Chapter Ten: Confrontation
"The King?" cried Infra, running over to the window and peeking out. She swore under her breath and walked towards the door, "I'll go take care of this freak."
"Wait," said Chantelle, standing up, "He may ignore me and possibly dislike me, but he's still my father. He took care of me when I was small."
Infra snorted, "If you ask me, the staff take care of you 99.9% of the time. Heck, when I was little, I mistook the butler for my father because he was there more than my Dad ever was."
"Still," said Chantelle, "I disapprove of any murder on your hands."
I tried to get up, out of bed, "The Fairy Tail wizards should probably get out there," I said, "No doubt if they see any members of Fallen Dark, they'll shoot you on the spot. But if we slowly explain to the King's army, they'll probably take our side and the King will be helpless."
"Good plan," said Natsu, "Then we can each have a go hitting him!"
Chantelle turned pale.
I held up my pinky meaningfully for Natsu and mouthed, you promised, remember?
"Oh yeah," said Natsu, "But then what are we supposed to do with him?"
"That'll be up to Chantelle," said Erza, "As the King will hand over the kingdom, Chantelle will be Queen and she'll decide what she wants to do with him. We are only to follow her orders, understand?" she said sternly to Natsu, Gray and me.
Each of us nodded.
"Although, I wouldn't say it's healthy to move in your condition," said Erza to me.
"I'm fine," I said for the tenth time. I climbed out of bed and tried to force the aching pain to go away, "Let's go."
The Fairy Tail wizards and Chantelle walked outside. I blinked in the bright sunlight. How could it still be this bright? It should be night by now. Then I realised I must have been unconscious overnight. The King was standing there in his royal robes and guards and the army surrounding him with horses behind them.
"Chantelle!" cried the King. I realised now he had no love in his voice, just pure relief that he still has an heir to the throne.
"Father," said Chantelle, her face not giving anything away.
"Well done, wizards!" the King said, "You shall be rewarded for this!"
"Actually, we're not," said Erza suddenly, looking the King straight in the eye, "Our guild doesn't accept rewards from requests made for the wrong reasons."
"Nani?" said the King, "You saved the princess of our town! That's surely the right reason," he chuckled nervously.
"Do you know what Fallen Dark is, sir? Do you?" asked Gray.
"Of course! They're kidnappers!" said the King.
"Fallen Dark, sir?" said one guard, surprised, "You never said the people who took her were Fallen Dark. They're a well-known guild for saving all unloved and upset wealthy people."
"They're kidnapping the wrong person!" said the King, "My Chantelle is the most loved girl in the world!"
"When, sir?" I asked, "When have you ever told Chantelle you loved her and let her know she 'is the most loved girl in the world'?"
"I…" said the King, "You remember, Chantelle!" he cried.
"No father, I don't remember any time you ever told me you loved me," said Chantelle, "You've never liked any of my friends or asked about my day. I can't even remember the last time you've even talked to me about something other than business or how wealthy our family is. If there was even a time," she added.
The King was silent, glaring at the ground.
"Just admit it," said Natsu, "You've never seen your daughter as anything but an heir to give the fortune to, to keep your reputation alive. Have you ever considered she might want more than that? That she might want to explore the world or even have friends she can share everything with? But you won't let her have any of that for your sake."
"Think about it!" said Happy to the guards and army, "When was one time when you saw any sign of love from the King for his daughter?"
Murmurs from the army went up: "When I think about it, the staff have done everything for Princess Chantelle", "the King never had told his daughter he loves her", "maybe the wizards are right. Maybe Fallen Dark really was trying to help the princess".
"So what if I want to keep my reputation alive?" shouted the King suddenly, shocking us all, "Who keeps your darn town alive, huh? Us, that's who! We have to keep our fortune intact so Crescent Lunar can live!"
"Do you think it might've been so hard to also show your daughter some love while you were helping to fund the town?" I shouted at him, "I'm not saying Crescent Lunar should die, because it shouldn't but would it have been so hard to say 'I love you' to your daughter now and then or give her a hug or something?"
"Fallen Dark is supposed to help ALL unhappy and unloved wealthy people, huh?" said the King, changing the topic. He pointed at me, "Lucy Heartfilia! When have Fallen Dark helped you since your father mistreated you sometimes?"
"They have helped me!" I said, "Or they tried to! Either way, they have tried to help me!"
"But do you remember?" asked the King, "Do you remember this happening?"
"No…" I said, "But—"
"How do you know they weren't lying, Lucy?" asked the King, "Maybe they are sadistic killers that lied to disguise themselves?"
"But they told me," I said, "They used magic that makes me forget is all."
"Have you seen them use forgetting magic?" asked the King, "How do you know that's not a lie, as well?"
"OK, sir, way out of line—" began Gray.
"No," said the King, "Now that Lucy knows my reasons as well as yours, she can make the decision. I ask you, Lucy, what is worse? Living a safe life with money and people who love you, or living with possible sadistic killers who are also liars?"
"Lucy—" said Erza.
"No, it's OK," I said, "On previous missions, I've always relied on someone. But now, I've made my own decision and can stand up myself without you guys helping me. I'm improving to be a better mage," I smiled.
Erza's face slowly turned up to a smile, "OK," she said.
This must be the decision Mother was talking about, I thought, I helped my team and now they need my help. I'm the only one able to make this decision because Fallen Dark may or may not have helped me and might not be who they say they are…
"Well, then, Lucy," said the King, "Who do you believe?"
I sighed, taking many deep breaths. I was sort of nervous but I was certain I was making the right decision. I noticed Fallen Dark walking out and waiting for my decision.
"I believe Fallen Dark," I said firmly.
The King stopped looking so pleased, "Nani?"
"When they told me their story and their motives," I said, "You can see the love in their eyes that they had for me and Chantelle and probably every upset and mistreated wealthy person they ever helped. When I look at your eyes when you're talking about Chantelle, I don't see any of that love. That's what I think."
"Fine," said the King, glaring daggers, "I don't love my daughter! But I don't care about that! The only important thing is our family ruling Crescent Lunar and our money! Men, attack!"
Nobody moved, except Fallen Dark, who walked up to take places beside Fairy Tail. We all looked seriously at the whole army and King standing opposite us.
The King looked around, "Men? Attack!"
"Go, Chantelle," said Happy to Chantelle, nodding forwards.
Chantelle stepped forward and looked at her father, "I'm sorry, father. But I think I can help this island better. I would like for you to hand over the kingdom to me."
The King scoffed, "Ridiculous!"
"Father," said Chantelle seriously, but calmed down, "All right. We'll do this democratically." She looked at the guards and army, "I want you to stand by the one you want to run this island."
The guards and army murmured and moved around.
Come on, do the right thing, please, I thought, closing my eyes.
When the troops had made their decision, I dared to open my eyes again. I let out a sigh of relief and saw all the people had gathered near Chantelle.
"Impossible," said the King, falling down to his knees.
Chantelle stepped forward, until she was in front of the former King, "I do understand that it is not a crime to not actually love your daughter but I am upset about the fact that you don't care about our island's population just like ruling them and having money. However, it is still not an official crime. For now, I would like you to still live in the castle; however, you are to do as much as you can for our island and learn the value of hard work. You are also to make an apology speech to our population."
"Nani?" cried the King, "You must not be serious—"
Chantelle looked at him seriously, "Dad."
"All right," said the King, "I'll do it." He smiled, "You're so much like your mother."
Chantelle smiled and knelt down to hug him, "Thank you Dad."
"I love you," said the King.
"I love you too," said Chantelle, sounding as if she were crying, "Let's go home."
They went in the horse carriage, waving goodbye at us and Fallen Dark. Their troops marched after them.
"Bye!" Natsu shouted while the rest of us waved like normal people.
"Bye!" shouted Happy, flying around.
As soon as they were gone, Happy flew straight into me, "Lucy, you did it!"
"Not really, it was Chantelle," I said.
"Good job," said Natsu, putting an arm around me.
"Well done," said Erza, smiling, "You've just improved as an independent mage."
"Lucy," said Gray. I looked over at him, "You did well."
"Thank you," I said, smiling.
The Fallen Dark members came over and started congratulating me. I said each time it was a team effort.
"Hey," I said, "You guys should come visit Fairy Tail! There are great people and it's my dream guild."
"We would, Lucy, but we have lots of other wealthy people to help," said Ladin, "We have to stay put right here."
"OK," I said, hugging them one by one and stopping at Infra, "I'll remember you this time, nii-chan." Before hugging her tightly.
"Thank you, Lucy," said Infra, sounding as if she were crying too.
"We have to go," said Erza, "Bye!"
We all waved goodbye and departed back in the direction of town. I'll visit them when I could but I'll always miss them.