"And when the nightingale sang, it sounded to the emperor as many tiny glass bells."

It turned out that there was a grand clock just outside her door—or so it sounded to be as such. For whenever an hour went by, it would loudly proclaim its love for chimes and strike whatever hour it was. At first it was five… then six… and finally, seven. When the last dreaded clang rang through the elaborate halls and sounded through the cracks in her double doors, Levy's stomach replied to it, growling in despair at her not having anything to eat since… well in a while. Who knew how long she had been out cold?

Levy stood up, peeked through her door after gaining the courage to push down on the handle that kept her distanced from the world outside and the room she knew like the back of her hand now. She had searched every inch of it, finding little hidden places, long forgotten books that were covered with dust and god knows what else underneath the bed. But they were in a different language, and Levy could not decipher the meaning of the letters arrangement. So she had put them down and slid slowly to her door. Seeing that there was no one outside the room, she slipped out. Her dirty boots looked comic every time she looked down. They contrasted with a brilliant embarrassment against the rich carpeting on the floor.

No doubt she looked silly. A girl in the plainest dress form the wardrobe, a cocoa colored one that reached the ground with lace round the neckline and three quarter sleeves with a bow pulling her waist tight in the back. She took her sweet time, although the creature she was housing with had demanded her appearance at dinner round this….

Levy stopped mid-stride. With a quick squeak of her shoes, she swerved into a corner where a window was, covered by a thick velvet curtain. She dashed behind it and put a hand over her mouth, an attempt to keep her breathing quiet.

From down the hall came a soft noise… remarkably silent for such a huge creature to be walking upon. Talons tapped a steady rhythm every time they settled their bearers weight on the ground beneath them. Levy felt her heart pound against her ribs, a pain that was not easy to ignore.

"Why is she not coming?!" Was he talking to himself? Levy's wonders were answered soon, when a different voice, entirely different from the rough edges of the beasts replied.

"Perhaps you have…"

"FRIGHTENED HER?!" The roar echoed down the halls, bouncing off every piece of carving that it could. The size of the room amplified its power and Levy closed her eyes, biting into her fingers.

"Well yes." Was there another person here?! A prisoner too? Levy's curiosity got the better of her and she edged her other hand to the edge of the curtain, the tips finding fringe and reaching to pull it… When beside her hands slammed on the window pane. She froze, her eyes wide, no longer breathing. Slowly those hazel eyes turned in that direction. And she got a good look at the hands that could only be born for demons or dragons. The silver scales that flew from the very tips of the fingers covered all the way up, reflecting in the light and throwing little lights all around. And the claws… dangerous and even more terrifying than the skin… She stiffened as the creature banged his head up against the window. The girl was sure that it was going to break from the horns that sprouted from his skull… but it didn't. Instead, the collision seemed to be a soft one. His breath sent smoke against the glass. And right there was his only human features. The face of this man was handsome, or it should have been if he were mortal and not a devil. The silver scales only pattered to his chin and around his forehead. His eyes, though harsh, held great pain. And when Levy realized this, she found herself… softening.

"Perhaps, though, if you ask her one more time."

"What good would that do?" Was the sound that came from his mouth now even possible? He seemed to be weakened. As if he was tired of trying to make something happen.

"If you are calm, collected and kind, I am sure she will at least consider it."

The beast moved back, eyes transfixed out the window. Levy prayed to whatever angel might be watching over her in this hell-forsaken place that she wouldn't be seen… that he wouldn't turn his head in her direction. And her prayers must have been heard, for he moved away from the window and continued down the hallway. Towards her room. Where she was not in. A different sort of panic slew some kind of hope within the girl's body and she jumped into action. Her boots slammed against the floor and she battled away the velvety curtain with frantic fingers, throwing it to the side and dashing down the hall, towards the dining room. Or wherever the smell of the food was coming from. She slowed as soon as she found it, brushed out the folds from her romp in her dress, and stood beside the fireplace that the table was located in front of.

While she waited for him to return (for she knew he surely would), she held her wrist behind her back, playing with the folds of the bow, and marveling at the chandelier just above the wooden table. Which, by the way, was a sight within itself. Golden and silver and glass laced the tabletop, placed in unique formations just on top of a dark tablecloth… no doubt made form some kind of imported fabric that must have cost more than her life if she was ever…

A form came in from the doorway, and stopped there. Levy shivered as she readied herself for the being she was to share dinner with.

He looked stunned. And no doubt he was. She had managed to somehow get to the dining room without him seeing her. A small smirk felt its way to the corner of her soft lips, tugging it up just a bit before she scolded herself and sent it back into the place from whence it came.

"You… how…"

"Sorry for being late." She zipped her lips before she could say something very rude. She did not want to hasten her death. If she could live for just one more day without being ripped to shreds by those claws she had seen tapping against the window sill…. Well wouldn't that be something. The blue haired girl snatched a plate from one seat and made her way around the table, scooping food she had never before seen in her life onto the thing. All the while, she was very much aware that she was being followed with those too-human eyes. And at some point in time, she heard him approach behind her and she willed her hand not to shake as she popped some kind of concoction onto what was left on her plate. He came closer, and she gripped the plate tightly. He grabbed his own plate and went around the opposite direction. She watched under her lashes at his grace with the utensils. He was able to do exactly as she did with hands that held knives on each finger…

She turned to her chair, sat down and picked a fork that looked like a normal one, not too long, and one with the right amount of prongs. Looking up, she decided that waiting would be the ideal thing to do. She didn't know how the rules here worked. Was she supposed to treat him as royalty if he was the owner of this grand abode? Her thoughts tricked her though. She waited with her hands in her lap, twisting that fork. Was he truly royalty? Could he have… no. Curses didn't exist. They were magic. Magic here didn't come around easily. Levy remembered just then the face of that sailor. Gray. She wondered if he had found the dragon yet…

Or if this creature here was the one he was really looking for. Her eyes flickered to the beasts and she found that he had caught onto her gaze from across the table. He held her eyes, and she was the one to break the contact. Instead of waiting any longer, she stabbed her fork into the food and shoveled it into her mouth, totally not caring if her manners were not that of a proper 'lady.' She had lived with proper ladies for a while now, and with the way she had been treated by them, Levy had decided she did not like the way ladies were. And that she was to be something entirely different from a proper lady in their eyes.

He watched her as she gorged herself. No doubt that she was hungry. She had been unconscious for a good amount of time, and her body was probably sending her warning signals that she could not ignore. And the beast was right. Levy allowed her gaze to settle on him every once in a while, viewing at just how he managed to use those small silver spoons and forks despite the size and nature of his grip. But he was even better at manners than she was. When she was done, she stood up, wiped her mouth, slid a steak knife into the folds of her skirt and excused herself. Why the knife? In case she would ever need to defend herself from a night attack… or if he decided that human food wasn't good enough for him. If he found that human flesh was more appealing than cooked pig.

Days passed, and she performed chores that kept her mind and heart busy to the point where she could not think about anything else. And every night at seven, she adorned a dress (though she kept those boots every time) and ate across the table from the creature that had hidden her away from the world. He actually began to accompany her from her room so that the two would be able to walk in silence. Sometimes they spoke of how the winter was to be harsh this year. Or what might be for dinner. Sometimes he didn't even look in her direction. She kept the knife she had taken safe in the night stand beside her bed, covered with a kerchief. But she never had to pull it out. And soon it was all but forgotten.

One day, she was fixing up her room a while before heading out, already dressed and ready, and she found herself singing a lullaby her mother had sung to her. Since her mother had been a traveler from far away, she spoke two languages, one that Levy had never learned, and the one that they had used every day. This lullaby was in that soft language, which had consonants that flowed together as smoothly as a glass window did. Somewhere throughout her song, a creak slid as a knife does through her consciousness. She stopped her singing immediately, her hazel eyes stricken with surprise when she turned around to find that the creature was there, watching her. He held his hands up in a surrendering motion and she watched as he tried to make himself look a bit smaller. A bit less intimidating.

"Forgive me… I was coming up to inform you that dinner will be early this evening—when I heard you singing I…" His words ceased their volume and he seemed to be searching the pale room for the best possible way to put his thoughts to his tongue. Levy now turned her whole body and smiled a little nervously. It was true that in recent days she had been able to stay around this man (strange that she now considered him as such) without even batting an eye about his… condition. His physique no longer bothered her as much as it had before, and she was able to approach him now, slide past him in the doorway and make her way slowly down the hallway. She twisted her head a bit and held out her arm. He watched her with suspicion, the words still frozen on his tongue, then grunted, something he did when he was trying to hide a smile, and he offered his arm for her to wrap her own around. She took it gratefully and the two walked down the hall to the dining room. Their idle chatter was livelier this night, and Levy found herself smiling truthfully. Something she had not done in a long, long, long while.