The Knight and the Beast

Chapter Four: A Guest to Prisoner of Fairy Tail

Erza's grandfather certainly didn't believe her when she said that she saw a blonde riding a dragon. They don't exist. Blonde hair was thought to be extinct and dragons too. He was thinking that it was an excuse she was making for not getting the metal he needed.

He sighed as he polished the last weapon of the day. He looked out of the window. The sun was nowhere near setting. He might be able to make it to the next town by nightfall if he left soon and took the shortcut through the forest.

The old man hopped off from his seat before he reached the wash bucket in his workshop. He wiped his face from the soot and threw it over his shoulder. He walked out of the shop, looking over his granddaughter practising in the yard.

He watched her as her muscles tensed under the sun's rays and as she swung her sword, his son's sword, around. Her legs were tense in her fighting stance. Her baggy white shirt was covered in sweat and her flowing black skirt circled around her.

"Erza."

The woman looked up and saw her grandfather. "Yes Grandfather?"

"Why don't you leave this land and become a knight like your father? Like what you want to be?"

Erza smiled sadly to the ground as she stuck the blade in the dirt. Her gaze shifted to the blue sky and she shrugged. "I don't think I'm ready to leave you yet." She turned back to him. "Someone has to look after you."

The old man smiled before walking to the front door. He turned his dark eyes to the young woman. "Erza, get the horse ready."

"You're leaving Grandfather?" Erza asked as she wiped her forehead from sweat. "Where to?"

"The next town over. Some of the men in the town want their swords and spears to be in tiptop shape."

"For what? There's no danger to the town," Erza said.

"You forgot about the dragon already have you?" her grandfather mocked playfully.

Erza rolled her brown eyes. "That dragon was there Grandfather, whether you believe me or not."

The old man chuckled. "Get the horse ready Child." With that, he walked into the cabin to get ready.

Erza walked over to the stables where their brown horse was kept. She placed the saddle and bridle on him before securing the reigns. She walked him over to the front of the cabin where her grandfather was waiting wearing a cap on his head and brown clothes. He strapped a bag to the saddle.

He turned to Erza. "Be good Erza. Stay out of trouble."

Erza bent down to give her grandfather a hug before placing him on the saddle. "I will Grandfather. Be safe."

He nodded before flicking the reigns. "I'll be back in three days." He rode off towards the forest to the west.

Erza stayed behind, waving behind his back. The redhead had an ache in her stomach. She had a worried face on as she looked to where her grandfather rode off to.

Why do I feel uneasy? she thought as she turned back to the cabin.

{Line Skip}

"You shouldn't have brought Natsu out Lucy."

The blonde bowed her head, the dragon beside her growled. It wasn't her fault! She was getting bothered by a couple of jack-

"Natsu…" the blonde said.

A sigh echoed through the ruined room. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"My…Master." Lucy stood up properly. Her blue dress reached the ground, the wind from the open balcony blew so that the white fabric underneath the blue was showed. The low cut on the corset showed her assets and the sleeves were cut short to show off the alabaster skin on Lucy's arms. "I understand that what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have brought Natsu out. So, if you are going us, let it just be me. Natsu had nothing to do with it."

The voice sighed. "I won't punish you. Both of you, leave me."

Lucy curtsied as the dragon bowed its head.

"As you wish Master," Lucy said.

She led Natsu out of the room, leaving the voice to ponder by themselves. The blonde sighed heavily as she threw her head back.

"We need to get him out of that room," she said. "He'll go crazy."

Natsu scoffed. I think he's accepted the fact that no one will come along.

Lucy stopped in her tracks and glared to the dragon. He in turned stopped to look at the blonde. He saw hurt in her brown eyes and he knew what he'd done. The dragon sighed before wrapping his tail around Lucy lovingly.

I'm sorry Luce.

"I can't have you or everyone else thinking that way Natsu," Lucy said, placing a hand on his tail. "I want everything to be back to the way it was."

I know.

The blonde sighed before she continued walking with the red dragon closer to her. They walked through the large corridors of the castle they live in. Lucy couldn't look at the demonic paintings hanging on the wall. Too evil for anyone's taste. Especially hers.

Natsu's head shot up. Lucy looked up to him. He started growling from the back of his throat. Lucy placed a hand on his scales, snapping him out of his thoughts and looked down to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Someone's here, he said.

"An intruder?"

No. The others must've brought them in willingly.

{Line Skip}

"Stupid map," Erza's grandfather said as he held the map up and down. He sighed. "I think we're lost Philippe."

The horse neighed before leading the way.

The old man moved his head to the side. "Where are we going? There's no town for miles."

The horse kept walking; the old man sat on the saddle, waiting out the ride. He saw a town hidden in the forest foliage.

"Strange. I never knew that there was a town." He noticed that there weren't any lights or signs of life in the town. "It looks like no one has been living there for years."

Philippe pointed his nose to the dark, ominous looking castle. There were lights in the castle, meaning that there were people in it. But, the old man couldn't take the chance of dying in a strange castle without saying his final goodbyes to Erza.

The old man looked to the horse. "You are not being serious right now."

Philippe shook his head up and down. The old man sighed.

"I should not be following a horse's advice," the old man grumbled.

Despite what the old man thought of the castle, they made their way over the bridge to the castle gates. The wind creaked the iron works open and Philippe made his way in. The courtyard seemed to be in use recently. The old man could smell the freshly made weapons from the smith's shop. He heard animals sleeping in the stables and water was streaming from the fountain.

"The town's abandoned but the castle isn't," the old man hummed. "Strange."

"Not really," a light voice said.

The old man was startled and so was Philippe. The horse jumped off, bucking the old man off his back before he ran over the bright.

"Philippe!"

"Don't worry, we have more horses for you to borrow," the light voice said.

"Who…Who are you? And where are you?"

"My name is Levy," the voice said.

"Levy?"

"Shrimp! What are you doing?" a gruff voice asked.

"Helping an elderly person out," the one named Levy said.

Where are these two? The old man thought as he looked around the courtyard. His dark eyes stopped on an anvil that was in the centre, but the old man could've sworn that it wasn't there before. A leather-bound book was in front of the anvil.

"Strange…" he said, picking up the book. "I could've sworn these weren't here before."

"Put the Shrimp down if you know what's good for ya!" The gruff voice came from the anvil.

A sigh was emitted from the book. "It's not like his going to kill me Gajeel!" The light voice came from the book.

"Bunny Girl and Master might if they find out."

"What?" The old man turned the book around and was looking into hazel eyes. "What?!" He looked down to the anvil to see piercing red eyes and arms popping out of the sides. "WHAT?!"

"Shh! Keep it down! Or else Natsu will find us," the book said. The old man felt it shiver in his hand. "Or worse, Lu-chan will."

"Lu-chan?"

"She's essentially everyone's caretaker and the castle guardian," the book said.

"And you are?"

"I already told you; I'm Levy," the book said. It turned to the anvil. "And that's Gajeel."

"Uh…Nice to meet you," the old man said.

"Wish I could say the same thing," Gajeel the anvil said. "Now get out."

"Gajeel!" Levy cried.

"You remember the last time we let an elderly person enter the castle Shrimp."

Levy sighed. "That was over ten years ago."

"Still…Plus Bunny Girl and Salamander wouldn't allow it. Let alone what Master might say."

"I'll take the blame," Levy said. "Lu-chan never gets mad at me. It's always you, Natsu, Gray, or Loke."

"Can't stop you, can I Shrimp?" Gajeel asked.

"Nope. Now Sir, let's get you warmed up," Levy said. She jumped out of the old man's hands and hopped her way to the door. She knocked on it before turning back to him. "I think you'll be very surprised when you meet everyone. Especially Lu-chan."

"I can't wait," the old man said.

Gajeel grunted as he shimmied his way up the steps of the castle. "I just hope Master's not with Bunny Girl and Salamander if you get discovered."

As the three entered the castle, the old man noticed that it was dark inside and the air was stale, as if no one had opened a window in years. The paintings hanging on the walls weren't in the best shape and some were ripped beyond repair. The statues and murals along the walls had a demonic feel to them.

"This is a dark looking place," the old man muttered. He heard Levy sigh.

"It used to be a bright, lively place. But, an old woman came along and cursed our master along with us," she said. "Come this way."

They turned left, making their way into a lounging area. A large chair was near the fire.

"Take the seat by the fire," Levy said. "I'll get the maids to bring you some tea."

"Is it alright?"

"No," Gajeel said, "but since you're here, might as well treat you as a guest."

The old man nodded and sat in the comfortable chair. Levy smiled before whistling a low tune. The sound of rolling wheels approached the lounge. A trolley pulled up next to the chair. On it was a teapot, a teacup, and a duster. Its blue eyes sparkled in the fire.

"Hello there," it said. "My name is Mira, and on behalf of everyone in Fairy Tail, welcome to the castle." She turned to the teapot. "Oh Mrs. Potts!"

"That's not even my name Mira-chan!" the teapot grunted. "I'm a man first of all."

"But Dad," the teacup said. "You're not even human."

"Oh shut up Romeo."

Levy giggled at the man's expression. "Told you. The teapot's name is Macao and his son, Romeo, is the teacup. Mira is the head maid of the castle."

"And Fairy Tail?" the old man asked as Macao finished pouring warm tea into his son and he picked it up.

"Fairy Tail is the castle that you're in's name. And you shouldn't be here."

The old man turned around to see a busty blonde woman standing in the archway. Behind her was a red dragon. His dark eyes widened.

Erza was right.

"Who brought him here?" the woman asked, looking around the objects. "Mira?" The duster shook no. "Romeo?" The teacup trembled under the blonde's brown eyes. "Gajeel wouldn't for sure." Her eyes scanned around the lounge until she met with hazel orbs. "Levy-chan…You didn't."

"He seemed lost Lu-chan, what was I supposed to do?" Levy said.

"Not talk to him, that's for sure," Gajeel said.

The dragon behind this Lu-chan chuckled. Lu-chan glared to the dragon and it stopped immediately. She sighed before turning back to the group in the lounge.

"The pr-Master has strict rules on people entering the castle premises," she said. "I don't want the same thing that happened ten years ago happen again!"

"What's this?" a deep voice said.

The old man immediately noticed the blonde tense up before she turned around and fell to her knees. He saw a large, brawly figure behind the dragon. The red dragon moved out of the figure's way and stood protectively behind Lu-chan.

"Master. It's my fault. I let him in," the blonde said.

The old man noticed how this woman took the blame from the others and pinned it onto herself. He looked to the dragon; it had worry gleaming in its onyx eyes.

"Hm. I see," the figure, the old man thought was the master of the castle, said. He walked towards the old man. The old man backed up until his back reached the fireplace. "I don't suppose you know what happens to those who stumble across Fairy Tail and the village of Magnolia, do you?"

"N-No, I c-can't say th-that I do…Sir."

"Well, to put it in simple terms…" The figure stood in the light, revealing a large fur covered body. It was tall, much taller than the old man who was already shorter than an average man. Horns popped out from its head like a demon's. It's fangs peered over its lip. The old man was paralyzed with fear. "…They become a prisoner in Fairy Tail."