Chapter 4: The King's Ball

The grand ballroom could make any pirate's treasure chest look like a child's plastic toys. It was so dazzling in fact, Lucy had to stop herself from having a physical reaction to the sight before her.

Gold touched everywhere the eye could see. The floor was a shimmering gold; the chandeliers were plated in gold; the decorations were dipped gold; everything was gold. Considering this was the royal palace, it was likely to be the actual mineral rather than a cheap imitation.

What was not golden was a shade of ruby, platinum white, or accented with twinkling gems Lucy assumed were diamonds. A deep maroon carpet with gold trimmings blanketed the middle of the room and fed onto a staircase that led up to a platform that connected to a balcony. Elegant notes that would inspire even the most immobile wallflower to take to the floor radiated throughout the ballroom.

Lucy swallowed a growing lump in her throat as she finished surveying the room. Once again, the scenery was too beautiful, and she was too out of place.

Seeing as her last name was in the first half of the alphabet, a significant number of the women from the boudoir were still absent from the room. The vast, sparsely filled space only added to the intimidation she felt.

"Please, mingle." The man tending to the door instructed flatly. Contrasting his tone was an overly cheerful smile that deeply unsettled her. Long haired men generally made Lucy uncomfortable, but there was something off about this man she couldn't quite figure out.

Lucy smiled politely and decided to get away from him immediately.

She elected to try and calm her nerves by taking a trip to the drink table, which was being manned by two servants dressed in black suits. The women milling about mostly ignored her as she sipped on her champagne—though some shot her dirty looks.

Lucy sighed. She just wanted to go home. Or at least be with her two new friends. That would be the next best thing.

Before she knew it, what seemed like hours passed. Lucy had taken up residence in one of the corners of the room. Out of sight, out of mind. Although she kept her eye trained on the door, she never seemed to spot Levy or Juvia. She did, however, spot Karen and Aqua saunter into the room—and she was quick to duck out of sight. To her further chagrin, the stream of ladies flowing into the room had long since halted, yet there was no sign of the king.

"Hors d'oeuvres, madam?" One of the servants asked, holding out a tray with some sort of pastries on it.

"No thank you." Lucy answered awkwardly.

The man nodded before making his way back into the crowd.

Seeing as standing around would get her nowhere, Lucy began to squeeze through the clumps of talkative women in search of her friends.

"Well, well, well," Karen's arrogant voice cooed from behind, "if it isn't dear Lucy. All alone? Where's the blue haired shrimp?"

Talk about bad to worse. Lucy practically popped a blood vessel as she turned to face the annoying woman. "Your guess is as good as mine. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Before she could get far, she felt a tug on the bottom of her dress that almost sent her tumbling. Karen was standing on the helm!

"Do you mind?" Lucy hissed. "What's your problem?!"

She jerked her dress from under the bad-mannered woman's foot and moved to make her escape, only to be blocked by Evergreen.

"You ugly slut." Evergreen growled, putting a finger in her face. "You've been mighty rude to us today, don't ya think?"

Lucy simply rolled her eyes. All that was left was for Aqua to pop up out of nowhere.

"Oh, I know!" Karen exclaimed sarcastically. "I bet she thinks she has a shot with the king." She snickered as she placed her gloved hand to her lips. "Pathetic."

Any attempt she would have made to defend herself was instantly halted by the foreign feeling of liquid streaming down her hair and face. Seconds later, it was seeping into her dress. She carefully glanced down at her outfit and was mortified to confirm what she hoped was only a hallucination—Evergreen had doused her in champagne.

She stood mouth agape and breathless as Karen and Ever laughed at her turmoil. A few women had turned to stop and stare, some were even snickering into their palms. As the center of attention, Lucy couldn't help but blush.

Rather than say anything, she stormed off toward the door.

"I'm leaving whether Gray, the king, or anyone else likes it or not." Lucy grumbled as she pushed through the crowd, not caring about manners, consequences, or anything else for that matter. Her eyes were locked on the door, and nothing could stand in her way.

Well, except a really tall, bulky man with more piercings than skin. That could stop her pretty quickly.

"And where do you think you're going, blondie?" He questioned gruffly, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I—uh, to the bathroom?" Lucy responded nervously.

"No way. Sorry, you'll have to hold it." He waived her away.

"B-but it's about emergency..." Lucy countered. Her eyes were pleading and full of hope. The guard wasn't having it, however.

"You're a big girl ain't ya, you'll be fine." He waived her away again but stopped mid-motion when he noticed her current state of dress. His nose upturned in disgust, as if she were a mere bug. "Ugh, why the hell are you all wet?"

Lucy frowned and avoided his eyes. Then, a thought dawned on her. Perhaps he would take sympathy on her if he heard her plight?

"Well—"

Obnoxiously loud trumpets pierced through the air, cutting her off and practically scaring the soul from her body.

"Here ye, here ye," A servant announced. "The King, Natsu Dragneel, has arrived."

Polite claps and excited giggles followed the statement, and every eye turned to the announcer standing on the raised platform in the center of the room. Sure enough, the balcony door was opening, and a crowned man wearing a flowing red and orange robe lined with white and black fuzz stepped into the room. Lucy squinted to get a better look at him as he descended the stairs, and above all other details noticed his striking pink hair.

He stopped next to his herald and surveyed the audience of women before him. He looked bored.

After a moment, he said, "Thank you all for coming." Without another word, he descended into the crowd.

Lucy dug her fingers into her palms silently as she observed the king milling through the crowd with a look of arrogance on his face.

Let's recap. Today, she had been uprooted from her home, tossed around like a rag doll, harassed numerous times and separated from her friends. On top of all that, she had been standing around for hours, had champagne spilled on her and had become a laughingstock. All of that, just for the king to say five words?

Oh, to say Lucy was miffed was an understatement. She was livid, and she had absolutely no intention of staying here longer than necessary.

Rather than participate in this farce further, she stood against the wall a few feet from the guard at the door. That way, she could remain invisible and leave as soon as this was over. She relished in the fact that there were quite a few other women like her, standing against the wall and trying their best to fuse with the material. All to avoid speaking with the cruel, arrogant king.

-0-

Natsu maneuvered through the women around him with Mard just feet behind, trailing his every movement. He kept a neutral face, attempting to smile every so often with the few women he made small talk with. Other than that, he was bored and uninterested. Despite being objectively and conventionally beautiful, none of these women did anything for him. No interest, no spark, no nothing.

Perhaps this was all a big waste of time.

He ignored the disheartened expressions of the bold girls that tried and failed to talk to him. A few hurt feelings were no matter. He couldn't care less about the feelings of people he did not know.

"Sire," Mard began, noticing Natsu's bad attitude. Natsu looked at him with lifeless eyes. It didn't faze him. "Perhaps try speaking to one of those women over there, particularly the short haired one."

Natsu craned his neck slightly to see two nearly identical white-haired women with big blue eyes. The only defining differences between the two were their hair length, height, and chest size.

Natsu soon found himself standing in front of them. He quickly learned their names were Lisanna and Mirajane, and that they were sisters but not twins. Like the other women he'd actually spoken to tonight, he did not get a spark from either of them. Even still, the younger of the sisters, Lisanna, was more interesting to talk to than anyone else thus far. Her sister, in the other hand, had an aura similar to Mard's. He didn't like that at all.

"Excuse me, King Dragneel-sama."

Natsu shifted his eyes to see a woman with lime green hair and a dark purple dress standing not too far away. She reeked of over confidence and too much perfume. Beside her was an equally self-assured brunette in a green dress.

They irritated him already.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the green haired woman continued, "My name is Karen Lilica. It is an honor to meet you, sire."

"Ah, I'm sure." Natsu replied. His annoyance leaked onto his face. It would've done so even if he had attempted to hide it, and thus he made no effort to do so.

"And I'm Evergreen Angelic." The other woman added with a flutter of her eyelashes.

"Gross." Natsu said, only to be amused by how quickly her confidence fell. He honestly hadn't meant for that to come out, but hey, life happens.

"T-that was completely unnecessary." Evergreen retorted harshly, taking a step closer to him.

Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! No need to be rude." Karen added. After a second, she quickly said, "Your majesty-sama."

Natsu blew out a long breath. The white-haired sisters looked on awkwardly. He could feel Mard's disturbing aura growing rapidly, and it was all he could do to ignore it.

"Look, I am clearly uninterested in either of you. Could you please make yourself available elsewhere? I heard the hors d'ouvres were amazing tonight."

The two women sputtered awkwardly in response. This was probably the nicest he could ever be to people like that—hell, anyone who dared defy him so openly. Satisfied with himself, he directed his attention back to Lisanna. "Now, where was I?"

"You know," Karen began lowly, "Just because you're the king doesn't mean you can treat people any kind of way." She took a small step forward, eliciting the attention of several servants and guards. "How dare you treat me like a sideshow bob?! I'll have you know I have no shortage of suitors, King Dragneel!"

For just a moment, Natsu was genuinely rendered speechless by her outburst. When the shock went away, the anger that replaced it was visceral.

"Is that so?" He asked, eyes flashing dangerously. He clapped his hands and almost immediately two guards appeared behind the women—Gray and Mard.

"Escort them out. Now." He took a deep breath and calmly added, "And when I find out who brought them here, I will have his head on a stick."

Both women found hands grasping roughly at their arms as they were being dragged to the door. They struggled against the men and cursed and fussed, but it was all fruitless. Natsu watched in amusement as the women who dared confront him were taken away.

That's when he saw her.

Standing on the backwall was a woman with beautiful blonde hair, striking brown eyes and an amazing figure. Above all else she had an aura that was intoxicatingly alluring, as if she were the embodiment of a cold drink on a hot summer day. With her in his sights, the entire world seemed to melt away. There was something nostalgic about her; something that drew him in like a magnet, but what it was he could not quite place. One thing was certain, however.

He had to speak to her.

-0-

Lucy watched in both shock and amusement as Ever and Karen were escorted in her direction. It served them right. She was surprised that anyone dared argue with the king but was even more surprised that he didn't do more than just kick them out.

A burning stare shot trepidation down her spine, and it was only then that she realized she'd caught the king's gaze. King Dragneel's eyes bore into her with a hunger that a hunter would hold for a deer.

Her body stiffened as the monarch strode pompously toward her, speed walking around the guards constraining Evergreen and Karen. When he finally reached her, her heart was pounding out of her ears. From farther away, she hadn't noticed how much taller he was than her, nor the playful expression hiding beneath his hardened face. It didn't comfort her in the slightest.

"Good evening madam." He greeted.

"Good evening." She replied shortly.

He leaned a bit closer to her. "What's your name?"

"Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia."

"Lucy?" He repeated, stroking his chin with his hand. "A beautiful name."

"Thank you, sire." She couldn't help but notice they'd drawn the attention of several people nearby.

He looked her over once more, only to meet her eyes again with a bemused expression. "Tell me, Lucy, is it customary in your village to attend balls outfitted in liquid?" The smirk he wore was teasing, but Lucy found it almost cruel.

"N-no, King Dragneel." She answered, looking down at the sparkling floor.

Silence passed between them. All the while in her head she continuously repeated a mantra: Keep it short and he will go away. Seem boring and he will go away. Seem uninterested and he will go away.

"Ah, I see." He said, breaking into her thoughts.

Natsu brought his warm hand to her cheek, only for her to immediately flinch away. His eyes lit up at the slight touch and a mystified expression took over his face. He stared at his hands for what seemed like an eternity, as if his fingers held the answers to the universe. Lucy just wanted to slink away. She prayed she had not accidentally incurred his wrath.

"Her." He declared, looking to Mard who was halfway out of the door. "I choose her."

Instantly, Mard's face lost all its color as Karen immediately stopped her struggling, allowing her jaw to fall slack. Evergreen and Gray did the same, as did everyone else within earshot. Just like that, time seemed to stand still.

"Her?!" Karen seethed, sending a death glare in Lucy's direction. Evergreen looked equally as livid.

The outburst drew the remainder of the uninterested eyes in the room, and it felt as if the entire world was watching the situation unfold. Accompanying the stares was a light murmur that seemed to grow louder and louder by the second. Lucy, however, was unable to process much more after the King's initial statement.

From the moment those words escaped his lips, her world fell away, only to be replaced with an overpowering, incessant ringing.

XoO0OoX

A/N: They finally meet! Whoo! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I rewrote it a couple times, and I'm still a bit iffy about it but I think it turned out okay.

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, etc… you encouraged me to push this out before school starts today. Your support means the world to me!

A lil trivia for you, the original name for this story was The King's Ball, but then I was like oof only one part is about the ball itself lololol

Anyways, please let me know what you thought of this chapter if you like! Reviews are always appreciated :D

Until next update, stay safe,

-AF1-chan

P.s. Evergreen apparently doesn't have a last name? Wtf? So, I just picked one lol. Also, I really don't think she's ugly, but her attitude was quite ass at the very beginning of Fairy Tail and that's kind of where I'm pulling from.