"Is there anything you can tell us about that night? Or an idea as to why they attacked the castle?" Erza asked slowly, as if the princess was fragile. Lucy rubbed her arm while she sat on her bed. She bit her lip in thought.
"Well I was in the castle garden at the time. When the explosion went off, I ran back in. Then for the rest of the night, Gajeel had made sure I was safe. And as to why they would do something like that, I'm honestly not sure." Lucy said with a sigh. Erza furrowed her brows and crossed her armored arms. The redhead supposed this was another dead end. Then, an idea popped into her mind.
"Did anything happen prior?" She questioned.
Lucy tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"
"Like...did you or the king do something that would warrant this kind of attack. Not that I would blame you though!" Erza added quickly after seeing the frown on Lucy's face. The blonde stood up and placed around her room, eventually leaning up against a wall. She looked out the window with a sad expression.
"Of course we didn't. Or not that I know of. I haven't left the castle vicinity in seven years. I couldn't have possibly done anything, I don't have power like that," Lucy suddenly laughed, though it was obviously forced. Gray gave Erza a sideways glance while Natsu just looked at her. "So I'm not sure I'm the right person to help you. Gajeel leaves pretty often when he needs to. So you should probably find him."
Erza slowly stood up and got closer to Lucy. "Seven years? That's a long time to be cooped up here." Lucy rubbed the back of her head.
"Oh it's not that bad. By now I should already have a husband and probably have a baby on the way. But since my father stopped making me travel to meet suitors, I've been stuck here. Believe it or not, princess's really don't get to do a lot. But I'm thankful, I'm not ready to get married right now. My life has just started." Lucy chuckled to herself. Gray stared at her, getting her to look his way.
"Meet suitors? And after that you haven't been out of the castle in years? Does that mean you've been meeting suitors since you were just a little girl?" The disgust on his face was evident. But Lucy didn't get why they were upset.
"Well yes, that's how it goes usually. Some have it much worse than I do. Suitors are picked for them since birth. At least i was allowed to be a child for a little while...my mother liked it that way..." Erza studied her expression. Then, the redhead suddenly got on one knee and looked to the ground. Startling the blonde.
"I humbly apologize for our insensitivity. We are just uneducated in the matters that involve royalty." Unexpected to the redhead, Lucy bursted out in giggles. This time genuine.
"Oh you mustn't apologize so much miss Erza! I'm aware you and I experience different things. And I'm also aware some of our customs are frowned upon by the general public. Hell, I'm opposed to it as well, but I guess after a while I just got used to it. So please do not apologize." Everyone's face remained blank at her words. She looked at the three and began to feel a bit uncomfortable. Why were they looking at her like that. Was it something she said. Was her hair messed up? Something in her teeth?
"We'll keep that in mind, your highness-"
"Lucy. Please call me Lucy."
"Okay, Lucy," Erza gave the princess a small smile. "Anyway, we should probably go find the rest of our team. They went to find Gajeel to ask him a few questions as well." Lucy bit her lip at Ezra's words.
"You mean those two cats, Miss Wendy, and Miss Levy? I hope they'll be alright. Gajeel is a huge grump but he means well I swear. I'm glad you sent those four after him though. I'm sure he'll feel a bit more comfortable around less scary faces."
"W-What the hell?! Scary!?" Natsu shouted. That was the first time in a while that he had actually spoke a word. This surprising both Gray and Erza. It was odd at how particularly quiet he was. Usually, he would be the loudest, but all he did now was stare at Lucy with a confused expression.
Though Lucy didn't notice. She puffed up her cheeks to stop her laughter. "I knew that would rile you up," His eye twitched, getting her to finally burst out in a laugh and turn away from the three. "I'm so sorry, I'm just having so much fun right now! I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it!" His irritated attitude faded away as he saw her face. She looked happy to be around them.
A smile came to his face, along with the others. Gaining the courage to finally speak to her properly, he went up to her and planted his hands on her shoulders. This startled her. Gray and Erza's mouth were hung wide open. What the hell did he think he was doing!?
"Lucy. I promise you we'll defeat these stupid dark guilds. So you can count on Fairy Tail." Lucy's face heated up as he stared into her eyes.
"W-What's with you all of a sudden? You were just angry at me a minute ago..."
His grin became much wider, showcasing his fangs. Her eyes darted to them for a second. How odd. Gajeel's fangs looked much like Natsu's. "Because, seeing your smile made me and the rest of us realize that we want to see more of that. So we'll bring peace back to the castle if it'll make you smile and laugh like that."
Unexpected tears stung the corner of her eyes. No words coming to her mouth, she only nodded her head.
...
"Where do you think he would, Levy-san?" Wendy asked meekly as they all quietly made their way through the castle. Levy shook her head with a sigh.
"I have no idea. Where would an Advisor be anyway?" Levy mumbled to herself. If she was being honest, she was glad that they hadn't found Gajeel yet. She would rather not have him yell at her or possibly punch her face in. He made it quite clear he didn't like them. Not that she was upset at his words, she didn't like him either.
"Maybe he's in the garden?" Happy questioned innocently. Levy and Wendy looked to each other. Maybe he was. They all turned around and made their way back to where the saw the garden outside. They found it pretty quickly, Levy slowly opening the doors. Only for her to be lifted off the ground.
Wendy, Charle, and Happy gasped as they made eye contact with the man they were looking for. His ruby eyes filled with anger. "Didn't your mother tell you not to snoop in someone else's business." Levy's face lit up in embarrassment. She swung her legs around in an attempt to get him to let go of the back of her dress. Though he wasn't budging.
"M-Mister Gajeel! Please put me down. We weren't trying to snoop, we were just looking for you!" Levy spit out quickly. Gajeel raised an eyebrow and set her down. His anger wasn't diminished though.
"Not even the princess is allowed out there. So don't think about stepping foot in the garden," Levy nodded her head rapidly and stood behind Wendy meekly. Gajeel crossed his arms. "So what the hell do you want?"
"W-We just want to ask you a few questions about that night..." Wendy squeaked.
"There ain't nothin to tell. I heard an explosion and went to check it out. Damn dark guilds, starting shit they shouldn't...I'll get them for hurting Lucy." Gajeel mumbled angrily to himself. Levy got out from behind Wendy once she heard what he said.
"You really care about Lucy-chan, don't you?" Levy whispered. Gajeel rolled his eyes. Shaking her head, she focused back to what they were talking about. "Anyway, we wanted to ask if you have any idea why a dark guild wouldn't just suddenly attack out of nowhere."
"How the hell would I know? Dark guilds don't make sense, they do whatever the hell they please."
"We understand that, but now they're planning a large scale attack in six months. And they even made that public. Why? What is the point, why throw away the element of surprise? There has to be a reason..." Levy trailed off, talking more to herself than to anyone else. Gajeel scoffed and began to walk away.
"H-Hey wait, Gajeel-san!" Wendy yelled aloud, catching up to him. Gajeel then froze. Her scent was familiar. And now that he thought of it, that pink haired guy's was too. He stared down at Wendy with a confused glare. She stepped back. "S-Sorry."
"I'm not gonna eat cha' little girl. Tell me, why does your scent seem familiar?"
"My scent. I don't understand- wait," she stood closer to him. "You smell familiar too. Are you a dragon slayer?" Gajeel's eyes widened. How did she possibly know. Dragon slayer magic was only practiced in his old village. But he thought the other kids had died. Did this little girl and that pink hair guy live there?
But he doesn't remember them. He stared hard at the floor. He needed time to sort through his running thoughts. But he had to at least let them know. But why should he? He didnt know them. No, it would be what he wanted if he was in their situation.
"Yeah. You and that pink haired guy are too, aren't you?" Just as Wendy was going to respond, Levy caught up to them, each cat perched on her shoulder.
"What's going on?" Levy asked from behind the two.
Gajeel scoffed. He needed to find Lucy and talk to her. He couldn't believe he allowed himself to get distracted. "Look I gotta go. I need to meet with Lucy right now." Gajeel muttered as he walked away.
"But you didnt answer all of our questions!" Levy yelled. He Ignored the small girl and made his way to Lucy's room. But just in time to see the rest of Fairy Tail's team walk out. They noticed him and narrowed their eyes at him. His own eyes traveled to Natsu. He was right. He smelled familiar as well.
Dammit he didn't have time to care about them! He ignored the three and walked passed them. Opening the princess's door, he walked in and slammed it behind him.
"He knows something," Erza said suddenly. Gray shook his head in confusion, wanting her to elaborate. "About why that dark guild attacked. I have a feeling he knows something no one else does. We should keep an eye on him."
"But Lucy trusts him. I think we should too." Gray mumbled.
"Of course she trusts him, he's not giving her any information either. He's keeping her in the dark about something, and is keeping her trust in him," Erza frowned when she noticed Natsu just staring at the door. "Is there something wrong Natsu?"
He huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't know, he just smells different! I can't place it, his scent is just so damn familiar. I smelled it when we first met him and I can smell it lingering now." Instead of sticking around, the three decided to head back to the library.
"Maybe you guys met before. Lucy did say that he went out a lot." Gray suggested. Though Natsu shot that idea down quickly.
"I don't know...it feels deeper than that." Natsu argued.
"Well whatever you feel, he's suspicious. And I feel that the princess might be in danger."