The amazing adventures of
Princess Levy!
So here we go! XD
This is my first fanfiction, so please mind that while reading. :) You can also find this story on deviantART. So yeah, still pretty new with this whole concept, but I hope to sort things out pretty soon. Chapter 1 The amazing decision.
In the great age of prosperity and wealth, the kingdom of Fiore was ruled by the powerful, royal family. Merchants and business companies all played an important role in keeping the system going, and the king and queen supervised this, making sure trades, farms and industries all worked together. Thus, their role was extremely important for the well being of the country.
The royal castle was situated in the business capital, Crocus, as it provided the best overlook at the current situation. In the midst of the flower city, as it was called, the castle towered over the smaller houses, looking superior in comparison. A huge brick wall hid most of the castle, and was about impossible to get past. It wasn't like the country would get into a war, but just in case they had made it impassable. The only entrance was through the main gates at the front, and it was constantly guarded by the national military forces. Inside the massive brick shell was it almost like a tiny village. Courtyards, towers and independent shacks and houses made up an intricate system. All sorts of people lived here, as most of them were employed to work at the castle. The maids lived in the shacks and houses, while the chefs, butlers, teachers and other higher rank employments lived in the tower suits, actually having their very own room.
It was a beautiful evening, and the sun dove into the horizon, throwing cascades of orange and golden light at the city. The castle was as lively as usual, and people swarmed around like ants, busy doing their work. In the north-east courtyard staggered a certain someone along the brick covered ground.
As the princess, she was the rightful heir to the throne, and she had been taking lessons since birth. First by her mom, and then by the royal tutors. She still remembered how much she had cried and whined when she took her first lesson with a tutor, as she had to be without her mom for a full hour. Since then, her day was filled with classes in history, etiquette, piano, fencing, economy, art and medicine. 'Honestly!' The poor bluenette thought as she made her way to her room. She was already worn out after countless of hours spent indoors when the sun shone outside. It was like all the tutors had a common mess-with-the-princess-day, since all they did was to point out how bad she performed the task, and then give her an even harder one. Her piano teacher had rambled about how she had to get herself together and practice more. Her fencing teacher had this brilliant idea of letting her spar with one of the guards, and sent her to the next class covered with bruises. Her economy teacher gave her countless of cases where she had to use advanced mathematical and theoretical thinking to solve financial issues. And last but not least, after an exhausting day, she got scolded by the history teacher for falling asleep during class.
And now, with a body that hurt for every step she took and eyelids that almost slid close if she wasn't cautious, she mentally cursed while forcing her tiny body to move up the winding stairs.
When she finally had reached the top, and started to shuffle over the red-carpet floor, a voice called out to her from behind.
"Levy! I was looking for you!" The girl named Levy turned around to see her mother, the queen, Miranda standing at the end of the hallway. Her emerald eyes were beaming, and a dazzling smile covered her lips. Without a second thought, Levy lounged forward to hug her mom, feeling her soothing warmth and comforting scent as she wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Tough day?" Miranda giggled, while running her hand through Levy's hair, which was, the exact same hair-color as her own. Levy only nodded in response, pouting slightly at her mother. She tried to give her the "I-don't-wanna-do-this!"-look, but she only smiled in return, pulled back from the hug and placed both hands at Levy's shoulders. Her features were gleaming with excitement, and while she begun to speak, Levy's father, Claude, appeared in the end of the hallway, walking with determined steps in their direction. With his slightly round body, white hair and Harry Potter-style glasses he looked like a teddybear. But despite that, he always acted formally, even towards his own wife. right now, he looked as proud as ever while a content smile hung from ear to ear.
"Your father and I have some great news!" the queen squealed like a child. Her husband, the king, walked up behind her and nodded in agreement. He was the next to speak, and even with all the formality, glee was clear in his voice.
"Guess what, we finally got you a fiance!"
At the moment those words escaped his lips, Levy's world crashed around her. Not only did they force her to take all these lessons, now they wanted to decide who she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with! She felt despair rising in the pit of her stomach, but also a growing rage that made her clench her fists. However, she decided to hear them out to get a proper look at the situation.
"So who is this fiance?" she mumbled, anger still lingering in her head. But who knows, maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought.
The queen looked like she had waited forever for this answer, and she clasped her hands together with a "you're-going-to-like-this"-look.
"Your fiance is..." She took an artistic pause, just to build up her imagined excitement. That woman watched way to many TV-shows. "Gray Fullbuster!"
"I would never marry him!" Levy screamed as soon her mother had said the name, and judging by her expression, she was quite taken aback. A deafening silence followed. Only Levy's raged panting could be heard as both her parents stared at her in disbelief. Her mom was the first to break the silence.
"But you're good friends, aren't you?" she carefully said, cautious not to get another insult screamed in her face. Claude looked from his wife to Levy, clearly speechless.
"That's why I can't! He's my friend, I could never marry him." she snapped. "It would be too weird!"
Surprisingly, Miranda sighed in relief, which made Levy seriously confused.
"If that's the case, I'm sure you'll get used to it after a while." she grinned. Levy didn't know if she should scream back or cry. For some reason, it seemed like they didn't want to understand her at all! With a last glare, she turned on her heel and marched away to her room. Completely ignoring the aching bruises that decorated her body. When she finally had reached her room and slammed the door shut, she slid down with her back against the door. Tears pippled down her cheeks as she cried in frustration. Her hands were shaking, and her breath hiccoughy as she continued to sob into her gown. That way, her foolish parents wouldn't interrupt her, as only muffled sounds escaped the crying mess on the floor.
She and Gray had been friends a long time, since he was her best friend's, Lucy Heartfilia's, adopted brother. The three of them had shared great memories together. She still remembered how Gray had to watch out for all they did, as both Levy and Lucy had been trough their reckless periods while being young. One day, both of them had climbed a large tree, and then panic had struck them both as they realized they couldn't get down again. In the end, Gray had to run to the nearest mansion, borrow a shaky ladder, and then get them down.
After some years had passed, all of them had grown up. And since Lucy's father was a famous merchant, she and Levy both got too many duties. They rarely saw each other now, but every time spent with those two were moments of bliss.
That's exactly why she couldn't do this. They were like siblings, why wouldn't her parents understand? Levy plumped down on the bed, hugging the pillow tightly. The crying had worn her out, and she dozed off, her breath still a bit shaky.
...
"You're gonna marry Levy-chan?" Lucy shrieked in surprise, dropping the spoon she was currently eating pork stew with. Her eyes were wide with shock, and she didn't even notice that her mouth hang wide open while she was still eating. Gray sighed and took another mouthful of the stew, looking at the blonde like she had just said something ridiculously stupid. Of course, her reaction was. He waved her off with his free hand, and swallowed the food before answering.
"Of course I won't. She's a friend, I only need to figure out a way to stop this." The black-haired man moaned, eying her like it was obvious. Lucy sighed in relief, looking a bit shameful for ever doubting her friends.
"Then I will help you, I mean, Levy-chan have enough at her hands for the time being, I can't let this happen to her!" Lucy glared at the wall like it was it's decision, and shoved another spoon into her mouth. Her brown eyes were fierce, and her gesture determined. What was Levy-chan thinking right now? Was she sad? Angry? What would she do? Whatever her resolve was, Lucy intended to use every bit of her free time to get those two out of this mess. Gray probably knew what she was thinking, and nodded at her. Their fight had begun.
At that time, a lone person entered the room. His footsteps were calm, but there were something serious about him. Lucy and Grey turned around to the Pink-haired man that had just moved across the floor. Lucy glanced at him.
"Natsu, I need your help. The case is..."
"I know." the guy named Natsu replied. "As your bodyguard, I'm thoroughly informed about every matter at your hand." Lucy was stunned. The usually silly attitude and toothy grin were replaced by a serious gesture that only appeared when he was on duty. And his onyx-eyes were shining determinedly. She knew, that helping her in every way possible indeed was his duty. Lucy examined with her eyes. She then took a deep breath before starting to explain.
"Well, what I want you to do, is..."
...
When Levy woke up, it was already past 12 pm. The sun had set, and the already black sky was covered in millions of silver-glittering stars. She had left the veranda door open, so a pleasant breeze blew into the room and made the white curtains look like ghosts, as they were slowly moving in the wind. The bluenette slowly got out of the bed and shuffled drowsy over to the bathroom. As soon as the light was turned on, she could see herself clearly in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her hair was a tangled mess of blue hair. (Well, it was usually quite messy, but now it was messier than usual.)
The princess turned on the sink and scooped the cold water with her hands, tossing it in her face. She gasped as soon as the chilly water hit her skin, but continued to rub it into her eyes. When she looked back, most of the poufy-reddish color was already gone, and in little to no time she would look like she had never cried. She rubbed the towel against her face, and went out to the dark bedroom. There, she walked straight to the midst of the room, saying nothing at all.
It was like her face-wash had also cleansed her mind. Now her head felt clearer than ever, and a plan started to form in her head. Not a genius plan, more like an emergency plan, but maybe it would work out. She clenched her fists, staring out the window at the huge, shining moon. She had decided now.
She would run away.