The castle hummed with the sounds of busy servants and stressed council members. Today was the day. The day all of those aggravating meetings, countless arguments, mountains of paperwork, and months of preparation finally paid off. Yes it was the day Edolas only saw on rare occasion. The Coronation of the Kings Ceremony.
Jellal found himself siting alone in a large dinning room picking over his breakfast. His appetite ruined. He attempted to take a sip of coffee, but eating right now just didn't seem right. His stomach was already filled to the brim with nervousness.
"Damn body, why won't you cooperate?" He whispered looking down at his stomach.
The door clicked open. "Your Highness, some of your advisors are recommending you start getting ready."
Jellal stood, then turned around only to see a small young girl with deep brown eyes and pale brown hair standing before him. "Coco, its good to finally see you around here."
Her lips quirked upwards. "Thanks, I'm glad to be here. I ran here as fast as I could, the advisors are getting edgy, so you should prob-"
"Thats fine they can wait." He said interrupting her as his body fell back down into the chair.
Coco's brow furrowed with a confused look. She brushed it aside and walked over to join her king at the breakfast table. "Are you nervous?" She asked noticing his full breakfast plate.
"More than you can imagine." he said folding his hands.
"What for? The people love you. The kingdom is in peace, and unlike your father you can pick who you want to marry."
"With some restrictions." The blue haired man said regretfully. "If I was allowed to marry anyone I would already have her."
Coco slid behind his chair and folded her arms over the back of it. "Who, Knightwalker?"
Jellals face lit up like a christmas tree with shock as his head turned to look at her. "N-no… w-hat gives y-you that idea."
"Well the way you just said that and the fact that it's totally obvious. We all know you like her. Even the council is picking up on it…" Coco said giving him a sadistic smile that reminded his too much of Erza.
"Wait….What?" He stopped her right there."What do you mean by 'we all'? Who it this 'we all'.
"Oh ya know, Me, Hughes, Sugarboy, a couple maids, and some council members." She continued. "We've even started an in council pool to see how much longer the two of you can withstand hiding your feeling for each other."
"That'll go on forever." He said negatively.
"What do you mean?" Coco whined.
"We fight almost everyday. I don't know about you but to me thats not what people do when they care about each other." He argued.
"You two fight like a married couple. She replied. "It's cute."
Her words shocked him. Jellal couldn't believe this, everyone knew? A council pool? He was tempted to stay and find out more things he didn't know but he figured the conversation was getting no where, but somehow Coco had always managed to put a smile on his face. "Well I've had enough." He said standing once again and walking towards the door. "Bye Coco thanks for cheering me up."
"Your welcome sir." She said watching him leave. Suddenly the runner remembered why she was sent here. "Oh! And don't forget the advisors want you to start getting ready!" The king simply replied by waving his hand back at her not bothering to turn around as he strolled out the door.
Jellal made his way to his bedroom to start getting dressed. He peered into a nearby mirror. He was wearing a collared gray, long sleeved cloak top with navy and gold lines running down the sides of his arms, the middle of his chest and had pants to match. Sitting atop his shoulders were two oval shaped epaulettes that fell to his elbows, extending from underneath them was a long pale gold cape that resided behind him. The outfit was completed with a golden talisman that as draped around his neck and over his shoulders. Seeing himself this way triggered his thoughts to pester him. It's funny how some people can admire such an insignificant being such as myself, I have never done anything to be treated so highly… I shouldn't be the one who's being crowned today.
Night hung itself over the country of Edolas and illuminated the sky with its brilliant starry appendages. The coronation was held in a large baptistry located in the east wing of the castle and Jellal could barely contain his nervousness. In the next couple of hours he would be officially king, pick a bride, and begin to lead a country, it was hard to believe that what takes a lifetime for some people was happening almost instantly for him. He didn't deserve this.
The blue haired man currently on the other side of two large wooden doors that separated him and everyone else. As everyone took their seats, he could hear the high priests honey voice through the door as he filled the room. "The country of Edolas bids all who stand here in this holy sanctuary a grateful welcome and thanks that by the grace of god we all are enabled to be here today. As we are all aware this gathering is a celebration not only of our new king, but a new generation! So without further delay… our Rightful king…." The priest extended his arms towards the door.
Two of the castles servants, both being small young boys dressed in formal uniforms held open the large doors as Jellal walked minding his posture, and striding to the small stage at the front of the church. Upon noticing his appearance the entire audience stood and neatly bowed as he walked by.
The priest was standing on a small stage at the front of the church when Jellal stood in front of him on the stages steps. The holy man held a velvet pillow in his hands that was softly cradling a small golden scepter and a sapphire talisman. The king peered down at the two objects as he delicately wrapped his hands around them. He turned around to face the awaiting audience still grasping the two items nervously in his hands. As he stood there facing the audience the priest began to speak in ancient tongue, a language no one but himself and few others could understand.
Jellal turned around and bowed to the priest on one knee once his speaking came to a halt. This was it… the second the crown made contact with his soft blue locks he would be king. As the priests arthritic hands held the crown before him Jellal bowed his felt like everything in the room was moving in slow motion any second now... The crown was just millimeters away, and the room fell dead with silence, he could practically feel its presence already. It drew closer, now as if the whole world were moving in slow motion as the seconds got slower. A few moments later the audience erupted with claps and jovial cheers, Jellal looked up noticing the crown was now resting peacefully on his head.
The priest spoke once more. "I now present." Jellal rose to his feet and faced his people. "King Jellal, of Edolas!" The claps and cheers grew even louder as Jellal bowed to the audience of people.
"Please enjoy our reception out in the gardens for dinner, dancing, and drinking to your hearts delight." The new king said through a smile.
Soon the party filled the garden with high spirits as people danced to the jovial orchestrated music. But, Jellal wasn't even given a second to spare, it seemed like hundreds of people had introduced themselves to him in the last hour. He was beginning to consider going inside and taking a break for a while, then he spotted her, other side of the garden. It was Erza, wearing her beautiful dark blue gown that made him see stars. He had to speak to her now, the new king began to stride towards her.
"Erza!" He called catching up to her.
The knight turned around. "Your Majesty." She replied monotonously. "Did you need something?"
"Huh…. No, I was just, I wanted to talk to you."
Erza frowned. "Look you don't have to try and pretend you like me. Or get close to me. Okay? I don't care."
The king answered. "I know you don't, and I don't blame you for keeping your distance but you don't have a reason to. Why don't you just take a risk and talk to me for once?!" His words leaving deep impressions in her mind as she thought about what he said.
The scarlet knight took a deep inhale. "Fine… how was the coronation?" She asked relaxing a bit.
He let out a coy smile. "Good, but all this popularity is kinda getting on my nerves."
"Same, I hate watching all of these people with false smiles and greedy hands around here." They make me sick."
"Not all of them are bad Knightwalker, some people are nice."
He said leaning against a stone pillar. She chuckled lightly. "Yeah I guess." Jellal was finally beginning to enjoy himself when their conversation was interrupted by a sharp coughing sound.
The two turned around to see a overly dressed young woman, skinny as a twig, yet her stance was still intimidating. She curtsied. "Hello your highness. My name is princess Kasumi of the Western Province."
Erza interrupted. "Well I'd better give you some privacy." Her face displaying a sadistic grin as she walked off.
Jellal watched as she walked away his eyes wide open. He was quickly snapped back to attention by another sharp cough. "You must be part of the Exenveil family then?"
"Yes, thats my last name. We are close trading partners with Edolas."
Suddenly a slow song began to play. The princess shrieked with delight. "Ooohhhh! I absolutely love this song! Won't you dance with me?!"
He hesitated, struggling to be polite… he didn't even remember the girls name! "Sure."
In one fluid motion the princess grabbed his arm and drug him to the middle of the floor, disregarding the other dancing couples. He wasn't really enjoying himself because this was just awkward… well for him it was. The princess on the other hand seemed to throughly enjoy making the situation even worse as she leaned her head on his chest as they slowly swayed to the music.
Erza had made her way further into the party walking along the stone path, not feeling an ounce of guilt after she had just left her king helpless with some strange girl. The scarlet knight suddenly came to a halt, her sharp senses alarming her as she noticed a grappling hook loosely dangling over one of the garden walls. She rushed over for a better look notching it wasn't just a grappling hook, it was a rope ladder. She turned her head slowly and saw through the trees a dark hooded figure standing on the top of the wall drawing his bow and arrow back to a shooting position, aiming towards Jellal. Everything was in slow motion as she began to sprint towards the figure. Then she stopped dead in her tracks, the figure pulled back and launched the arrow, as it flew past her the figure disappeared like smoke, into the night sky.
For Jellal this dance seemed to be lagging on and on. He needed an escape, fast! If they kept dancing together someone might think they were engaged or something. But where would he run? The song had no end and everyone at the party was watching. Jellal soon noticed the princess backing away from him, her face in utter horror.
"What's wrong with her?" He thought.
Then the air was filled with blood curdling screams. The crowd of people in a state of panic. The king looked down to see and arrow lodged in his right chest and a pool of blood flowering around it. He soon felt a dull trobbing pain overtake his entire body as he began to loose his balance.
As Jellal fell backwards he thought to himself. "Funny, I needed an escape and this is the one I get… You were right Erza. You were always right."
His body hit the hard ground hard. "Terrorists!" He heard the castle guards scream just before he lost consciousness.