The Knight and the Beast
Chapter Fourteen: Living Anew
The curse is lifted… "But how?" Erza asked.
"Love works in mysterious ways," Lucy said.
The light on the servants dispersed first. Light particles fell down like snow. In the prince's chamber stood various different people wearing shredded clothing. A pierced man with black hair who wore pants and a shredded shirt stood next to a small blue-haired woman who wore a faded orange dress. Two white-haired women (one taller than the other) in ripped maid outfits were in a tight hug with a large white-haired man in a pair of dark pants. A younger girl with long blue hair was trying to get a brunette to stop drinking five bottle of the prince's finest wine at once. A man in a messy and faded black suit pushed his cracked glasses back. A light blue-haired woman blushed as she clung to a stark naked man who tried to pry her off.
"EVERYONE!" Lucy yelled.
"LUCY!"
"Lu-chan!" the small blue-haired woman yelled as she ran up to Lucy with the other girls.
"Lucy!"
"Get some clothes Gray!"
"AH! Clothes! Gotta find clothes!"
"Gray-sama!"
"Geehee!"
"Shut up Metal Head!"
"All the ladies are looking amazing after ten years."
"Get away from Wendy Loke, you perv!"
"Juvia only belongs to Gray-sama!"
"No you don't! Who told you that?!"
"WAHH!"
"Ah…It was Mira-chan…Was it?"
"Making a woman cry isn't manly!"
"Shut up you brute!"
"Quiet! You're making my booze taste funny."
Erza stood up and looked to the reunited family. She smiled as happy tears fell from her eyes. This is Fairy Tail, huh?
The light around Jellal dispersed into the light particles, leaving a tall, blue-haired man in a pair of pants. The blood disappeared and so did the wound on his chest. His eyes opened and he rubbed them while standing up on his feet. He turned around to the group. Erza's breathing hitched. Lucy and the others gasped. The man smiled. Erza's eyes stared to the man's brown ones. They walked closer to each other until Erza could reach his face with her hand. She touched his right cheek, lifting some of his hair out of the way. The red mark was there. Erza laughed and smiled. She threw her arms around his torso and held him tight.
"Jellal…You're alright…"
He nodded; "Thanks to you Erza." He pulled away and lifted her chin up. "I love you Erza."
"I love you too Jellal."
They closed the distance between each other as the others cheered from behind. A roar erupted from the roof, causing the two to pull away and the others to quiet down.
"Natsu," Jellal said.
Lucy ran from the group to the balcony railing. "Natsu!"
The light around Natsu had already dispersed into the air. There was a man wearing a pair of pants and a white scarf wrapped around his neck looking to the reflection of the moon on the lake. His pink hair spiky as ever. The blonde smiled.
"NATSU!"
The man perked up and looked down to where Lucy and the other were. The man grinned.
"LUCY!"
He took step and slipped on a loose shingle. He tumbled over off the roof.
"NATSU!" Lucy yelled. She grabbed his hand as soon as he was close enough to the balcony railing. "You-uff-dumbass!"
"Heh, heh."
Behind them, Gajeel and Gray were laughing their asses off. Levy and Juvia glared at them.
"What? He fell off the roof!" Gray yelled as he continued to laugh. "Oh! My sides hurt!"
"Geehee. Not used to being a human, eh Salamander?" Gajeel mocked.
"Ha, ha, ha. Shut up!" Natsu yelled.
"Gajeel!"
"Gray-sama!"
"What?!" the two yelled.
"Help me get him up!" Lucy yelled. "Or else I'll find a way to make you both into cat food!"
The two looked to each other before catching Jellal's eyes. He nodded and went over to help Lucy.
"We'll take it from here Lucy," Jellal said. |He grabbed Natsu's wrist and Lucy let go.
The blonde stood next to the redhead as Gajeel and Gray went over to help Jellal. The three of them pulled Natsu over and onto the balcony. His grin never left his face until he came eye-to-ass.
"PUT ON SOME CLOTHES STRIPPER!" Natsu yelled.
"Shut up Flame Brain!" Gray yelled.
"Exhibitionist!"
"Ash Head!"
"PEVERT!"
"DRAGON BREATH!"
Erza noticed that Natsu and Gray's bickering were causing Lucy to be ignored. After being changed back into a human, Natsu was ignoring Lucy for a tedious fight with a stripper. That didn't sit well with Erza, not after everything that the blonde had done for her.
"NATSU! GRAY! STOP FIGHTING!" she yelled.
"Aye!" Natsu and Gray said, saluting to the redhead.
Erza smiled to herself. "Good." I could get used to bossing these two around. "Now…" Erza pushed Lucy towards Natsu.
Natsu smiled; not grinned, smiled. He walked over to her and stood at least a foot taller over her. He lifted his hand to run his fingers through her blonde locks. He laid his hand on top on her head and pressed his forehead against hers gently, breathing in her scent
Lucy placed her hand on his toned chest. Feeling his warm soft, remembering hi warmth, brought tears to her eyes. She stroked his cheek with her thumb.
"Welcome back Natsu," she whispered.
He pulled away to look deep into Lucy's brown eyes with his onyx eyes. "I'll never left Lucy."
He pulled her closer to him and held her neck with one hand and wrapped the other around hr waist. He grinned before closing the distance.
"I've been waiting years for this."
"For What Nat-mph!"
Natsu placed his lips on Lucy's before she could finish her question. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her. They smirked against each other's lips. Natsu lifted her up and spun her around, breaking the kiss and laughing. Lucy tightened her arms around him and laughed with everyone else.
Jellal smiled at the others circling Natsu and Lucy as he walked back to Erza. He interlocked his fingers with hers. Jellal smiled warmly as he felt her squeeze his hand. Erza rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her head.
"Hey Erza!" Erza looked up to see Lucy running over to her with Natsu's hand holding the blonde's tightly.
"Yes Lucy?"
"Will you stay?" Lucy asked with small smile.
Erza blinked her brown eyes. "Huh?"
"Will you stay with us?" Lucy asked again.
Erza looked around the new faces. They had hopeful looks in their eyes. These people that she just met weeks ago, wanted her to stay. They needed her to, like she needed to stay with them. She looked to Jellal who was smiling down at her. He tightened his grip on her hand and nodded.
Erza smiled back and looked to Lucy. "Do you even need to ask?"
{Line Skip}
Months after the invasion fiasco, everything went fairly back to normal. Fairy Tail regained its status of being the most beautiful castle in Fiore. With that people decided to live in the village across the lake to be closer to the beautiful landmark. Everyone in Fairy Tail had managed to go back to their usual schedules and were hard at work for those months for Jellal's coronation.
Mira and Lisanna would wake everyone up for breakfast and would go around Fairy Tail cleaning it up and ridding the demon statues all over the place. Elfman would continuously talk about being a man as he cooked his famous cheese and mushroom omelettes for everyone. Juvia and Evergreen had to clean up the castle gardens from weapons together and fix up the flower beds and fountains. Gray went back to fixing up the original statues of the castle and adding some more, with Juvia watching close by as always and stripping at random times. Levy went back to organizing the already plenty organized library and reading on her breaks. Wendy and Romeo didn't do much around the castle, being teens. Reedus went to painting new pictures for the castle halls. Loke continued to flirt with the girls, which eventually lead him to getting beat up by a notorious head of guard when a certain blonde was getting hit on. Cana went back to drowning wine, barrel after barrel. Gajeel went back to his smith shop.
There were changes made during those few months before Jellal was made king. Lucy was made into his head advisor. Natsu was made co-head knight with Erza. He had invited Laxus, Freed, and Bickslow to become knights in his castle after learning that they had also defended the castle with the others. Jellal asked Makarov for forgiveness (which the old man gave) and made him a blacksmith with Gajeel.
And, after months of preparation, today was the day of Jellal's coronation.
{Line Skip}
"And there!" Gray stood back, admiring his work. Before him stood a dragon curled around a beautiful girl. "Hey Juvia! Whatcha think?"
"Eh?!" The light blue-haired girl came out from behind a fountain. She wore a simple light blue dress that had white accents on it. Her blue hair was straightened but wavy at the ends. "Gray-sama knew Juvia was there?"
Gray nervously laughed. "Well, it's not that hard to tell." He looked back to the sculpture he just finished. "Thoughts?"
Juvia looked at the sculpture before them. The dragon had smoke coming out of its nostrils and flames were evident behind him. The girl's dress seemed to flow in the wind and looked to be actually moving along with her hair. Juvia smiled.
"Gray-sama has a wonderful talent! Juvia thinks that it's almost life-like," she said, smiling to Gray.
He smirked back and look to the sculpture. "I was thinking of putting it on one of the fountains you fixed in the garden."
"You'll have to put on some pants Gray like a man!" The two looked behind them to see a large muscular man with white hair and wearing a chef's outfit carrying a couple of pigs. "Ever doesn't want anything ruining her garden."
"Shut up Elfman!" Gray said, walking up to Elfman waving his hammer while wearing only boxers.
"Gray, your clothes." Juvia turned to see two white-haired girls in maid outfits. Only carried a light crate while the other held cleaning appliances.
Gray looked down and saw that he wasn't wearing pants again. "Clothes!"
"Lisanna, Mira, are you helping Elfman with the feast tonight?" Lisanna nodded, Mira shook her head.
"I have to clean up on some of the rooms that nobles will be staying in. Levy has nothing to do so she will be helping me."
"Juvia will help too. Right after she helps Gray-sama put this lovely piece of art in the garden."
The white-haired siblings looked to the dragon statue. Mira smiled softly at it. Lisanna ran her fingers on the stone.
"It's almost like Natsu was still a dragon," the younger sibling said.
"Gray, you're statues are getting more realistic every time," Mira said, walking away to the courtyard. "Best hurry! Guests will be pouring in three hours!"
"Yes!"
In the courtyard, Gajeel and Makarov were working together rebuilding the iron gates in the smith shop.
"You brat!" Makarov yelled, whacking Gajeel over with a hammer.
"Ow! Old Man! What was that for?!" Gajeel yelled, rubbing his head causing his headband to fall. He fixed it and glared at the old man.
"You weren't doing it properly again!" Makarov yelled, biting on his pipe. "Do it again."
"Again?!" Gajeel yelled.
Laughter was heard in the corner of the shop. The large black-haired man glared in the direction of a petite blue-haired girl. Her pixie cut was pulled back in an orange headband that matched her orange dress. Her hazel gleamed playfully to the younger blacksmith.
"Practice makes perfection Gajeel," Levy said, winking.
Gajeel huffed and turned away. "Shut up Shrimp."
"Levy what are you doing here?" the older man asked, puffing on his pipe. "I thought you would be helping out Mira."
"I'm waiting for her to show up Makarov."
"Levy-chan!" Said girl looked outside and saw Mira waiting for her with Lisanna and Juvia.
"I'll see you later. Don't be too hard on Gajeel," Levy said, hopping off the box she was sitting on. "Mira!" She saw Gray heaving a sculpture along the courtyard in the direction of the garden. "Where are your pants Gray?"
"Huh?" He looked down and saw that his pants were gone again. "GAH?! WHERE ARE MY PANTS?!"
"Geehee!" Gajeel said, pocking his head out of the shop. "Better find some before Erza finds them for you."
Gray's face paled. The last time she caught him with no pants Gray had to spend the entire night washing everyone's laundry, on his day off. He shivered at the thought of possibly washing Gajeel and Natsu's disgusting clothes again.
"HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY CLOTHES?!"
"What are you talk-OH GOD!" Romeo yelled. The young teen wore a pair of black boots with his black pants and navy shirt. He covered his eyes from the sight, and tuned away. "YOU'RE INDICENT AGAIN!"
"Romeo? What are you talking about?" Wendy peeped her head from the corner. She blushed when she saw Gray and turned around. "EEEEEPPP!" The blue-haired girl ran away with her simple white dress with blue accents behind her.
"You made Wendy impure!" Lisanna yelled.
"Wha?! I didn't mean to!"
"Oi Gray!" Gajeel called out. The sculptor turned to the blacksmith and saw Gajeel twirling his pants around on his finger. "Looking for these?"
"Give them Metal Head!"
Gajeel started running around the courtyard with Gray's pants as Gray ran after him. The others laughed. Cana eventually had to break it up due to the fact that her booze always tasted funny when they were goofing around. Makarov from the smiths' shop laughed to himself as he held his pipe. He looked up to the balcony of Fairy Tail and smiled to himself before nodding to it.
These youngsters… he thought. Erza, I can see why you wish to stay here. These brats need you and you need them.
"Gajeel! Get back in here! We still have work to do!"
{Line Skip}
From the throne room, a certain knight in silver armour and flowing scarlet hair watched the others in glee. Her smile was small but completely sincere. Behind her, she heard moans of annoyance from a certain king-to-be. She turned around and uncrossed her arms from her chest, walking over to the throne.
Reedus, a slim, tall man with curly reddish-brown hair was painting on a near finished canvas. On the canvas was of a young man with blue hair covered by an elaborate golden crown His brown eyes were looking to the beyond in front of him, filled with ambition. He wore elaborate clothes and a fancy red robe covered it all.
The redhead smiled before looking up to the throne. "You look wonderful in the painting Your Highness."
"Shut up Erza." Erza was looking at a grumpy-looking Jellal. He was slumping, his head on his hand. "Lushie! How much longer?!"
Erza turned to look at the blonde in the corner, talking to Loke and a couple of others. Lucy excused herself, muttering something along the lines of "a baby prince needs me". She walked over to the knight, prince, and painter. Her heels clicked against the tiled floor as her leaf green dress followed her like a light shadow. The silk material wasn't stuck to her like a corset but was still form-fitting. Her blonde hair was down and golden as ever. Her brown eyes were gleaming.
Lucy looked at the painting and smiled. "It's wonderful Reedus."
"Merci."
"You're done Jellal," Lucy said.
"Yes!" The prince threw off the robe and placed the crown on Reedus' head. "Thank you. I'm free!" He started running for the doors.
Lucy sighed and turned to Erza, shaking her head. The redhead smiled menacingly and held out her hand as Jellal ran past her. When his ear came close enough, Erza pinched down and dragged him back to Lucy.
"Owowowowowow! Erza!" Jellal yelled.
"Not quite free yet," Lucy said. She pulled out a small notebook from behind her back and started flipping through the pages quickly. "We need to fit you for your clothes. Then we have to look over all preparations. About that time other dignitaries will be pouring in and we'll have to greet them-"
"But Lushie!" Jellal whined again. "That's so much!"
Erza giggled and she let Jellal's ear go. "Well, if Lucy could do a simple ceremony with a few people, she would've-" There was a loud crashing noise coming from outside, causing everyone to flinch.
"What the hell?!" Jellal said.
Muffled yelling came from the other side of the double doors. A familiar yell rang through the halls as another calmer voice argued with the other. Lucy's face distorted into a raging emotion.
"Nononononononono!" she yelled as she quickly walked to the doors. "NO!" She swung the doors open to see a couple of vases broken, a suit of armour knocked over, a broken window, and a stained carpet runner.
A pink-haired man wearing a navy knight tunic was tackling Gray. A large blonde man in a knight tunic as well as looking on the scene with little interest. Gray managed to stop toppling over and pinned the pink-haired to the ground and pulled his cheeks wide apart. The other pushed his hand against Gray's head.
"Shtawp shtripping in the cashtle!" Natsu said.
"You're not the boss of me!" Gray yelled.
"Pervert!"
"Dragon Breath!"
"Stripper!"
"ASH FOR BRAINS!"
"EXHIBITIONIST!"
"NATSU! GRAY!" Erza yelled. "DO I HEAR FIGHTING AGAIN?!"
They instantly pulled part and had their arms around each other in a friendly way. They were nervously smiling.
"F-fighting?! What fighting Erza?!" Gray said.
"Aye!"
"We were just being friendly friends, right Natsu?!"
"Aye!"
"Tch!" Laxus said.
"You couldn't have pulled them apart Laxus?" Jellal asked with an exhausted look on his face.
The blonde shrugged before pointing to a blonde female collapsed on the floor. "Is she okay?"
Lucy was trembling on her knees. Her mouth was gapping open as she stared to the mess to two just pulled off. Her blonde hair was in a mess as she grabbed at the golden locks. Her brown eyes twitched.
"I think you broke Lucy," Jellal said.
"Lucy?!" Natsu shoved Gray away from him and went to Lucy's side immediately.
Erza grabbed Gray by the skin on his shoulder and glared into his eyes. "Do you realize how important this day is for everyone?"
"Erza! Wait!"
"Do you realize how long Lucy's been working day and night for this day Gray?! And you to just ruin it!"
Jellal placed a hand on her shoulder. "Erza, calm down."
"How could I when Lucy's releasing her rage on Natsu?"
"What are you-Oh."
Everyone was looking at Lucy with her hands wrung around Natsu's scarf-covered neck and shaking him. Natsu's motion sickness kicked in and his cheeks puffed out. Lucy's eyes were red and glowing with rage. "DAMMIT NATSU! I LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR A FEW GODDAMN MINUTES AND YOU'RE ON THE BRINK TO DESTROY THE CASTLE AGAIN!"
"It's-blurr-not my fault-ugh-if Gray keeps stripping in the castle!"
"Grr!" Lucy's hands slipped away from Natsu's neck and fell to her lap. "What am I going to do with you Natsu?"
Natsu's cheeks went back to normal. He crawled over to Lucy and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll clean it up, don't worry about it Luce."
Lucy smiled before placing her head on his shoulder. "Thank you Natsu."
"So when's the wedding?" Gray asked with a smug smile on his face.
Natsu glared to the sculptor as Lucy buried her head into his shoulder. Erza smiled with Jellal before going over to the couple. The redhead held out her hand to her and pulled her up.
"Let's get ready for tonight shall we?"
{Line Skip}
Lucy looked all over the ballroom. The chandeliers were positioned perfectly. The orchestra was playing beautiful songs that had everyone dancing on the floor. Cana managed to serve people drinks rather than getting pissed drunk. Mira and Lisanna were looking out for people. Freed, Bickslow, and Laxus were checking out some of the noblewomen. Juvia and Gray were dressed up and dancing together. Gajeel was having an eating contest with Natsu at the buffet table while Levy was trying to make them stop. Natsu noticed her and waved over to her.
"Pst! Lucy!"
Lucy looked behind her and saw Erza nodding to her. She raised her thumb and turned to the orchestra. The blonde raised her hand to stop their playing. As they finished she walked down the stairs. Natsu went to her side immediately. He grinned to her and looked out to the others.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome King Jellal Fernandes and his bride Queen Erza Scarlet Fernandes."
Everyone looked up to see Jellal and Erza walking down the stairs hand-in-hand. Jellal's blue hair was neat and tidy. His black suit was clean and fitted him perfectly as he tightly held Erza's hand. His brown eyes looked lovingly over to her. Erza's brown eyes were focused on not tripping over her heels as she walked in her white gown. Her hair was down and pulled back by a silver headpiece. Her gown was strapless with ribbons and pearls embroidered on it.
She glanced up to look to the others and saw Lucy smiling at her encouragingly. Erza smiled back and looked up to Jellal. He smiled and held her tightly.
"Having fun My Queen?"
"You can't imagine My King."
They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out to the dance floor. Natsu grinned proudly to Jellal and Lucy smiled warmly to Erza. Erza placed her hand on Jellal's shoulder as he placed his on her waist and held the other tightly in his hand. Lucy nodded to the orchestra who began to play a slow song again.
As the newlyweds danced, Erza looked over to her family. Makarov was smiling with Laxus, Freed, and Bickslow. Mira and Lisanna held each other as Elfman cried "manly" tears while Ever scolded him. Cana was sneaking bottles of win before Lucy caught her. Gray was trying to pry Juvia off him as she looked on them with hearts in her eyes, probably thinking about dancing with Gray. Gajeel was eating still as Levy sighed in defeat and watched. Natsu had his arm around Lucy, holding her close, whispering something in her ear. Lucy in turn had a light blush but a large smile and hugged him tightly, nodding her head into his scarf. Natsu was grinning.
"Is this what you've ever wanted?" she asked Jellal.
He pulled away and placed a kiss on her forehead before looking deep into her eyes. "No. It's even better that I have you here with me Erza." He placed a small kiss on her lips and she kissed back.
Everyone cheered before the continued to dance the night away. Erza laughed as Jellal picked her up and twirled her around the floor.
Together, they would bring this land back into prosperity. As long as Erza was with Jellal and her family, she wouldn't mind not being a knight. All that mattered was that her life was starting anew with them for as long as she lived.
The End