Guess what guys...I'm actually early with an update (for once!), I am still astounded people seem to really enjoy this story, I was reading the reviews and yes, I do realise that Natsu isn't making much sense, hes a walking bundle of contradictions at the moment, it will begin to make sense as the story progresses. It's a little like a Jekyll and Hyde situation, thats all I will say. Anyhoo, please don't forget to leave me a review, favorite and follow, it really makes me smile and makes me much more psyched about my stories, also in response to a PM I recieved from a worried reader of Makarov's Circus, I am not abandoning the story, I just need some time away to think how I want to continue it, if I forced myself to write now I wouldn't be giving it the focus it deserves, so I'm going to take a few months away and get the next chapter written at a slower pace, that way I can make sure I'm fully back in the zone with it. i still love that story, I'm just not feeling it right now, if that makes sense?
Without futher delay, heres chapter 4!
Dragon Souls – Chapter 4 - Ignia and the Dragon Lord Igneel
When Lucy awoke, it took her roughly two seconds to realise that she was not alone in her little canvas tent.
Legs entwined, chests pressed together intimately and arms entangled, she and a softly snoring Prince were lain together in a sprawl of limbs. Apparently she had kicked off her woollen blanket some time during the night, because the heat rolling off of his body was more than enough to cloak her in comfort and warmth.
He smelt of a wooden campfire and an odd mix of spices, which assumed came from the soap he used when bathing in the lake the evening before, it would have been enough to lure her back into the haze of sleep, were the blond not feeling extremely awkward at his closeness.
Lucy scowled and prodded him awake with a finger to his rock hard bicep, almost sorry to disturb the peaceful look on his handsome face, but she demanded an explanation to him intruding in her tent.
During an argument between Natsu and Loke the evening before when the ginger male refused the Prince his leftovers, Lucy had explicitly warned Loke to stay away from her tent during the night, the blond didn't think she would have to extend that warning to include the aloof pinkette.
Many methods of revenge floated through her mind.
Dragging his snoozing ass from the tent and dumping him in the lake?
Maybe that was a little too harsh...
Perhaps she could enlist Gajeel's help and swap Natsu from her tent into Loke's?
Maybe not, the dark haired bodyguard would probably tease her relentlessly about the Prince being in her tent in the first place; they already made fun of them for arguing like an old married couple, which then caused more arguing from them in return.
It was then that she suddenly remembered the black permanent marker in one of the side pockets of her backpack.
Simple but effective in expressing her annoyance, and getting back at him for being a snoozing cuddle monster, twice now, she might add...Lucy set to work on her master plan with an evil and mischievous grin on her face.
Pinkie wouldn't know what hit him!
Breakfast that morning consisted of wild hare that Gajeel had spotted lurking by the edge of camp, silently removing a throwing knife from his leather holster and letting it sail true through the air; a quick and deadly aim ensuring a swift end.
Lucy had been the first to awake, snickering when she took another look at her brilliant handiwork just an hour before, she had been laying awake for a good portion of time before she had detangled herself from the warm cuddle monster and exited the tent.
The fire had gone out several hours ago, from the look of the smouldering embers, wisps of smoke drifting hazily into the air. So, wanting to be useful, she set off into the forest to find more wood for the fire, the early dawn was still chilly so she would appreciate the warmth.
Half an hour had gone by before the glowing embers had caught enough of the sticks she had gathered to begin to feed the flames once again, her brown eyes glanced over at the third tent as a bleary eyed and bushy haired Gajeel emerged from his tent, red eyes landing on a awake Lucy as she smiled and wished him good morning.
"Did you get any sleep?" he asked gruffly, raising a hand to scratch his mess of dark hair, heavy footfalls getting louder as he made his way towards her, sitting on the opposite side of the fire.
"Apart from being attacked by the cuddle monster, I slept okay..." Lucy grumbled.
Gajeel raised a pierced eyebrow at her before he tilted his head back and guffawed loudly.
"He didn't..."
"Yep...I thought warning Loke was enough but apparently not."
"It's a habit...not sure the Prince would want me telling ya, but he's had trouble sleeping since what happened to his Mom. He's been sneaking girls into his room for years, Lord Igneel thinks he's been rubbing off on Loke...but in fact he just finds warmth and comfort in another woman's touch...don't tell him I told ya though or it'd ruin his reputation."
Lucy blinked several times as the weight of Gajeel's words settled within her, she suddenly felt guilty about being so annoyed with him, but that feeling soon vanished when her mind reminded her he was still a butthead.
She was quiet for a moment before she was saved from having to reply as the last two members of their rag tag group emerged from their tents, one to a chorus of good morning, orange spikey hair much more tamed and smoothed than Gajeel's, Loke looked alert and ready to greet the day.
The other one of the group emerged to a stony silence, pink hair a fuzzy mess and half of his outfit wonky, before Gajeel and Loke began to roar in laughter, much to the confusion of a pinkette Prince.
Lucy snorted ungracefully as she was once again met with her handiwork.
With a swirly black moustache, nose hairs and hilariously bushy eyebrows drawn on his face in thick black ink, he looked the picture of an idiot as he raised one of his eyebrows at the tears streaming down his friends faces.
"What the hell has gotten into you two?" Natsu grumbled, rubbing at his face with his hand, fingers coming away with smudges of darkness that had his eyes narrowing on the grinning blond sat to his left.
"You didn't..." Natsu muttered.
"I did." Lucy tittered behind her hand.
Stomping off towards the edge of the lake, the Prince looked at his expression in the water, his mouth dropping open comically in surprise for a moment before he glared at Lucy.
"Looks like the Prince has some competition for pulling pranks." Gajeel grinned at the blond.
Without a word, Natsu suddenly grinned evilly and shot towards Lucy, who had admittedly, been extremely naive in her confidence that the pinkette would not retaliate, she shrieked in protest as she was suddenly picked up, thrown over Natsu's shoulder and walked into the lake.
"D-Don't you dare!" Lucy swatted at his broad back, legs kicking in protest as the Prince waded in to the calm waters to his knees.
"Hope you can swim, Luigi." His light and amused tone distracted her enough to the point that she didn't realise what he was about to do, so when the sensation of being dropped caused her stomach to loop as she then hit the water, Lucy immediately grasped tightly onto his clothes and all but dragged him down with her.
There was a loud splash, Lucy felt the cold seeping in to her clothes, her hiking boots were waterproof thankfully but the rest of her clothing did nothing, her bun came undone under the calm and clear waters, her eyes opening beneath the surface to find a handsome prince using his rough hands to scrub at the ink on his face, while Lucy pulled a long golden strand of hair out of her right eye.
The two of them both surfaced with a gasp of air, Lucy took one look at a grinning Prince and burst into laughter.
"You missed a bit, idiot!" she giggled, pointing to the fake eyebrows still sitting above his amber eyes, one half smudged but still there.
"I wouldn't have missed anything if you hadn't doodled on my face!" Natsu argued back, the glint of amusement in his eyes giving away his false anger.
"You shouldn't have snuck into my tent and tried to cuddle me to death then!" Lucy choked with laughter, not angry in the slightest, she really hadn't laughed like this since her mother was still alive.
The blush and surprise on Natsu's face was extremely endearing but it disappeared within a moment as he stuck out his hand in offering.
"Truce?"
Lucy eyed him warily, thoroughly suspicious of his peace offering.
She reached out a hand warily, clasped her hand in his warm one and they shook amicably.
"Truce." Lucy smiled, her head turning to find the shore of the lake empty of Loke and Gajeel, she turned back to Natsu with an eyebrow raised.
"Where did they go?"
"I told them to go ahead to the village nearby and find something suitable for you to wear, there is still a half days walk to go and you can't do that in wet...clothes." Natsu grasped her wrist and helped tug her from the water, Lucy shivered slightly and the pinkette Prince turned to her with a frown.
"Can't you use your fire magic to dry me?" Lucy asked between unzipping her blue jacket to try and shake the water from them, missing the way her companions eyes widened at her sports bra and legging combo, she had discarded her ruined shirt a while back, her golden hair was much longer than it looked when piled messily on top of her head and now reached her lower back.
Natsu fought hard to subdue his dragon instincts as the pretty blond before him stood in revealing clothing, skin tight and showing off her curves, the leggings she was wearing were familiar enough in this world, but most women wore long tunics or dresses over them; the short black top she had on ended below her ample breasts and left little to his imagination.
He averted his greedy eyes towards the tents and covered his racing heartbeat with a cough.
"My fire would burn you to a crisp in an instant, you will gather unwanted attention dressed like...that." Natsu grumbled.
Lucy wrung out her hair but turned her eyes to him.
"This attire is normal in my world, we wear this stuff to exercise in." Lucy wasn't offended by his words, from the attire she had seen Natsu and his two bodyguards wearing, it was obvious the Dragon Lands had an old world feel to it, obviously not used to such form fitting clothing.
If she was going to be here a while then she certainly didn't want to offend anyone, especially with Natsu's words of warning about Edolas humans not being welcomed here.
"I see, it's strange how our two worlds differ from one another, what about everyday, special occasions?" Natsu sat down by the crackling fire, seemingly interested to know more about Earthland, he had seemed to put hostilities aside for now and was genuinely eager to learn more.
"Where I live everyone had expensive tastes, if you don't wear expensive clothing they look down on you. My cousin once dragged me to a gala and forced me into this hideous bright pink poufy ball gown...I looked like a walking marshmallow!" Lucy giggled, Natsu watched as she finished wringing the water from her golden hair and twisted it into a low bun at the nape of her neck.
"What's a marsh-mellow...sounds like a monster." Natsu asked in bewilderment.
Lucy would have made fun of him for his lack of knowledge but she reminded herself he knew very little about her world once again; she also happened to be much more receptive to this less aggravating version of him and wanted it to remain as long as possible.
"Its a type of sugary sweet, its formed into spongy shapes and has a light and fluffy texture." Lucy explained. "Do you have sweets here?"
Natsu seemed to understand her basic explanation and he grinned.
"Nothing like that, we have sugar but it's very expensive so most people have never tried sweet things, chocolate is a pretty common gift for special occasions." Natsu told her, Lucy listening with rapt attention. "Only once tried the stuff myself, I didn't really care for it as it was really bland."
Lucy thought for a moment, before she got to her feet, crouched into her tent and rummaged around for a moment, before she seemed to find what she was looking for and returned, holding a brightly coloured packet of something in her hand.
"In Edolas, chocolate is used in lots of desserts, cakes, bars, you can even drink it. This is a bar of chocolate with hazelnuts and raisins in." Lucy tore open the packet and broke off a square piece of the brown confection and handed it to Natsu, he sniffed it warily, before popping it in his mouth.
Lucy giggled and she too ate a piece as his eyes went wide and he moaned happily.
Several flavours hit him all at once, chocolate, but with a hint of salt, then the nuttiness and finally the sweet fruitiness of the raisins. The piece melted immediately on his tongue and he was left longing for more of the delicious bar of goodies.
"Man...I thought our food was pretty damn good...people would pay damn good money for that." Natsu grinned, causing Lucy to giggle at the chocolate coating his fanged teeth.
"I'm a sucker for sweets...my favourite is a ring of dough that's fried in oil and –"
"Do you mean oil cakes? We have those here...they are dough rolled into balls and fried in oil, then drizzled in syrup." Natsu grinned, seemingly happy to have found something in common between their two very different worlds.
"Very similar concept...in Edolas a hole is cut into the center to stop the dough from going greasy, they are dusted in sugar, chocolate and all sorts of things...we call them Donuts."
"Do you put nuts in everything?" Natsu grimaced, causing Lucy to chuckle.
"There are no nuts in them, silly."
Natsu looked confused again but decided not to ask any more questions lest his brain want to explode in confusion. The pair settled into a comfortable silence for the next hour or so, the Prince went off to swim in the lake while Lucy tended to the fire, completely lost in her thoughts of Edolas.
She really had no idea how time worked between here and her own world, her body clock didn't feel much different, she seemed to be hungry more often and didn't sleep as much as she normally did, but she thought that was to do with all of their travelling. The thoughts of her cat Happy drifted into her mind, hoping that he was okay and that Michelle was feeding him at least.
"What's eating ya?" came a gruff voice from behind her, Lucy turned to find Gajeel staring down at her with his muscled arms crossed, a bundle of navy blue fabric draped over one arm.
"Does time run differently here compared to Edolas?" Lucy asked quietly, worry gnawing in her gut about her cat being alone and scared, wondering when or if his owner would be coming home.
"Yes, time here moves much faster. While you have been here a few days, back home you have only been gone a few hours." Gajeel explained. "Have someone you're worried about?"
"My cat." Lucy sighed. "He's friendly and follows me everywhere but he's also an explorer and is forever escaping so I think he could survive on his own if he got out, but –"
"He wouldn't happen to be a greyish blue with a patch of white on his chest and tail?" Gajeel asked suddenly, a pierced brow raised in confusion.
What an odd question...
"Y-Yes...how do you know that?" Lucy stammered, completely bewildered and thoroughly perplexed how this man she had met just the day before knew about her beloved kitty.
A look of understanding dawned on the man and he turned to Loke and called him over, leaning towards him and giving him a look. No words were exchanged, but Lucy could somehow tell the two men were speaking to one another, their mouths didn't open once, but Lucy could swear her ears picked up what sounded like whispers on the wind, as though the trees were speaking to her.
Eventually, Gajeel turned back to Lucy and grinned, Loke marched off towards his tent as though looking for something.
"We've been trying to figure out why a friendly little fella has been following us all the way from the volcano and lava fields, we thought he was a stray begging for table scraps so Gingernut and I have been saving him leftovers after mealtimes."
"Oh! So that's why you didn't let me have the rest of the tuna last night?" Natsu popped up out of nowhere from his swim, glorious body wet and glistening from the lake water and Lucy would have yelled at him to put some damn clothing on were she not extremely befuddled as of this exact moment.
"What's his name?"
Startled brown eyes widened when Loke emerged from his tent holding a ball of snoozing blue-grey fur that looked extremely familiar, with the way his ears twitched in his sleep, to the tail curled up by his nose. How on earth in the two worlds had her mischievous cat managed to get into this world and followed them without her even having a clue?
"Happy?" Lucy asked, tears springing to her eyes, a single tear sliding down her left cheek as a single eye opened sleepily at her, a happy purr began to rumble through him and the domestic shorthair meowed happily, obviously glad to see his owner, but not wanting to move from his warm perch in Loke's arms, he simply snuggled further into his warmth.
"You named your cat 'Happy'?" Gajeel asked sarcastically.
Natsu stepped forwards to scratch a now awake cat behind the ear, something the adorable bundle of fur loved, from the head butt he gave the pinkettes hand.
"Says the guy who named his male cat Panther-Lily."
Lucy smiled in glee at the red tint to the cheeks of the black haired bodyguard, but she still had a few more questions for the two men, so she quickly turned her attention to them.
"Where did you find him? Happy was at home when I was transported here, so how did he get here?" Lucy questioned. "I still don't know how I came to be here, let alone how my cat got here!"
Natsu turned to her and placed a hand on his hip, his other resting on his chin.
"Dunno, you're here for a reason...either someone sent you both from your side of the veil or someone from this world brought you over. Until we get to Ignis, try not to worry about it." Natsu spoke, then pointed to the bundle of navy fabric in Gajeel's arms. "The dress is for you by the way, and like I said...my Dad should have some answers on why you're here."
"Thanks." Lucy smiled at Natsu gratefully, surprised when his lips quirked into a smirk and he nodded simply, the first in any form of kindness or affection she had received from the stoic Prince.
Was he starting to warm up to her, finally? She knew they certainly weren't going to be friends anytime soon, from the air of detachment he gave off towards her; but she had the strange feeling that he was holding something back from her on purpose...what that was, she had no idea.
She was brought out of her mental musing when she realised that she was being spoken to.
"-we were hunting for the Prince after he failed to come home after an argument with his Father, Happy had been trying to catch some fish in a nearby brook, Gajeel has a soft spot for cats so we had to stop and say hello, of course! The little guy let us pet him and we caught him a small fish and carried on our way. He seemed to follow us until we shifted into our Dragon-Form and flew back to Ignis. When we got back he showed up again, I'm surprised our Prince didn't spot him following you."
Natsu glared at Loke and growled menacingly.
"I was injured and had her gabbing in my ear every five minutes..." Natsu complained, jabbing a thumb sideways, gesturing towards an offended Lucy.
"Excuse me for being curious and a little uneasy about following a bonehead with the manners of a caveman and no sense of how to behave in polite society." Lucy shot back sarcastically, causing Loke and Gajeel to snort in laughter, causing Natsu to glare at them.
With that, the blond huffed and stomped off towards her tent, head held high as she went, an air of confidence and command that wouldn't look out of place in a royal court; something that seemed to come extremely naturally to her and something which surprised the three men. Natsu found himself impressed at her graceful gait, until the beautiful blond did not notice where she was walking.
The men then watched her go and trip over a rock, her body wobbling, an almighty shriek as she went rolling head over heels into her tent with a crash. There was a moment of silence until a stern voice boomed at them, causing the Dragon Shifters to shudder in terror.
"NOT A DAMN WORD!" came her shrill and muffled voice from the entanglement of her woollen blanket.
Loke scarpered like a skittish cat, holding a snoozing Happy in his arms and a look of blind fright on his handsome face; while Gajeel and Natsu simply stood there, mouths comically gaped open.
Gajeel then chuckled and patted the pinkette roughly on the shoulder.
"She sure is a firecracker...beautiful and terrifying, you'd be a damn fool letting that one go, Salamander."
Natsu felt his dragon roaring in agreement, demanding he march into her tent and claim her immediately.
As his two best friends went about their business in packing up their simple campsite, Gajeel quietly working on dismantling both his own and Natsu's tent in record time (Loke was having fun chasing Happy as he ran off with a length of string used to secure the tent to the ground), he simply stared absentmindedly as the blond eventually emerged from the small confines of her own shelter, long golden locks now dried and tousled in a lovely way from trying to wrestle herself into her dress in a small space.
The navy dress had a simple Bardot neckline, clinging to her ample chest tastefully, sleeves sitting loosely off her shoulders, fitted tightly to her elbows and then flared out to her wrists, two slits in either sleeve allowed ease of movement, the skirt was a simple A line, secured with a gold braided belt she had tied in a bow around her waist. Gold trim outlined her neckline, bottom of the sleeves and the hem of the dress, it was a simple dress, but she looked absolutely lovely in it.
Lucy blushed as she received whistles from Loke and a smiling Gajeel, her pretty brown eyes flickering over to Natsu; finding his mouth open and his expression one of awe.
Where she found the courage from, to walk up to him, raise a finger to his chin and close his mouth; she had no idea, but she smiled at his expression, holding the sides of the skirt as she twirled before him.
"Do I look okay?" she asked quietly.
Natsu tried desperately to stop the next three words from tumbling out of his mouth, but he seemed to be fighting a loosing battle as his eyes greedily raked over her lithe body, marvelling how such a plain dress could look so incredible on her.
"You look beautiful." His voice was rough and husky as he took a step towards her, looking down at her, lips so close to her own that they could feel their breath mingling; her cheeks pinked as he lifted a hand to tuck a lock of golden hair behind her ear, his amber eyes darting down to her parted lips as a sigh escaped them.
Suddenly the shocked Prince reared back, as though burned, and gave her a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head, pointing towards her tent.
"Hurry up and pack...we have to leave now in order to arrive in Ignis before nightfall."
Lucy was left breathless and confused as to what the hell had just happened, Natsu had scarpered off to help his bodyguards, leaving the blond to her own devices.
Had she done something wrong?
Ignis was a city of contrasts.
The heavily fortified walls surrounding the city were easily forty feet high, looked impossibly smooth and unscaleable, ten or twenty meters thick in some places. Considering it was meant to keep their enemies out, it was easy to see why the city defences were so formidable.
Lucy had looked on in awe as their group had been allowed immediate passage, Natsu announcing his arrival to the heavily armed guards at the gates, thick iron slabs swinging open with a shriek of metal on hinges as thick as a dragons head.
Inside the city walls, however was another story entirely.
Simple wooden and stone homes, shops and taverns lined the cobbled streets, flowers and trees of stunning variety lined acres of green spaces set aside for farming, cattle grazing and parkland. Children playing happily, adults chatting to one another, market traders offering fresh fruits, vegetables and various meats in exchange for fair prices or being traded for other useful wares and services.
Ignis was a small city, compared to the capital in Edolas, barely ten miles across, but it was a wonderful place, full of life and laughter; Lucy could see the work that Lord Igneel had put in to the restoration of the capital of the Fire Lands.
Natsu had been strangely quiet for the last several hours, much to the confusion of his two bodyguards and the pretty blond; but as soon as he passed through the city walls of Ignis?
It was like the pinkette had become a different person entirely.
Random people in the street stopped to call out a friendly 'Hello!' or 'Welcome home, Prince Natsu!' to which the normally stony faced male smiled kindly and thanked everyone who welcomed him, it was though the very heart of the city gave him life, being out here with his people; almost as though he forgot about his duties as a member of the royal household.
It wasn't long before Lucy noticed that she was attracting attention as she walked behind the handsome Prince, caged in behind by Gajeel and Loke. It wasn't a bad attention, from the kind smiles, whispered compliments and welcomes, it seemed to be the very opposite of bad.
Perhaps it was because she was dressed in clothing from this world? Or perhaps they were being kind simply because she was in the presence of the second Prince?
The streets eventually opened out into a gated courtyard, beyond more defensive walls, Lucy gasped as she finally laid her eyes upon the castle.
Like something out of a Fairy-tale, her jaw dropped open at the small, but beautiful dark granite turrets, a grand hall off to the left of the steps leading up to the imposing wooden doors, intricately carved with the same dragon and fire emblem that Natsu wore on his right shoulder. Carved columns lined either side of the grand atrium, as she was lead through the castle entrance, rich tapestries depicting battles passed and scenes of peace hung either side of a grand stone staircase that spiralled the hexagonal chamber. A stout looking man came to greet the party of four, bowing before Natsu and welcoming him home.
"Dragon Lord Igneel requests your and the ladies presence in the Throne Room at once, your Highness."
Natsu nodded and two men opened the set of doors to the left, opening up into a vast and brightly lit chamber the size of a football pitch, floor to ceiling arched windows letting in the red glow from the fiery sky above, casting a pinkish hue upon the lime washed walls, also draped with sumptuous fabrics bearing the Dragneel family crest, the floor was a network of expertly laid flagstones of various taupe's, brown and black, giving the large room some much needed warmth and life.
It was odd how such a vast stone castle could feel so homely, but it did.
Lucy was tapped on the shoulder as she was lead slowly across the room, to a platform with stone steps leading up to it.
Lucy looked across to find Gajeel gazing at her.
"Lord Igneel is pretty chill about informality, but the stiffs known as his head of staff insist newcomers address him as 'My Lord', speak only when spoken to and be polite and courteous at all times...not saying it is necessary but it keeps them quiet."
Lucy nodded and found herself swallowing a lump in her throat.
The Dragon Lord was sat in a golden throne, not as ornate or expensive as she was expecting, but he looked extremely imposing in all of his finely crafted armour and weapons, extremely handsome, it was easy to see where Natsu got his looks. His hair was long and spiked, a deep red and pulled into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, his eyes held a hint of mischief in their matching amber hues, a jagged scar across his right eye and an x shaped scar below it on his right cheek.
Lucy found her eyes widening as Natsu stopped before his father, bowed in respect...
And then grinned, rushing towards the elder male, who jumped out of his throne and wrapped his thick muscled arms around his youngest boy, laughing and raising a gloved hand to ruffle his pink hair.
Lucy gave Gajeel an incredulous look, but he simply grinned at her, this behaviour between father and son completely normal, apparently.
"Good to have you back, my boy!" Igneel boomed in a warm and deep voice, making Lucy feel slightly less terrified of being treated unkindly by the Dragon Lord. "Word of advice...while flying in Dragon-Form is exhilarating...do not fly close to an actively erupting volcano...Lug-nuts and Lion-boy gave me a damn heart attack when they showed up and told me you'd been struck down outside of the lava fields."
Lucy couldn't help the snort of laughter escape from her mouth, the use of nicknames seemed a family trait, she blushed a fierce red as four sets of eyes turned to look at her curiously, she gulped audibly.
Her eyes settled on that of Lord Igneel and she watched as his curious expression morphed from surprised, and then, sadness.
Natsu stepped forwards and gestured a hand towards Lucy.
"This is she."
Igneel simply stood awestruck for several moments before he uttered a single word that brought sadness and a pang of longing to Lucy's heart.
"L-Layla?"
From the pounding happening in her heart, the blond had the very real feeling that her suspicions had been right...her mother had been here before, or at least had known Igneel personally, and she had a million questions whizzing round in her head at once.
"I-'m Lucy, My Lord...Layla was my mother."
The Lord's eyes widened in shock as her shaky words washed over him, he turned with a heavy sigh, before sitting back down in his throne. Igneel leaned to one side, resting his chin on one hand, he gazed contemplatively at the quiet blond.
"I'd made myself ready to refute my son's claim of who you might be, thought the theory impossible. But gazing at you now, the perfect mixture of Jude and Layla...it seems as though the rumours were true." Igneel sighed. "Did your mother ever tell you of your father?"
Lucy shook her head, the name 'Jude' meant nothing to her, but she was eager to find out what sort of a man left his wife alone and pregnant with his child.
"Nothing...I asked of course but she simply smiled sadly and shook her head...it seemed to make her upset, so I stopped asking." Lucy frowned.
Natsu was confused, having met his fathers oldest friend a few times as a young boy, he had seemed a decent man, perhaps stern and cold, but he treated his friends sons with care and respect.
"I thought Jude didn't have any heirs?" Natsu asked, causing Lucy to turn to him.
"Y-You've met him?!"
Igneel held up a hand before Natsu could reply, requesting their silence as he spoke.
"Jude had no...legitimate...heirs." Igneel replied, causing Lucy to gasp.
She was born from an affair?
"You said 'Heir'...what do you mean by that?" Lucy asked, the sinking feeling of just what Igneel was alluding to causing her stomach to loop uncomfortably.
The Dragon Lord steepled his fingers together, gazing over at the confused blond, not unkindly, but eager to see what she would do with the information she was about to receive.
"Jude Heartfilia, is the former Dragon Lord who ruled over the sky lands of the Celestial Plains, the realm is a mystery to most our people, for few have been there. Jude is my oldest friend, when we were almost full grown, around twenty, Jude fell in love with a maid from the royal household, who would bring him his morning coffee and bowl of porridge. They would chat and get to know one another, Jude hated that she was so thin, so he used to request more food and they would sit and eat it together. His father disapproved of their relationship, so they met in secret. When your grandfather retired, there were rumours that Jude had gotten an ultimatum from the him...Layla was to be banished from the Dragon Lands in order for Jude to take his place as Dragon Lord. Feeling he had no choice, he accepted." Igneel explained, feeing sorrowful for the tears streaming down the pretty blonds cheeks.
"Jude didn't know my Mom was pregnant...did he?" Lucy whispered, sorrow eating at her as she wiped away the tears.
Natsu could feel his dragon cooing softly to the beautiful woman, in attempt to try and ease her heartache. He couldn't help the hand he placed on her shoulder in an attempt to show solidarity for her sadness. Lucy appreciated the gesture, giving the Prince a watery smile.
"No...Jude had no idea. He had wanted to take Layla as his Empress, but because of her status as a maid, the Council refused her entry to the Phoenix Tournament. In order to keep the bloodlines of purest nobility, only ladies of the court may enter to win a future Dragon Lord, I met Layla on several occasions and she was more than worthy of becoming his Empress, beautiful, strong willed and kind, no Dragon Lord could hope to have the honour of such a Phoenix to rule beside him." Igneel spoke kindly, smiling at Layla's daughter.
"Is...is he still alive?" Lucy asked, wary to find out she had lost another parent, this one without ever having met.
"Yes...but he is far passed the age of a normal Dragon Lord, his sight is failing him but he has always refused to take another as his Empress. His throne was passed down to the son of the Royal Priest, Jude now sits atop the third pillar of the Council of Elders in the Thunder Plains."
So she was no longer in line for any throne, not that she even knew she would be eligible, being born out of wedlock. The idea of ruling a kingdom in a world she barely knew terrified her, so she was almost glad.
"Would he even want to meet me?" Lucy asked, her eyes drifting over to gaze into Igneel's. "I was technically born in the human realm, was raised there. I know nothing of this world, Natsu told me that humans are hated and even feared in the Dragon Lands..."
"While I agree that the Dragon Gods and their charges are wary of humans, I can't say everyone shall hate you, you seem a kind and smart woman and so understand our past. I can't say for sure how Jude will greet the news of your existence, perhaps I can contact him in private to ascertain his reaction instead of having you just...show up unannounced." Igneel hoped that his old friend would be open to the idea that he had in fact, a long lost daughter...but the years spent alone had not been kind to him, he was a stern man who took no nonsense from anyone...grief was a powerful and cruel thing.
Lucy thought for a moment before she nodded gratefully.
"At this point, I have nothing to loose...I've never known the man. It would be nice if he would like to try and form a relationship with me, but I would understand if he prefer not to." Lucy replied, holding her head high, despite the sorrow and tears lining her eyes at the tale of her parents harrowing story. "I can't imagine news of his love's passing would be an easy thing to hear."
"As I understand, you have more questions for me, but you have had enough to process for tonight, we shall talk again tomorrow morning over a breakfast to welcome you to our small kingdom." Igneel then clapped his hands twice, a door to the left of the throne opened up swiftly and a young woman and a teenager came hurrying out, one with pretty azure blue hair and the other a long purple, both dressed in pretty but simple dresses, one of orange, one of a periwinkle blue, both had aprons on and bowed before their Lord.
"Levy, Wendy, would you please set up a suitable room for Miss Lucy to stay in? She will be with us for a while and we shall make her stay as comfortable as possible, she will be under your care for whoever long she stays."
The two bowed once again, Lucy raised an eyebrow and smiled kindly when the two girls smiled at her in welcome, the bluenette then shot a cheeky wink at Gajeel, who grinned and shot a wink back.
Ok...there was definitely something going on there, Lucy chuckled mentally, eager to get some gossip. The blond then gave Igneel a grateful smile and made to follow after the two girls.
"Thank you for allowing me to stay, My Lord." Lucy curtseyed perfectly, much to Natsu's surprise.
"Oh...so you can be a polite and proper lady when you choose to be, huh?" He teased with his hands on his hips, one eyebrow raised.
"Yep...by the way...you still have a little ink up your nose." Lucy smiled sickeningly sweetly as she was led away by a pair of giggling maids a blue-grey cat trotting off after them happily, his tail twitching in excitement.
"She brought a cat?" Igneel asked, giving the three men a bewildered look.
"No idea how her cat got here, we're as confused as she is...he followed us from the lave fields." Natsu grumbled, rubbing his hand against his nostrils, indeed finding yet more damn ink there...he really had to get her back for that one...
Igneel gave his son with an amused look, quickly noticing the chemistry between the second Prince and the young beauty.
"Dare I ask why you have ink up your nose, my boy?" Igneel quipped.
Natsu glared at his bodyguards as Loke opened his mouth.
"Nothing...Dad...just a little misunderstand-"
"Lucy found him cuddling up to her in the tent last night, so she drew a moustache, nose hairs and bushy eyebrow's on his face while he slept, he then dunked her in a lake, they then had a water fight." Gajeel spoke sardonically, causing Natsu to groan.
"Did they now..." Igneel folded his arms and winked at his son who blushed beetroot under his fathers mischievous gaze. He knew very well what his old man thought the two of them had gotten up to last night, but he wasn't about to blurt out the truth anytime soon...he had a reputation to uphold. Lug-nuts and Gingerbread had only found out when he'd accidentally cuddled up to Loke while drunk one summers eve...an event he never wanted to repeat as long as he lived.
"Yeah, yeah...lap it up." Natsu grumbled.
"You know...Lucy technically has a claim in the royal courts as a Lady –" Igneel waggled his bushy red eyebrows suggestively. "She must be the first female in existence not to find you rude -"
Natsu felt his mind opening and he growled at his father in Dragon-tongue, only the four Dragon-Shifters heard him.
'Don't even THINK about it...'
Well...kudos to those who figured out that Lucy had a connection to the Dragon Lord of the Celestial Realm...though given Lucy's celestial magic in the show, were we really surprised? How do we think Jude will react to learning he has a long lost daughter? Will Igneel know why Lucy and Happy were brought to the Dragon Lands? Happy is there for a reason too! I look forwards to seeing you in the next chapter, it should be ready in a few weeks, so see you then!