This is going to be easy.
The raven-haired woman walked down the hallways, hips tilting with every step, smirking. Winning this competition was going to be simple, she thought, turning down Natsu's hallway. Everyone girl pales in comparison to me.
The woman had twilight-coloured hair, and she wore a blue and black dress with golden buttons attached to the side. The fabric was of the smoothest velvet, and it was only what the lady would accept. Her hair was done up nicely, but the woman had a cruel smirk on her face that told people she was not to be messed with.
She passed the bend, and there the Prince was, his father sitting behind him. The prince looked quite bored, and not at all handsome to the lady, but looked up as Minerva came in. There was a chair sitting in front of them, but the lady didn't bother sitting. She would be out of there in a flash.
"Hello. My name is Princess Minerva Orland, of the Orland Kingdom." She introduced herself. No sign of recognition passed the pink-haired dolt's face, and Minerva had to resist the urge to snap. She took a deep breath, calming herself.
"I am a mage, I love flowers, and calming music, and freshly cleaned sheets, but..." she chose her words carefully, "dislike people who act immature." The prince, who previously looked bored, perked up at this.
"Okay. You can go that way." He pointed in front of her, to his side. Oh, I'm so great that he liked me right away! His tone sounded like he'd liked her, so Minerva happily opened the door and exited.
She walked for thirty seconds, down a dark hallway again, and her usually pretty features twisted into a snarl. There were about one hundred girls here, all waiting patiently for the prince to announce their love and that Natsu wanted to marry them.
But Minerva knew better. There was another door in the room, and the Prince didn't send her that way. She spun around, snarling, walked back to the door, and tried to twist the knob. To her anger, it was locked from the inside.
Very well.
The raven-haired woman pictured the space where the hall split off into four; she expected the girl next in line to already be walking down it. Using her Magic, in a flash, the lady disappeared from the locked room.
Minerva opened her eyes, and there she was, right where she wanted to be. The blue-haired girl walking down the hall, about to go down Rogue's route, was staring at her wide-eyed, frozen in place. "I-Is this part of the test?" she asked timidly.
Minerva rolled her eyes and raised her arm. "No." The air around the girl seemed to dance, and it wrapped around her body. She squealed, and in a flash, disappeared. The lady sighed, and promptly walked down Stiff Eucliffe's route, already hating the Prince of the Dragneel kingdom for rejecting her.
The next girl that came down Natsu's route was a long, scarlet-haired woman, who was wearing a long red dress that showed off lots of cleavage. The dress and her hair almost trailed on the ground, and her head was cocked to the side, like she was listening to voices no one else could hear.
Lord Igneel caught the Crazy Alert instantly as the new girl came in. "You can go that way." He pointed beside them, the no route for girls.
Of course, his idiot son stopped him. "We gotta give everyone a chance, dad." He turned back to the girl, but before he could say anything, the girl spoke in a monotonous voice.
"Hello. My name is Flare. I specialize in Hair Magic. You are Salmon and Redhead." Natsu blinked, at a loss for words.
"What?"
"Salmon. Prince Natsu's hair is such a nice shade of salmon." She said, looking at them with dazed red eyes.
"Not... pink?"
The girl blinked [at a relief to Igneel, who had started to be creeped out by the lack of blinking,] "no. Not pink. Pink is brighter. Your hair is Salmon. Lord Igneel had red hair. I have red hair. Prince Natsu had salmon hair." Natsu jumped up and hugged the girl, grinning happily.
"Go that way!" he cried, pointing in front of them. "That way that way that way!" Igneel's eyes bulged out of his head, but it was too late; the girl opened the door and disappeared.
Igneel stood up, and whacked his son's head hard. "What do you think you were doing?" he roared. "That girl was a lunatic!"
Natsu had hearts in his eyes. "Nope. She was anything but a lunatic, dad. She called my hair Salmon... not pink. She is anything but crazy." The elder Dragneel sweatdropped, but hit his son hard over the head again. Natsu collapsed on the floor, a miniature chibi ghost flying out from his mouth.
"Why does my son have to be such an idiot!" Igneel whined.
The next girl was less crazy than the last.
But not by much.
After Natsu got up, with an amusing almost comical bump on his head, the next girl came in.
"Helllllooooo boys! Feelin' spiffy?" Instantly, Igneel fell back from a nosebleed, twitching on the ground. Natsu remained indifferent, somehow, looking up at the brunette wearing a risky black-leather outfit.
She wore a black swimsuit top lined with pink, and knee-high striped socks, held up with suspenders. Her bottom was printed with a cat paw, and she had a long catty tail coming from the back. Her brown hair was shaped in two cat ears, and her yellow eyes were awfully similar to a feline's.
Igneel picked himself up, holding his nose. His voice came out high and squeaky. "Hi. So tell us a little about yourself."
The girl smiled. "Well, my name's Millianna, and I'm a mage! My streamers can cancel out Magic and bind people as well! Pretty spiffy, right? Well, I come from a far away island, and I really like cats." You don't say. "I also love making friends, but I don't like people that are haters towards cats. They're too cute to be hated!" she whined.
Natsu looked at the girl strangely, but Igneel was deep in thought. "Hey, could you go that way for a bit?" he asked, pointing back from where she came.
"Sure!" she walked out.
"Well, do you like her?" he asked. Natsu shrugged.
"She sure is energetic, but I don't see her as... good material." He refrained from saying wife, because it only reminded him of why he was here. Lord Igneel hrmmed.
"Well, that type of Magic could come in handy... and if she isn't a candidate..."
"You can come back in!" he called. Slowly, their Dragon Slayer hearing caught onto her footsteps coming closer.
"Sooooo..? You guys did some talking, anddd?" they opened their mouths to speak, but Millianna cut them off, jumping up and down. "Oh, stop holding it in! Tell me already!" Natsu knew if he had to marry this woman he wouldn't make it a week without going insane.
"Well, Natsu doesn't think you're a... good candidate to be his wife, but I was thinking of offering you a job. Your Magic could be quite handy for it." The elder Dragneel explained.
"Spiffy! What is it?"
"Well, we do need more security and—" Millianna launched herself on him, and Igneel clutched his nose fast. If only his wife were here, she would kill him.
"Sure sure sure! I'll do it! This job sounds Spiffy! You can call me Milli from now on."
So, Igneel hired Millian— just Milli, she reminded him, into his security.
Lucy and Lisanna were standing in line silently. Their wild hand argument had to stop because they were dangerously close to the dark hallway.
Lucy was three away from it being her turn.
Two.
One.
The guard waited for awhile, and the bandit sent a hesitant glance behind her at Lisanna. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. Anything could be down that hallway, and she could be not prepared for it. She hated not knowing, and she was scared because of the Dragneel family. If they recognized her...
Also, she knew she had more chances of staying in this competition with Natsu, as much as she hated to admit it. She knew the basis of what he liked and didn't like, so she could shape her 'new self' into something that he liked. [She shivered at the thought.]
"Your turn." The guard told her. Lucy looked up.
"What?"
The guard rolled his eyes. "Your turn. Go down this hallway. Are you not going? Then this lady can go." He gestured to Lisanna. For a moment, it seemed if time was suspended between the two. Lisanna nodded her head reassuringly, while a million thoughts raced through Lucy's head. She took in a deep breath, and started walking down the hallway. The guard harrumphed and continued his work.
The dark hallways were lit every so often with a flaming torch; Lucy thought that they were similar to the ones back in her cell, spelled to burn infinitely. The walls were decorated with marble Dragons, like the rest of the castle, and finally, the hall split four ways.
Lucy swallowed. She could turn back. Like, right now. No risk of being caught. She'll find another way to break Michelle out.
She didn't notice that her own feet betrayed her and she started walking down Natsu's path, only noticing when the light got brighter and she walked into the room with Natsu and Igneel.
"Yeep!" she exclaimed. The Prince and Lord looked strangely at her. Lucy covered her mouth and bowed quickly, trying to cover up her mistake. [And her blush.]
"Hello, Lord Igneel, Prince Natsu. My name is Lyra Heart." She started. Natsu raised an eyebrow but grinned, that strange signature grin that took up half his face.
"Hey Lyra. Here, sit down." He told her, gesturing to the empty chair in front of the two. Lucy nervously sat down.
"So, tell us a little about yourself." Natsu said.
"I'm seventeen years old, about to turn eighteen, I, uh, like riding horses, and I travel a lot. I don't come from anywhere special, just far away on the west coasts of Fiore. I dislike staying around in one place, or boring people." Natsu nodded, in thought.
"Where's the rest of your family?" Lucy swallowed.
"My mother... she passed away. My dad still lives in my old town taking care of my little sister. I visit them every so often."
"Can you touch a spider?" the bandit looked up, surprised.
"Spider? Um, yeah... I mean, yes!" She silently scolded herself for being so stuttery. Behind his son, Lord Igneel didn't look that impressed.
"Yes, I can touch a spider. I trek through forests all the time." She noticed it a bit too late. That was a little too close to the Lucy Heartfilia she was trying to hide. Luckily, the two didn't seem to notice. She let out a mental breath.
"Okay! You can go that way." Natsu pointed in front of him. Lucy got up, and walked to that door. She turned around and bowed, as a second thought.
"Thank you for your time, Lord Igneel and Prince Natsu." She quickly exited. As soon as she was out of sight, she inspected her surroundings.
There were about thirty people in the room, and Lucy almost cheered. Since she was almost at the end of the line, this meant she made it!
Wait.
She made it to be a candidate for Natsu's wife! Lucy collapsed on the ground, groaning.
Barely a minute later, another girl came though the door. Lucy turned around, and was quickly smothered in a hug.
"We made it! yay!" Lisanna screamed. Lucy struggled out of her grip, pouting.
"Yay..." she exclaimed sarcastically. "So, how was your test?" she asked.
"Well, Natsu let me through almost instantly!" Lucy grinned.
"I told you he likes you!" she hissed.
Lisanna rolled her eyes. "I'm not even gonna bother arguing. So, is this the yes or no room?"
"I think it's the yes." Lucy looked around, and at that moment, the lights dimmed.
WELL! I have a problem! I have fallen in love with another fire-using anime character! I had to use all my will to pull away from this new series so I could type up this new chapter! Yay, Shakugan no Shana! Damn, so far it's REALLY GOOD! [haha, not as good as FT though. Nice try, animators. XD]
ANDDD! THIS STORY HAS HIT OVER ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! OMG, I LOVE YOU GUYS! And as promised, Congratulations Axlorg89, who was the hundredth reviewer! *throws confetti* Axlorg will get to give me an idea to type up as a one-shot, and make help me make some further decisions later on in the story. Congrats!
Dyeni: Ya, I know! there's apparently a holiday going on so the chappy wasn't posted that week. FLARE'S BACK! in celebration, I added a little Flare/flair into this chappy. lol.
MythandFairyTailLover: Yeah. I forgot to mention I gave out the cheap fruit-gel cookies that suck. MWHAHAHA!
GoldenRoseTanya: THANKS for reviewing! [caps lock, just to emphasise.]
Aitanna: that's what [^] GoldenRoseTanya said! convenient... *suspicious look*
Tawny:*gets teary eyed* I'm epic? I'm EPIC? *starts bawling, hugs Tawny* I LOVE YOUUUUU!
Sofia3: [call me lazy.] ... I'm uh... not looking for OCs. [other characters.] sorry... There's all the others! I told you you would see them soon!
Kova: uh... hey?
Hahahaha8D: well, here you go!
Lunar Mistress: for some reason I REALLY like your profile pic. That's when Natsu and the others come back from Tenrou Island, right? [I know, i'm weird being able to point out individual pics. I've watched that episode too many times before... makes me squeal in happiness every time.] Don't exhaust yourself1 haha, lol.
Sabrina: HRMM... well, here you go!
08: well, trust me, there's gonna be lots of twists and turns from here! the Strauss family have always been nice. HMM, this spells evil author's evil plot... *starts cackling* "whooooo Natsu? say it louder!" YES! no, go on, keep on saying it, I love getting awesome comments like that!
AND AXLORG89; congrats! you won the contest! as said above, I'll write a one-shot about your idea, fluff or action or whatever, AND you get to help me with planning in the future for this story. nothing too big, just the occasional question or such. YAY!
Review? I'm aiming for 200 now!
I'll give out cookies! [and it helps me pull myself away from Shakugan no Shana..!] *sheepish expression*]