The Knight and the Beast

Chapter Two: The Beginning of the Castle's Solitude

Five Days Later

"Plue…Are you sure we're going the right way?" Lucy asked. "This doesn't look like the way to the castle at all."

Lucy and Plue were travelling through the forest path that led to the castle. But, it didn't look like the way to the castle. It was nearly sunset, but the skies said otherwise. It was dark and cloudy. It shouldn't be like that, but it was. The trees had a creeping feel to them, and just about half were dead. Lucy felt eerie creatures lurking about on the forest floor.

The wind picked up and blew the ribbon in Lucy's hair away. She tried to grab it but it slipped away from her. She pouted. "Man, and Natsu gave me that ribbon for my birthday too." She pulled on the hood of her cloak to cover her wild blonde hair.

Lucy flicked her wrist and Plue trotted slowly through the forest. Lucy examined their surroundings. The blonde girl was smart, complete with a good memory. Prince Jellal claimed his fourteen-year old tutor the smartest person in the kingdom, if not world. So, why doesn't she remember anything of this path? It's the same one she takes every time leaving the castle when travelling alone or with her other family.

Plue neighed and Lucy looked up to see the lake. The waters weren't crystal clear anymore and were dark and mucky instead of bright and blue. She looked across the lake where the village was; it looked the same. Lucy and Plue rode up to the bridge and trotted across it. But when she reached the front gates and turned to see the castle, Lucy gasped in fear.

The castle named Fairy Tail had fairies decorating its exterior and interior, hence the name. But Lucy didn't see the kind fairies that overlooked the courtyard workers. Instead she saw demons, golems, devils, and trolls. The clean white stone that Fairy Tail was built with had turned to black and seemed to be crumbling, bit by bit. The entire castle had an ominous feel to it. But…why?

"We only left for five days Plue," Lucy said. Plue walked around the abandoned courtyard. "Everything has changed…And where is everyone?"

A powerful gust of wind spooked Plue. He started uneasily pounding the ground with his hooves. A shadow casted over the unicorn and girl. Lucy looked up to see a large creature flying over her. When the creature landed in the courtyard with a loud thump, Plue threw Lucy off before running towards the stables. Lucy reached out to Plue but a red scaly tail blocked her way. Lucy followed the tail to see it connected with a reptilian body. She continued to see that the body belonged to a large red dragon. Lucy scooted backwards, but the dragon followed her.

"Dragon…" Lucy muttered.

The dragon roared before grabbing Lucy by her cloak and holding her by the torch light. It blew out from his nose, blowing off the hood of Lucy's cloak. The dragon looked deeply into Lucy's brown eyes while Lucy looked deeply into the dragon's onyx eyes.

Wait… Lucy thought. She held out a hand hesitantly.

"N-Natsu?" she stuttered.

The dragon widened its eyes before placing Lucy on the ground quickly. It released a low growl from its throat. Lucy…

Lucy's brown eyes widened. "I…I can hear you…"

Natsu looked surprised before he lifted his scaly lips in a form of a smile. Lucy!

"Oh Natsu!" Lucy hugged the dragon's muzzle before pulling away from him, still leaving a hand on him. "What happened to you?! Where's everyone else?" Lucy paused before her eyes widened again. "Where's the prince?!"

Well, first off, I'm a dragon now. Cool ain't it? Natsu said, attempting a grin. Lucy rolled her eyes. But, some lady came into the castle and turned us into…stuff.

"Stuff?" Lucy asked.

Natsu nodded. Yeah…Stuff.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Whatever you can think of Lucy," someone said.

Said girl looked around the courtyard. "Did…did you hear someone say something?" Natsu nodded. "Where?"

Natsu pointed to Lucy's feet with his tail. Lucy followed and her gaze landed upon a leather bound book with a blue ribbon hanging out of it and an anvil next to it. What made Lucy freak out was that she saw the book moving on its own, having a pair of eyes and a mouth. The anvil had a pair of eyes and a mouth too, but it had arms. Arms.

"The hell happened?!" Lucy yelled.

"Will you not be so loud Lucy?!" Lucy turned around and was facing a goblet with eyes and a mouth. "I am very drunk right now and I'd like to sleep!"

"That voice…" Lucy picked up the silver goblet before looking into its eyes. Brown eyes, that voice…and drunk? "Cana?"

"Bingo! Let's drink to celebrate!" the goblet yelled.

"And you two…" An anvil. "Gajeel." The anvil held a thumbs up. "And…" Lucy picked up the book and stared into its hazel eyes. "Levy-chan?"

"Yeah Lu-chan. Funny how I get turned into a book."

"But, how?"

Like I saw Luce. Some old lady turned us into random stuff. She placed a curse on Jellal and everyone in the castle.

"Take me to him," Lucy said. Natsu nodded.

The doors opened and Lucy looked inside the castle. It had changed too. It wasn't bright and lively anymore. It was dark and gloomy. So much could change in five days. Lucy noticed that some of the paintings of the prince's ancestors were off the walls and placed backwards against it. The curtains that were hung on the walls were ripped up. The painting at the platform on the stairs of the prince was shredded. The fairies and lively paintings in the castle were changed into devils and demonic artistry. The castle hallways were increased in size to moderate Natsu's new body.

"What about everyone else Levy-chan?" the blonde asked the book.

"Well, Juvia is now a water jar. Gray is a sculpting hammer. Mira and Lisanna are dusters. Elfman is a stove. Ever is a gardening hoe. Loke is a candelabra. Reedus is a paint brush. Max and Warren are clocks. Macao is a teapot and Romeo is a tea cup. Wakaba is a pipe. And Little Wendy is a medical kit."

"Is there a way to break to curse? Like another spell to counteract it?" Lucy asked as Gajeel lead the way up the steps to the prince's chambers in the West Wing.

The anvil grunted. "Not other than making a girl fall in love with him."

"That'll be easy," Lucy said. "The prince has magnificent looks." Lucy's eyes glazed over for a second, thinking about Jellal's piercing and mysterious looks. Natsu caught it.

He growled.

Lucy looked to the dragon and smiled. "Don't worry Natsu. I don't like the prince like that."

They reached the prince's room. Lucy was about to knock on the door, but it opened on its own. Lucy looked back to the others. They nodded and she walked in. The prince's room, which he always made sure was tidy, was in wreckage. His bed had been ripped to shreds. The paintings were destroyed. Furniture was flipped around. The thing that remained standing was a small side table with a glowing rose in a glass case.

Lucy walked up to the case and touched the glass softly. Hoping that it wasn't going to break under her touch. She turned her head to the side. Why does Jellal have this here? He-Lucy heard breathing by her neck. She turned around but something shoved her into a stone column.

Lucy! Natsu yelled.

"Lucy?" a gruff voice said.

"My Lord," Levy said. "That's Lucy; she's returned."

Lucy managed to see a bulk figure in the dull lighting of the room. It was massive and seemed to be covered in fur? She saw horns poking out of its head. Lucy stood up and leaned against the column.

"My Prince?" she asked.

The figure walked into the light. It looked like a bear as it was covered with blue fur. Its brown eyes were peering down to Lucy from its eight-foot stature. Its horns were black and curled at the ends. Its clothes were tattered and dirty as if they weren't changed for days. Lucy noticed that there was a marking on its right eyes.

"It is you Jellal," Lucy said. "Wow, even your voice changed."

"I wish you hadn't returned, being honest Lucy," Jellal said, turning away from her gaze.

"We all do," Levy said, bending her book as if she was bending her head.

"What do you mean?"

You could've been free…Free from living with us with this curse, Natsu said. He turned his head away. You could've had a normal life without us Luce.

"That would mean leaving you all to break this curse on your own," Lucy said. "I couldn't let you do that. I couldn't do that to myself knowing that the people I love are under a curse and I chose to leave them in the middle of it."

"Lucy, I don't want to make you help us," Jellal said. "Only stay if you desire to do so. But know that a lot of responsibilities will fall to you."

Like protecting the castle.

"Taking care of the library."

"Making weapons."

"And tasting the wine!"

Lucy smiled. "I have to do this for all of us My Prince." Lucy went to her knees and bowed before Jellal. "I wish to stay and assist you into becoming a human again with your servants."

Luce…

Jellal nodded. "As you wish Lucy."

"So, how do we break this curse?" Lucy asked standing up.

"The old woman said that Jellal has to fall in love with someone and that same someone has to fall in love with him because of his heart and kindness."

"That seems simple enough," Lucy said. She looked out from the balcony to the village across the lake. "We could go into town and find someone."

"Easier said than done Bunny Girl," Gajeel said. "If we all go into town, all of the girls will run away."

Plus we have a time limit Luce. Natsu pointed his tail to the rose in the glass case. We only have until the last petal falls.

"I see."

"No use in trying to fix it in one night," Jellal said. He turned to his servants. "Off to bed. Everyone will continue to live on with our lives as before while Lucy, Levy, and I decide on what to do. Understood?"

"Yes Sir," everyone said.

"Lucy, you must be tired. I wish for you to go to bed immediately."

"Yes My Prince."

As the door closed behind his servants, Jellal placed a clawed paw on the glass case protecting the rose. He sighed.

Who would ever want to fall in love with a beast?

Lucy had slipped into her nightgown when she walked out to the balcony where Natsu was hovering about. The girl looked over the different landscape.

"It's so different now Natsu," Lucy said to him.

Natsu nodded in agreement. That witch changed more than our appearances. Natsu turned his dragon head to Lucy, she looked back to him with her head tilted to the side.

"What is it Natsu?" she asked.

Why did you stay? he asked.

Lucy sighed. "Well, I have nowhere else to go. When I got to my hometown, my father was lying on his deathbed. He died on the third day of my visit. I have no other family now other than the one I have here. With you, the prince, and the others. I couldn't leave you only in this condition."

Natsu showed a small smile. He rubbed his head against Lucy's arm. Thank you Lucy.

Lucy smiled back before stroking his scales. "I will always be there for you Natsu." She bent down and placed a kiss on his head before pulling away. "Goodnight, My Dragon."

Natsu emitted a sound from his throat. Goodnight Luce. Natsu flew down to the courtyard to go to sleep.

Lucy smiled down to the dragon before turning to her bed. She left her balcony door open; she liked the breeze coming through it and she liked the feeling that Natsu was right below her on the ground. She slipped into her bed, pulling the covers over her body before closing her brown eyes.

Ten Years Later

For ten years, the rose lasted. Lucy and Levy were working on different ways to change everyone back but to no avail in ten years. Everyone carried on with their lives through. Gray still continued sculpting for the prince, using his head more often. Juvia had to get used to the feeling of water literally in her head. Levy found out that Lucy flipping through her pages made her dizzy. Gajeel knows that using himself as an anvil is a bad idea. Cana doesn't get as drunk anymore being a cup. Loke continued to flirt with Lucy and the other females of the castle, but Natsu would burn his candles. Romeo and Macao tried not to break anymore. Wakaba knows that he shouldn't smoke while being a pipe himself. Max and Warren know never to let Lucy twirling the hands on the clocks for to long to avoid puking up bolts. Mira and Lisanna can't dance anymore before turning the room into a sneeze factory. And Elfman knows not to say 'Man' anymore while the burners were one.

The villagers that once stayed in the village across the lake had left. Fearing the dragon that protected the land they stayed on and from the prince who was turned into a monster.

Lucy stayed through it all. With her friends watching her grow up to become a beautiful young woman. But, she whenever she went into town she never went out with the village boys. She would always return to Natsu and head back to their home at Fairy Tail.

But, one day, going to the market in the town, Lucy noticed that something was going to happen. Something different. She was going to meet someone. Someone important. The blonde just didn't know how the person was important.

{Line Skip}

"Oh, for the love of Christ Natsu! Will you stop whining already?" Lucy yelled to her dragon protector in a clearing.

They were out on the monthly shopping trip. Lucy usually rode on Natsu as it was faster than by unicorn. Lucy placed an empty basket on the ground as she began placing some of their friends into her bag. Levy the book, Gray the hammer, Mira the duster, and Loke the candelabra.

Lucy and her well developed body, thanks to ten years, stood up tall. Her long legs were covered by black stockings and a pair of brown boots. She wore a short black skirt that was well above mid-thigh. But her exposed skin was covered by a navy blue jacket that flared out at the bottom. Her chest was exposed, making the dragon uncomfortable thinking about the lecherous stares Lucy will get in town. A blue cat sat on Lucy's shoulder; it was Natsu's cat, Happy.

I don't want you to go alone Luce, Natsu said.

Lucy sighed. "Natsu, I'll be fine. Trust me, I'll handle pervs on my own. I mean, I already handle you and Loke pretty well on my own. I think I'll be fine against a couple of village men."

I'm not a perv! Natsu yelled.

Loke poked one of his candle arms. "Guilty as charge Princess."

I told you stop calling her that, Natsu said.

Only I'm allowed to call Luce Princess, the dragon thought. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Lucy's hand on his nose.

"I'll be fine Natsu, really. I just don't want the villagers attacking you like last time," she said, whispering the last part.

Natsu sighed, remembering the last time Natsu went into a village. People had called Lucy a witch for associating with a dragon. She had tried her best to defend him, but to no avail. The villagers started throwing rocks at her. That was when Natsu snapped, nearly burning the villagers with their burning village. That village was the one across the lake from the castle of Fairy Tail.

Natsu nodded before pulling away from Lucy. Only to lay his head gently on top of hers in his loving gesture. Stay safe.

"I will."

Lucy patted Natsu's scales one last time before picking up the basket. She turned around and waved to Natsu before walking towards the small village up ahead. It was market day and Lucy felt that she was going to meet someone in the village. Someone that could possibly be the end of the curse.