Crystal: Well here's another installment of scales and diamonds. I've tried drawing how I imagine the characters to look if you guys want to see them on my tumblr ask me! I'm a terrible artist lol which is why I write instead, but I tried to give you guys the best drawing on how they look.
Tumblr: celestialgoddesslucy
The enemy
Fire everywhere. Like a crimson painting of a sunset. Everything burning to the ground like it was merely made of plastic, burned to a crisp and unrecognizable. The last memory before everything collapsed before me.
"Lucy!" a soft voice called out into a room filled of pink and stuffed animals. A woman entered the room, soft brown eyes and sunshine yellow locks tied in an elegant bun. She smiled fondly at seeing a young 7 year old girl playing animatedly with a brown haired doll. "Lucy, my darling, here you are", the woman chuckled at seeing Lucy shift her gaze towards her, a bright smiled illuminating her face. "Momma Layla!" Lucy chirped running from her spot to hug the blonde woman.
Layla picked the child up nuzzling her nose on her cheek. "Oh my little girl! It is time for bed", Layla hummed as Lucy gave a whine of protest. "Don't worry. I'll tell you a story about this fairy I met once", the blonde winked as she tucked in the child in her arms into her bed. "You met a fairy?!" Lucy hummed in awe. "Yes, and she was the kindest fairy of all. She was a fairy princess and she was beautiful. Her name was Mavis. I was just a little girl when I met her. I got lost in the woods because I was sad that my parents were not happy and I fell and cried because I thought I would never see my parents again. She appeared before me and she told me that when I grew up I would have a life full of joy and that I would find my greatest happiness", she explained to the blonde child whose eyes continued to sparkle in interest.
"Did she have big wings?" Lucy asked curiously. "She did and a tail too. They say that when you meet a fairy, you are guaranteed to live happily for the rest of your life, and this fairy said she could see into my heart and said I deserved happiness and I would get it if I believed in love. She smiled at me and before I knew it, she disappeared in a warm light and then I somehow found my way back to my parents", Layla explained with a gentle smile. "Wow, mommy, do you think I'll ever meet a fairy like Mavis?" Lucy questioned innocently. Layla laughed softly leaning to kiss her forehead.
"Of course, all you have to do is believe and love, Lucy. I'm sure the fairy will one day come to bring you happiness as well. Here, she gave me this and now it's yours. It's a fairy in a crystal", the woman smiled as she place a small necklace with crystal stone with a small insignia inside around her daughter's neck. "Okay! I promise I'll find her one day and thank her for making mommy happy!" Lucy inquired determined as Layla's eyes widened in surprise before she grinned. "You are a good child, Lucy. Now go to sleep my darling", Layla tapped her nose as Lucy nodded and sank in her pillow. Layla walked to the door glancing at her daughter with a hopeful look as she exited.
But the fairy lied. She took away my mother's happiness. The fairy maybe deemed me unworthy of being happy and she took that away from me too. Everything around me fell, turning into nothing more but mere ash.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" Lucy cried as she clutched to the skirt of her mother's gown. The dragons had suddenly attacked them and the castle had been engulfed in burning flames. "Layla! Lucy!" a man's voice called out. "Jude, my love, we're here!" Layla called out. A man with dirty blonde hair stepped in with a look of relief as she took both of them in a strong hug. He led them quickly out of the castle with the help of their most loyal holy knight, Capricorn. However, before they were out of the castle little Lucy realized she'd dropped her necklace in her room.
"Oh no! My necklace is still inside!" she cried as she released her mother and ran back inside the castle. "Lucy, no!" Layla cried as she ran back with the horrified yells of Jude. Lucy ran into her room smiling when she saw the glittering crystal just at the foot of her bed. She clutched it onto her heart as she was going to run back out but a pillar made of wood began to fall towards her. Her eyes widened immensely as she closed her eyes shut expecting it to hit, but being pushed out of the way. Lucy's eyes widened as she saw her mother holding the pillar away from her. "Momma!" she cried.
Blood began to run down Layla's face as she went to pull Lucy into her arms. "You're alright now. Let's go, sweetie", she huffed as she led her out into the fire engulfed hallways. The smoke clouded their path as they tried not to trip on the wood. A rumble was heard and before they even processed what was going on another pillar of wood fell straight onto Layla's legs. She screamed in pain as Lucy helplessly leaned down. "Lucy, I need you to run out of here", Layla anxiously ordered her. "I can't leave you, mommy!" the blonde cried. "Queen Layla! Princess Lucy!" Capricorn's voice could be heard. "Capricorn!" Layla yelled as he showed up shocked.
"Take Lucy and get out of here at once", Layla commanded. "But Queen! I cannot leave you!" Capricorn began to protest, but the blonde woman interrupted him. "You must! Lucy, is the future of this kingdom! If you don't we'll all die, and my sacrifice will have been in vain. My time has come!" Layla inquired as Capricorn stood there not knowing what to do. "Live Lucy. Live and grow up… Become the person you want to be… don't let your life fill with sorrow at my departure", she muttered weakly.
Before he knew it, Capricorn picked up Lucy and began to run, tears at his eyes. "Momma! No!" Lucy cried. Layla smiled gently at their departing forms. "I will always be with you, my sweet little Lucy. I love you more than anything in this world…You were and forever will be my greatest happiness", she called out as Lucy's eyes widened and tears poured down her face. The last thing she saw and heard was her mother's smiling face and the words: "Be strong for mommy, okay? Good bye, my Lucy."
~~xXXx~~
"MOM!" Lucy yelled as she sat up to find herself in her bed bandaged with her friends surrounding her with worried looks on their faces. She placed a hand at her face feeling the tears on her cheeks. The same nightmare she'd been having since she could remember. It was forever haunting her. "Lu-chan, you're crying", Levy motioned. "I'm fine. But that's not important. Where am I and where is the man I brought back?" Lucy asked wiping the remnant of her tears. "As requested, we've kept him in secret in the room right next to yours", Gray informed her.
Lucy stood up quickly, regardless of the protest of her friends. "Lucy, you are straining yourself", Erza called out. "I'm fine, Erza. You are the strongest out of all of us, but you took the greatest hit of that dragon. You should be the on resting along with you, Loke", Lucy crossed her arms. I'll be back once I get some information from this man", Lucy informed them as she crossed to exit into the hallways. She felt her heart rate increasing and she felt nervous. Those flames from that dragon were so familiar and scary and something about confronting him made her tremble slightly. But she would never forgive the dragons. She would rid of them even if it so happened that they were human. Or at least that's what she thought until she entered the room and saw the poor state the man found himself in.
As she entered, she found that he was awake and her eyes widened as she noticed his eyes. They were a bright emerald and flickered yellow slightly before returning to normal. He seemed confused, yet cautious. And he had a good reason to be cautious as Lucy shoved the door closed and pulled her sword aiming it just a bit before his neck. "Speak! What the hell are you!" she demanded furiously. The man's eyes widened and he sighed. "You saw it, didn't you?" he questioned casually as Lucy retracted with the fact that he spoke. She felt sort of stupid as he did look human, after all.
"So you're telling me that fire breathing pest was you?" she questioned. "I'm not a pest, lady. But yes, I am that dragon", he spat back not liking her tone of voice. "Anyways, did my dad hired you or something? Did he imprison another human maid?" he questioned bored. Lucy smiled and broke out in laughter. "You think you're in your cave or something? Listen here. I am Princess Lucy Heartfilia, princess of Fiore Kingdom and you, dragon, are my prisoner", she informed him as he seemed to recall something with horror.
"You and your stupid human companions murdered my friends!" he yelled angrily. Lucy was taken aback by his outburst that she dropped her sword, but he had immediately regretted his sudden movements that sent pain throughout his body. "You were going to attack our kingdom!" Lucy defended herself. "You idiot! We weren't going towards your kingdom! We were going to visit my mother's grave!" he yelled as his voice slightly cracked. Lucy paled. His mother's grave? He grunted slightly as he laid back from the wounds he had looking away from her.
He didn't seem dangerous in the state he was in and so she pulled a chair next to his bed a saddened expression suddenly appearing on her face. "Why?" she muttered. He looked at her confused, and was taken aback by the sadness she was radiating and she finally saw his face clearly. The scar on his cheek his slanted eyes, the earring on his ear and one of them on the left had a long gold rod hanging from his lobe. She finally noticed the gold band around his head.
"Why what?" he spoke also looking at her face closely. "Why did your kind attack my kingdom and kill my mother?" she muttered. He seemed confused and in shock at her question. His face seemed bitter as if recalling the moment. "Because…I don't know or at least I'm not entirely sure anymore. My father said, that an army of your own kind attacked and killed my mother and then began to hunt us down for no reason", he muttered back. "That can't be right. We attacked you because you dragons attacked us first", Lucy informed him. "Well I know as much as you do. Something doesn't add up. I can assure you that we did not attack you for any other reason than our belief of the sudden hostility of your kind", he inquired.
"Who are you?" Lucy finally questioned him. "I'm Prince Natsu Dragneel. Prince of the dragon kingdom of Alvarez. And in the honor of my kingdom I tell you we did not send any of our troops to attack your kingdom until you started attacking our own. We lived the rest of our live in our defense for the most part", he said genuinely and she could tell he wasn't lying. The blonde stood up from her chair beginning to have doubts. 'Something is definitely not right, but I can't trust this man either', Lucy thought as she rubbed her temples. "How can I be sure you're not lying?" she asked him. "Let me prove it to you", Natsu said simply. She turned away contemplating the potential consequences of letting him have his way, but after a brief pause, the blonde accepted his request. "Alright, fine. But you will not reveal your identity to anyone. I'm risking letting you stay here", the blonde deadpanned.
She saw him suddenly smile and for some strange reason, she found it endearing. "Alright, Lucy", he grinned and she blushed at the informality in which he spoke her name. "I-I still don't t-trust you, though. And I still hate you and your kind until you prove you aren't the reason my mother's dead", she explained as she went up to him. She stomped towards his bed and gently grabbed his gold earring and whispered an enchantment. The glow dissipated from the earring. "What did you do?" he asked. She smiled smugly at him. "Why I only repressed your transformation magic. You won't be able to turn into a dragon unless I take that spell off", she explained as his face seemed horrified. "I mean you can do magic regardless, no?" she sighed heavily slightly amused. "Of course I can. It's not like we're always dragons or live in caves, weirdo", he said a matter-of-factly.
She turned away slightly a blush on her cheeks. "Whatever, that doesn't matter. As soon as you recover I expect you to begin proving the worthiness of your word. I expect answers quickly or else I really will kill you", she said sternly. "As you wish, your highness", he mocked bow from his position on the bed. He wasn't taking her seriously, but why did she feel so calm about everything? She had the prince in her hands. The son of the murderer who had been sending his troops to kill her people. He could simply use him against the King of Alvarez. She only assumed that somehow she wanted to believe what he was saying to her. Could it be because he understood the pain of losing his mother like she did?
Whatever the reason, all she wanted more than anything was to know who could have possibly been involved in a potential scheme to get both kingdoms against each other? If of course, Natsu was telling the truth, then someone was trying to get them at each other's throats. But for what reason and why?
Crystal: Decided to keep this chapter short since I've been trying to keep a steady pace with my other stories and now that I have lots of free time for the summer I'll try updating more often
