Chapter 7
The Heart is but a Fried Pickle
As the dull hum of extraneous conversation buzzed around her, the previous sequence of events flurried past Lucy's subdued conciseness quickly and in flashes, her glazed over eyes not seeing the present as her mind remained locked on the past.
She was dancing with Natsu. He was getting so close to her.
And then he tackled her to the ground, saving her from certain death.
She remembered the lethal arrow burying itself into the ground after missing its target.
Natsu had yelled something at the guards.
The scenery changed from dark, cool, and peaceful, to bright, hot, and urgent as she was rushed inside the castle by a new set of servants.
She remembered insisting that Natsu remain by her side.
He insisted the same.
She was now sitting on a couch in the heart of Fiore Castle, the royal family's chambers, in the parlor of her parent's living area. Even though Natsu was sitting not too far too her right, she still felt stiff and suffocated beneath a tension suspended in the air so thick not even a knife could cut it. Her father paced back and forth with his meaty arms crossed, his face scrunched up with intense anger and concentration.
"The castle is all clear, your highness." A particularly authoritative castle guard articulated to the King with his back straight and hands clasped behind his back. "The suspect is nowhere inside the castle."
"Then search outside of it!" The King demanded, taking out his anger on the messenger. "Gather patrols and search all of Crocus if you must. That would-be assassin can't have made it far. I do not want anyone to rest until the bastard who tried to kill my daughter is captured and hanged for his treason!"
Lucy's ears only managed to hear every other word her father spoke. His deep and vengeful roar was more than enough to scare Lucy back into her own thoughts.
Who tried to kill her? And why? Fiore was in a period of unprecedented peace. It made no sense for someone to retaliate against the crown in such a manner. Of course, being in such a position of power, there are always crazies who wish to see the world burn, but those sort of criminals never make it past the front gates. Whoever broke into the castle was skillful and must have a solid purpose. An even more frightening thought was the notion that someone inside the castle could be the perpetrator. Shaking off that sickening thought, Lucy returned to her state of vacant stupor.
"You were with my daughter when this happened, no?" Now that the guard has left the room, King Jude turned his attention to Natsu, who was still taking in his surroundings with curious eyes.
"Yeah." Natsu nodded and then quickly amended his statement when he remembered who he was talking to. "I mean, yes, your highness."
"What did you see?" He snapped.
"Not much. I only saw a dark silhouette of a person in the window. He disappeared pretty quickly after he fired the arrow."
"And you were the one who saved my daughter's life?" He asked, his tone softening slightly.
"Yes, sir."
"Then you have my deepest thanks along with the gratitude of the entire kingdom. You will be repaid handsomely for your services."
"That's really not necessary." Natsu said quickly. He wasn't sure what the King meant by 'being repaid handsomely', but he did know that he wasn't ready to be bombarded with excessive thank you presents. "I only did what anyone would have done."
The King merely nodded before another knock was heard on the door. A servant waiting by the entrance opened it, revealing a very flustered looking redhead at the threshold.
Lucy perked up slightly upon seeing that it was Erza.
"Your majesty." She quickly bowed to the King before rushing over to kneel at Lucy's side, her blue eyes thick with stress and worry. "Princess Lucy, I was informed what happened. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She murmured, heart still beating far too fast for someone who was sitting so still.
"What is the state of the Ball?" King Jude asked the Coronal Contests Coordinator. Erza stood up to speak to him directly.
"The guests do not know of the assassination attempt. They were only told that they were not allowed to leave the Grand Hall as the Castle Guard came through and searched the hall thoroughly. All the guests are still there now."
"You may dismiss them." The King said with a nod. "We will keep what happened under wraps for now. In the mean time we cannot be distracted from the search by our guests."
"Of course, your majesty." Erza nodded, but then hesitated as she tried to figure out what to say without appearing as though she was refusing to follow orders. "The only problem is that Princess Lucy has not yet announced the ten men that will continue onto the second stage of the contests."
"Seriously?" Natsu spoke up. "Lucy almost dies and you still want to go through with the Contests?"
Both Jude and Erza shot a glare at the boy, warning him that this was not his place to speak. He sighed and leaned back on the couch in perturbed silence.
"I do not expect Lucy to make such a decision under the circumstances." The King stated firmly. Erza agreed with an apologetic nod and was about to leave the room before Lucy spoke up.
"Wait." She said, a little more strength filling her voice. "If we send all of the guests away before I make my decision then they will be even more certain that something is wrong. Not to mention the satisfaction it would give the person who tried to harm me if I were to hide in my room instead of following through with my duties. I'll make the announcement. That is what everyone came here for and I intend to deliver."
"You should not feel obligated to do this." Her father warned gently.
"I do." Lucy replied. She glanced to the side at Natsu. Seeing the support and prided in his large eyes gave her all the strength she needed to follow through on her words. She stood up and straightened out the ruffles in her bright red dress. "And I'll do it immediately."
"Very well." Her father nodded. "But I'm sending you out with top level protection."
"I understand."
With that, the King left the room to organize his guards.
"Come, your highness." Erza said to Lucy in excitement that the whole night wasn't going to be for naught after all. "I must update your makeup before you make the announcement."
"Perfect, thank you Erza." Lucy said. "But may I have a moment alone with Natsu first? I wish to thank him properly."
Erza looked from Lucy to Natsu and then back to Lucy, wearing a pleased smile as her eyes lit up with realization. She winked at the princess knowingly.
"Of course." She said. "I'll be waiting for you across the hall in your bed chambers."
The redhead hurried out of the room, tossing glances over her shoulder at the pair of teens she was leaving along as she went. Natsu stood up to stand in front of Lucy.
"You already thanked me, you know." He said with a smile, hands shoved into his pockets.
"I wanted to do it again." She said, feeling warmth spread across her cheeks and butterflies dance in her stomach.
"I meant what I said to your father." He said before she had a chance to thank him again. "It's no big deal. I would have done it for anyone."
"Oh. I see." Lucy whispered, feeling deflated for some reason. He would have done it for anyone. Of course he would have, that's just the sort of person he was…
"But dancing in the courtyard of castle with a princess?" Natsu continued with a sly smile. "That's something I would only do for one person."
Just like that, all of Lucy's light fluttery feelings were back in play, making her feel like she was on cloud nine. She couldn't help but smile a smile that was so genuine and natural that she completely forgot that someone out there wanted to kill her. Especially after what he did for her tonight, Natsu made her feel safe.
"Is that person your sister?" Lucy said with a teasing tone meant to cover up her more transparent reasons for asking the question.
"Not even Wendy could get me to dance."
Lucy's heart soared.
"Does that mean you are sticking around for the Coronal Contests?"
"I dunno." Natsu replied with a playful shrug. "Only the Princess's favorite ten guys make it through. Who knows if I'll make the cut?"
"I think I have an idea." Lucy giggled.
"You sure you're okay?" Natsu asked, searching Lucy for any cracks in her calm facade.
"I'm sure."
"I'll see you around then." He said. Before he turned to leave, he hovered in his place for a moment as if he were unsure what to do upon parting. Lucy found herself wishing that he would finish what he started earlier and kiss her, make her feel like it was all going to be okay, but to her disappointment, that didn't happen. He flashed her one final smile and left her alone in the room.
Lucy let out a sigh, ran her fingers through her golden hair, and composed herself in preparation for what was sure to be a bombardment of questions from Erza. In the back of her mind she quickly ran through the list of ten names that she would soon need to call out.
Despite the recent turn of events, she was ready to move on into the future, a future that still managed to seem awfully bright.
XXX
Stomach growling, Natsu shouldered himself through the hordes of anxious people, all grouped together in mobs, chattering quickly about what was going on and where the princess was with her decision.
The guards that had come through to search the crowd had left and the Grand hall was on lock down with strict measures of who could come and go as the search for Lucy's almost assassin continued through the castle and into the surrounding city of Crocus. Natsu wanted more than anything to search for that person himself, but he needed to wait with the others for Lucy's decision and regardless, he didn't manage to catch a whiff of the archer so tracking him would be near impossible.
In the meantime, he was eagerly making his way through the crowd to finally reach the food table still filled with exotic and tantalizing scents that seemed to flood over the room like the thickest fog. Upon finally reaching his destination, his mouth began to water. The spread of food was simply incredible. There were meats and cheeses stabbed onto tiny skewers, bowls of fruit, meatballs, fancy crackers, mini quiches, and a colorful array of other elegant appetizers that Natsu could not possibly know the names of. Licking his lips, he dived first towards the meatballs, already able to feel the barbecued warmth slip down his throat and into his ravenous belly.
Nabbing a handful of tooth picks, Natsu hovered with glee over the pot of meatballs, skewering each one and popping them into his mouth until they were all gone. Soaring with happiness, he cruised over to the cheeses and then to the mini-sandwiches that were so small he could (and did) eat three at a time. He made his way down the table until he saw it. With a golden brown crust of crumbling crispy breading over an inside layer of bright green, the ultimate appetizer caught Natsu's eye and instantly excited his taste buds.
Fried pickles.
Natsu could not believe his eyes. Fried pickles. He had no idea that such a thing even existed, let alone that he'd find it here. Slowly, almost as if he were in a trance, he moved forward to the lonely bite of food sitting alone on the porcelain dish.
There was only one left. And he was destined to take it.
He reached his hand out slowly, fingers outstretched as they grew closer and closer to the expertly fried pickle, eyes sparkling with the sheer joy he was about to consume.
And then someone reached out and grabbed the final pickle before he was able to.
"What the hell man? That's mine!" He shouted out instantly, feeling as though the arrow from earlier had pierced through his heart.
"Sorry." The thief shrugged. "You snooze you lose."
The person who had grabbed the precious fried pickle right from under his nose was about his own age and height except he had black hair and dark blue eyes. With a smug, insouciant expression and a positively bored posture to match, Natsu hated this guy already.
"Give it back, jerk." The pink haired boy spat out, crossing his arms, unwilling to stand down.
"Chill, man." The thief said. "It's only a pickle."
"If that's true then you'll have no problem giving it back." Natsu challenged, watching the delicacy carefully to make sure that this bastard didn't pop it into his mouth before he had a chance to retaliate. The thief hesitated, glanced from the fried pickle and then back to Natsu, smirking in defeat. It wasn't just a pickle.
"You have any idea who you're talking to, pinky?"
"You could be a prince or a pauper, it doesn't matter to me." Natsu took a step forward. "I just want the pickle."
"The name's Gray." The dark haired boy replied, tilting his head with a smirk. "And you're right. It doesn't matter who I am. All you need to know is that I'm not giving up this pickle either."
"I'm Natsu. And it looks like we have a problem then."
"I can fix that." Gray said.
He quickly raised his arm, moving the fried pickle closer towards his open mouth. Natsu reacted with crazy fast reflexes, reaching out with his own hand. He slapped his hand against Gray's wrist just in time. The contact caused Gray to lose his grip in the pickle, sending the fried goodness flying high into the air.
"You idiot!" Gray shouted.
"You snooze you lose." Natsu chanted back.
Natsu lunged forward to catch the pickle before it hit the ground, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Gray surging forwards for the falling appetizer as well. Both of their claw-like hands reached out simultaneously, stretching out as far as they could manage.
But neither were fast enough.
The pickle hit the floor.
"Now look what you've done!" Gray roared in frustration, pulling on his hair as he watched the precious sliver of food be contaminated by the floor.
"What's the big deal?" Natsu shrugged. He picked the pickle up of the floor and tossed it into his mouth, crunching on the crispy, savory outside before his teeth sunk into the bitter-sweet tang of the interior pickle. "Damn that was good." He said as he swallowed the last of the appetizer.
"You ate it off the floor?" Gray deadpanned in confusion.
"Hell yeah." Natsu said. "Food's still food no matter where it comes from."
"Interesting."
Natsu laughed.
"Jeez, let me guess. You are a prince. Probably can't eat anything unless it comes from at least a ten thousand jewel plate."
"Shut up." Gray shot back. "You're the disgusting one."
"And you're the one who lost."
"Perhaps." He said thoughtfully. Then, he grabbed one of the mini-quiches off of the table and dropped it onto the ground, letting it rest there for a few seconds until he bent down, picked it up, and ate it. He chewed for a few moments before swallowing. He nodded his head. "It tastes the same."
"Told you." Natsu said in a harsh tone, yet he felt some sort of begrudging respect form inside of him for the other boy. Yet again he had met another noble that took him by surprise. Interesting.
"You're still an idiot." Gray said.
"And you're still a pickle-stealing asshole."
They shot dagger-like glares at each other for a few more moments, although there was a little less intensity behind them. Their standoff was broken by the trumpeting of horns that announced the arrival of the princess to the Grand Hall. She walked in through the main doors flanked by the most intimidating guards, an aisle parting for her in the crowd easily that led up to the main stage at the head of the room.
The room hushed over in silence and all attention was turned towards the lovely blond princess who had changed into a golden ball gown that accentuated the brightest highlights of her hair and made her eyes seem like an even warmer chocolate. Only once it was so deathly silent, that you could hear a pen drop from anywhere inside the room, did she speak.
"I would first like to thank everyone who attended tonight. The journey I am embarking on could not be done without your support and participation. It saddens me that I may only allow ten fine men to proceed to the next round of the Coronal Contests, but it is assuredly the best path I may take to find a husband and King suitable to our kingdom." She took a deep breath to collect herself, straightening her posture even more than before to deliver the news that everyone was hanging onto so desperately for. "The ten men I am selecting to advance to stage two are… Natsu Dragneel…"
Natsu let a smirk spread across his face as he heard his name called and felt Lucy's eyes settle on him immediately. He winked at her, but still didn't manage to crack a smile onto her very serious and businesslike demeanor.
"She picked you?!" Gray said in surprise from beside him with an oblivious stare. Natsu nodded, feeling more smug than ever before on his double victory.
"Prince Gray Fullbuster of Minstrel," Lucy called out next. Gray laughed and adopted a smug expression of his own.
"She picked you?!" Natsu shouted. There wasn't any time for Gray to say something back, however, because the crowd had grown silent again for the next names.
"Loke Regulus… General Laxus Dreyer of Fiore… Prince Jet Shadowgear of Bosco… Prince Droy Shadowgear of Bosco…"
Natsu looked around and saw the golden brown haired guy Lucy had been dancing with earlier upon his arrival smile confidently. Similarly, he saw some important looking people pat an even more important looking bulky tall blonde guy on the back at the front of the crowd. The expression of said blonde guy remained emotionless.
"Sir Gajeel Redfox Black Steel…"
The pink haired boy scoffed at that name. Black Steel had to be some sort of nick name, but the real question was why the heck would Lucy pick someone who had earned "Black Steel" as a moniker?
"Elfman Strauss…"
Natsu was beginning to lose interest upon hearing a bunch of names he didn't recognize. He was about to tune out completely before he heard the impossible.
"Gentleman Sting Eucliffe… and Gentleman Rogue Eucliffe."
"WHAT?" Natsu exclaimed out loud, a horrified look of sheer disbelief etched across his face as if his worst nightmare was coming to fruition.
How could Lucy pick them? He thought she was a reasonable person. He thought she was pretty smart for a princess! They had to have tricked her. They must have pretended to be decent people to get on her good side.
His whole body was itching with anger as he swung his head around looking for where his dear stepbrothers stood in the crowd. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind for manipulating Lucy.
"What's got your panties in a wad?" Gray asked him with a judgmental raised eyebrow at the pink haired boy's reaction.
"Sting and Rogue-" Natsu began to voice his inner rant, before a blood chilling thought hit him that he, of course, hadn't considered before.
Lucy picking him to go onto the next round had not been part of the plan. He was supposed to come and go without anyone, namely his step family, to realize that he was here. But just now, his name was announced to a crowd of thousands of people. That meant Sting and Rogue knew that he was here, and now that the Ball was officially over, they were assuredly already on their way home to rat him out to their mother.
Eldia was not going to be happy with him.
"I gotta go." Natsu said quietly, not hesitating to start running for the door without hearing Lucy's words of parting to the rest of the crowd. He would see her again soon. For now, he needed to get home before Elida got the chance to take out her displeasure on Wendy.
"Whatever." Gray shrugged. But Natsu didn't hear him. He was already well on his way.
XXX
It took him a solid half hour longer to get back to the ranch than it did on his trip to the castle. The stables were crowded with horses and carriages being prepared for trips home and he was definitely not on the priority list for speedy departures. Regardless, he rode Presley home hard and was not at all surprised when he saw that the carriage Sting and Rogue took to the Ball was parked in the driveway like an ominous symbol of his impending doom.
He took his horse the barn and deposited her quickly into her stall with a grateful pat on the nose.
"I'll be back later to fill up your water for the night. I just got to go settle things inside first. Wish me luck."
Presley grunted and Natsu headed out.
Bounding up the stairs to the front porch that surrounded the ranch house, Natsu prepared himself for the worst, however, what he was not prepared for was the front door opening before he could place a hand on the knob.
Eldia stepped outside, haunting and stern, her mouth a thin sharp line painted across her pale complexion. The door slammed shut loudly behind her, leaving them alone to speak.
"Sup." Natsu said, trying to act nonchalant, but his heart wasn't really in it. He waited for her to satisfy herself with a long enough death glare before she actually spoke.
"You disobeyed me." She said finally.
"Well technically you never forbade me from going."
"I made my intentions clear."
"Not clear enough, I guess." Natsu shot back, biting hard on his lower lip. Eldia had a way of getting under his skin.
"How did you clean the pig stall and escape from the barn?"
"Practice." He spoke the single word with a challenging defiance, tasting a trickle of blood in his mouth.
Eldia examined him closely, looking straight through him and his lie like he were transparent. It was unnerving. He flicked his tongue around the traces of iron in his mouth and swallowed it.
"The more interesting question is how you managed to get the Princess to choose you."
"She also chose your two sons. She must not be the best judge of character."
Eldia slapped him across the face, leaving a stinging red mark on his cheek.
"Idiot boy. You know better than to speak of my son's like that."
"I guess I don't know better." Natsu growled. He was sick and tired of laying back and taking her abuse. Most days he could shove down his frustration and go along with her tyranny, but today he was angry. He was angry that Sting and Rogue were manipulating Lucy. He was angry that he was being reprimanded for doing nothing wrong. And he was absolutely livid that someone tried to kill Lucy earlier and got away scotch free. "Your two sons are a pair of bastards and Lucy will see through whatever act they are putting up around her. She would never marry either of them. Especially once I tell her about all the shit they've done over the past eleven years."
He fully expected another slap to rattle across his face, but strangely, it never came. Eldia only narrowed her already snake-like black eyes.
"Are you threatening my sons?" She asked him coldly. "Because if you are then you would be even stupider than you have already proven to be. If you are threatening my sons, then I have no choice but to threaten you as well."
"I'm not scared of you."
"And that is precisely the problem." Eldia replied calmly before a positively evil grin stretched across her bony cheeks. "I know your secret. You and your precious little sister are wizards."
"That's crazy." Natsu stammered out, feeling a wrecking ball smash against his heart, stopping it from beating with a heavy jolt. He had guessed that Eldia knew, but knowing for certain, hearing her speak the words out loud, was like a nightmare come to life.
"Don't try to deny it." She snapped. "Igneel told me all about his illegal magic lessons with his children. He trusted me, remember? He loved me. More than he ever loved you."
"THAT ISN'T TRUE." Natsu roared. Eldia had flipped a switch inside of him, causing him for the first time in a long time to actually let the anger than burned inside of him out. Fire exploded from Natsu's hands, flames lapping and boiling around his arms like infernos of hate, ready to finally unleash their power. Eldia's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the bright red flames emanating from the boy, light and shadows of the dancing flames highlighting the sharp contours of her bone structure.
"Fascinating." She whispered. "Just like Igneel's."
"NEVER SPEAK ABOUT MY FATHER." Natsu shouted, the flams lining his arms only intensifying. "You don't serve to. You are just a sick, twisted old woman with a greedy thirst for power. And if you really do recognize these flames, then it's YOU who should be scared. I could incinerate you to a pile of ashes right now!"
"And then I would be dead and my sons would know what you did." Eldia replied simply, not fazed by the dragon slayer's wrath. "Not only would they turn you in for being a wizard, but you would also be executed for murder. And then what would happen to your dear sweet sister?"
Natsu grit his teeth and ground them together in a helpless anger. She was right. She was always right.
"Don't you see?" She said. "You have no power over me, nothing to threaten me with. I am the one who controls you. For many years you have only been an unprofitable burden, but now that you've positioned yourself close to the princess, you may be of some use to me."
Natsu let his flames go out in defeat with his shoulders slumped and his features falling into a state of despair.
"You will not speak ill of Sting and Rogue to the Princess. You will not even mention that you live with them. You will get closer to Lucy and advance in the contests, encouraging her to keep Sting and Rogue around as well. Only when her final decision comes between you and my sons will you drop out of the contest and break her heart, allowing either Sting or Rogue to become King. If you do not do as I ask, then I will expose your secret and Wendy's to the world and you will never see the light of day again."
Closing his eyes for a moment, Natsu cursed himself for his idiocy. He should have never gone to the Ball. He should have never gotten attached to Lucy and he should have never allowed her to get attached to him. Everything was suddenly a thousand times worse than before. He either had to break Lucy's heart or essentially send Wendy to prison. There was no other way out. There was only one choice to make.
"I'll do it." He said through gritted teeth.
"That's what I thought." His stepmother purred with amusement.
"But I have one condition." He said, lifting his head to look at her straight in the eyes. "If I succeed and either Sting or Rogue get married to Lucy, then you have to let Wendy go free."
Eldia considered this for a moment, noting that he gave no request of his own freedom.
"Very well." She said with one finally victorious smirk before disappearing back inside the ranch house, leaving a very distraught Natsu alone in the dark.
I'm sorry, Lucy. He said inside his head, picturing the crushed and devastated look that would appear on her gorgeous face when he would inevitably break her heart. But I don't have any other choice.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Sup! Alright I'm going to keep this brief, so I'll just make a few comments.
- Gray and Natsu met! Yay, I'm so excited because I love them together.
- Fried Pickles sound gross but are actually incredible. True story.
- Some of the characters that we haven't seen yet, but Lucy picked, I didn't know the last names of so I had to fill in the blanks myself. If I made any spelling errors, or mishaps just let me know. It'll be much appreciated.
- What'd you think of Natsu's "deal" with Eldia? I only say deal, because if he follows through, then at least Wendy will get something out of it.
-Thank you all for reading and reviewing. These days you all are quite literally my inspiration to continue this story.