Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Fairy Tail, so please don't sue me.
(Ten years ago)
Herald was a simple guy; he went to work every day and tried his very hardest to serve the king to the best of his ability. The other guards sometimes laughed at his intense devotion to serving the royal house, where he even dressed up in Leopard printed armor and danced around when the king's party was in desperate need of entertainment. Most of the time, his co-workers tried to copy his movements. They all loved working for the king. He was probably the best ruler they had in their history.
One day, Herald was guarding the gates, scanning his environment every couple of seconds. It was on one of these scans that he registered a young child standing a little ways from him. The kid was staring at the gates, as if he could just will them to burst open and welcome him in.
"Oy!" Herald yelled, "What are you doing, kid?" The young boy's eyes locked on his form, rendering Herald immobile. There was something about his eyes, a dark and desolate black, that wasn't...right. The kid slowly started to walk in his direction, every footstep he took being louder than the first.
"I'd like to have an audience with the King," he stood up straight and crossed his arms in what Herald could only assume to be meant in a threatening way. The man held down the intense bout of laughter he wanted to release and asked the child to identify himself.
"Laxus," the boy answered, emitting an air of superiority, "Laxus Dreyer." Of course Herald recognized the name: Makarov Dreyer was the master of Fairy Tail, the most famous guild in Fiore and the king's personal favorite. Upon closer inspection, the child, underneath his oversized fur coat and giant headphones, looked like the happy boy who stood next to Makarov at the last wizard's gathering at the castle. But, if this was the same kid, then why was he here, distorting the air with his gloomy aura, when he could be at Fairy Tail?
"That's good for you kid," the guard laughed, "but you ain't getting an audience with the King."
"I don't think you heard me right, sir," Laxus' eyes shined dangerously, too dangerous for a kid his age, and he took a step closer to the poor guard. "I wasn't really asking," the boy's voice cracked, making him wince before he continued, "It was an order."
Herald tried to hold back. He really didn't want to humiliate this poor kid, but the second his voice achieved the same frequency as his little girl, he was done. Falling to the ground, he promply burst into a bought of insane laughter, catching the attention of anyone within a 30 foot radius of the front palace gates. Most of the attention belonged to the other gate guards, who just rolled their eyes and tried to pretend that they didn't know who the man in front of the main gate was. "An audience with the King?" Herald cried, "I suppose you'd like me to get you a solid gold chair to sit on too!"
Laxus regarded this act with distaste, crinkling his nose and crossing his arms in irritation. Like all teenagers, he hated it when adults didn't take him seriously, almost as much he hated his grandfather and bacon. Even more so when the said adult was laughing at him for more than five minutes straight. By the time Herald's giggles had almost subsided, Laxus had had enough with this guard's antics and decided that he was just going to have to use force. With the most peculiar look on his face (something akin to pleasure, but with a strange sadness that didn't fit), Laxus laid his hand on the guard's shaking back and let loose a small portion of his power.
Herald started shaking again, bu this time, it wasn't because he was laughing.
"I'll say it again," the young boy started in an eerily calm voice, "I would like to have an audience with the king," he took his hand off the shocked man, who now looked at him in utter fear. Without another word Herald, the kings #1 fan, the loyal servant who had pledged his life to protect the royal family, hopped up and ordered the gates to be opened to let this monster in. Laxus smiled, making the man gulp, and walked through the gates. Herald scurried after him, pointing the way though the confusing maze of hallways and doors. Though the odd pair received strange looks, the castle staff took one look at Herald's seal and left them alone. Not one guard tried to stop them. They arrived at a giant door, made completely of colored, stained glass. The distorted figure of the king paced in the inside of the room, the reds and oranges of the glass making him look like he was bleeding.
"Thank you, Herald," Laxus waved the man away, "You may go back to your post."
"Yes...sir,"Herald bowed his head hesitantly, and with a sinking feeling in his stomach he watched the beast of a boy open the doors and walk inside. As soon he was out of sight, Herald was running. He knew the secret of that room: if you walk into the King's office and find the secret door, you can walk to the second entrance to the room. It was a fact known to only a select few, and Herald realized that it was perfect for both protection and for eavesdropping on conversations. It took him a mere 30 seconds to slide into His Majesty's office, and another 20 to locate the door and slip inside.
"I know your secret," a young voice declared confidently. Herald could almost hear the smirk on the runt's face. He heard a heavy pair of footsteps come to a stop, and another lighter pair walk forward. Was this kid going to try to hurt the king? Even he must realize that it would be suicide in this castle; there was a regiment of specially trained wizards that could kill the most powerful wizards in under a minute.
"And what secret would that be?" Herald heard the King's unmistakable voice ask. A creepy, high pitched laughter floated into the guards ears.
"I saw you," Laxus sung, his light footsteps across the floor indicating that he was dancing around the king. He could hear a whisper, something that sounded like "cheeping", but even when he cupped his ears to the door, Herald couldn't hear a word of what was just said.
"You're bluffing," the king snapped, but there was a little undertone of doubt that could be distinctively heard. "What proof do you have?"
"Maybe I have some pictures, maybe I don't," the young voice laughed, "But do you really want to risk it?"
There was a silence as he waited for an answer. Then, there was a defeated sigh.
"What do you want?" The king asked, agitated. Herald held back a noise of surprise at this. The king was giving up this easily? The king, who once tricked an entire royal court into giving up their houses to their poor for a month?
"Oh, not much," the young boy's smile was conveyed though his tone, "All you have to do is close down every guild and deem them illegal..."
(Present Day)
"I have an audience with the king," Laxus said smugly, smiling at the same guard who stood at the royal gate so long ago. The man still looked at him with the same fear he did on that fateful day, so with no delay he was commanding that the gate be opened because an important man had an audience with the king. Erza Scarlet watched the interaction between the two with suspicious eyes.
"Follow me," the guard took off in the direction of the castle, taking them through a confusing path of hallways and doorways. They passed plenty of employees, who whispered passed tiny pieces of gossip among each other as they stopped to stare at the strange procession of people. The trio came to a rest in front of two large doors made entirely of stained glass. Squinting her eyes, Erza was able to see the outline of a very tall and very important man. Laxus walked up to the doors, and as a faithful bodyguard, Erza tried to follow him.
Or, maybe she was very curious about what kind of business warranted an audience with the leader of their country.
"Erza," Laxus turned to her, "You can go wait at the gates. This won't take me long," Laxus gave her a piercing gaze, foretelling horrors if she tried to stick around outside the door, and turned to walk inside. Suspicious and angry, Erza started to stalk back towards the entry gates; she was just going to have to take yet another visit to the House to try to figure out what was going on. To her surprise, however, she felt a slight tug on her wrist. Erza turned around to find the guard, who had escorted them in, motioning her to follow him. The pair ran through the hallways, entering a huge office and then passing through an almost invisible door. The guard pointed to the door and back to his ear, indicating that she should try to listen carefully. She did, leaning as close to the door as she could and concentrating on the conversation inside.
"Laxus," a tired voice greeted, "It's been a long time. To what pleasure do I owe this visit?"
"I came with another request, my lord," Erza heard her boss's unfaltering voice answer. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion: another request?
"Oh? And what would that be?" The king asked.
"I have a list of people who taken treasonous actions towards the government," Laxus started innocently, "I think you know what needs to be done with them."
"Of course."
"That is all, then," Laxus started to walk away, but then his heavy footsteps stopped. "Oh, one more thing, my lord," he sounded amused as his feet squeaked on the floor. The guard next to Erza stiffened, and in the next second he pushed her to the side. She looked up in time to see the man fall to the ground, trembling and foaming at the mouth.
"What?" she panicked, looking between the man and the door. He just saved her, but why?
"You...have to...save...him," the man panted.
"Save who?" She asked.
"The...king. They're going...to-" Erza tried to catch his final words, but then she realized it. He wasn't speaking softly; in fact, he wasn't even breathing. Shocked, Erza sat and started at the dead man before be brain started working again. She dragged the guard back into the office and started to run out of the room, and her mind was churning as she sprinted to beat Laxus to the front gates. Why did she have to save the king? What was Laxus planning to do? Why is he able to meet with the king in the first place?
When was she going to be able to answer all of these questions?
Natsu heaved a sigh from his chair, causing the people around him to throw some stares his way. The boy didn't really care about them, of course, but he was starting to get annoyed at the length of this dream; it seemed like he had been sitting in the uncomfortable chair forever. If his subconscious was trying to annoy him, then it had succeeded.
"I know, son," a familiar voice sighed next to him, "if only there was enough time to appreciate them all."
Natsu whipped his head to the side to see his father kneeling next to him. Igneel didn't look at his son, who he had left on the Guild's doorstep so many years ago but instead he was scanning the crowd, eyes shining when he picked out a particularly pretty girl. Natsu would be really pissed off, if this Igneel had actually been his father. After all, the real Igneel had been a mighty dragon; this one was a mere manifestation of what his father would look like if he was a human.
"What are you doing here?" Natsu asked anyway, playing along with the fake. His father chuckled, as if it was a stupid question to ask why his 10 year disappearance was ended. He then turned to his son with a wicked looking glint in his eye.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" He asked, "I'm finding a pretty girl! Human women aren't full of scales like dragons," He waved his hand in a grandiose way, turning Natsu's head toward the crowd. He felt kind of stupid because he thought he was in the House; the same loud and obnoxious music was playing, the same overwhelming smell of cheap perfume and the same mob of people were grinding against each other. Upon closer observation, however, Natsu noted one key difference: the mob was mostly males crowding around a select group of females.
"Where are we?" Natsu asked once again.
"It's your dream, shouldn't you know?" Igneel stood up and nudged Natsu to do the same. Cautiously, the boy copied his father and scanned the crowd. This was his dream, but where was he?
"Oh, she's nice," Igneel sighed, "But, too young for me."
"Is women all you think about, Igneel?" Natsu scoffed, still searching for a familiar face, but so far, he could only see faceless dream people.. His father always was a player. Or so he thought, from all the weird stories he would tell him when he was a kid.
"Is there something else I should be thinking about?" He asked. Natsu glared at him.
"What? I'm kidding," his father rolled his eyes at his son's reaction.
"Sure you are."
"I swear to- oh hel-lo~" Igneel's eyes widened as a particularly beautiful bombshell started walking towards them. He grabbed Natsu's face and turned it so that he was facing whoever was coming towards them. Dark brown eyes met his, making his breathing hitch. Behind him, Igneel whistled lowly and nudged his son's shoulder.
"Do you know her?" His father asked, impressed.
"Well-"
"Welcome back, Natsu," The woman sauntered up to them, resting on hand on her cocked hip and offering a sultry smile.
"Lucy?" Natsu asked, taken aback; not only were her actions uncharacteristically bold, but her dress was the same way: she was wearing something similar to what he wore at the house, but instead of a red shirt she only had a red bra and the black pants were replaced with a black skirt. It wasn't even the clothes that was surprising, it was the fact that she looked completely at ease in them. He had hard enough time making her dress like a regular person, much less like a slut on Halloween.
"Who else would it be?" She laughed, taking one step closer. Natsu took one step back.
"You're looking different," he commented uneasily.
"Don't you like it?" She giggled, twirling around. "You're the one that gave it to me."
"Wow," Igneel whistled, "I need to give you more credit, son." Natsu glared at his father, who just shrugged and stepped back to melt into the crowd.
"I can't remember doing that," Natsu said.
"That hurts, Natsu," Lucy whined, stepping towards him once again and grabbing his scarf before he could distance himself. She tugged on the material, lowering his head to her level. Without thinking, Natsu placed his hands on her hips to steady himself, falling into the girls trap. Smirking, Lucy let go of his scarf and snaked her arms around his neck, effectively trapping the poor boy in her grasp.
"What are you doing?" Natsu's breathing hitched at her close proximity.
"What do you think?" She whispered into his ear. "It's your dream." Stepping even closer, she tilted her head up and-
"May I cut in?" A deep voice interrupted. The two broke apart, Lucy with a smile and Natsu with a murderous glare. The faceless man ignored Natsu and offered his arm to Lucy who,with a wink and a little wave, walked onto the dance floor with the man.
"Hey, if she isn't your girlfriend, can I have a go?" Igneel materialized next to Natsu.
"Stay away from her," the boy snapped, causing his father to laugh.
"Oh, so scary," Igneel mocked.
"I'm serious old man," Natsu growled.
"Really? Well, looks like you're doing a fantastic job of protecting her," Igneel gestured to the girl in question, who was currently being felt up on all sides by men. Contrary to the smile she wore a minute ago, she now held a look of torment. Natsu raised his foot to start walking in her direction, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"You can't protect her," His father laughed. "You're too weak."
"Oh yeah?" Natsu muttered. He spun around and threw his fist, hitting his father square in the nose. The man cried in pain and sunk to the floor, cradling his face in his hands. Natsu grabbed his shirt front and pulled the man to his feet. "Watch me," he spat, abruptly letting the man go and spinning around to go punch the other guy in the face. However, the guy had disappeared. Everyone and everything had disappeared, in fact. The now disoriented boy spun around, trying to locate the one person who mattered to him. Where was she?
"Natsu" Eerie voices called out to him from all directions. He didn't care. Where was she?
"Natsu."
Where? Where could she have gone?
"Natsu, wake up."
He couldn't wake up. Not until he found her. Where? Where was she?
"Natsu!" Lucy's voice cut across the nothingness. "GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT OF MY BED!"
He woke up, his dream flying away like a bird in the sky.
Lucy watched with slight amusement as her friend flopped out of her bed like a deranged fish. Of course, she was more annoyed at the fact that he was sleeping in her bed to begin with, even more so because she had become accustomed to the behavior. One day, she was going to get a lock on her window so Natsu couldn't sneak into her apartment so late at night. She could imagine the panicked look on his face as he tapped desperately on her window before he fell off the ledge.
"Lucy whyyyyyy?" Natsu groaned into her hard wood floors. Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, Lucy walked over and plopped down on his back, relishing the fact that she was able to overpower him for once. He let out another groan.
"Well, if you stopped sleeping in my bed, maybe this wouldn't have happened," she snapped, hitting his head lightly.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Will you please get of me?" He begged.
"Why?"
"You're heavy."
"I am not," Lucy huffed, crossing her arms. She waited a couple of seconds and then got up anyway.
"Yes you are," Happy chimed in from his spot on the bed. Barely suppressing a scream, Lucy picked up her slipper and threw it at the mischievous feline. To her dismay, the cat was able to dodge it easily.
"Shut up, you stupid cat!" she yelled, stomping her foot in frustration. Happy flew to cower behind Natsu, fully prepared to use his human as a shield if necessary. Lucy may have horrible aim, but she was very scary when she is mad.
"Just get out of here," she groaned. "Both of you."
"But Lucy, we had plans today," Happy complained.
"I'll play with you when you learn to stop breaking into my house," she snapped, making the cat cower behind Natsu once more.
"You have a date in a week, Luce," Natsu yawned and streatched, "it's either now or never."
"It's not a date!" She insisted, stomping her foot once again. "It's a meeting between intellectual individuals!"
"Whatever," Natsu waved off her interruption, "We need to get going on this normal stuff."
"Fine. Where are we going to go?" She asked, walking over to her dresser to grab some clothes.
Natsu paused at the question. He felt like he was supposed to remember something, something very important. However, he wasn't able to recall anything, not even the dream he had before he woke up. So, it was with some hesitation when he answered.
"The House of Aces."
Heh heh, hey guys. What's up?
….
yeah, I know you don't want to hear my lame excuses as to why this chapter is 3 months late. School sucks, and I have been having weekends where I do an average of 11 hours worth of homework. I also took my first SAT last weekend. Woohoo. Tests. Yeah, I wanted to kill myself.
And then, I forgot where this story was going, so I had to re-read the whole thing over again (so, if I had a plan originally for this chapter, that is LONG gone) and then I realized how much patience you all must have: to me, the writing quality is horrible, but maybe it's just because I'm really hard on myself when it comes to writing.
Anyway, NEVER FEAR! I will never stop this story until it is finished! And, I actually had split this chapter, so you can expect an update within a week or so. This is part one of two. Yay!
Is it too much if I ask you to review?
~NeverMakesSense