Author's note: I would like to give a very special thanks to BakaFangirl who was a lot of help in the making of this chapter and most likely the ones following. I would also like to apologize for not posting in so long, I just really haven't had a lot of inspiration for this story lately. Anyways on to the story, I hope you all enjoy!
Those eyes… The eyes that had been following me around whenever I fell asleep, where right in front of me. No… That couldn't be.. It's a coincidence… That's all it is. I squinted slightly in the dark, trying to see the body belonging to the red eyes but the only light was a ways in front of me, near the end of the room and he seemed to be making sure to stay out of it.
"W-who are you?"
"I'm the master of this castle, and you're trespassing." A voice growled and he moved over next to the side of the cell in front of me, staying out of the light.
"I'm just here to get my father! Can't you see he's sick?!"
"Well he shouldn't have come here then, should he?"
"He could die! Please I'll do anything!"
"There's nothing you can do, he's my prisoner." The voice said, moving towards the door. I moved towards him slightly.
"There must be something.." I trailed off trying to think of something. He waited by the door as if expecting me to say something but after a few moments he moved to open it.
"Wait!" I lunged towards him slightly and he stopped.
"Take… Take me instead."
"You… Would take his place…?" He said and my father My father rasped out behind me.
"No! You don't know what you're doing!" He began coughing and I looked at him sadly then back toward the man.
"If I did… Would you let him go?"
"Yes, but you must promise to stay here forever."
"Forever?!"
"Yes, don't you want your father to be free?" Father began to protest again but was cut off by coughing.
"Y-you have my word."
"Good," he said then walked by me, opened the cage and grabbed my father, walking out of the room. I tried to follow after but he slammed the door in my face behind him, locking it as well. I looked frantically around the room for a window. Unable to find one I burst into frustrated tears and fell to the floor. About ten minutes later he walked back in, continuing to stay out of the light. I lunged at him in anger and he moved back, causing me to fall down in front of him.
"Where did you take him?!"
"I had someone from the castle take him back to the village."
"You didn't even let me say goodbye! I'll never get so see him again"
"You should be thanking me for just letting him go in the first place."
I shook my head sat down on the floor.
"Just leave me alone." He stood there for a second before turning around.
"The cells have more comfortable bedding then just stone floor." He said then left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Tears continued to stream down my face as I got back up and slowly walked to the back cell, finding that the only bedding was straw I walked back out and searched for a sheet then went back in and laid it out on the straw and patted it out. I closed the cell door so I could at least feel some sort of comfort and laid down on the makeshift bed before closing my eyes and trying to stop my crying.
I'm not sure when but eventually I ended up falling asleep. I woke up in a soft bed and for a moment I thought that I was back home but when I looked around I realized that I was in a four poster bed with a curtain around it. But, it also wasn't the cell. I sat up slightly and looked around the room. It was a large room with a window that looked out to somewhere that I couldn't really see considering I was sitting down at the moment. I sighed and sat back on the bed. Looking down, I screeched, realizing that I was now wearing a blue nightgown. I felt myself start to blush slightly, wondering who could have changed my clothes. I hadn't seen any other maids but he had said that he got someone from the castle to take my father to the village. I jumped when I heard a sudden knock on the door.
"Hello? Are you in there?" Before I had a chance to answer a girl in a red dress came flouncing in happily. She had a tray in her hand but kept the other behind her. She had white hair that stood up on one part and two different colored blue eyes, the right being darker than the other. The left eye had a scar running down from her forehead and right over it, making her look like she was a porcelain doll with a crack in her face. She also seemed to have a black cape covering her left shoulder.
"Well I mean of course you're in here," She said laughing at herself slightly "obviously, considering you were…" She stopped herself and paused for a second before looking at me awkwardly.
"Anywayyys, would you like some tea?"
"No thank you, I-"
"Would you like some bread at least? You need food, I wouldn't want you getting sick." I paused to think out my words then spoke slowly.
"Bread would be nice but um… I have a few questions first."
"You really need to eat." I sighed and stood up, walking towards the plate of food that she had set on the table next to the bed then sat down in the little chair. As I sat there eating I took the time to look at my surroundings. The four poster bed was a blue-ish color with purple curtains. The sheets and pillows were all different shades of blue, a green-ish color, and purple. Carved in the end of the bed there was a pink rose. I made a mental note to ask about that later and looked up at the girl.
"Can I ask questions now?" She eyed the piece of bread in my hand then shrugged.
"Yeah but I'll need to more food in you, Gajeel doesn't really eat much so we don't have any food." I tilted my head.
"Is Gajeel the…"
"The owner of the castle? Yeah." I nodded and looked around again.
"I'm surprised you're not trying to plan a way out of this place." I shook my head and looked back at her.
"I made a promise more or less and I'm going to keep it."
"Well doesn't he scare you at all?"
"He's a pretty big jerk sure-"
"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head "I mean his appearance, haven't you seen him yet?"
"No, he seemed to keep pretty close to the shadows last night, all I know about him is that he has the glowing red eyes…" Her eyes widened slightly.
"You seriously mean to tell me you haven't seen him yet?" I shook my head.
"But weren't you with him last night?"
"Yeah but he seemed to pretty much stay in the shadows most of the time."
"Oh... I'm sorry that he was like that, he's not very used to people, and he's always been pretty snotty."
"Seriously? Always that bad?"
"Yeah, that's why we're all like this actually." She said and held up the other hand she'd had behind her back. It was clawed and green with a lace looking thing running up her arm, her other hand was normal. My eyes widened.
"Wait he turned you into that?!" She laughed and shook her head.
"Gosh no. Years ago a lady showed up here at the castle, asking for a place to stay. She was... Old and not very good looking so he didn't let her in and well she cursed us..."
"All of you?"
"Yeah... He was the only one fully turned though."
"I'm sorry..." She smiled and shrugged.
"At least we're together."
"Wait, how many of you are there?"
"Oh there's quite a lot actually... Well maybe not... It's hard to count." She laughed at herself and I smiled. There was a sudden yell and the girl sighed.
"I'll be right back, feel free to look around your room. Just… Please don't leave the room."
"Why?"
"This is a big place and I don't want you getting lost or anything."
"Alright…" She smiled again and walked out, closing the door behind her. I sighed and went back to the bed and plopped myself down. After about just two minutes of staring at the curtain I got up and looked around the room. There wasn't much else in the room except my bed, the table and a wardrobe. The floor being a white marble had a small carpet at the end of the bed with a rosin the middle of it. Next to the bed, about six feet away was a large window that looked out to the garden below. I went to look at the garden and saw that it looked even farther out to the forest that surrounded the castle .I continued to look for awhile before going to the wardrobe where a pair of slippers sat. I slipped them on then slowly walked to the door and listened for a few seconds before slowly opening the door and slipping out. After I closed the door I turned around and stopped, a small gasp began to form but logged itself in my throat as I stood there, completely frozen. In front of me was a six and a half foot tall black dragon, standing on its hind legs and staring at me. The red eyes… This… This is him? He's a dragon?
"Why did you leave your room?" The dragon growled deeply.
"I… I wanted to explore." I whispered softly.
"She told you not to." I looked down.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Well you shouldn't have done it." My brows furrowed and I stood up straighter, looking him in the eyes.
"You can't just keep me locked in that room with nothing to do." He scoffed.
"I sure can."
"Well if you want me to die from boredom." He chuckled and nodded.
"I don't believe that could happen."
"Well if you don't believe me then just lock me back in there." He smiled, his sharp teeth glinting slightly as I realized that he could tear me piece to piece if he so wished.
"Oh no I was actually coming to let you out so you could look around the castle." I froze again.
"Seriously?"
"Well yeah. It wasn't really my idea granted, but it's a good idea…. Just as long as you stay out of West Wing."
"What's in the West Wing?"
"Just stay out." His voice grew louder and more demanding so I just decided to keep my mouth shut.
"Shouldn't you at least let her change her clothes first?" I turned around to see a red haired girl in just about sixteen different kinds of clothing that seemed to change every five seconds. I watched it closely, unable to look away. She smiled.
"Cool huh? It's a big pain in the ass too." She added the last part throwing a glare at Gajeel. I heard him let out a puff of breath.
"Just get her some clothes."
"What's the magic word?"
"Now." She shook her head.
"You need to learn manners now that there's a real authentic lady in the castle." She said and grabbed my hand pulling me back into my room to get me ready for my adventure around the castle.