either.
It was a rather stressful day, one of those when even the glorious marble walls with sculpted golden frames of the palace seemed to hold the troubles of the young king and the lion statues that guarded the entrance to the gorgeously decorated throne room looked at him as expectantly as his troubled servants and diplomats that held their heads lower than his own, even The Kralahome Porla a tall man with a pronounced angular face who was his father's, King Metalicana's, right hand added a pressure that could only be compared to the glory and immensity of the country where he was proudly reigning. But being The Iron King had one meaning, and one alone, to never ask for advice: for a King knows exactly what to do, he is smart, he knows always what is best and what is not.
As his father's words echoed through his mind, his loyal companion Pantherlily nudged his hand with his silky black head, as if it knew that its master was distracted and needed to say something, or more importantly make decision.
"Your Majesty?" asked the Kralahome expectantly noticing the young king placing a big grin on his face and his look giving out that deep authoritarian glare he had inherited from his late father, that made no one dare question his decision.
"We will bring Magnolian teacher, to teach Royal Princes and Princess the Western culture…" he paused and looked at the reactions his decision caused among his subjects, he liked to watch how The Kralahome lost his composure for longer than even he expected, and loved it that way, he was a proud king and liked to surpass even his own little expectations, such as this ones "…it is what is good, and our will to be as civilized and to advance in scientific thinking like them." he said finally after clapping his hands twice indicating Rufus Lore the Royal Scriptor, a tall handsome man whose face was hidden by a beautifully decorated mask, his long blond hair tied up in a low pony tail and as always clad in a red suit and hat with a purple feather, to move forward to the throne.
After the deep customary bow from the blond man, he then proceeded to enunciate a letter to King Makarov from Magnolia asking for the best teacher to come to the Iron Kingdom in order to teach the royal princes and princess culture and the advanced knowledge the Iron King knew they possessed, as the others left the room being the last The Kralahome Porla.
As the Royal Scriptor left the throne room with the letter ready to send to Magnolia, Gajeel stood up from the silken green cushions that where placed comfortably under the throne's wooden seat, almost refusing to stand from his comfortable sitting position, but the throne room still bared the pressuring atmosphere form the earlier revelation, he knew what everyone expected him to announce in order to defend his kingdom against the predator eyes of the Magnolian king, for they lived still in the past of glorious war conquests that were led by his father, they still thrived for the taste of winning a war and proving the neighboring kingdoms to be the strongest, with just one regrettable defeat.
"Hey Metalhead! Are you sure that is the best thing to do NOW?! " Complained Crown Prince Natsu as he stood up from his usual seat in the ground of the throne room advancing towards his older brother not minding the customs that forbade anyone to step that close to the throne with his head above the king's.
"Pipe down, Flamebrain, we made a fucking choice! And what we say goes, like it or not." responded the King to his impulsive brother, casting him a glare that reminded him that even when he was the crowned prince and his brother, he still owed some respect to his king.
"That learning thing really isn't my style…" Prince Natsu scratched his neck looking down in a defensive manner.
"We don't need a teacher! We should head on and FIGHT THAT OLD MAN!"
"That's exactly the reason we are bringing a teacher, because you have no brains! If something happens to us are you going to bloody go and fight everyone else? And then that stupid old Kralahome will take advantage of you!" spitted Gajeel to his brother hoping it would knock some sense.
"Gajeel-kun's choice was a rather surprising one, but then again you were never the predictable one." Said a blue haired woman coming out form her hiding spot behind one of the great pillars.
"Damned rain-woman we have told you to drop those fucking stalking habits." grunted in disbelief the raven-haired king while massaging his pierced templates with his big hands keeping a steady motion.
"But Gray-sama was there!" swooned the young lady while thinking in her crush, the Captain of the Royal Guard known for being as cold as ice when calculating the moves and strategies in battle.
"Well, whatever, we must make preparations for this new teacher's arrival… We wonder what kind of person will that old-man send us…"
"Your Highness. " Entered to the high stonewalls of King Makarov's study, the captain of the Royal Army Erza Scarlet a letter in hand, it was not her duty to deliver messages to the King, but this one caught her eye because where it was form, and whom was it from.
"Ah Erza, what news do you have?" Asked the King not stopping from writing and signing documents that where scattered in his desk, as he recognized the voice of one of his most trusted subjects.
"Sir, a letter for The Iron Kingdom has arrived." answered Erza, watching how Makarov broke the quill he was holding swiftly just seconds ago, and the black ink inside poured through his small but strong hands leaving a black stain in the papers below, even prince Laxus, who was reading in a couch at the corner of the room turned an ear to this, while pretending to continue his reading.
"Really now? Is that brat of a king asking for a fight with us now?" said Makarov as he opened the green seal with a dragon head plastered on it, a quite familiar sight now, the first time the Iron Kingdom sent a letter was from the previous king, The Iron Dragon King, wishing to make an alliance in order to take a neighbor country promising a reward and the friendship of the kingdom, and it all ended tragically for both kingdoms, a true mistake on his part he was not willing to take again.
"If that brat tries as much as to be like his father… Hmm, well this is an interesting development." said Makarov while reading the content of the letter and scratching his chin in wonder.
"What does it say, Gramps?" Asked Laxus, the now, Crown prince of Magnolia, as he lifted his face from the book to watch his grandfather, rage inside his eyes. He could not believe his grandfather, the King of Magnolia, known as the Great Titan left the issue of the Iron Kingdom alone since the young King took over the throne when King Metalicana died in the hopes for a new era but under a watchful eye.
"It says he wishes for us to send a teacher, to educate the royal kids…" answered the king, almost speechless from the unusual request.
"If I may, Your Highness, we should not put more civilians, even less innocent ones at risk in the Iron Kingdom, not after…" protested Erza, stopping her own statement as the memories filled her head and glancing over to where the prince was, he too was not pleased.
"There is no way in hell we are granting another request from that vile kingdom! The fuck I care about them trading iron goods with us!" Roared Laxus throwing away the book he had on his hands crashing against a china vase holding some flowers, now scattered on the small table and the floor with some water dripping, the book completely ruined. " They are nothing but barbarians! Last time we complied we lost more than what we gained! Friendship my ass! The other kingdoms will only see us as weaker!"
"Laxus!" Scolded the King to his hotheaded grandson "We indeed had lost a lot to that kingdom, however this might also be the opportunity for us to see how this new king is fairing and send a spy that would report to us every single thing that happens."
"But Your Highness, last time we sent a spy…" Erza started only to be cut-off by her king.
"If it's true that King Gajeel is different we will let them be, if not, there will be no choice but to 'civilize' them." finished Makarov with a stern look on his face, he knew that, none of the ones present was happy with his decision, but he believed it to be the best, after all he wanted to give the boy a chance, the LAST chance, to prove his country was not savage, as the others he had encountered and discovered to be under the teachings of Zeref, the dark monk.
"Send the university this document that describes the opportunity to a really well paid job, only the headmaster can give the details to those interested." said the king as he held a new quill and scribbled the instructions for the university's headmaster Jura. "Also, Erza," added Makarov while holding the paper he was handing to the Captain with a firm gaze "Call Jellal, we will need his abilities."
"Yes, sir." responded Erza while bowing slightly her torso and excused herself out of the royal study.
The storm raged as gigantic waves formed from the furious and wild movements of the ocean covering one another, clashing between them creating a high disturbance in the balance of the Queen Mavis, the ship rocked from side to side making all of the lights that were on to shut in an instant and every stacked box and barrel roll over making it hard to move around the cabinets, inside one of the rooms a pile of books and maps threatened to get damp and ruined forever as a small blue haired woman hurried to save them all by drying her intellectual material with a cloth, it had been a long rough trip in order to get to the Iron Kingdom.
Levy wondered what this trip had in store for her, she knew that King Makarov had his eyes set on the Iron Kingdom because of their story in an alliance and also it's recent blooming metal market, which ranged form pure metals to manufactured goods like weapons, furniture, jewelry and many other crafts, she thought the King must be really smart to have thought of exploiting the riches of his own country and producing different things to sell to other countries, resulting in unique goods of high quality that many countries would pay handsomely for, thus earning the country a lot of wealth in his short reigning.
She did a thorough research about the kingdom that had opened its arms to her as a scholar, ever since she heard the offer at the university; needless to say she was the only one brave enough to accept such a job outside her country, every scholar showed ambition when they heard about the juicy opportunity to teach a royal family only to be heavily discarded and undesired after knowing who the royals in question where. Everyone heard the stories of the Iron Kingdom being the late king a man with a sharp mind for war and conquest, earning him the title of The Iron Dragon King, rumors of him being despicable to his enemies and the stories that surrounded the new young King where more than enough to send everyone cowering away, but not her, she was determined to know more about the country and the pay was really good to help her maintain her little brother and forget the past that haunted her nights back in Magnolia. This was her chance to have a new life and give her little brother Romeo the adventure of a lifetime, or so she hoped.
A raging thunder sent her back to the wild storm her ship was caught on, a big wave moving the boat to its left side almost dragging it to the ocean caused the unpacked books to fall all over the place burring her with a loud thump that seemed muffled by the even louder thunderstorm. Levy winced at the pain in her head after some of her larger tomes fell on top of her.
"Levy! Are you ok?" cried Romeo entering his sister's cabinet only to find a pile of books atop her. "Told you not to unpack that many books until we reach land!" he continued while helping Levy up the ground.
"I'm fine, is just the storm that made the books fall," Levy responded her little brother with a smile "Plus we should arrive any day now to the Iron Kingdom, I must prepare myself to teach properly." she said while picking up the books from the floor and placing them in a big wooden chest where she packed them to read during the journey while Romeo helped her, after a few minutes she noticed his usually cheerful brother was rather silent.
"Say, Levy… aren't you afraid? I mean I've heard from Mom and Dad that the Iron King is a barbarian! …What if he is as scary as everyone says?! I don't want to lose you too…" sobbed Romeo hiding his face by looking down. So that was it, she thought as she reached for him and held him in a tight embrace.
"I'm sure this job will change our lives, but it does not scare me. This king seems interested in intellectual progress and innovation, to give the princes and princess a proper education according to the resent discoveries made in Magnolia, its seems to me that he is not a barbarian if he wishes to broaden the knowledge in his kingdom.", She knew that it was a rushed change in both of their lives given their circumstances, but it was necessary. They both needed to get away for a while and get back to their feet, this job came just at the moment Levy needed the most, and something told her it was the right decision to accept.
Romeo calmed down, thinking about what his older sister told him, he was exited to see another country, yes, it was one of his biggest dreams coming true right then and there, but was insecure about what could happen, the common fear of the unknown. He remembered begging his parents to take him on one of their many trips, including the last one. They seemed to enjoy knowing other places, visiting them and understanding the ways of the people that lived far from their home, the languages they could speak and the food they would prepare for their guests, he always looked forward to his father talking about their journeys when he came back home and the gifts his mother would give him from the exotic countries they visited. The young boy suffered from wanderlust and loneliness those times, wishing to be either with his parents traveling or with his older sister that got married at a young age and started living with her husband, Freed Justine, until 3 months ago when she started to use again her maiden name.
As the siblings held each other in comfortable silence each in it's own thoughts the storm started to die down leaving only a few drops of rain falling from the sky while sunshine pierced the grey clouds of the sky and the waters calmed down letting the Queen Mavis float peacefully once again and be greeted by the Iron Kingdom's shores in sight.
"Miss Mcgarden, we have arrived." announced one of the crew members while knocking the cabinet door.
"Want to take a glimpse of the Iron Kingdom, Romeo?" asked Levy with a huge smile on her face, her big hazel eyes showing the excitement she felt for finally arriving to their destination, and body trembling in anticipation.
"Sure!" smiled Romeo as he let his big sister drag him up to the main deck where they could see finally the kingdom where they would be living for a while. As they came out the first thing they saw was that instead of the blazing storm that was upon them not so long ago was a shining sun, giving its warmth as a welcome to the siblings, the floor was all wet with puddles of all sizes that invited Romeo to stomp on them splashing whatever and whoever was around, but stopped at the sight in front of them.
AN: Gajeel speaks with a plural pronoun when he is referring to himself, it was a way of speaking that some kings/emperors of Eastern Asia used in the past, I just thought it would make it more interesting that way and would also be a cultural element that would differentiate The Iron Kingdom from the Kingdom of Magnolia.
Terms:
Kralahome: it's like a prime minister, the king's right hand man
Scriptor: a writer or scribe, they were the ones that wrote not only letters, but also important documents.
Thanks for reading! I hope I can update regularly, please rate and comment.
-DL
