Inspired by this drawing: post/181811634297/dragon-dance-artist-diabl0o

Belladonna

Her golden blonde tresses stood out on that stage as it swayed along with her hips to the rhythms of the melody. And those hips could kill. Hell, her whole body was sin incarnate and the devil himself would be burned by these flames! Sculpted hourglass curving into the most toned, lithe, beautiful stems he'd ever seen. Not to mention the supple bosoms just begging to be molded by his hands. True this woman was stunning, but all these delectable features were not what sealed her fate.

So, Natsu stalked, all back of the house from a shadowed booth, every Friday and Saturday evening when she danced. Watching, observing, waiting for the right opportunity. He didn't know if she suspected anything, if she knew she was a mouse in a cat's game. Well it didn't matter cause when this cat wanted something… he always got his prey.

Oh, but she knew alright.

It's been 2 months straight, every night she danced, same guy, same booth, same time. He often sat back, keeping the lights of the bar and stage from revealing his face but she'd seen it. All it took was realizing his routine and making sure to peek out from the back as he came in. Besides, she was the biggest attraction this nightclub had. A blonde-haired doe eyed belly dancer in a Moroccan themed club. Not only did she stand out amongst the darker tones, but she was good at what she did. Damn good at what she did.

Of course, she'd noticed. He wasn't the first to try his hand at winning hers. So many come and gone, but none that had caught her attention. Until now. There was something about this guy that intrigued her. You see by now, most guys would have tried to talk to her, catch her outside, or as she left the stage but not him. Lucy realized after the first month that he was different from all the rest and frankly it was driving her a little crazy because she couldn't figure him out! He had the patience of a predator.

Her routine almost half way through, Lucy loses herself in the cadence of undulating beats and measured patterns. She forgets the prying eyes of the audience watching her every step while managing the smirk upon her face to keep them enthralled. With every jut of her hip or rolling of her abs, swirls or head twirls, Lucy was spot on every pulse. And there it was finally, the one part that had drawn Natsu to her in the first place.

As she changed direction facing away from the audience, she lifts her hair and begins to roll her hips with each drum beat to show off a signature move. Adorned in ink, a dragon scaled her back from shoulder to waist and when she moved it almost seemed to come alive. Natsu leans forward in his seat. The image was already burned into his memory, but he couldn't help it. His one weakness was an affinity for these beasts of lore. Why did this woman have such a tattoo? Did it have a meaning for her? His lips twitch into a smirk, a pearly fang peeking through. Regardless of why, one way or another, Natsu was going to find out.

It's resemblance to an ancient lore had so many meanings. Did this woman simply see it somewhere and liked it, or was this mark a sign of a coven? Tattoos of old depictions were so common in this modern era that one couldn't just assume anymore. He was sure she wasn't a part of any northern coven, but there was a sneaking suspicion of what her true identity was. Not Ciana her stage name, no her resemblance was almost too uncanny from a long-ago time…

A chill rushed down her spine, almost… almost stopping her routine. As she twirls to face the audience once more the man is gone. That's odd, her dance was not yet over. Lucy struggles through the rest of the performance while the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge and the moment it's over, dashes from the stage to the sanctum of her dressing room. Surely there she'll be safe. No more prying eyes or people staring. She could hide away, change, and get the hell out of that club.

Lucy nods to the security that guards the backstage area before closing her dressing room door. She closes her eyes and leans against it, letting out a long exhale. This had been a weird night for sure. A rush of air catches her off guard, but before she can make a sound, she's pinned by the neck with a hand covering her mouth. The pink-haired man now hovering over her.

"Shh…" his lips so close Lucy can feel the warm air wafting over her neck. "Don't scream, I'm not here to hurt you. But I can, and I'd be long gone before security could get to you." Releasing her mouth and moving his hand from her neck to her shoulder, he tips her chin higher to look in her eyes, searching for confirmation of her cooperation. "Do you know why you have this tattoo on your back?"

Her tattoo? Of all the reasons to break in to her dressing room, pin her against the door if not to hurt her…. "I-It's just something my dad had put on me when I was younger."

"You must belong to something or someone." He turns her around, pulling her hair up so he can inspect the design closer. A nail traces the lines, "this is the crest of the Crocus coven…."

"What, like witches or somethings," Lucy shakes her head, "that's absurd, my father was a business man who…"

"Sold you to a vampire Ms. Heartfillia."

"Wait, how do you know my name, mister?"

"Dragneel. Natsu Dragneel and yes, now I realize who you really are, daughter of Jude and Layla, for I was the one you were set to wed when you reached your majority."

"I-I…" Lucy takes a deep inhale willing herself to calm down. Was this really happening, she wanted to pinch herself to wake up. Tears pooled in her eyes and she closes them in an effort to still their advancement. All those years ago, was it a decade by now or maybe it just felt like it? Jude Heartfillia had forced a then 16-year-old Lucy to endure that tattoo being placed on her body. She hated him so much and the dragon marring her skin. It took a long time for her to come to terms with the ink, but not with what her father had done to her.

It was only in that memory did the words Jude had spoken rushed back. Something she had locked away as both absurd at the time, and just another reason to run away as she had done the moment, she had turned 18.

A startled gasp, soft and barely audible wisps from her lips. This man was telling her the truth. Lucy opens her eyes slowly, still clouded with moisture and staring at anywhere but the man's face, "I remember. I-I remember him talking about an arrangement. He didn't," exhale, "he never gave me details, just that at 18 I was to be sent away and this tattoo would allow me passage..." her shoulders slump, "I—I, don't remember the rest."

Her voice lowers, "Four years of freedom. Years of classical dance, ballet… the one thing I was good at it… I honed into what you saw." Through a broken smile, "left with barely a bag of clothes and some money I had saved. Think I did okay for myself…" the smile falling back into a frown, "but now you've found me, and I assume to collect on whatever arrangement you two had made." With a strained chuckle, "at least you weren't an old man or something, a fairly good-looking guy too, things could be worse." When she finally looks up, the frown on Natsu's face causes her breathing to hitch for a second time that evening. If she was seeing things right, he looked upset, or possibly even…

He takes a step back without fully releasing his hold. "Jude had assured me you would be okay with the matter…. All those years he said you were happy and excited but then when I found out you ran away, I wondered…. I could understand if you were nervous and so I set out to find you, but I had no idea what you looked like and only this tattoo to guide me."

"Why was it so important to find me?"

He wipes a stray tear from her cheek, "I knew your mother before she ever met Jude, when her family had dealings with our coven members." Smiling when that brings one forth on Lucy. "She was a beautiful person inside and out. I warned her not to marry that man, but she thought she could change him for the better…"

Fresh tears trickle down Lucy's cheeks at the thoughts and memories. Her mom was everything to her, and when she had died of cancer when Lucy was still a small child, it threw her life into a downward spiral. Her father took the death hard, and then took it out on her in a way. She was convinced had her mother still been alive, things would have been better.

"… so, when the opportunity came to marry her daughter, I leapt at it. Jude was having financial difficulties and I provided him with enough capital to weather it. In return, the arrangement of marriage was made." Natsu wipes away more tears, "should have known you'd turn out to look just like her."

"H-How old are you really? I mean, if you knew my mom…" so much information flooding her at the same time. She should be upset because her father had sold her off but to find out this man knew her mother…. But if he was telling the truth that really meant the vampire thing wasn't a bluff…. And if so, frankly how does one process that kind of information? "…okay so suppose I'm starting to believe," Lucy shakes her head, "this is all so much to take in I could really use a drink. But not here, I-I need to get out of here. I need to change and get out of this place." She looks up, "I'm surprised no one's come to see why I'm still here."

Natsu blinks at the rambling nature of Lucy's words and actions. "I've been alive about 400 years, give or take. Change and gather your things for you are not coming back here and I'll take you somewhere safer."

"Not… Not coming back?"

"I lost you once." He sighs, "I won't force you to marry me Lucy, but I have no intentions of giving you up either," taking her hand, "stay with me and you will never again go without the finest things this world has to offer."

"T-This can't be real, princes don't just show up to sweep girls off their feet that's only in fairy tales. There must be some price to pay."

"There is but a small one…" his pearly fang glinting in the light…