A/N: Thanks for the reviews, loves, and follows! It always makes me happy to see people enjoying the story. Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe and healthy! I'll update again soon!

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 21

Hades walked around the charred remains of the castle that was once part of the Celestial Kingdom. A sick grin played upon his lips as he listened to Ultear's latest report. It seems the princess has decided to make up a permanent residence in the Dragon Kingdom, she was even going to tie her life and her kingdom to one of them.

Not if he could help it.

The Celestial Kingdom would be his, and to make that happen he needed the princess. Stroking his beard as he walked, he contemplated his plan. His team consisted of 11 members that specialized in lost magic. They called themselves Grimoire Heart.

His second in command was Bluenote Stinger, not only was this man strong but he was also a very powerful mage. Bluenote had control over gravity. Being able to freely increase or decrease the amount of gravity around him gave him a very significant advantage. Tie that into his brute strength and he was practically impossible to defeat.

Next was Ultear Malkovich, she used a type of lost magic called Arc of Time. This kind of magic allows her to manipulate the time of objects by either moving them forward or backwards in time.

With Ultear, comes Meredy. Meredy used what was called Maguilty Sense. This was another type of lost magic that had the ability to make two or more people's senses turn into one. Most of the time she used sensory links to connect two people and inflict pain on one person so the other one would feel it.

Stoic and emotionless, Azuma made a perfect addition to Hades team. Azuma used great tree magic. This is another form of lost magic which allows him to manipulate and produce trees as well as creating explosions by condensing the pwer of the earth inside the fruits of the trees. He can also merge himself with the trees which is perfect for ambushing unsuspecting victims.

Rustyrose or as he liked to call himself, King of the Underworld, was a poetic man. His words were always full of poetic justice and fancy words. Rusty was skilled in embodiment magic. This magic allows him to materialize anything from his imagination to be used at his whim. He is also able to create replicas of fellow team members who are capable of using their own magic.

A flame god slayer, Zancrow is the psychotic one on Hades team. His evil and sadistic nature pairs well with his element of being able to create fire, but not just any kind of fire. Black flames.

Not muching going for him in the looks department or in the brain department is Kain. He is usually seen carrying around a creepy looking doll. Don't let that doll fool you, Kain uses a lose magic called Ushi no Koku Mairi. This magic allows him to place the hair of himself or another person onto the doll, whom he calls Mr. Cursi. Whatever way the doll is manipulated, the victim will be manipulated in the same way. He can also change the element of his doll like turning into iron to give himself those same properties.

Yamazu, the humanoid goat, uses an orient version of solid script. Instead of writing the words into the air, Yamazu uses his katana.

Kawazu is the weakest of the 11. He is a humanoid version of a chicken and uses egg magic. Kawazu much like a chicken is capable of spitting large amounts of magic eggs from his beak which will rain down on his opponents and damage them in different ways.

Finally, his newest favorite member. Capricorn, or should he say Zoldeo. Zoldeo uses a form of lost magic called human subordination magic. This allows him to cast significant influence over humans making it possible to turn them into subordinates of the user. In this case, Grimoire Heart happened to come across Capricorn making his way to the Dragon Kingdom. Zoldeo happily took over his body using his subordination magic.

Hades had a masterfully evil plan in the works and he couldn't wait for it to come to completion.

"Gentlemen, ladies, let's go get ourselves a princess." He grinned wickedly.

Meanwhile in the Dragon Kingdom, everyone was thrilled about the news of Natsu and Lucy's engagement. But in the middle of all that great news, there was the hustle and bustle of getting ready to leave.

Natsu walked to Lucy's room and knocked, "Luce! Are you ready it's time to go! Everyone is waiting."

"I'm coming!" She yelled, she huffed at his impatience. Opening the door to her suite and walking out she glared at Natsu.

"What's that look for? It's not my fault you need that much primping! We're just going to be in a carriage all day."

"Hmph." Lucy harrumphed as she walked past him.

"Luce?"

Lucy lifted her head and walked away not acknowledging him.

"Lucy?" He chased after the woman who ignored him who had quickly made it down the stairs and was heading out the door. Booking it to catch up, he ran past her to open the carriage door for her and to escort her in. She took her seat and he got in and sat next to her.

"Lucy, what I was trying to say was that I think you're beautiful without all that stuff on your face and the jewels. The only jewel you wear that matters to me is the one on your hand. I love you, now please forgive me before we start moving because you know how I am when it comes to any kind of transportation."

"Fine! You are such an insufferable child sometimes."

Natsu smiled a cheeky grin and then leaned forward to give her a quick kiss on her nose. She gave him a small smile, she could never stay made at him for very long. And then to her surprise he pulled her face to his and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips. He knew she didn't like the public displays of affection or even kissing in public. But to him it was worth seeing her face turn pink and her eyes cloud with some desire.

The carriage took off and he immediately groaned. Lucy let him unceremoniously flop over and lay his head in her lap. She quietly hummed a soft song as she ran her fingers through his hair. In the carriage ahead was Igneel and Makarov. They were all heading to the Saber Kingdom to attend the wedding of Natsu's cousin Rogue and his fiancé Minerva. They would also get to meet Sting and Yukino's bundle of joy, who made his arrival a week ago.

They left Levy, Juvia, Gajeel and Gray to their own devices, with the strict supervision of Aquarius and Grandine. Laxus rode in front of the carriages, bearing his Dragon Knight uniform a dark red cape fluttered in the wind and Loke followed behind Natsu and Lucy's carriage bearing his newly made armor with the Celestial Kingdom's crest, a dark blue cape flowing behind him.

The first few hours of the journey were uneventful, Natsu was never much of a big talker on trips because of his motion sickness, so Lucy made sure to bring a few books along to keep her occupied. Once Natsu fell asleep, she pulled her latest book out, a history of the Dragon Kingdom. It was a very interesting read, it turns out that Natsu came from a long line of dragon slayers. Apparently for the most part, the dragon side of a slayer lay dormant until someone they deeply cared for was in imminent danger. It made sense, he had a fanged tooth smile and she found that odd when she first met him when they were children but she figured that was just something in his genetic makeup that made him that way and she would have to deal with it. She wondered if Natsu or Igneel knew about their dragon heritage. They never talked about it, but surely they know something considering that their kingdom was named after it. She also wondered what kind of dragon Natsu would be…based on his attitude and personality she guessed fire. She smiled as she imagined Natsu as part dragon, it was kind of funny to think about. She could imagine him with horns curling out of his head and a dragon tail.

A sudden lurch to the carriage made her drop her book.

"OUCH!"

Lucy gasped as she went to pick the book up off of Natsu's face. "I'm so sorry! We stopped suddenly and I lost my grip!"

"Geeze, could you next time maybe read a thinner book then? That thing almost gave me a concussion!" Natsu sat up rubbing his head. "Why did we stop?"

"I'm not sure," Lucy tried to look out her window but couldn't make anything out.

"Stay here, I'll go check it out." Natsu offered, more for the reasoning to stretch his legs and get some fresh air before he had to get back in that hellish vehicle.

Walking out, he saw Loke had gotten off his horse and was making his way to the front of the carriage line and he followed. At the front of the road, they found the Celestial Kingdom's advisor, Capricorn. He looked worn and weary, like he had been on foot for long time. His clothing was tattered, covered in dirt and grime and caked mud.

"Capricorn!" Loke said, relief in his voice.

"Loke! I'm so glad I found you!" Capricorn cried in happiness, he limped forward towards his friend, grasping the knights hands.

Natsu from the back watched Loke stiffen. Something wasn't right. Natsu felt a shiver go down his back, about to make brisk walk back to the carriage to get to Lucy and protect her, tree limbs and vines had knotted together making a wall between Lucy's carriage and the larger group. "What the hell?" Natsu pulled his sword and went to hack at the vines but he felt something tug at his feet, looking down he saw a vine and suddenly he felt a whoosh of air as he was yanked upside down. His breath knocked out of him, the surprise making him drop his sword.

"Ambush!" Natsu yelled hoarsely, "Ambush! Get to the princess!" He yelled, his voice coming out louder. The vines wrapping around his hands keeping him from getting to his sword. Natsu felt helpless as he was encased in a cocoon of vines, tree limbs, and leaves.

Loke turned around, something didn't feel right, when Capricorn took his hands there was something off about him. Hearing Natsu's cry he went to look only to feel someone hit him across the head and his vision went black.

Laxus went to jump off his horse but suddenly felt a heavy weight holding him down onto the ground. The pressure was so great, it took all his strength not to fall face first into the dirt.

A tall and muscular man with long dark hair walked up to Laxus and smirked. "And they told me the Dragon Kingdom's head knight was strong."

Laxus' eye twitched, "Tch, that's funny coming from a guy using magic to subdue his foe."

The man sneered and Laxus suddenly felt the heavy weight come off him. "I have no problems kicking your ass Blondie." He sneered.

"Come on then, pretty boy." Laxus rebuttled. The man, Bluenote Stinger, threw the first punch. Laxus ducked in time and threw a punch of his own. Bluenote evaded, catching Laxus' fist in his own hand and twisting Laxus' backwards. "That all you got," Laxus grunted, his teeth clenched. "My girlfriend chokes better than you."

The comment did what he wanted, Bluenote shocked by the rebuttle loosened his grip giving Laxus the chance to take the man's arm and yank it hard, causing the man to fly over him and to fall flat on the ground. Laxus' went to put a boot on the man's neck only to feel himself flying upward, getting punched in the gut by a tree root. Only then to be slammed down by the heavy pressure. Laxus fell flat on his face, his body pushing in to the ground. The pressure increased, and the blond knight sank deeper. The pressure was becoming so great, Laxus was having a hard time breathing. He was practically suffocating. His vision was going black and the last thing he saw before going into darkness was the dark haired man's boot kicking him in the face.

Igneel hearing a lot of struggle, opened the door to the carriage, his sword in his hand. With Makarov behind him, he knew they wouldn't go down without a fight. Bluenote seeing the two new foes smiled wickedly, doing the same thing he had done to Laxus, he used his gravity magic. Igneel and Makarov fell to their knees.

With a wicked glare, he increased the pressure bringing both Igneel and Makarov to the same demise as Laxus. All Makarov saw as he blacked out was dark boots walking away.

While all this was going on, Lucy heard the commotion outside the carriage, she knew she couldn't just do what Natsu told her to and stay inside. Peering out the window, she saw a wall of vines separate her from the knights and other royalty. If she was correct, they were taking everyone out before they got to her.

If she had any chance of getting out here, the time was now. She slipped off her slippers so the sound of her heels wouldn't alert them of her escape attempt. Opening the carriage door, she stuck her head out listening for the sound of anyone nearby. All she could hear were the sounds of grunts and punches. And then a "My girlfriend chokes better than you." Which made her snort, typical Laxus.

Picking up her skirts, she looked around. If she headed west through the wood, she could make it back to the Dragon Kingdom to get help. Starting in that general direction, she had just put her foot into the grassy soil of the woods when she felt a yank on her hair.

With a surprised yelp, she turned around and was met with very pale almost white skin and…a belly button. Curbing the sudden nausea, Lucy felt the grip on her hair loosen, she took the moment to try to make a run for it only for someone to grab the back of her neck. She tried so hard to scream for help but no noise would come out. She kicked her legs with all her might, trying so hard to get some oxygen and to get the hell away from here.

"Where do you think you're going lady?" The man lifted Lucy so she could see his face.

The man was huge, overweight but somewhat muscular. He wore a dark robe over his shirtless chest, the only clothing shirt wise were two belts criss-crossed across his chest. Lucy afraid to look down, with fear of what she might see but did it anyway found him in a pair of black-looking underwear. He had shaggy, dark hair and sideburns to accentuate his huge head. But oddly enough, he had a small face with very large black caterpillar eyebrows and thick lips.

"Let…me…go…you…disgusting…oaf." She gasped out, kicking her legs out trying to land a blow on the man.

"That's not very nice!" He yelled, squeezing her throat tighter. Lucy's vision began to darken, spots were swimming in her eyes. She needed oxygen so badly.

Weakly, she gasped before passing out, "Natsu…"

The large man laughed, "Puny girl!" and threw the princess over his shoulder, her star locket bounced at the movement, the chain snapping making the necklace fall into the dirt below.

"Kain, come on! It's time to get back, did ya get her?" Bluenote yelled. Capricorn and Azuma stood next to him, his arms folded across his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, I got her!" The large man caught up with the other three men as they made their trek back to the Celestial Kingdom.